Fleeting
My point & shoot camera, the one that I run with, takes decent enough photos in good light. Most cameras do, even cheap ones. But it takes such awful photos in low light that it's almost like a pinhole camera. My iphone sometimes does a better job in low light than my little Pentax. (I took this photo by placing the camera on a rock wall, setting the shutter timer, and removing my hands from the camera completely to reduce vibration and blur.) I live with it because it's waterproof, and I can stick it in the pocket of my running tights or my bike jersey and not worry about sweat, rain, dust, mud, or leaky energy gel packets. That's not so practical with my big SLR. I know there are better waterproof cameras now than there were when I got this one four years ago, so maybe I should start saving up.
Tonight I attended the Sports Basement Presidio Fun Run for my first time. And you know what? It was genuinely Fun. And there were snacks and beer afterward. I am totally biased, but I highly recommend it.
November 10, 2009 10:16 PM
I also have a waterproof Pentax & found that if you put it on the fireworks setting you can get decent low light/night shots. It doesn't bump up the ISO like the automatic or night settings do, so the photos don't end up so grainy. I love that camera but really wish there was a manual setting! On another note, congrats on the Sports Basement job!!! Awesomeness.
Mine doesn't have a fireworks setting, sadly. I've played with the nighttime setting but still get the graininess and artifacts. Which model do you have?
I've got the Optio W20, its a few years old. I don't know anything about newer models, do you?
I have the Optio WPi; it's from late 2005. I'm really interested in the new Optio W80, which has a time-lapse feature and also takes HD video. But I'm also curious about the waterproof Olympus line -- my first digital camera was an Olympus and its optics and overall image quality (especially in low-light situations) were far superior to the Pentax. My Olympus was a beast, but it took wonderful photos.