For this test, we set out to find the best point and shoot digital camera for under $200 that would give us the best low light shots possible. The requirements were to find cameras that had the highest ISO capabilities and still maintain the $150- $200 price tag. The sub $200 price point is probably the most competive in the point and shoot category because $200 is the price most consumers will admit to investing on their new digital cameras. The great thing is that manufacturers know this, so the cameras in this category all have excellent features, high mega pixels s and decent zoom capabilities.
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The Winner for Best Value: The Sony Cybershot Sony DSC-W230 was the clear cut winner of this bunch. It had excellent features, great ISO capabilities that gave us excellent low light shots, image quality was superb, had the largest LCD display and the price is right. This camera had everything we wanted in a camera. We were actually amazed that such a camera could be had a such a low price. If you are looking for an great low light camera at an excellent price, then the Sony Cybershot Sony DSC-W230 is the one to have. View this camera at Amazon.com for the absolute best price.
The Looser: Despite having the highest Mega Pixels of the group, the Kodak Easyshare Z1475 was the obvious looser. One annoying flaw really killed this camera for us : non rechargeable AA batteries. The only place such batteries should be used is in cameras costing under $100. At this price point, there are much better choices than the Easyshare Z1475. That being said, the camera performs on par with the others and it is capable of 14 mp. If you don’t mind AA batteries, then this camera would be ok but being that it’s just $10-$15 cheaper than other equally capable cameras with rechargeable batteries, we just can’t recommend this one. View this camera at Amazon.com for the absolute best price.
Best Low light Digital Cameras $150-$170 tested, sorted by lowest price.
Kodak Easyshare Z1485
The Kodak EasyShare Z1485 was the lowest priced high ISO out of the bunch. It had excellent ISO capabilities up to 6400. Zoom capabilties were average at just 5x optical and 5X digital. Like the others in this group, the camera has some nice features like face recognition, image stabalization and built in auto focus. That being said, the deal braker is in the batteries. Battery life is horrible and you will be replacing batteries quite often. For some reason, Kodak is still using standard AA batteries on many of their cameras which is one of our pet peeves. No camera at this price should use non-rechargeable batteries, period.
Features:
- 14-mega pixel
- Up to 6400 ISO for excellent low light shots.
- 5x Optical Zoom , 25X Digital Zoom
- Large 2.5″ Clear Photo LCD screen
- Scene and face recognition.
- Image stabilization
- Auto Focus
Comments: We found this camera to be quite capable, it actually has the highest mega pixels of the group. Low light shots were excellent, picture quality was high with its 14 mp capabilities. There is really nothing wrong with the camera functionality, in fact is is excellent. That being said, we can’t recommend this camera simply because of the batteries. If you use it regularly, even if you don’t, you will find yourself replacing batteries more often than you care to. Since they are not rechargeable, this becomes quite annoying.
Sample Image EasyShare Z1485
Easyshare S1485 Sample
Olympus FE-5010
 Olympus FE-5010 |
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The Olympus FE-5010 was the lowest ISO tested camera of the group. That being said, low light shots are still quite good, though not as good as some of the other higher ISO capable cameras. Zoom capabilities was on par with the others with its 5X optical lens. One of the attactive things about this camera is that it is easy to use without a whole lot of bells a whistles. Great for those that really just want to point and shoot. No problems with the batteries on this one as it comes with rechargeable lithium battery. About the only place this one really comes up short is in the ISO department since it is only capable of 1600 ISO, this is perfectly acceptable for low light shots but since it is in the same price group as others having better capabilities, it doesn’t really scream value.
Features:
- 12.0-mega pixel
- Up to 1600 ISO for good low light shots.
- 5x Optical Zoom , 5X Digital Zoom
- 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD screen
- face recognition.
- Image stabilization
- Rechargeable lithium ION battery included
Comments: A very capable camera this one was, it just really lacks some of the additional features that some of the other more inexpensive cameras had in the test. This one would be great for someone who doesn’t want an overly complicated camera and doesn’t have the need to take super dim shots without a flash. There’s plenty to like about this camera, it’s just that it gets lost in the bunch with nothing to really stand out with.
Sample Image Olympus FE-5010
Sample FE-5010 Image
Sony Cybershot DSC-W230
The Sony Cybershot DSC-W230 was one of the lower priced out of this high ISO bunch. Amazingly, it also had the highest ISO capabilities as well.
Zoom capabilities were average at just 4x but it does have 25X digital zoom. The camera also has some pretty cool features including face recognition, scene recognition and image stabilization. Another thing to love about this camera is that it uses Lithium batteries not only will you
get super battery life, you will also be able to recharge them without having to constantly buy new ones. One of the drawbacks we didn’t like about is that it only supports the Sony Memory Stick format for memory so you cannot use the more popular SD media.
Features:
- 12.1-mega pixel
- Up to 6400 ISO for excellent low light shots.
- 4x Optical Zoom , 25X Digital Zoom
- Large 3″ Clear Photo LCD screen
- Scene and face recognition.
- Image stabilization
- Rechargeable lithium ION battery included
Comments: We found this camera to be quite capable at low light shots. With and extremely high 6400 ISO, we were able to capture even the dimmest
of shots. Picture quality was excellent and there are also a variety of scene modes for amateur photographers to pick from. This was by far the over all winner of the bunch. It has everything you could want and nothing you don’t. This camera could easily compete with much more expensive models in terms of quality pictures, low light capabilities and over all features.
Sample Image Cybershot W230
Sample low light w230 image
