OT- best low light camera?

[turkey_dinner]

Hey there,

After being completely furious with my JVC D90's low light performance compared to my old Sony Hi8 I've sold it and wanted to ask you guys which cameras are known to be good in the evenin.

I don't care about the nightshot or slowed shutter modes. I think it's LUX and or aperature that I'm after.

Thanks.

Keep on rockin.

[turkey_dinner]

Sorry. I should add a price range.

I've thought about Sony dcr-pc109 but it's hard to ask to try it out for a couple days....

I think that cam's got to be under $700 on ebay... hehehe.

thanks again.

[edDV]

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
tests low light performance in some detail with each camera.

For $700 you are close to affording the 3CCD Panasonic GS-200 which has good low light performance and would be a comparison point.

[proxyx99]

Most DV cams are in the 7 lux range, some 5 lux, few lower (pricier). Generally speaking best low light performers are Sony, few Pana (3CCD), 1 Canon Optura and this is it. Sorry, if I missed some... I'm talking up to 800 bucks range. Above, there is more to choose from but you need to be in the 1500 range. Follow the advice above plus check dvspot.com. MiniDV is much worse then Hi8 in low light mainly due to much smaller CCD size.

[Zen of Encoding]

Sorry. I should add a price range.

I've thought about Sony dcr-pc109 but it's hard to ask to try it out for a couple days....

I think that cam's got to be under $700 on ebay... hehehe.

thanks again.

I speak from wide personal experience, without a doubt the best
consumer "low-light" video camera is the Sony VX-2000 or the
newer model VX-2100. However, super performance in low-light
isn't cheap. If you're lucky, you can pick-up a good used VX-2000
on ebay for around $1200. Check out these low-light tests:

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/lowlight3/index.html

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/low2/index.html

[proxyx99]

I've seen Sony VX2100 online at $1100 brand new, no accessories (not Ebay, an online store).

[Zen of Encoding]

I've seen Sony VX2100 online at $1100 brand new, no accessories (not Ebay, an online store).

Be careful with ultra low-priced web or mail-order based camera sellers.
Many of these places (usually based in NYC) are scam artists, selling
grey market, returned/used items, or cameras that have had all the
normal accessories taken out of the box and then sold separately at
a hugely inflated price.

If you find an unusually low priced camera seller, be sure to check their
customer ratings on:

http://www.resellerratings.com/