Help with Pentax v Fuji in low light.

[naomilee]

I'm hoping some of the more technologically savvy among you may be able to help me. I'm currently using a Pentax Optio 60 (6mp 7.5mm-22.5mm) and my daughter has a Fujifilm Finepix F460 (5.1mp 5.8-17.4mm). My question is this, at night and indoors her camera seems to take lovely clear shots even just on the auto setting whereas all I get is blur, particularly at night. I've tried every setting on my Optio, Simple, Night Scene, Portrait even had a go at playing with the aperture and nothing seems to make a difference. The camera does great day shots and macro but I'm just having no luck with night or indoors. Is it a lens difference? Just different camera makes? Or am I just doing something wrong? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[NaturesPixel]

ok... first i think you should try it on a tripod... if you don't have a tripod.. try resting it on something then also if you have a self timer i would use this... but just having it on a tripod... should make a difference :) then if your images are still blurry.. i think maybe.,.. its the camera and not you :):(

[mattdm]

Awesome low-light performance is the trick of Fuji's point and shoot cameras. No one else comes close. I played with a friend's Pentax Optio (W10, so somewhat different from yours), and I thought it was particularly poor in low light. That doesn't mean you *can't* take decent night and indoor pictures with it -- just that it'll be more work.

[naomilee]

Thanks Matt, I suspected that might be the case. Maybe that's a good enough excuse to upgrade my camera.:D

[Penny Haywood]

I was amazed at my Fuji's ability to cope with the dark, but recently needed a sharper image in failing light and the in-built flash was hopeless. And it doesn't have a connection for an external flashgun. I bought it in a rush and it has exceeded every expectation up until now. A lesson learned, but it's still a pretty fabbie camera for most things.