As I will be hiking in august, I have been looking for good photo equipment just in case something happens, like UFOs at night.
I don't want to bring a camera as heavy as a DSLR with a telelens. And I'm looking for something reasonably priced, in the $400-700 range. I thought
maybe a bridge camera with good zoom and image stabilization will be OK. The only problem is that their small CCD sensors are very noisy in the high
ISO settings. Sony cameras are not too bad up to 400 ISO, and they have a night shot mode.
Then I found this in a
review of the Sony CyberShot DSC-H9:
All Night Shot images we captured were very grainy and soft. The Sony H9 can be used as an infrared camera for outdoor photography, but you'll
need neutral density filters and a tripod to work with the low shutter speeds.
Sony's original Night Shot cameras were considerably more capable
in this area, but they've been crippled because of their infamous ability to see through clothing under certain conditions. To limit this
ability, the Sony H9's Night Shot mode has a maximum shutter speed of 1/30 second or below, and the aperture remains wide open regardless what mode
you set, hence the need for neutral density filters for outdoor shooting.
What do you think? Is this true? Could it be a conspiracy to prevent people from taking good shots of UFO at night? Is it impossible to buy a cheap
recent camera with decent IR capability? I'm still thinking about buying the DSC-H9 or DSC-H50. Suggestions welcome.
