To summarize, my mother is looking for a camera that takes good indoor pictures where there is low light. She’s a part-time realtor and currently uses a pretty old P&S Sony Cybershot.
I’m not particularly knowledgeable in cameras myself so some explanation of what sensors/lenses/terms I should be looking for would be great too.* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera?
Whatever that can do the job done nicely. She allocated $400, but I would prefer sub $200. I’m looking for the best value, price to performance. I’m absolutely willing to stretch from my estimate, but only if there would be an obvious difference in image quality.* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
No restrictions. I advocate large tripod use anyway (image stabilization).* What optical zoom will you need?
No zoom, but the camera needs some way to use/have a wide-angle lens (tight rooms, etc)* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Around 6. Most pics consist of partly empty rooms and I’m pretty sure they’re resized quite a bit. The big thing is lighting. Her current pics are usually dark and bland.Do you care for manual exposure modes (shutter priority, aperture priority, manual)?
No. She won’t change settings on-the-fly.* What will you generally use the camera for?
Still images of buildings, indoor, outdoor. Never action/moving shots.* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
No. Images will be displayed online, maximum size probably 1000×1000 px.I would also appreciate some low-light camera tips: settings, accessories, etc.