Best camera for low light pictures?

Hello all.
I have a blog about gastronomy. I visit a lot of restaurants and take pictures of pretty much everything I eat. And in most cases, those pictures need to be taken without any kind of flash and at somewhat dark rooms.
Which mode would be best for these conditions?
It is also important to mention that I only have some basic understanding of photography.
Thanks in advance,
Marcus

Scott / Cicopo,
Thanks a lot. This has been extremely helpful.
I will post again once I had the opportunity to learn a little about the camera. Hopefully I can make you guys proud
Cheers!

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have the sx200is
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The challenge with sports is that you are REALLY pushing the camera gear to it's limits. Fast action requires fast shutter speeds. But fast shutter speeds demand a lot of light and only outdoor games played during the daytime have that. Indoor games or games played under field lighting at night generally do not have the kind of lighting needed to shoot with fast shutter speeds -- not the kind of shutter speeds needed to freeze action. So this ends up demanding a camera with excellent ISO performance and lenses with very low focal ratios so they can collect a LOT more light when the shutter is open. This gear is expensive.
You will want to consider a reasonable budget depending on what you can afford and the needs of the specific sports.
Are these indoor or outdoor sports? If outdoors, are these played during the day or are they night games?
The "best" camera for sports and low light is the EOS-1D X. It has phenominal low-light performance, has an amazing focus system, and can shoot at 12 frames per second. But it's about $6800 for the "body only" and then you still need lenses. I'm guessing this is probably not what you had in mind. But if money were not a constraint... this would be the one to go for.
The 5D III is another amazing camera for low light performance and and also has an amazing focusing system (largely the same as the 1D X) can shoot at 6 frames per second, and only costs $3500... again, that's the "body only". Still probably not what you had in mind.
The 70D has an extremely good focus system (though not as good as the 5D III and 1D X), not quite as good as low light (but pretty good and much better than a point & shoot camera) and shoots at 7 frames per second (1 fps faster than 5D III) and it only costs $1200 for the body only.
The T5i will be noticeably less expensive than the 70D... a good (but not extremely good) focusing system and 5 frames per second, but the body and 1 kit lens combined is about $850 but that wont a lens suitable for use shooting sports so you'll still need to invest in more appropriate lenses.
When shooting action photography in low light, what you _really_ want is a lens that can collect a lot more light than the average lens for that very brief moment when the shutter is open. Such a lens can allow you to use a faster shutter speed to help freeze those action shots. But *which* lens you use depends on the sport.
For low-light sports, these would ideally be f/2.8 zoom lenses... but f/2.8 zoom lenses are not cheap. Canon's EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM (ideal for most indoor sports and outdoor sports IF the action is happening close to you) is about $2500. Sigma's lens is about half that price. But if you're covering action on a large athletic field and the players are far away, they'll still be small. Sigma makes a 120-300mm f/2.8 zoom for sports... for the low low price of only $3600.
Scott Kelby does a video to talk about sports photography and he discusses the equipment used and why... and basically says if you want the gear for shooting sports, you basically need a suitcase full of money.
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This is one instance where good gear helps but knowing how to use it properly is more important. Panning skills will be important, & so will choosing the right focal length of lens. I'll assume you have to shoot from the stands but don't know how far you'll be from the stretch of track you're hoping to shoot the cars along. A camera with a good AF system matched to a lens with fast AF capabilities will help too, but you could do this old school & use manual settings & manual focus too. You would set up the camera based on the lighting favoring a Tv that can freeze the car but blur the background & wheels / tires. Then you pick an ISO to allow shooting in the f8 range at that Tv & pre focus on the section of track in front of you. Pan with the car or group of cars as they go by & take a few shots while they are in the zone you've pre focused on.
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Hey,
Keep in mind that the XL-1s is somewhat clumsy and awkward to handle. If you are used to ENG style... the Canon has no comfortable way to rest it on your shoulder. If you like to hold it out front, using the top handle, while framing your shot with the flip-out LCD... the XL-1s has no flip out LCD. Just a big eye cup style viewfinder.
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H3l3nA wrote:
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Picasso created great art with a chewed pencil and a paper-napkin.

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Hey,
Keep in mind that the XL-1s is somewhat clumsy and awkward to handle. If you are used to ENG style... the Canon has no comfortable way to rest it on your shoulder. If you like to hold it out front, using the top handle, while framing your shot with the flip-out LCD... the XL-1s has no flip out LCD. Just a big eye cup style viewfinder.
The up side is the interchangeable lenses available for the XL-1. But if you are test driving one this weekend, be sure to ask how many lenses that price includes. Also, is there a wide angle adaptor included as well.
For my money... a used Canon GL-1 or a GL-2 if available, (the GL-2 is the newer version, with a better audio section). Being Canon devices, they already have superior optics. Both camcorders feature optical stabilization and [real glass!] 20:1 built-on lenses, and good sized flip-out LCDs. Since 2000, our church has been using 3 GL-1's for recording the services (via long S-Video runs to the switcher) as well as on remotes for the special dramatizations which are shown on the big screens during the actual services. Never a down day. The GL-1 is able to record in 30p as well as 16:9 anamorphic, and download via Firewire into any NLE. I've owned mine since 2000 as well. Never a glitch in the beginning with iMovie, later with FC Express, or now with FCP 5.1.4!
So... get yourself a used GL-1 and one of those Beechtek DXA-2S mic/line adaptors, so you can use pro mics in the field, and for under $1,500 you have a formidable, light-weight shooting rig.
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G5 Quad 2.5 PPC Mac OS X (10.4.10) 3 monitors powered by GeForce 7800GT and 6600. JVC GY-HD100 camera; FCS 5.1

Best camera for low light pictures?

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