P5100 dusk/low light pics (1 Viewer)

I use a Nikon P5100 combined with Swaro 20-60x scope,have been digi-scoping for 5yrs and previously used a 4500,more than happy with P5100 in
good light(see attached pics taken locally in Bucks) but have a problem that
is bugging me.
Although pushing digi-scoping to it's limits,I like to take record shots of local scarce gulls in Winter roost,this means failing light and at long range!With 4500,using M/P/S altering settings and upping I.S.O to 800 could get record shots of gulls that after tinkering in photoshop 6 could produce images that could be i.d.'d by freinds/experts.
I actually thought with 1600 and 3200 I.S.O settings on P5100 would get better/more images in these situations but even on I.S.0 800 and equivalent
settings used before on 4500 it's just not happening!
can't rescue badly underexposed pics on photoshop as could before by using lightening/contrast, pics just go too light and ultra snowy,not pulling the
gull out of darkness as before.
Has anyone got any tips for these extreme situations?I would have thought
P5100 was superior, am I missing the obvious? other than being a nutter and trying to take pics in dark!! Have attached example of gull pic taken in dark,
then altered,taken on 4500,
cheers
Tim

Tim,

Have you tried just taking video of the birds in low light? I've had some luck grabbing frames from inside Photoshop Premier Elements that appear less grainy - it also allows lower ISO's to be used. Otherwise, I think images are just too noisy beyond ISO 400.

Your pics are terrific, btw!

Your only solution to poor lighting is to shoot at higher ISO. Unfortunately, the tiny sensor on any digicam, from the cheapest to the most expensive is just too noisy at ISO400 and higher. You need to make the move to a dSLR.

The current generation of Canon's and Nikons can perform well at ISO3200. Fortunately, the price of entry level dSLR''s have fallen to near digicam levels. The new micro-4/3s like Panasonic G1 camera may be the next big thing for using with a spotting scope.

cheers,
Rick

Some cameras do perform better at Higher ISO than others. Fuji are known to perform well here. I use my Fuji31d with the swaro and often shoot at ISO 1600 with minimal noise.

Noise and pic quality are very much in the "eye of the beholder" and the Fuji xxfd series is known to be a class leader in ISO performance. But according to DP Review tests, the Fuji tops out at ISO400 before pic degradation kicks in. Most other digicams top out at ISO200, with the majority at ISO100! This poor ISO performance with digicams has only worsened as pixel count has gotten higher unfortunately.

If you have a digicam in the 5-6MP range, that is probably the ISO performance/resolution sweet spot. After that, a dSLR makes a better choice.

cheers,
Rick