I visited the Old City tonight, with both a video camera (Canon Vixia HG20) and a point-and-shoot camera (Nikon Coolpix S210.) The Nikon has a much higher resolution, and I have taken many good pictures with it, but I had a feeling that for night shots the still mode on the video camera would give me higher quality shots, because it has a much larger lens and can gather more light.
So I took a picture of the Kotel from the same angle, using the default settings on both cameras.
Nikon Coolpix:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiYIO-nk3KLwXkE8mgx_Km63y6g3CNHPeUiYxa5J0zZ2GBM8F312JsudXMDWiEq5zAb7gJELeSwHszFcDae4jchTRf0J-zMmV27EJPODBjuHdQl6Un3S58a-cWJYh-DaqtPoqQg/s280/kotel+nikon.jpg)
Canon Vixia:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEhTQ0t_L5eoEo2_cxBRSTZzMK4cE25kxddxfU7TzQCtTK1HIAlDv_TfzTxPZBIHhqbS-NLNPNvZpfzXCdpIyNbPtz6LelKMn43Xz2O3Y_PMRCU4xnq3TcnMvKgwej9bYPx7xFA/s280/kotel+videocam.jpg)
Besides learning that I need to clean the lenses, the differences in quality are huge, and apparent even without enlarging the images to their full sizes. The small point-and-shoot just cannot handle low-light situations well. (Click on them to see that the Canon does well even at full resolution, while the Nikon is badly fuzzy at its higher resolution.)
For night-time photography, check out your camcorder - you might be pleasantly surprised.
Here's the Kotel from another angle on the Canon: