Looking for point and shoot for night

[MR_Candyman]

I have been tasked at my company to try to find the best camera for our needs. We provide security at a college. We will need a small, easy to use point and shoot that takes good night shots. I mean with the flash and not necessarily without. We take a lot of pictures of damage to property at night so most of it is only a few feet away.

I do know a separate flash would be ideal, but that will not be an option. Any suggestions?

[Argote]

Whoa, did you post this on Reddit too? haha

I would recommend the Sony NEX series if budget allows (which for security company, it should).

[Draconian Guppy]

yeah point & shoot + nite shots don't go in teh same sentence.

What ArtOf_War recommends is a mirrorless dSLR, which sony has, so does olympus and now nikon? ( I think i'm forgetting some other brand :p) . Also there's that Fuji X100, though it's flash is greatly underpowered according to many sites.

[sean l]

I'm used to shooting fast moving subject at night (skateboarding) and I can tell you that a point and shoot simply just won't cut it.

When it comes to night photography, it all depends on where you are pointing your lights. If you're standing farther than 5 feet or so away from the subject, the flash won't reach it. Think of it pretty much as a flash light in the distance. The best way to resolve this is to use external static light stands, or external strobe flashes. You then set your lights up to illuminate the subject, and snap away. We use a generator for our lights since we are mobile all the time and it can obviously be hard to find power.

Not sure if flash stands would even work with a point-and-shoot, but there are always static light stands. These can obviously be expensive and put you over budget, but thats probably the best way to do what you're asking.

Hope you are able to get this issue resolved!