On 21 Aug 2006 02:12:07 -0700, wrote:

I have a basic 3 mp digicam (SD200 or IXUS 30). When I take pictures
of the skyline at night, it's blurry and sometimes it has fuzzy dots.
After reading the manual, I understand I have 3 choices in fixing my
problem. Turn on the 'long shutter' option, but the manual states that
it would add noise to the picture. The next option is the ISO speed.
I understand that the higher the ISO speed, the more image noise it
creates. The third option is 'exposure compensation', I'm not sure if
this applies.

I think I would need a tripod for night shots don't I? Then turn on
the 'long shutter' mode then move the ISO speed to the slowest speed as
possible. Is this all I could do for now? Thanks for the help.

Do you want to find out if you need to get a tripod? Try taking
the same shot during dawn or dusk, with the same long shutter speed
that you needed for the night shots. This might require you to
select the lowest ISO and the camera's smallest aperture. Take a
couple of shots this way. Then take another couple with the same
settings, but using the self-timer and with the camera propped on a
bean bag or something similar to keep it steady. If the handheld
shots are blurrier (they should be) then you need to use a tripod.

If you think that you'll often take night shots, keep in mind when
looking for your next camera that some have a special "dark frame
subtraction" feature that can greatly improve night shots that use
long exposures.