Canon PowerShot S410 (Digital IXUS 430)

Opinion: This is my third camera (previously owned two Olympus compacts).

This camera is a great to carry with you all the time. It's compact (although not so light), stylish, easy to operate and takes great pictures.

The camera is nearly excellent, so I will mostly mention con's, the reasons why I gave it a non-5 marks:

Construction: with all that metal case and all, the LCD still comes unprotected against fingerprints and scratches. Transparent cover or tilt LCD woud be great.

Features: You can't even see the aperture/shutter settings used to take the picture, not to mention set it manually, forget about that. Histogram could be a nice feature, but I'd vote for a/s.

Image quality: with a small lens like that don't expect great shots in low light. I personally hate to use flash, therefore it is a serious limitation.

Opinion: After researching specifications and trying out cameras at every camera store in downtown Toronto for a year, I narrowed my interest to Pentax's Optio S4 and the Canon S410 Elph. At the time I was ready to purchase, Optio S4 prices dropped to CDN $390 so the Pentax was attractive for size and price.
I chose the Canon S400 because portability and picture quality we're my primary concerns and the S400 satisfied both of these nicely. The following additional features later convinced my to upgrade to the S410:
-Macro focus range dropped to 5cm from 10cm - and macro shots are MUCH better
-A low temperature LCD screen was added to conserve battery life
-The image processing software was slightly newer and better
-Canon discontinued the S400 and so I felt I'd get better service with a newer model
-An extra year and iteration of the Elph to address usability feedback
-direct print button that is handier then expected
-A high-speed CF card included so you can make movies before purchasing a bigger CF card.
-Rapid start-up time

For those debating between the S410 and S4, here's my opinion after trying a buddy's S4 for a day. The S410 has:
- Better overall picture quality
- Much better indoor autofocusing and low light picture quality
-undetectable noise levels
-seamless stitchassist software
-cheaper memory
-faster images processing times
-scratch-resistant cerabrite cover that doesn't keep fingerprints on it.
-properly placed power and shutter buttons to avoid inadvertant power off's
-a more ergonomic feel and more weight so you don't feel like your going to drop it

Opinion: Great!!! Great!!!! Great!!!!