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Best discontinued Canon ultracompact?

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Christina43365

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Hello all...I currently own a Canon Powershot S45, which takes excellent photos but is a bit bulky to stick in a purse or a pocket. I'd like to get a compact camera that I can just take around with me for casual occasions, and I thought that buying a model that has been discontinued might be a way to save a few dollars. However, so many more models have come (and gone) since I bought my S45 that I'm not sure where to start. I thought some of you might be able to help me decide what's the best blend of price and features.

I will say that I love the A series cameras, and if I didn't already have an S45 I'd buy one of those, but I they are bulkier than what I'm looking for. I'm looking from something in the Ixus/Elph size range.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
I would have suggested an A610 or A620 if you could find one but they are probably a little too bulky for you so I would suggest an SD700IS or the S80.
--
Bert D
 
Thank you both for replying so quickly! Giraffe, I think the S80 is still a little larger than what I'm looking for, though it seems to be a very nice camera. The other one you mentioned is perhaps a little more than I wanted to pay, but I'll investigate further.

Isabel, loved your gallery, loved the pets! Those kinds of moments are the ones I'm hoping to capture. As much as I like my S45, and as much as I like having aperture and shutter control, I think I would just take more pictures if I had the camera with me as opposed to tucked in a desk drawer. I wish there didn't have to be that tradeoff, but, that's the way things are. The S410 form factor is what I'm looking for.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
If you can live with the much slower speed and very small screen (it's getting a bit old now - the newer sexier ones blitz it for speed, design and screen size) you won't be disappointed with the S400. Probably still one of the best compact P&S Canon have produced purely in terms of image quality.

If you don't need more than 4MP (e.g to make large prints) it would be a great choice. (If you can still find one)
 
A friend (not just Isabel!) has a S410, and it routinely takes wonderful photos. Sharp, clear, nicely saturated, and with the right kind of colour temperature that makes things look great. Put in a 1GB CF card and you are good to go for hundreds and hundreds of full-res photos.

I have a Canon S70, which is an excellent upgrade to the S45 (which was my first camera). A little slimmer but a little longer than the S45, it take gorgeous photos with its wide angle lens.

But if you want something smaller, with better movie quality, I'd suggest the Canon SD300/Ixus40, if you can still get one. Another friend has one of those, and it takes better photos than the 5mp model that came out later. And it's even smaller than the S410.

I love the photo quality of my S45, and I've been looking for something that will give me the same photo quality, but with better movies, faster speed, and in a smaller form. I am almost there with the Casio Z750, although the photos aren't quite as good as the S45's. I am closer to it with my Fuji F30, which takes better photos than the Casio, but still lacks that special 'something'. I was hoping that the F30 would be my 'S45 upgrade', but it isn't. It's a different camera altogether.
--
Archiver - Recording the sights and sounds of life
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archiver/
 
I agree the s400 has excellent pic quality and bested several new ultra compacts I tried that had more megapixels. I know this a Canon forum, but I settled on the Olympus sp350, which is available at Costco for $199. It has an excellent grip...no oops and smashed camera, 8 megapixels, 2.5 in. lcd, small optical finder, external flash mount,and all the controls of s45 and then some. It's small and light, but not mini. Just check to see if you need the firmware download for AA rechargeable batteries. I recommend the lithium rechargeable cr-v3. It's a bit slow on write speeds, but it's a terrific value with excellent pics for $199.

Greg
 
Yes the S410 is the S400 plus a "direct print" button. Otherwise they are completely identical.
 
slydog said:
If you can live with the much slower speed and very small screen
(it's getting a bit old now -
Click to expand...
It can be slow at times (especially at tele-macro range which required very good light) and the screen is small (it never bothered me) compared to the big LCD's nowadays but the S400 IQ was great. I had full confidence in the way it metered and exposed images. The way it made blue skies shine made me feel as though it had a "built-in" polarizer or something. Images were sharp straight out-of-camera. It was a fun camera to use.

http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/canon_s400_gallery
slydog said:
the newer sexier ones blitz it for
speed, design and screen size) you won't be disappointed with the
S400. Probably still one of the best compact P&S Canon have
produced purely in terms of image quality.
Click to expand...
I can't compare it to the rest because I've only tried the S200 and S400. I likely would still be using it if I hadn't lost it.
slydog said:
If you don't need more than 4MP (e.g to make large prints) it would
be a great choice. (If you can still find one)
Click to expand...
--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

 
Isabel Cutler said:
I carry it on my belt and barely know it's there.
Amazing low light high ISO no flash performance.
Click to expand...
How good is the camera compared to some of the P&S you've used? Which gallery has images taken with the F30?
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
Isabel
--
'Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a significant
crop' Ansel Adams
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
http://www.pbase.com/digipets (not only for pet digital photography!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digicamvideo/
Click to expand...
--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

 
Isabel Cutler said:
The FJ30 has the definite edge in the low light high ISO department
but the A610 reins in bright sunlight.

See my F30 gallery here:
http://upload.pbase.com/edit_gallery/isabel95/fujifilmf30
Click to expand...
Your gallery really shows off the low light capability of the F30. You're shooting at ISO 800 and ISO 1600 and at the reduced size look quite impressive. Did you use noise-reduction software on most of them? Particularly this shot, very impressive ISO 1600.
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95/image/69509847

I did see one full sized image at ISO 800 (B+W) I think, and you can see the in-camera noise reduction artifacts but once resized I think it is quite fine.

Before I went to your gallery I did a quick read of the review here at dpreview and see that blown highlights was mentioned as a possible issue in some shooting situations. How prevalent is this blown highlight thing with the F30 in sunny or normal daylight shooting conditions and does adjusting the EC control it?
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
Isabel
--
'Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a significant
crop' Ansel Adams
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
http://www.pbase.com/digipets (not only for pet digital photography!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digicamvideo/
Click to expand...
--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

 
i checked out the image you asked about...and all I did was resize down...didn't even sharpen it after resize down.

That is not always the case with ISO 1600 shots, but with this one I didn't need it.

As with EVERY digital camera I've owned, and I've lost count, I have to make a negative exposure compensation to keep highlights from blowing out. It's just the way digital cameras are.

I have no experience with "Pro" models and perhaps their dynamic range is broader, but as far as I know you have to underexpose images to stop highlights from blowing out...and then regain shadow detail in the too-dark areas when you edit.

Isabel
--

'Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a significant crop' Ansel Adams
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
http://www.pbase.com/digipets (not only for pet digital photography!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digicamvideo/
 
Isabel Cutler said:
i checked out the image you asked about...and all I did was resize
down...didn't even sharpen it after resize down.
Click to expand...
That is impressive even if it's not the case with other ISO 1600 shots from the F30. I think you're selling me on this camera for low-light or any light except direct sunlight. Will need to revisit Adorama online again.
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
That is not always the case with ISO 1600 shots, but with this one
I didn't need it.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't by any chance have a full-sized crop from an area on this image and one from a more typical ISO 1600 shot?
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
As with EVERY digital camera I've owned, and I've lost count, I
have to make a negative exposure compensation to keep highlights
from blowing out. It's just the way digital cameras are.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, I'm quite aware of this. So, the blown highlights only happen if no negative exposure compensation is set (or a lot of -EC needed)?
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
I have no experience with "Pro" models and perhaps their dynamic
range is broader, but as far as I know you have to underexpose
images to stop highlights from blowing out...and then regain shadow
detail in the too-dark areas when you edit.
Click to expand...
Pro model? Are we still talking about P&S?
Isabel Cutler62850 said:
Isabel
--
'Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a significant
crop' Ansel Adams
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
http://www.pbase.com/digipets (not only for pet digital photography!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digicamvideo/
Click to expand...
--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

 
.... and I third the S410. I have the A610 and the S1 IS but took the S410 to Cypress Gardens today because of it's small size and rides on my belt. I was astounded yet again when I downloaded the pictures. Every one was a keeper (0ut of 45) with great color and sharpness, even the boats and waterskiers all shot on AUTO.

I doubt I will ever sell the S410 even though I am about to get the A640 or S3 IS also.
 
The F30 is very good at high ISO, but be aware that the reason people often don't do any noise reduction on the shots is because the camera already does it. It's often overdone IMO.

So while the F30 is probably the best compact camera for high ISO shots, it's not as good as it first appears. There is a lot of noise reduction going on, and remember you can't turn it off. It may not be clear in those pictures because they've been resized smaller, but you definitely lose a lot of detail at those higher ISOs. It's a tradeoff - detail vs noise. Not completely of course - the F30 is definitely great at high ISO, but just bear in mind that it takes a much more aggressive approach to noise reduction than the Canons. I personally don't like it as you end up with a smoothed over image, but it seems a lot of people prefer it to a bit of noise in the picture.
 
I really appreciate all this, and I have to say, it makes the decision easier when the suggestions are so wrong in one direction. I just wanted to ask one thing -- I know what you mean when you talk about the LCD being small -- some of the new ones are just dazzling -- but the one on my S45 is pretty small too, and I have dealt with it. But I'm not sure what you mean about the S400/410 being "slow"...do you mean, from shot to shot? Shutter lag?

I will also check out the other brands that were mentioned. I was thinking of sticking to Canon because I'm just more familiar with their style and their cameras, but there's no reason I have to do that.

The only problem I see now is, if everyone loves the S400/410, no one will be selling it! :-)
 
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