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The ultimate SMALL backup camera?

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I went with the A70, a little bigger than the S400. Though it is not so much of a backup as it is a camera for the wife and kids to use.
DavidP said:
I had just about decided that I wanted the Canon S400 as my
ultra-portable 3x zoom camera that I could have with me whenever I
wanted.

Then I made the mistake of going to Fry's yesterday, and seeing the
Pentax Optio S.

Wow, that thing makes the S400 look HUGE.

It will fit into a box of Altoids!

It's "only" 3.2 megapixels (compared to 4.0), and uses something
other than CF, but that's not a big deal. It can only do 30 second
movies (compared to 3 minutes), but that's that a big deal, either.

Neither is the shorter batter life, really.

Has anybody compared the images from these two cameras?

Casio makes a tiny one, too, though I believe it's a bit bigger
than the Pentax.

This is smaller than a credit card, and thinner than a deck of
cards. Like I said, it will fit into a box of Altoids!

The S400 could be made to fit into a shirt pocket, but it's still
substantially thicker (1.1" vs. 0.8") than this little Pentax.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
Click to expand...
--
http://www.dphotoforum.com
 
DavidP said:
I'm not looking for something that will do ambient-light concert
photography. If I were, then the G3 would be the way to go.

I want something small and tiny I can carry with me. Something
with really good DOF (small sensors are good for that), and
hopefully not TOO much red-eye (the S400 seems to have a good
reputation in that regard).

Something for when somebody says "hey, take a picture of us", or
"take a picture of me with this performer", or even when I want a
pic of me with the performer (road manager often takes the pic), I
can use.

Maybe I should just stick with the S400, since I know and trust
Canon, and since the redeye seems to be greatly reduced on that
camera relative to other small ones.
Click to expand...
I was in the same position as you looking for a very small compact as well. I already have a G2 which although is a superb camera to compliment the 10D, is still not very pocketable. Great to grab in a hurry though. I ended up getting a Minolta Dimage Xi which is a great whipout and shoot camera. I like the quality for the size and the fact it is ready to shoot around 1 second after pressing the on button. Seems economical on the batteries as well. Uses MM or SD cards of which I have a few.

Bob
 
Surprised it didn't come up in your sales confirmation, especially if you'd paid it before on your computers.

I was tempted to get one of the Dell deals. But, those come around every week or so. Plus, I found a place (that has a lot of good reviews) that will give me that same price (same price as buying from Dell WITH tax, that is) any day of the week.

So, I figured there was no real reason to rush.

Did you order an extra battery or any kind of case for it?
Nill Toulme said:
It didn't come up on the sale confirmation, but seems like I've
paid it on my computers. I don't remember. You're in TX though,
so you'd definitely have to, I guess.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
It is amazing that I have taken more memorable pics with PS than with my DSLR. I also keep the sharpening in camera since I do not spent too much time. but the quality of noise reduction in canon are incredible.
 
What if I start liking my pics from the S400 better than from my 1D's?

Arrrrrrrgh!

LOL.
JasperF said:
It is amazing that I have taken more memorable pics with PS than
with my DSLR. I also keep the sharpening in camera since I do not
spent too much time. but the quality of noise reduction in canon
are incredible.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
I don't think that you will start to like your pics from the S400 instead of your 1D. ;) But, you will definetly have great pics that you might not have gotten because you will be able to carry the S400 with you all the time. I have the S200 and it's a great camera. Small enough to fit in my back pocket and take everywhere.
Dean
DavidP said:
Arrrrrrrgh!

LOL.
JasperF said:
It is amazing that I have taken more memorable pics with PS than
with my DSLR. I also keep the sharpening in camera since I do not
spent too much time. but the quality of noise reduction in canon
are incredible.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
Click to expand...
 
Hi David,

A friend of mine purchased an S230 about a week ago. I loved the size and ordered an S400. HOWEVER, many of the S230 images had spots all over them. They varied is size and location frame to frame. The Canon rep. said he had not seen that problem before and that it must be dust between the lens and the sensor. The dealer exchanged the camera. Last night one of the two photos my friend took also had the spots. So it is back to the dealer tomorrow. Now I am getting worried about the S400 that will arrive tomorrow. I have already purchased a belt pouch for the camera!!!! When others whip out their cell phone, I can whip out my camea....LOL

Bill Branham
http://members.aol.com/Wsbranham/Page1.html
 
You seriously put it in your back pocket?
Mr. Dean said:
I don't think that you will start to like your pics from the S400
instead of your 1D. ;) But, you will definetly have great pics
that you might not have gotten because you will be able to carry
the S400 with you all the time. I have the S200 and it's a great
camera. Small enough to fit in my back pocket and take everywhere.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
another facts is that you usually do not print the PS shots and they are ment for computers, and if you do they are small sizes. On computers with canon S45 I have a hard time finding the difrences in DSLR and PS canon in the first glance. stay away from non canon PS since they have not mastered the noise reduction art as canon yet. usually you do not want to warm up the camera to body temp of 37 , so do not keep it in pocket anywhere, rather than the small cases with srip around your neck away from body heat. so you would notice in this case the small size differences are not important anymore.
 
Yup! Just don't forget to take it out before you sit! ;) I sat on it a couple of times...but no problems so far. It's a tough little camera.
DavidP said:
Mr. Dean said:
I don't think that you will start to like your pics from the S400
instead of your 1D. ;) But, you will definetly have great pics
that you might not have gotten because you will be able to carry
the S400 with you all the time. I have the S200 and it's a great
camera. Small enough to fit in my back pocket and take everywhere.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
Click to expand...
 
JasperF said:
another facts is that you usually do not print the PS shots and
they are ment for computers, and if you do they are small sizes. On
computers with canon S45 I have a hard time finding the difrences
in DSLR and PS canon in the first glance. stay away from non canon
PS since they have not mastered the noise reduction art as canon
yet. usually you do not want to warm up the camera to body temp of
37 , so do not keep it in pocket anywhere, rather than the small
cases with srip around your neck away from body heat. so you would
notice in this case the small size differences are not important
anymore.
Click to expand...
Really? I didn't know that heat would affect the pictures. I've never noticed that. I always have the camera in my pocket and even go to the beach with it. Then i just take it to Costco and have 4x6s made from the CF card. I haven't noticed any noise, but I better go back and look at my prints.
Dean
 
I ordered a 1200 mAh (vs. 840mAh for the Canon battery) from http://www.batterybarn.com/nb1l.htm , $43.95 shipped.

For the case I was going to get this:

http://www.lowepro.com/pages/series/dres/dres8s.htm

I have the same case in a slightly larger size for my Pentax 928 and like it a lot -- in fact went thru two or three others before I settled on it -- altho that one has the little AW condom and this smaller one does not.

But B&H is out of stock on it, so I'll see what turns up. I'm thinking the camera might fit nicely in the little leather case that came with my old Zeiss 8x20B binocs.

Nill
~~
http://www.toulme.net
DavidP said:
Did you order an extra battery or any kind of case for it?
Click to expand...
 
Hello Nill,

Canon also makes a nice small tight fitting black leather case for the S230 and S400 models. The dealer gave me one when I purchased an S230 last year, I don't think they would be that expensive either.

Regards,
CS
 
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