Stylus 400 vs S400

This is my second day with the Stylus 400 and I find it about the same as the Stylus 300, except it is slighly sharper. I have still been looking at the Canon S400 which sounds like a great camera from reading the reviews and user comments.

I have looked at the different photos posted on this site and others and I find that even though the photos are nice, they tend to be softer than what I have been use to with Olympus digicams. From reading various post on the Canon site, it seems that they like their photos soft and they feel they can sharpen in PS. I am just wondering if other people see a difference like I do, and which way do you like it, soft focus like the Canon or sharp edge like the Olympus?

It looks like there are trade offs no matter which way one decides. So far I like Olympus, but those features in such a small package on the S400 sounds so tempting. Another thing I don't understand, is the fact that all the reviewers give very high marks to Canon's S400 picture quality. Am I missing something and not seeing what everyone else sees?
--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

See what the S400 can do in capable hands -- BobS' S400 gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/mofongo/s400

Likely sharpened in post-processing -- he liked to do a hit, sometimes two of USM 500/0.2/0 with his Uzi shots.

Be careful though... Stylus 300.... Stylus 400.... S400.... next thing you know you'll be toting around a 10D with a full size 400m lens. ;-)

Bob's S400 gallery was excellent. The photos were clean and fairly sharp, not as sharp as Olympus type cameras. It looks like it is a matter of taste. My concern now is that for the same money as the Stylus 400 I could have the Canon S400, which has a lot more features.

Both cameras are slick. With the Stylus you have pixel remapping, weatherproofing, sharper out of camera photos. The S400 you have other benefits and features. Like I said before, everything is a trade-off.

I want a small camera to put in my shirt pocket and either camera will do that. I liked the idea of the assist focus light, but the reviews stated that did not work well. Focusing would be the most important issue between both cameras. The Stylus does not always focus properly. I say about 2 to 5% of my shots are not completely in focus. Since Canon has had some problems with focus, I wonder if the S400 is doing better on that front. I will make up my mind next week, but it is not easy to change away from Olympus.

What would you do?

Inigo Montoya said:

See what the S400 can do in capable hands -- BobS' S400 gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/mofongo/s400

Likely sharpened in post-processing -- he liked to do a hit,
sometimes two of USM 500/0.2/0 with his Uzi shots.

Be careful though... Stylus 300.... Stylus 400.... S400.... next
thing you know you'll be toting around a 10D with a full size 400m
lens. ;-)

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Gene Miller said:

What would you do?

Click to expand...

That's a real good question. Right now I'm trying to convince myself that I can still get by with my 1.3MP D400z as something to keep with me most of the time, vs buying my fourth camera in a little over 18 months.

My concern with the Stylus series is that I'd be frustrated with limited controls (no shutter/aperture priority).

Also, I currently have no cameras that can use xD media, but two that use CF. That's a fairly strong incentive to go for another CF capable model.

For now I'm still on the fence for even thinking about a purchase, but would probably go with the S400 or something else that takes CF for the above (albeit specific to my situation) reason.

So you didn't mention that you would go one way or the other based on photo quality, but on CF card use and that the S400 you have some additional photographic choices. I guess if I decide to go with the S400, I will use my three xD cards in my CF adapter, plus I have a few other CF cards that I use in my E100rs. The rest of my cards are SM. I'll just have to eat the extra battery I bought for the Stylus. That will be the second extra battery I had to eat. The first was for the Nikon Coolpix which I didn't like and took back and got the C700.

I think I would like the additional features of the S400, but I am not sure I would be satisfied with the soft picture. I would have to USM everything. That would be the time for batching files. Don't be surprise if I end up with a Canon. My last Elph was an APS that I gave to my daughter. My last SLR camera was a Canon EOS, which I sold with the lenses when I bought the C700. The E100rs I never needed, but I couldn't pass up the price at Fry's.

The one thing about these shirt pocket cameras is that it got me shooting pictures again.

Inigo Montoya said:

Gene Miller said:

What would you do?

Click to expand...

That's a real good question. Right now I'm trying to convince
myself that I can still get by with my 1.3MP D400z as something to
keep with me most of the time, vs buying my fourth camera in a
little over 18 months.

My concern with the Stylus series is that I'd be frustrated with
limited controls (no shutter/aperture priority).

Also, I currently have no cameras that can use xD media, but two
that use CF. That's a fairly strong incentive to go for another CF
capable model.

For now I'm still on the fence for even thinking about a purchase,
but would probably go with the S400 or something else that takes CF
for the above (albeit specific to my situation) reason.

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

I shoot "soft" and USM everything now as it is, so that's not as big a factor for me. As for picture quality, I did add "or something else that takes CF". I'm sure that there's something out there comparable to the Stylus if I found that the S400 wasn't. Bob seems pretty happy with his, and given how much he likes his Uzi and E-10 (like I do mine), I'm thinking it's likely a safe bet for me as well. Of course though I may have the same hardware, I still can't get the kinds of shots he consistently turns out.

Why "eat" the extra battery? You can always E-bay it and get something back for it. Same for the xD cards if you're not going to use that media.

That, or hang around the camera counter and walk up to the next person who buys a Stylus and say "pssst! hey buddy... can I interest you in a spare battery and some xD cards?"

Gene Miller said:

This is my second day with the Stylus 400 and I find it about the
same as the Stylus 300, except it is slighly sharper. I have still
been looking at the Canon S400 which sounds like a great camera
from reading the reviews and user comments.

I have looked at the different photos posted on this site and
others and I find that even though the photos are nice, they tend
to be softer than what I have been use to with Olympus digicams.
From reading various post on the Canon site, it seems that they
like their photos soft and they feel they can sharpen in PS. I am
just wondering if other people see a difference like I do, and
which way do you like it, soft focus like the Canon or sharp edge
like the Olympus?

It looks like there are trade offs no matter which way one decides.
So far I like Olympus, but those features in such a small package
on the S400 sounds so tempting. Another thing I don't understand,
is the fact that all the reviewers give very high marks to Canon's
S400 picture quality. Am I missing something and not seeing what
everyone else sees?

Click to expand...

I had an A40 (Canon) and the reviews said the same things, glorious wonderful picture quality, I still to this day look at the very sample shots at the review sites and ask myself whether they are really talking about THESE pics? I have actually run into one person on rec photo digital who thought the A70 pic was "sharper" than the Stylus 300 pic of the house on Imaging Rescource. That confounded me? Sometimes I wonder if people see differently...like ya know when some people like blondes and somepeople like brunettes hehe. I dunno.

But I was just looking at the little Cnet banner tht's always on the forum page and it has a price of 375 for the C-50! I think it has a boatload of features. I don't know if it has the range of sharpening settings as say the 5050 though. I myself prefer NO sharpening these days, I never had the opportunity to see the benefits of absolutely no sharpening and then post sharpening on my own because the A40 and I think all Canons have as their minimum setting just a "lower" sharpening setting. I would either have sero sharpening or the preferred amount right out of the camera, but not any in between.

Gene Miller77510 said:

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

ps - and if you do try out the s400, give it a thourough torture test as to focussing. Having had another good digicam, your stylus's you should have something to compare it's focussing performance with. I had many many out of focus pics ith my A40, and there are a lot of threads about focus troubles with the s400 too.

Andy Landfather said:

Gene Miller said:

This is my second day with the Stylus 400 and I find it about the
same as the Stylus 300, except it is slighly sharper. I have still
been looking at the Canon S400 which sounds like a great camera
from reading the reviews and user comments.

I have looked at the different photos posted on this site and
others and I find that even though the photos are nice, they tend
to be softer than what I have been use to with Olympus digicams.
From reading various post on the Canon site, it seems that they
like their photos soft and they feel they can sharpen in PS. I am
just wondering if other people see a difference like I do, and
which way do you like it, soft focus like the Canon or sharp edge
like the Olympus?

It looks like there are trade offs no matter which way one decides.
So far I like Olympus, but those features in such a small package
on the S400 sounds so tempting. Another thing I don't understand,
is the fact that all the reviewers give very high marks to Canon's
S400 picture quality. Am I missing something and not seeing what
everyone else sees?

Click to expand...

I had an A40 (Canon) and the reviews said the same things, glorious
wonderful picture quality, I still to this day look at the very
sample shots at the review sites and ask myself whether they are
really talking about THESE pics? I have actually run into one
person on rec photo digital who thought the A70 pic was "sharper"
than the Stylus 300 pic of the house on Imaging Rescource. That
confounded me? Sometimes I wonder if people see differently...like
ya know when some people like blondes and somepeople like brunettes
hehe. I dunno.

But I was just looking at the little Cnet banner tht's always on
the forum page and it has a price of 375 for the C-50! I think it
has a boatload of features. I don't know if it has the range of
sharpening settings as say the 5050 though. I myself prefer NO
sharpening these days, I never had the opportunity to see the
benefits of absolutely no sharpening and then post sharpening on my
own because the A40 and I think all Canons have as their minimum
setting just a "lower" sharpening setting. I would either have sero
sharpening or the preferred amount right out of the camera, but not
any in between.

Andy Landfather said:

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

Hi Gene,

I also own the S400 and while the primary reason for buying it was it's size and image abilities I also took into accounts that it used Compact Flash and the Stylus 400 did not. Seeing as I own an UZI that uses Smart Media and an E10 that uses Compact Flash AND Smart Media it was to me the best way to go.

I do not know how sharp you want your photos to be but this is sharp enough for me with the S400.

Andy Landfather said:

Andy Landfather said:

Gene Miller said:

This is my second day with the Stylus 400 and I find it about the
same as the Stylus 300, except it is slighly sharper. I have still
been looking at the Canon S400 which sounds like a great camera
from reading the reviews and user comments.

I have looked at the different photos posted on this site and
others and I find that even though the photos are nice, they tend
to be softer than what I have been use to with Olympus digicams.
From reading various post on the Canon site, it seems that they
like their photos soft and they feel they can sharpen in PS. I am
just wondering if other people see a difference like I do, and
which way do you like it, soft focus like the Canon or sharp edge
like the Olympus?

It looks like there are trade offs no matter which way one decides.
So far I like Olympus, but those features in such a small package
on the S400 sounds so tempting. Another thing I don't understand,
is the fact that all the reviewers give very high marks to Canon's
S400 picture quality. Am I missing something and not seeing what
everyone else sees?

Click to expand...

I had an A40 (Canon) and the reviews said the same things, glorious
wonderful picture quality, I still to this day look at the very
sample shots at the review sites and ask myself whether they are
really talking about THESE pics? I have actually run into one
person on rec photo digital who thought the A70 pic was "sharper"
than the Stylus 300 pic of the house on Imaging Rescource. That
confounded me? Sometimes I wonder if people see differently...like
ya know when some people like blondes and somepeople like brunettes
hehe. I dunno.

But I was just looking at the little Cnet banner tht's always on
the forum page and it has a price of 375 for the C-50! I think it
has a boatload of features. I don't know if it has the range of
sharpening settings as say the 5050 though. I myself prefer NO
sharpening these days, I never had the opportunity to see the
benefits of absolutely no sharpening and then post sharpening on my
own because the A40 and I think all Canons have as their minimum
setting just a "lower" sharpening setting. I would either have sero
sharpening or the preferred amount right out of the camera, but not
any in between.

Andy Landfather said:

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

Click to expand...

I have looked at a number of Canon cameras and checked
out the sample pictures people have posted and I always see
the same problem -- the digital grays. Pictures from the Canon
cameras have a very slightly drab look (so do those from some
other manufacturers). So, in addition to sharpening the pictures
from the camera, I would also be tweaking the white balance
a little bit in post-processing.

Olympus is famous for their superb color quality in virtually all
their cameras. I can't be sure about a sharpness difference, but
I see really excellent color in all the pictures posted from the new
Stylus cameras (and the C740 & C750 which all seem to use the
same new sensors).

In my opinion, picture quality is more than any one thing -- I'd go
with the camera that gives you the pictures you like to look at.

Darrell

Well, this morning I returned the Stylus 400 and picked up the Canon S400. So far my initial impression is very good. The Stylus 300 and 400 were very good cameras and if one needs a weatherproof camera that takes great photos, I would still recommend the Stylus. But so far I think I will like the S400 better, but will have to give it a good testing. Since this is Olympus Talk, I will not continue to talk about Canon here. I will come back from time to time and tell you my impressions of using both cameras. I will probably be doing more posting on the Canon site which will be new to me. Everyone take care, and right now I am having a great time.

Inigo Montoya said:

I shoot "soft" and USM everything now as it is, so that's not as
big a factor for me. As for picture quality, I did add "or
something else that takes CF". I'm sure that there's something out
there comparable to the Stylus if I found that the S400 wasn't.
Bob seems pretty happy with his, and given how much he likes his
Uzi and E-10 (like I do mine), I'm thinking it's likely a safe bet
for me as well. Of course though I may have the same hardware, I
still can't get the kinds of shots he consistently turns out.

Why "eat" the extra battery? You can always E-bay it and get
something back for it. Same for the xD cards if you're not going
to use that media.
That, or hang around the camera counter and walk up to the next
person who buys a Stylus and say "pssst! hey buddy... can I
interest you in a spare battery and some xD cards?"

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Gene Miller said:

I will not continue to talk about Canon here. I will come back from time to
time and tell you my impressions of using both cameras. I will
probably be doing more posting on the Canon site which will be new
to me. Everyone take care, and right now I am having a great time.

Click to expand...

Have fun with it, and please do come back with follow-up comparisons.
Good luck in that "other" forum.

Inigo Montoya said:

Gene Miller said:

What would you do?

Click to expand...

That's a real good question. Right now I'm trying to convince
myself that I can still get by with my 1.3MP D400z as something to
keep with me most of the time, vs buying my fourth camera in a
little over 18 months.

My concern with the Stylus series is that I'd be frustrated with
limited controls (no shutter/aperture priority).

Also, I currently have no cameras that can use xD media, but two
that use CF. That's a fairly strong incentive to go for another CF
capable model.

For now I'm still on the fence for even thinking about a purchase,
but would probably go with the S400 or something else that takes CF
for the above (albeit specific to my situation) reason.

Click to expand...

--
Dave,
WHY I BOUGHT THE STYLUS 400
...Weatherproof..great for pool or beach
...Great looks and feel
...scene mode...works great but wish there was an action mode
...Neat 2-1 pic mode

Cons
...very weak flash
...not the best autofocus

Overall...just what i wanted...I have missed alot of shots at the beach,pool,inclement weather etc..yjis is a little gem that feels so solid and sexy in your hands with an incredible battery.It slips in the pants pocket very nicely.The S400 may have more features and take slighly better pics but its not weatherproof and thats what I wanted...very happy with it.

http://www.pbase.com/dsg2/daves_pictures

Gene:

Look forward to seeing you in the Canon forum. I had a Stylus 400 for 3 weeks and traded it in for a Canon S50, and couldn't be happier.

Gene Miller said:

Inigo Montoya said:

I shoot "soft" and USM everything now as it is, so that's not as
big a factor for me. As for picture quality, I did add "or
something else that takes CF". I'm sure that there's something out
there comparable to the Stylus if I found that the S400 wasn't.
Bob seems pretty happy with his, and given how much he likes his
Uzi and E-10 (like I do mine), I'm thinking it's likely a safe bet
for me as well. Of course though I may have the same hardware, I
still can't get the kinds of shots he consistently turns out.

Why "eat" the extra battery? You can always E-bay it and get
something back for it. Same for the xD cards if you're not going
to use that media.
That, or hang around the camera counter and walk up to the next
person who buys a Stylus and say "pssst! hey buddy... can I
interest you in a spare battery and some xD cards?"

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

For the beach, poolside, and bad weather, there is nothing like the Stylus. The Stylus 300 was excellent and the few days I had the Stylus 400 it was even a little better than the 300.

The only reason I switched was because the hasp on the door to the xD card broke off. The camera would still work, but it would not be weatherproof. The manager of the store was kind enough to let me return the camera. I decided to go for the Stylus 400, but I kept thinking about that little hasp, that I was going to break it off again, and decided even though I liked the Stylus, I need to change cameras all together. I believe it was my fault why it broke, but I think Olympus could of came up with a better design for that hasp that locks that door. If it wasn't for that, I still would of had the Stylus.

You are right about the focus on the Stylus. It could of been better. But most of the time it focused good. So far the S400 focusing is better based on the shots I have taken so far. The assist focus light is out of alignment and from reading the threads on the Canon Forum, it is a wide spread problem. Some report the alignment is good, so it is not bad for everyone.

David Gore said:

WHY I BOUGHT THE STYLUS 400
...Weatherproof..great for pool or beach
...Great looks and feel
...scene mode...works great but wish there was an action mode
...Neat 2-1 pic mode

Cons
...very weak flash
...not the best autofocus

Overall...just what i wanted...I have missed alot of shots at the
beach,pool,inclement weather etc..yjis is a little gem that feels
so solid and sexy in your hands with an incredible battery.It slips
in the pants pocket very nicely.The S400 may have more features and
take slighly better pics but its not weatherproof and thats what I
wanted...very happy with it.

http://www.pbase.com/dsg2/daves_pictures

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Right now I feel the same about my new S400. I have been a very strong supporter of Olympus, that now I feel like a traitor. I feel that Canon has made a lot of improvements with their digital cameras, at least with this S400 I was supprise to how sharp the picture was. But that does not take away the fact that Olympus cameras and the Stylus are still great cameras.

bmblb said:

Look forward to seeing you in the Canon forum. I had a Stylus 400
for 3 weeks and traded it in for a Canon S50, and couldn't be
happier.

Gene Miller said:

Inigo Montoya said:

I shoot "soft" and USM everything now as it is, so that's not as
big a factor for me. As for picture quality, I did add "or
something else that takes CF". I'm sure that there's something out
there comparable to the Stylus if I found that the S400 wasn't.
Bob seems pretty happy with his, and given how much he likes his
Uzi and E-10 (like I do mine), I'm thinking it's likely a safe bet
for me as well. Of course though I may have the same hardware, I
still can't get the kinds of shots he consistently turns out.

Why "eat" the extra battery? You can always E-bay it and get
something back for it. Same for the xD cards if you're not going
to use that media.
That, or hang around the camera counter and walk up to the next
person who buys a Stylus and say "pssst! hey buddy... can I
interest you in a spare battery and some xD cards?"

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Gene Miller said:

For the beach, poolside, and bad weather, there is nothing like the
Stylus. The Stylus 300 was excellent and the few days I had the
Stylus 400 it was even a little better than the 300.

The only reason I switched was because the hasp on the door to the
xD card broke off. The camera would still work, but it would not be
weatherproof. The manager of the store was kind enough to let me
return the camera. I decided to go for the Stylus 400, but I kept
thinking about that little hasp, that I was going to break it off
again, and decided even though I liked the Stylus, I need to change
cameras all together. I believe it was my fault why it broke, but I
think Olympus could of came up with a better design for that hasp
that locks that door. If it wasn't for that, I still would of had
the Stylus.

You are right about the focus on the Stylus. It could of been
better. But most of the time it focused good.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I was under the impression Oly was just better at focusing due to the fact that my 5050 can focus dead-on in almost any situation wheras my A40 had much much troubles. Now you all say that the Stylus had focus problems. It would not make sense to me that the 5050 could be so good at focus and the stylus be so poor if it was due to electronics, because both of these camera's are made by the same manifacturer and in these days, I wouldn't even let physical size enter into the equation on the electronics aspect of it. That pretty much rules out everything but the lens. Maybe the brightness of the bigger cameras lenses is what helps autofocus. Or maybe the sharpness of the lens...maybe bigger cameras have sharper lenses.

Gene Miller77510 said:

So far the S400
focusing is better based on the shots I have taken so far. The
assist focus light is out of alignment and from reading the threads
on the Canon Forum, it is a wide spread problem. Some report the
alignment is good, so it is not bad for everyone.

David Gore said:

WHY I BOUGHT THE STYLUS 400
...Weatherproof..great for pool or beach
...Great looks and feel
...scene mode...works great but wish there was an action mode
...Neat 2-1 pic mode

Cons
...very weak flash
...not the best autofocus

Overall...just what i wanted...I have missed alot of shots at the
beach,pool,inclement weather etc..yjis is a little gem that feels
so solid and sexy in your hands with an incredible battery.It slips
in the pants pocket very nicely.The S400 may have more features and
take slighly better pics but its not weatherproof and thats what I
wanted...very happy with it.

http://www.pbase.com/dsg2/daves_pictures

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

You are comparing a $240.00 camera to a $ 550.00 camera and you can not compare the two.

Andy Landfather said:

Gene Miller said:

For the beach, poolside, and bad weather, there is nothing like the
Stylus. The Stylus 300 was excellent and the few days I had the
Stylus 400 it was even a little better than the 300.

The only reason I switched was because the hasp on the door to the
xD card broke off. The camera would still work, but it would not be
weatherproof. The manager of the store was kind enough to let me
return the camera. I decided to go for the Stylus 400, but I kept
thinking about that little hasp, that I was going to break it off
again, and decided even though I liked the Stylus, I need to change
cameras all together. I believe it was my fault why it broke, but I
think Olympus could of came up with a better design for that hasp
that locks that door. If it wasn't for that, I still would of had
the Stylus.

You are right about the focus on the Stylus. It could of been
better. But most of the time it focused good.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I was under the impression Oly was just better at
focusing due to the fact that my 5050 can focus dead-on in almost
any situation wheras my A40 had much much troubles. Now you all say
that the Stylus had focus problems. It would not make sense to me
that the 5050 could be so good at focus and the stylus be so poor
if it was due to electronics, because both of these camera's are
made by the same manifacturer and in these days, I wouldn't even
let physical size enter into the equation on the electronics aspect
of it. That pretty much rules out everything but the lens. Maybe
the brightness of the bigger cameras lenses is what helps
autofocus. Or maybe the sharpness of the lens...maybe bigger
cameras have sharper lenses.

Andy Landfather said:

So far the S400
focusing is better based on the shots I have taken so far. The
assist focus light is out of alignment and from reading the threads
on the Canon Forum, it is a wide spread problem. Some report the
alignment is good, so it is not bad for everyone.

David Gore said:

WHY I BOUGHT THE STYLUS 400
...Weatherproof..great for pool or beach
...Great looks and feel
...scene mode...works great but wish there was an action mode
...Neat 2-1 pic mode

Cons
...very weak flash
...not the best autofocus

Overall...just what i wanted...I have missed alot of shots at the
beach,pool,inclement weather etc..yjis is a little gem that feels
so solid and sexy in your hands with an incredible battery.It slips
in the pants pocket very nicely.The S400 may have more features and
take slighly better pics but its not weatherproof and thats what I
wanted...very happy with it.

http://www.pbase.com/dsg2/daves_pictures

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

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http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

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We are talking about the ability of the lens to focus on the subject. When the camera interprets the image correctly and focuses the lens properly, then the picture is as sharp as can be. In low light the Stylus does not have an assist focus light making some situations impossible to take. The S400 has an assist focus light and when that is aligned properly then the S400 focuses well in low light. Right now Canon is having trouble not having the assist focus light aligned correctly and people are going through 4 to 6 cameras to find one good one. My S400 assist focus light is not aligned correctly and I will return it tomorrow for another one. I also wrote Canon an email and will have to see what they have to say.

Every model of camera has certain pros and cons no matter who the manufacture is. Just because the C5050 does a great job focusing in difficult situations, does not mean all Olympus cameras can do that. We are not talking about the quality of the lens, but the ability of the camera to focus on the intended target. Some model do it better than others.

Andy Landfather said:

Gene Miller said:

For the beach, poolside, and bad weather, there is nothing like the
Stylus. The Stylus 300 was excellent and the few days I had the
Stylus 400 it was even a little better than the 300.

The only reason I switched was because the hasp on the door to the
xD card broke off. The camera would still work, but it would not be
weatherproof. The manager of the store was kind enough to let me
return the camera. I decided to go for the Stylus 400, but I kept
thinking about that little hasp, that I was going to break it off
again, and decided even though I liked the Stylus, I need to change
cameras all together. I believe it was my fault why it broke, but I
think Olympus could of came up with a better design for that hasp
that locks that door. If it wasn't for that, I still would of had
the Stylus.

You are right about the focus on the Stylus. It could of been
better. But most of the time it focused good.

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Interesting. I was under the impression Oly was just better at
focusing due to the fact that my 5050 can focus dead-on in almost
any situation wheras my A40 had much much troubles. Now you all say
that the Stylus had focus problems. It would not make sense to me
that the 5050 could be so good at focus and the stylus be so poor
if it was due to electronics, because both of these camera's are
made by the same manifacturer and in these days, I wouldn't even
let physical size enter into the equation on the electronics aspect
of it. That pretty much rules out everything but the lens. Maybe
the brightness of the bigger cameras lenses is what helps
autofocus. Or maybe the sharpness of the lens...maybe bigger
cameras have sharper lenses.

Andy Landfather said:

So far the S400
focusing is better based on the shots I have taken so far. The
assist focus light is out of alignment and from reading the threads
on the Canon Forum, it is a wide spread problem. Some report the
alignment is good, so it is not bad for everyone.

David Gore said:

WHY I BOUGHT THE STYLUS 400
...Weatherproof..great for pool or beach
...Great looks and feel
...scene mode...works great but wish there was an action mode
...Neat 2-1 pic mode

Cons
...very weak flash
...not the best autofocus

Overall...just what i wanted...I have missed alot of shots at the
beach,pool,inclement weather etc..yjis is a little gem that feels
so solid and sexy in your hands with an incredible battery.It slips
in the pants pocket very nicely.The S400 may have more features and
take slighly better pics but its not weatherproof and thats what I
wanted...very happy with it.

http://www.pbase.com/dsg2/daves_pictures

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--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather

Click to expand...

--
C700uz, E100rs, Stylus 300
http://www.pbase.com/gene
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!