Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I'm FINALLY getting around to getting a good digital camera and was wondering if some of you could offer your opinions on what you use.

The one in particular that I'm looking at is the new Canon Digital Elph S300. It is like the S100, but with some new features, such as the ability to record short video.

I know a few of you have the S100 (Hoser...I think you mentioned it once) and was wondering if you liked it.

The BIG question I have is where should I buy it? I stopped by the local Audio King and asked if they had it. They did at $599...which is about $125 more than I've seen it on the web going for. I asked them why it cost so much and they said that most manufacturer's warranties will not be recognized if you purchase from an online dealer, and that there is also not way to tell if it is a refurbished unit or not.

Is that true? It sounds like 'I sell on commision' BS that the sales reps use.

There DOES seem to be a HUGE price difference ranging from $475 - $599 for these things:

http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s300/index.html

What's drawn me to the elph is that is it just so small. It seems to me that I'd just use this more often than any other camera I've looked at.

That said, if anyone else has fallen in love with a different digital camera, please share your experiences!

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I should also add that I'm not against the S100 or S110, either...any thought on those would be equally appreciated.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

hey homer,

you're right, i do have the S100 and i'll restate the "it's one of the best purchases i've ever made" comment. The thing is so small, and the stainless steel body is tough enough that i practically always carry the camera with me (i went out a spent $5 for a small Kodak padded case from Target which fits the S100 perfectly, so it's still a VERY small package).

The 'photostitch' software that comes with the camera is great for creating panoramic shots up to 360 degrees!

the battery lasts forever, and only takes about 2 hours to charge.

the quality of the pictures is more than i need so i'm happy in that area.

i contacted canon because i purchased my s100 back in early march, so i needed to download a firmware update. i was concerned that if something stupid happened, how would my warrenty protect me. i told them i purchased it online and still had all receipts and it wasn't a problem. so i'm guessing that was a 'commission' thing as you suspected.

my friend bought the G1 and the movie recording is cool, but he found that he didn't use it that often and felt that if he wanted to record a movie, he would have bought a digital recorder.

that said, i love my s100 for taking pictures. besides, it can take 4 images a second and there are a few freeware apps out there that allow you to 'paste' together images and create an animated gif. at 4 images a second, that's a pretty smooth gif! no sound though

but then again, i only want to take pictures.

PS: the picture of my dog (avatar) was NOT taken with the S100, but rather with an old, large, clunky kodak 220 (?)

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Stealth-Mod.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 431

Homer,

I did quite a bit of comparison of different models and prices and eventually bought the Canon Powershot G1 last week. I'm very happy with it

You can find a tremendous amount of info about Canons (and other cameras) at Digital Photography Review. The Canon Talk Forum is http://www.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1010

People have some horror stories about buying the cameras from the NY or NJ stores. I bought mine, and a number of accessories, from a couple of different NY/NJ stores. I liked the service at 17th Street Photo (www.17photo.com). Out of the stores that offer low prices (and poor service), one of the most "liked" appears to be dbuys.com. They have the S300 at $497 and the S100 at $414...

Good luck...

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: June 10, 2001 San Clemente Pier , CA
Posts: 211

I too am in the market for a digital camera.
I looked at S100 and S300.

But now I think I will go with the 'new as of today' Olympus Camedia D-510. It 2.1 megpix, 3x optical, 1'8 lcd.

dimensions:
S-300 3.7 X 2.5 X 1.2 8.0 oz
D-510 4.6 X 2.6 X 1.9 8.4 oz

It's mainly a quality/price issue for me.
If you have a 20 year old 35mm, it's still killer.
If you have a 2 year old digicam, it's obsolete.

I think the Olympus will satisfy me till the next 'new' thing. The great part is the longer you shop, the less expensive/more features you'll end up with.
Welcome to the digital age.

Good luck on your choice.

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Thanks for all of the comments!

Hoser, I was wondering how useful the movie feature is, myself. I was originaly planning on getting a digital camcorder, but then I realized that no one ever watches the home videos that they take...so I thought I'd be more productive with a camera.

Actually, the s100 is now discontinued, and is replaced by the s110...which has the video ability as well. (though I'm still trying figure out what the big difference between the s110 and s300 is)

kalahari, what drew you to the G1? What size it it? I notice that it is a 3.3mp camera...which certainly is a step up.

gbgood...can I ask you how much you paid for the Olympus?

I can probably cut my price down to $300 if I go with a different model/brand...but the size of the Powershots is just such a compelling feature that I am willing to shell out more money...EVEN THOUGH I realize that digital cameras have a lifespan of maybe a few years before they pretty much become obsolete.

I have found a few that compare to the size of the elphs, but they typically can only take images at 640x480...in which case, I might as well get an eyemodule.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
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Registered: Dec 2000
Location: June 10, 2001 San Clemente Pier , CA
Posts: 211

DANG!

That's what I forgot!

The price of the Olympus is only $399, and that's why I thought, why not for now, and then spend another $399 in 2 years vs. S300 @ $500 now. You know, technology has trained me this way!

Anyway, I haven't bought it yet but I was researching the S100 and S300 when this digicam came out.
There's a great review of it on StevesDigicams.com (I think??let me know if you can't find it)

AND GUESS WHAT? This week, CompUSA has the Olympus(brand new) for $399 plus a FREE 32mb smc.

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"I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NC, Indiana
Posts: 465

I looked into digital cameras and almost bought the S100. I researched quite a bit and decided it was best for me. I'
d highly recommend any of the digital elph series I think. However, I just couldn't justify buying another camera right now. (I have a very, very clunky Kodak DC3200 that I really dislike at the moment). Go for an Elph!

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-Vincent

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

One more question...

can anyone tell me what the compelling feature differences are between the s110 and the s300? I've looked at several sites and haven't come across the defnining feature diferences between the two models.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: June 10, 2001 San Clemente Pier , CA
Posts: 211

I believe that the biggest improvement besides movie and new print capabilities is the 'adaptive color filter.'

In layman's terms, this is the same color handling as the s-300 which is supposed to FIX the cold/BLUE cast that the 'old' canons had.

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"I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

gbgood...that's really the big difference between the s100 and s110, isn't it?

If you compare the 110 and 300 side-by-side, there really aren't any compelling reasons to go with one over the other:

http://www.powershot.com/cgi-bin/co...pl?checkbox=2,5

(the site is in frames, so I had to pull out just the comparison...FYI the 110 is on the left, the 300 is on the right).

About the only significant differences are that the 110 is smaller, but the 300 has 3x optical zoom (as opposed to the 110's 2x).

Though it does not show in the comparison chart, from what I've read...they also can handle short video clips at 20fps up to a resolution of 640x480.

So, I'm a bit stumped as to why the 300 is $100 more.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Ceasarea, ISRAEL
Posts: 15

Somebody tried to read a CF card with JPEGs formatted by a Canon Digital Camera
( I've got S110 ) on a Visor using the MemPlug module ?
I've tried and it doesn't recognize the format ( says the card is not formatted ).

Thanks
Regards,
Bo.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 14

Just in case people are still interested in the digital Elph...

I just got the Powershot 110. It's fabulous. I had considered a slew of other brands and models, but decided that when it came to size and picture quality, the 110 was the way to go. The 300 is just a bit too big (well not really, but it's bigger), and I don't need the extra zoom. I had originally wanted to buy the Eyemodule2, but didn't like the price/quality ratio. So, I wanted to get something that I would always have with me and that wouldn't be too large.

I have a high end DV camera as well, but I like the idea of being able to shoot a short movie on the my 110. I'm surprised by its quality, and will definitely use it as a tool, and not a novelty.

Finally, I bought mine at www.photoalley.com. I highly recommend them: excellent service (I returned a Pentax I didn't like), free Fedex 2-day shipment, and I got $50 off as well. However, I would purchase accessories such as the battery and compact flash from Buy.com or Amazon -- they're cheaper.

I hear the Olympus is great too, but I'm invested in compact flash, so Canon was my choice. No regrets.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Well, since I started this thread...

I finally decided on the 110 too. Spent the tax rebate on it.

I'm happy. I still think it is a bit overpriced when compared to other models, but they seem to be selling enough of them at this price point, so how can you blame them? Plus, I just couldn't pass up its rugged good looks and compact size!

I was REALLY impressed with the video capability. I thought it would just be a 'gee, that's neat' type of feature, but I can actually see using that feature a lot once I get a bigger memory card...

...which is probably my ONLY gripe about this camera. WHY did they include an 8mb card? Why not drop the price a bit and skip the card, or up the price a bit and give us a 32 or 64 mb card? I doubt anyone uses the 8mb card, as you pretty much need to upgrade to a bigger card if you plan on going on vacation. So now I'm stuck with an unused 8mb card. (and a cheap carrying case/sleave would have been nice too...)

Oh...Boris, I'm not sure if the files on the card are actually jpgs. They may not be converted to JPG until you download them off oc the card. I could be wrong on that, of course.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Ceasarea, ISRAEL
Posts: 15

Well, I finally got it to work:
you should format the card first on the Visor,
then insert it in the camera and start shooting.
Cool thing is that Canon even builds a directory tree.
JPEG loads a bit slow though on the Visor ( when you swap it back )
- but, hey, who's complaining -this interoperability thing is amazing !

Now I've got to figure out how to send emails from the Visor
with the images attached to them. Anybody knows a decent email program
for that, please ?

Regards
Boris.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: June 10, 2001 San Clemente Pier , CA
Posts: 211

BorisBob,
yeah! we all want software that attaches jpegs. The only one I know about is the "BugMe Message" app but I think it only works with eyemodule2. Let us know if you find one!

Also, I presume you are using the memplug with your CF card to view .jpgs? I have the SM version memplug now. Any problems with your version. I understand that there are certain CF cards that won't work with the memplug. Any advice here?

WELL, I TOO ORDERED THE S110, I agree with Homer that the $$$ diff between S110 and S300 isn't worth the only diff of 3X ZOOM, now 6X, that's a diff. Then too, I went to Ritz in the mall to man(wo-man)handle the goods and the zoom is 'oddly' placed on the S300, and you sure can't one-hand it like the S110.

FOR PRICING INFO, I ordered off of the officemax.com site:
* comes with FREE Kingston 32mb CF card bundled with S110 original price $499
* $40 off with online coupon for first-time purchaser (over $200)
* FREE shipping (over $50)
* Price-Matching - sent in mysimon.com site i4digital.com where they show it for $384.99 plus $9.99 shipping

TOTAL: $355 shipped w/32 mb card WOW!!!! ps. they do add tax

For myself, when it arrives, I will wander on down to the retail store and purchase an extended warranty with the xtra $$$.

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"I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

DAMN IT, gbgood!!!

Where were you a week ago!

I think I can still return mine...a savings of $145 + 32 mb! I can't pass that up...

How did you go about getting them to match prices...I can't find that info on their site...

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Ceasarea, ISRAEL
Posts: 15

Gbgood and all,

Yeah, I'm using the MemPlug CF version.
The cards are the 8Mb Canon that came with the camera
( useful for making backups for the Visor ) and the 128 Mb
Sandisk that I bought for the camera.

No problems so far ( touch wood ).

Regards
Boris.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

I'm glad you guys are enjoying your canons. I too just shopped for a digital camera and decided on the Olympus D510 zoom. Here's the details in case anyone is curious...

Best price I could find was $329, with free shipping and no tax. Yes, it was a NY store. They required you to call them after placing your on-line order for "verification". What it really was for was so they could try and talk you into more related merchandise. They offered me a 3yr. extended warranty for $50, but couldn't explain who, how, or where I'd have to send it to to get the camera serviced under that warranty. I said "no thanks". They offered a "starter" kit with case, recharger, batteries, baby tripod and lens cleaner for $50. I got exactly that at the local Staples for $29. They offered 64meg compact flash cards for $79. I said "no thanks" knowing that the camera actually used smartmedia cards. Kinda funny how inept a try at sales this ploy turned out to be. The guy suggested when I first called that indeed my camera was packaged and would ship out that day. Before saying goodbye, though, he somewhat angrily assured me my camera would ship out "within a week", and was I sure I didn't want that extended warranty?

Anyway, my D510 arrived in three days, and is wonderful. It too does short .MOVies, although I haven't thought of a real need for them yet. The manual features are amazing, letting me set the exposure, film speed, lighting type, flash use, etc. It'll shoot pictures up to 1600x1200 TIF, and down to 640x480 highly compressed JPG. The default 1280x1024 HQ JPG looks amazing, and prints photo-real at 5x7 on a 1200dpi inkjet with photo paper. Older olympus cameras were strictly serial for connecting to a PC. This model does USB, and came with a USB cable. CAMEDIA photo editing software was also included. Once plugged into the USB port of a win PC the PC considers the camera a "removable hard drive". Files can easily be copied to and from the SM card in the camera. There a 3x optical zoom, which make getting the picture perfectly framed easy. The camera also has a macro setting, which lets you get within about 6" of the subject to be photographed. You can still zoom in from there, which will make the smallest flowers fill the screen.

While it takes a big pocket to fit my Olympus into, I don't regret getting it. I got that $29 "kit" from Staples. The included leather case has a pocket perfect for the camera, and a second zippered section with mesh pockets perfect for spare batteries, SM cards, and my lens cloth. It came with both a shoulder strap and a belt hook, so I can carry it however I chose.

My point? If you're still looking for a digital camera, check out the Olympus D510 zoom. It impresses the heck out of me.

Dave

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

BEFORE purchaseing at a NY store, be sure to read about it at http://www.photo.net

Most of those NY places are in business solely to try and rip you off. A lot of them sell un-advertised refurbs/older models/etc...

Be careful!

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
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