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I have narrowed down a short list of small digicams that I am thinking
of purchasing as a second digital camera. (LOL, I still have not
bought my first digital camera. I'm still wasting money and shots on
film and processing.)

At the top of my list are the current 2 Canon ELPHs....the S400 and
the S230. Is there any difference between the optical quality of these
2 cameras besides the fact that the S400 is 4MP and the S230 is only
3.2? I have heard that outdoor automatic S400 pictures are
indistinguishable from Canon G2 pics.

I am also very interested in the Panasonic Lumix LC43. This camera
attracts me because of the Leica lens. The camera is almost as small
as an ELPH, and just as light. Almost no shutter lag. The only thing
that worries me is the sensor size....1/2.5"....is that too small for
a 4MP? There is also a 3.2 MP version of this camera...the LC33. Same
lens same sensor. These cameras had pretty good reviews. See:

http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/pan...43-review.html

How about the Olympus Stylus 400? Or Coolpix 3100?

I have ruled out the Pentax Optio S and the Minolta X series because
of vignetting and poorer image quality than the above cameras.

I have read all the reviews already. I am looking for opinions from
people who have used and/or owned these cameras.

I have the Canon S230 and I love it and I highly recommend it.
It's my first digicam, but I looked into the S400, Olympus S300, the Coolpix
3100 and the Canon A70.
I chose the S230 because it was cheaper than the S400...and still a very
good camera.
The S300 didn't attract me at all.
the Coolpix 3100 was almost the one but it lacked any night time focus
assist lamp and it just wasn't as small.
the A70 was a little too heavy for me to be a small compact camera and I
found the pictures softer than those from the S230.

Another nice thing I like about the S230 is the 15s long shutter.
Overall, I think it's an amazing camera...pretty quick to focus...you can
also lock the focus/exposure...helpful if somebody techy challenged is
taking a picture for you
Quite durable...battery life lasted me a day of shooting (about 73 pictures
that I kept and two little movies...but that's with a lot of
reviewing...deleting as well).
I would've gotten the S400 because of the easier interface (mode dial to
choose shooting mode) and also the 3x zoom lens.....but it didn't have
640x480 video...and it was much more expensive. (close to $200 cnd more).

hope this helps. (pick the S230, you wont be disappointed!)
-J



"Monica Krowley" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> I have narrowed down a short list of small digicams that I am thinking
> of purchasing as a second digital camera. (LOL, I still have not
> bought my first digital camera. I'm still wasting money and shots on
> film and processing.)
>
> At the top of my list are the current 2 Canon ELPHs....the S400 and
> the S230. Is there any difference between the optical quality of these
> 2 cameras besides the fact that the S400 is 4MP and the S230 is only
> 3.2? I have heard that outdoor automatic S400 pictures are
> indistinguishable from Canon G2 pics.
>
> I am also very interested in the Panasonic Lumix LC43. This camera
> attracts me because of the Leica lens. The camera is almost as small
> as an ELPH, and just as light. Almost no shutter lag. The only thing
> that worries me is the sensor size....1/2.5"....is that too small for
> a 4MP? There is also a 3.2 MP version of this camera...the LC33. Same
> lens same sensor. These cameras had pretty good reviews. See:
>
> http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/pan...43-review.html
>
> How about the Olympus Stylus 400? Or Coolpix 3100?
>
> I have ruled out the Pentax Optio S and the Minolta X series because
> of vignetting and poorer image quality than the above cameras.
>
> I have read all the reviews already. I am looking for opinions from
> people who have used and/or owned these cameras.

On 4 Sep 2003 20:47:10 -0700, (Monica Krowley) wrote:

>I have narrowed down a short list of small digicams that I am thinking
>of purchasing as a second digital camera. (LOL, I still have not
>bought my first digital camera. I'm still wasting money and shots on
>film and processing.)
>
>At the top of my list are the current 2 Canon ELPHs....the S400 and
>the S230. Is there any difference between the optical quality of these
>2 cameras besides the fact that the S400 is 4MP and the S230 is only
>3.2? I have heard that outdoor automatic S400 pictures are
>indistinguishable from Canon G2 pics.
>
>I am also very interested in the Panasonic Lumix LC43. This camera
>attracts me because of the Leica lens. The camera is almost as small
>as an ELPH, and just as light. Almost no shutter lag. The only thing
>that worries me is the sensor size....1/2.5"....is that too small for
>a 4MP? There is also a 3.2 MP version of this camera...the LC33. Same
>lens same sensor. These cameras had pretty good reviews. See:
>
>http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/pan...43-review.html
>
>How about the Olympus Stylus 400? Or Coolpix 3100?
>
>I have ruled out the Pentax Optio S and the Minolta X series because
>of vignetting and poorer image quality than the above cameras.
>
>I have read all the reviews already. I am looking for opinions from
>people who have used and/or owned these cameras.

I understand the S-230 is a nice small camera. I bought an S-400
and like it very much.... I previously had an S-100 and liked it
so it was a natural step-up for me get the S-400. Like you, I
bought it as a second camera but I find I take more
photos with it than I do with my G-5 because it is so small.
(I have 3 small grandkids!). I take it with me 'most everywhere
I go. Guess that makes it my first (No. 1) camera and the G-5
my second camera!

Jack Mac