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maxintosh · Oct 19, 2004, 08:46 PM

It's been pretty rainy and dark today, so I've been shooting a lot of dim indoor photographs and other blah-ness. Maybe it will be nicer tomorrow and I can take it out and do some daytime shots.

If you have any questions regarding the camera, let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

Initial Impressions:

GOOD:
Absolutely tiny, very thin, very pocketable
Feels very solidly built
Fast, fast, fast. By far the fastest camera I've ever used. Start-up is about 1 second from off until ready to shoot. Shot-to-shot is very fast as well. Scrolling through images, zooming in, etc. is great
Nice big bright LCD
50 ISO setting (as opposed to my S5000's 200)
Long shutter release time -- up to 15 seconds
It focuses very fast as well, and the amber AF beam really seems to help. My S5000 had a lot of issues focusing in low light, the Canon doesn't seem to have any trouble locking in on most subjects pretty quickly.
Very good detail and no JPEG compression artifacts
Good color balance and contrast
Good balance between sharpness and softness
Overall, very good image quality
Flash surprisingly powerful for the tinyness of the camera
Lots of white-balance settings for different situations
Extremely customizable -- you can record and set your own sounds for camera actions, and set personalized start-up/background images
The whole portrait/landscape sensor thing is pretty nifty
It has some impressive tricks it plays when plugged into my Canon printer; you can print contact sheets, enlargements, photographs on special paper, etc. all from the camera
VERY impressive movie mode, VGA-quality @ 30 fps or half-VGA @ 60 fps; you can also trim and edit the videos from the camera

BAD:
Lens/focus operation a little on the noisy side, but not too grating or intrusive
Can't customize the aperture except through scene modes, but you can set the exposure length (up to 15 seconds)
Images in dim-lit rooms have noisy backgrounds, but I suppose that's just the state of the technology.
Sometimes automatic exposure compensation doesn't lighten up the image enough, especially for landscapes views of indoor shots (they tend to come out a little dark and muddy). You can override the camera's automatic metering though.
Still getting used to the UI... some options are grayed out until you change into other modes, and it's not always entirely clear until consulting the manul
Only 3x zoom... I think I might end up missing the 10x lens, but I mean, this camera is tiny

Overall... seems like a winner for portrait shots and well-lit landscapes. It's no DSLR but for a tiny camera that performs well and takes great pictures... go for it.

maxintosh · Oct 19, 2004, 08:49 PM

I'll try to post some sample shots when I get a chance to go out on a nice day and photograph some things.

Eug Wanker · Oct 19, 2004, 08:55 PM

Thx. I'm looking at getting this. I want to get a small inexpensive stick-in-your-shirt-pocket camera to complement my EOS 20D.

im_noahselby · Oct 19, 2004, 10:23 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
If you have any questions regarding the camera, let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

<<<The whole portrait/landscape sensor thing is pretty nifty>>>

1) Could you please explain what this is?

2) Can you confirm whether or not corner blurriness is evident in your pictures?

3) Continuous shooting @ 2.4 fps until memory card becomes full (with LCD monitor off) and depending on the memory card capacity and speed.

Could you list a few specific brands of SD cards that will work? I don't want to buy the wrong SD card for the advertised "continuous shooting" feature. Links would be great!

I've been planning on buying this camera for weeks now. If only stores in this area would get them!

Thanks,
Noah

maxintosh · Oct 20, 2004, 12:52 AM

Originally posted by im_noahselby:
1) Could you please explain what this is?

2) Can you confirm whether or not corner blurriness is evident in your pictures?

3) Continuous shooting @ 2.4 fps until memory card becomes full (with LCD monitor off) and depending on the memory card capacity and speed.

Could you list a few specific brands of SD cards that will work? I don't want to buy the wrong SD card for the advertised "continuous shooting" feature. Links would be great!

I've been planning on buying this camera for weeks now. If only stores in this area would get them!

Thanks,
Noah

1) The orientation sensor can tell how you're holding the camera when you're taking the picture. So when you play it back, it automatically rotates the picture on-screen to make viewing easier. It can also be used with a little trick to change the color of the clock (just shake the camera in clock mode and the display color changes.)

2) I've read about the blurriness issue but to be honest I couldn't even tell until it was pointed out to me. I can't say that I've noticed any bluriness in the edges of pictures so far. There does appear to be a tiny bit of purple fringing on the edges, but that's pretty standard for compact cameras, and can always be reduced with photoshop.

3) The continuous shooting thing -- on my slow MMC card that I'm using until my Kingston SD card arrives, I'm getting about 2 fps. I think that any major brand (Kingston, SanDisk) will be fine.

maxintosh · Oct 20, 2004, 07:40 PM

Here are a few sample pics:
http://homepage.mac.com/maxintosh/sd200/sd200.html

im_noahselby · Oct 21, 2004, 03:21 AM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Here are a few sample pics:
http://homepage.mac.com/maxintosh/sd200/sd200.html

I noticed the purple fringing in this picture, but it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I only noticed severe bluriness, in the corners of this picture, but this very well may be a macro/focussing issue? Overall, I'm impressed with the recent pictures I've seen from this camera. It seems like it will be a winner. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Now, if only I could get my hands on an SD200...

Noah

im_noahselby · Oct 21, 2004, 04:56 AM

I really hope macro performance isn't weak with this camera. That would be a huge let-down for me. If it is, I may have to consider the tiny Nikon Coolpix 4200. We'll see...

Noah

Lancer409 · Oct 24, 2004, 06:04 PM

anyone wanna host my pics? i'll email 'em to ya .. photobucket always shrinks my pics down to 250k or whatever so i cant upload full blown pics. that .. and it's a hassle uploading with a dodgy internet connection. any takers? or if anyone wants me to take a pic and send it by email if u are curious (ie, hey lancer can u take a shot of a a dollar bill or a coin) .. or .. hey .. can u take a macro shot of blah blah blah) .. i'll try to accomodate in any way (cause i know how it's like to be picture hungry)

im_noahselby · Oct 24, 2004, 08:13 PM

Hey Lancer, are you still planning on doing a mini-review comparing it to the Nikon you just sold? Just curious how the camera stacks up to your old Nikon. Specifically, are you pleased with your macro shots? Is there anything you don't really like about the camera?

Thanks,
Noah

Lancer409 · 08:57 PM

Originally posted by im_noahselby:
Hey Lancer, are you still planning on doing a mini-review comparing it to the Nikon you just sold? Just curious how the camera stacks up to your old Nikon. Specifically, are you pleased with your macro shots? Is there anything you don't really like about the camera?

Thanks,
Noah

It seems as though the Macro was better on the Nikon, but I cant be sure yet (havent taken enough pics, lighting differences .. etc) .. This thing IS small .. and so far .. i dont have any big complaints yet. you can see some dark corners (not very bad and i've overlooked it already, i notice that it's in the nikon pics as well (just as slight) .. i guess i never noticed it until people on those photography forums pointed it out.) (in other words, the corners are similar to the nikons, no worse)

i will say it's quite a bit more complicated than the nikon but ... that one was auto with no settings adjustments and i could do the same with the canon (run it on full auto and it'd be just as simple as the nikon ever was) .. i like being able to tinker with shutter speed and white balance (it does help in some cases!) ...

so ... mainly

1) .. the blurred corners? it's not as bad as those early shots (that were floating around on those photo forums)... on most pictures i dont even notice 'em (so far).

2) there is purple fringing, but it's slight. i've only noticed it on one picture (i took a picture of my watch, and it was about 7 inches from my really bright desklamp. the part that fringed was the glare that reflected off of the watch face (just at the edge of the glare)

i didnt notice it in iphoto until i zoomed in, when i zoomed back out, it was noticeable (because i knew where to look). i'm just a point and shooter so maybe that's why it wasnt glaringly obvious but .. i dont think it's a big deal.

overall .. i've heard people say .. wow for a camera this size it isnt bad ... well .. it's tiny .. and for a regular point and shoot the images arent bad. i guess wait for a full professional review, but i'm a VERY happy camper.

still working on the manual ... i never read the nikon one, because i mainly used auto, and macro only ... so .. heck ...

the screen ... very nice .. going from 1.5 to 2.0 .. this thing looks huge. bright, no dead/stuck pixels. camera is very thin, and yes .. it does match the powerbook!

the side panel is plastic, and even though it looks flat grey .. it's really a pearlized silvery grey white color and it's very slick to the finger .. well ... smooth i guess is what i mean. the macro isnt bad. i'm not sure if i'm using digital macro or regular ... i need to troll through the camera more.

in short, it is almost every bit as good as the old nikon was (it matches the nikons strong points) and exceeds everywhere else except for macro. (the macro isnt bad though .. let me know if u want me to email u some pics ... and if u want full size or shrunken down) ... the macro is sharp enough for me to be happy about..

i dont know what was up with those first batches of pictures on the internet that scared the hell out of all of us .. but the pictures are fine. it's nothing like the horror stories we saw online. i dont know if you are a stickler for fine fine details that i wouldnt notice, so if you guys have any requests for specific shots let me know.

and ... dang .. this thing is FAST!

NightEyes · Oct 25, 2004, 12:29 PM

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a SD200 as my take anywhere digicam and I'm pretty happy with its performance. You can see some shots if you like up on my site at: http://www.homepage.mac.com/glurp/Di...otography.html

Lancer409 · Oct 25, 2004, 01:20 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by NightEyes:
Hi all,

I've recently purchased a SD200 as my take anywhere digicam and I'm pretty happy with its performance. You can see some shots if you like up on my site at: http://www.homepage.mac.com/glurp/Di...otography.html [/QUOTE

hi! .. i've seen you post twice in that photoforum ... nice pics =)... we were all worried that the pics would have very blurry corners and very bad purple fringing ...

speaking of which ... we should go back there and find the $%^& who told showed those horrible pictures in which everything went wrong x5 ... those early pictures ... think it was an sd300 ... those were horrible...

anyways glad you like the camera. i think it's cool ... small fast ... big lcd .. i'm happy with mine

NightEyes · Oct 25, 2004, 02:29 PM

Thanks Lancer. I'm very happy with the SD200. I worried too after seing those initial SD300 posts on DPReview.com, but I haven't anything to worry about in my photos. Glad to hear you are happy with yours as well.

Lancer409 · Nov 2, 2004, 09:58 AM

hmm .. ok, after having it a while, i'm more than happy with the trade. the camera is very small and light. the lcd is huge compared to the nikon's 1.5

purple fringing does show up in pictures, i'm not bothered by it considering how small they shrunk the camera, but it'd be cool if it didnt show up at all ...

the camera is VERY fast. and the options (iso, brightness, white balance etc) is very very cool coming from the 3700 (which was mainly autoshoot and scenemode)

the macro is fine. the nikon had better, but the macro is better than expected on the canon. no regrets at all ... lovely camera. if u were to compare with the nikon .. size wise, the nikon is much larger than this camera.

good luck with your decision noah. i'm still waitinng for more reviews (professional reviews)!

Randman · Nov 2, 2004, 10:07 AM

The Canons are very nice cameras in that range. I have the iXus (in US, it's PowerShot, iXus abroad) and I've been quite happy with it. The battery time is very, very good, it sync perfectly with the Mac and it's very easy to use on a belt loop when on holiday.
And now I've seen the waterproof cases for the camera are finally out. Going to get one this weekend if they're in stock and do some snorkeling with it and see what develops.

Lancer409 · Nov 3, 2004, 04:02 AM

Originally posted by Randman:
The Canons are very nice cameras in that range. I have the iXus (in US, it's PowerShot, iXus abroad) and I've been quite happy with it. The battery time is very, very good, it sync perfectly with the Mac and it's very easy to use on a belt loop when on holiday.
And now I've seen the waterproof cases for the camera are finally out. Going to get one this weekend if they're in stock and do some snorkeling with it and see what develops.

what develops ... lots of bikini shots!

SamuraiDL · Nov 3, 2004, 11:15 PM

what do you guys think of the s500?

Lancer409 · Nov 4, 2004, 01:47 AM

Originally posted by SamuraiDL:
what do you guys think of the s500?

From all the recommendations I've read and heard .. (and .. I'm talking a LOT) I'd say go with the s410. CCD Size is the same, meaning more noise on the s500 (which has been reported on camera forums) .. they all say, unless you *NEED* the extra megapixel, go with the s410 .. better image quality, cheaper to boot...