I shot some samples with the Canon S400 and 10D this afternoon and posted them <a href="http://www.digitalfields.com/Canon_S400-10D_Shots/" target="_blank">here</a>. A couple of notes on the shots; all of the images were exported from iView Media Pro on a Mac with JPEG quality set to 100% (so even the thumbnails will load slightly slow) and if you click on an image it will load the full-size shot - you've been bandwidth warned. Exporting them from this program will alter the originals, but they were altered more or less equally so... I couldn't get the S400 to focus where I wanted on the flower shot, but didn't try going to manual mode to make it happen.

I did some light sharpening (unsharp masking) on both the S400 and 10D shots - though the S400 are sharper out of the camera (not necessarily a good thing as you have generally less flexibility in post processing when they're almost over sharpened out of the camera). I'd have to think that for most S400 owners the sharpness is a good thing though.

I just left the S400 on full-auto and tried to frame the images similarly between cameras. I shot all of the 10D's in aperture priority and in retrospect probably should have put it into full-auto mode too, but no big deal as this was hardly scientific by any means.

The S400 is really nice! I imagine that it will see a lot of use - even with the 10D in the household. You just can't beat the fact that it easily slips into a shirt pocket! One thing though, I'd pleasantly forgotten the extreme shutter-lag that is present in all of these point-and-shoot cameras. Because of it, it would be difficult to get action shots - and I do remember missing a fair number of shots because of this issue with my G1. Overall though, I like the appearance of the images and will probably be <I>borrowing</I> it from my wife pretty often. The idea of carrying it while bicycling, keeping it in the door pocket in the car, or just carrying it in a pocket while walking around town or out with friends is very cool and will mean getting shots that otherwise wouldn't ever happen. I believe that the files will print very well at 8x10 size and good up to 11x17 (with proper Photoshopping).

I only cruised around for a short while looking for a few things to take pictures of...and was harassed several times by people..."what are you doing there?"..."you can't take pictures here" and so on...to which I try to be polite and condescending and eventually just ignore them and just keep on shooting. A lot of people have turned into ignorant a$$holes since 9/11. The point being that the small size of the S400 will offer more opportunities to shoot in public without the problems of carrying a big piece of gear.

Anyway, it's only been a half-day with the thing, but I can see it being a lot of fun, and I think the quality is great!

 

based on your pictures and success with Canon point and shoots, I'm suggesting to my friend that he pick a Canon up himself

and I'm even thinking of giving my digicam to my pops so I can get one myself... &lt;wheels turning..&gt;

 

It's odd, but the thumbnails look more... colorful... in the S400 shots. Why is that?

My girlfriend is in the market for a new mini point-and-shoot, as her old sony dsc-p1 flooded on a dive in Maui last week. Seal wasn't closed properly on the underwater housing. She was just planning on getting the new DSC-P10, but I keep mentioning the S400 is worth looking into. I'm waiting for dpreview to review the new P10 so that we'll have something to compare to the S400 reviews.

 

A lot of the small point and shoots are really nice; I don't necessarily mean to say that Canon is so much better. I'm familiar with their hardware, I like the way their controls work and think their images are <i>as good</i> as any other...

Regarding the saturation...the S400 shots are probably over-saturated out of the camera...more pleasant for the consumer crowd that this thing is targeted to. Similiarly I think they're probably <i>too sharp</i>!

The <a href="http://www.powershot.com" target="_blank">PowerShot.com</a> web site has more info.

<img src="http://www.digitalfields.com/powershotaccessories.jpg">

 

Do you find the 10D to be as good, or better than the D60?

 

probably as good. I haven't seen anything to make me think that the images are <i>better</i> (except that noise is down across all ISO settings, and the ISO settings are significantly expanded).

I really haven't done any kind of critical inspection of controlled shots yet, but will soon.

I'm happy so far.

 

...controls and even think the software that comes with the cameras is pretty intuitive, but I run a PC, so it's different that what you'd be using.

As you said, it's hard to beat the combination of image quality and portability that Canon gives with their line of Digital Elphs. The S230 is my second digicam, and my older S100 is now doing yeoman duty with a friend who's a real estate agent. Of course, I'd only had the S230 about 6 months when the S400 was introduced, and I had fleeting thoughts of selling it, too, but decided to keep it for now.

The S230 still get comments from people when I have it out - Canon just hit on a great fundamental design, perfect for snapshot photographers like me.

Thanks for all the cool pics - the ones from Grapevine are truly mind-blowing.

 

but the overall quality seems impressive, especially considering the quality of typical compact, point and shoot, camera lenses.

It would be interesting to see how the 10D compares if set to full auto mode.

Seriously, thank you very much. I'm glad I ordered the S400. The S50 might be a little better quality, but the S400 is SO small.

The shot of your S6 from the front is interesting. The the 10D picks up more subtle detail, but I like the overall color balance on the S400 (though it is a little vivid). Zoom in on:

1. Your front rim and look at the Audi rings. Noticeably better on the 10D.
2. The reflection in the windshield and side-view mirror housing. BIG difference in the windshield.

Also the second shot of the pool shows a big difference if you zoom in on the roof/shingles of the pool house/cabana.

 

Looking at a new SMALL (read no SLR) P&amp;S; honing in on these two. Anyone with some opinions/thoughts?

 

I assume you mean the minilux zoom model?

Personally, I'd never go that route with digital having arrived so well at this point, but I certainly understand the appeal in owning them...fine pieces of equipment!

Really, they're both (from what I've read...never having used either) very good at what they're intended for and it sounds like there would be little to choose from between them - quality wise.

If I were shopping that route it would probably come down to having a favored brand and/or the style of the cameras and how they felt in my hand.

Happy shopping!