[mnelson007]

I am looking at getting a new digital camera. I am a Canon fan but can not decide between the g2 or the s40. Any sugestions???

edit. the more i look the more i like the s400

Howdy

Never owned a Canon myself but they have a good reputation

You could have a look at DPReview to look at the specs and read some reviews.


by the way...The G2 has been discontinued

buck

[Cee Ess]

Both the G2 and S40 have been superseeded. Is there a reason you are looking at them specifically?

[hewee]

Look here http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1.HTM?view=Canon

You can use the " Comparometer (Compare sample images)" pn each one to see how the pictures look on both.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

[mnelson007]

i response to Cee Ess, I used a G2 recently and was impressed with it but would like something smaller. I did some looking and found the s40 and noticed it seams to do most the same as the g2. Now I have been looking at the s400. Looks to me like it has a lot of bang for the buck and is small (pocket size is a plus for me)..... any one try the s400 yet?

one other note i am hoping to get something that is good at taking action shots, as i am for ever taking pictures of race cars at the local dirt track.

i don't realy know much about digital cameras other than my HP 315 just does not cut it.

thanks for your imput

[slipe]

If you want something small look at the Minolta F300. It has a mode that focuses right up until the shutter goes rather than fix the focus when you press the button. Good for action like your cars: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/f300.html The F100 has the same technology in a 4Mp camera which might be more in the price range of the S400 if they are still available.

Otherwise the S400 is a great little camera. And I like the CF cards better than the SD on the Minolta. CF cards are as good as anything on the market and there are some great deals on them lately. http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/s400.html and http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons400/

The compact I really like is the Pentax Optio 550. It is the only camera on the market I would trade for my Oly C50. Not that the Oly is the greatest thing since sliced bread, it is just the 5Mp in such a small package I like. The Pentax 550 is the same size and has a 5X optical zoom. It is slightly heavier though and pricier than the S400.

I have a large 5Mp digital for times when I want to drag it around. I carry the Oly everywhere unless I have the big camera with me. Other than the 4Mp the S400 is probably a better camera than my C50, but I prefer the 5Mp. The optical finder on the S400 only shows 82% of the image, so if you frame with the optical finder as most people do you are losing 18% of the image right off the bat unless you are very clever at framing. No way you can shoot a car race with the LCD. The S40/50 shows the same 82%. Most other optical viewfinder cameras aren’t much better. My Oly shows only 85% and that is about standard. I just have to include it in my anticipation of how much Mp I will end up with.

[mnelson007]

i looked here and it says the LCD shows 100%????
http://powershot.com/powershot2/s400/specs.html

[jakoval]

I believe slipe is saying that's its difficult to accurately track action shots with the LCD. (I've certainly found this to be so with my nikon)
You will most likely end up shooting such images using the regular optical viewfinder, which in this case does not show the entire image that will be captured.

[slipe]

The LCD shows 100% but the optical viewfinder shows 82%. If you are good enough to shoot a car race using a little LCD held out in front of you then you are more skillful than I. Most people shoot with the optical finder. You can steady the camera better and see comfortably in sunlight among other advantages.

I have no idea why nobody seems to be able to make an optical finder that shows the entire field. My big camera has an EVF that combines the advantages of both. So if I frame properly through the viewfinder I get a full 5Mp image of what I intend to shoot. With my little Oly I get only 4.25Mp and with a S400 I would get 3.28Mp in the image area. The rest I would have to crop unless I guessed about the actual image area and compensated – I seldom do that.

But if you shoot using the LCD you will see the full image on the screen. I would guess you won’t regularly do that.

Edit: Didn’t see jakoval’s post before I clicked the button. He said it better in fewer words.

[mnelson007]

pardon my stupidity as realy don't know much about digital cameras. if i use the optical finder does it take the picture fast enough and what about taking shots of slower moving objects such as my 2yr nephew playing out side. also while using the optical finder can you use the zoom.

on my hp 315 i can only zoom if the LCD is on.

thanks again for all the help.

[slipe]

The optical finder zooms with the lens. Any current camera lets you use the optical finder with the zoom. The camera has no way of knowing whether you are looking through the viewfinder or at the LCD – times are the same. My Minolta has a feature that turns the EVF on only when it detects your eye is to the viewfinder, but none of the optical finders have a feature like that.

For a 2 year old rugrat you would really appreciate the Minolta focus. My big Minolta has the continuous focus and it works well. I have a hard time getting my 2 year old granddaughter to slow down long enough for my Oly to focus – and reports say it has a reasonably fast shutter delay compared to others. All digitals have a slight shutter delay, and if the camera doesn’t continue focusing during that delay it is hard to nail a rugrat in continuous random motion. The continuous focus feature does use a little more battery. The F300 is a little cheaper than the S400 and is 5MP, but it is a little bigger – about the size of the S40/50. Don’t even consider the F100 as it is selling for the same price unless you buy a refurb. Best price I could find on one: http://www.buydig.com/shop.php?prod_...v=pricegrabber Do a separate search for the SD cards if you get one. Same for any other camera you buy – you don’t get good deals from the discount camera sellers on the cards.

One feature I really miss on the Oly is a small B&W LCD on the top. It is hard to see the color LCD in bright sunlight and it is the only way to make adjustments with a viewfinder camera that doesn’t have the small B&W LCD. The F100 and F300 have the little LCD on top in addition to the large color one on the back. Neither the S40/50 or S400 have one. Another feature of the F300 is that the lens is a long way from the flash for a small camera. That gives more pleasing photos and helps avoid red-eye.

I’m not putting down the S400. It is a great little camera. But for the price I think the Minolta would work better for you and it is 5Mp.

[mnelson007]

went out and lookd at some cameras in person this afternoon. found the canon s400, but was not able to find any Minolta cameras. I did see an Olympus Stylus 400 and liked it too but it was not working. Any comments on that one?

[slipe]

The Stylus 400 has the advantage of being waterproof. Other than that it doesn’t have much going IMO. One big advantage of a digital camera like the F300 or S400 is that you will probably learn a lot about photography as you mess with all of the capability. The Stylus 400 is basically a point and shoot camera. If you just want to aim and zoom it really doesn’t matter which camera you get. Buy the one that feels best in your hand and fits in your pocket.