Rating: 
Summary: Best in Class - Ultra compact point-n-shoot
Review: My last digital camera was a Canon Powershot S100. It was the 2.11 megapixel version. My experience was so positive, that I upgraded to the S400 after 3 years of solid service from my first S100.You can't find a more useful, quality camera at any price. It's powerful, yet very small and light. The hipness factor is alse very high. People love to ogle it. Camera envy! I carry it in my jacket pocket ot attache wherever I go. That's a huge plus on my scorecard. I also have a small camera case from Wal-Mart I bought for $5, just in case I think I need a little more protection for it (like when traveling, or outside a lot). I can wear it on my belt, yet it is well padded, and can carry spare memory cards and an extra battery. The S400 takes 4 megapixel shots. Using an Epson Stylus Photo RX500 (multifunction device: printer/scanner/copier), I printed 4x6 photos and 8.5 x 11 photos. To my eye, both were photo lab quality when printed on premium glossy stock. I used Canon paper for 4 x 6, and HP paper for 8.5 x 11. I believe that the premium glossy photo paper from all the major manufacturers is excellent. Shop price, rather than feeling you are forced to go with the same brand as your printer. I print about 30 4x6 photos for every 1 full page photo. I set my S400 at the highest resolution and the next-to-highest quality. That way, I get all the pixels, yet there is adequate compression. This keeps the files manageable, and you can fit more photos on a memory card. I use a 256MB card, with a 128MB spare. At current prices, everyone can afford to have more memory handy. Not being a camera bug or serious photo hobbyist, I use all the automatic settings I can. Auto focus, auto white level, auto exposure. When it needs a flash, it flashes. The only time I make any adjustments is when I am in sunny conditions or I am close to an object I am shooting (macro). Generally, I just point and shoot, and it is a thing of beauty. Semi-pro camera gurus can probably make this thing take even better shots. Battery life is fine, with the new Lithium-ion cell. It's better than the one that came with the S100. The wall charger they give you is also tiny, and charges it quickly. Die-hards might want an extra charged battery when they are going to take a lot of shots in a short period of time, or when the flash will be used on every shot. I have never run out of battery juice while in the middle of taking shots. But I don't take 150+ shots without a chance to charge it back up. The 3X optical zoom is better than the old 2X from past models. I disable the optical zoom, so my image stays in native full resolution. I rarely use the video mode, because I have a newer Sony mini-DV camcorder that is incredible for video. It's best to stick with the strengths of each device. Camera: photos. Camcorder: video. The video quality on the S400 is poor, and the digital photo quality on the Sony camcorder is poor. If I can only take one of these with me, the S400 almost always wins. While the Sony camcorder is small and light, it is still about 5x the size and weight of the Canon S400. Convenience often carries the day. I never use the USB connection to connect the camera directly to the computer. I have a 6-in-1 card reader for my computer, and my printer is compatible with all memory types. It's nice to know the direct connection is there if I need it, though. You can't go wrong with the S400. Prices are even starting to come down, as 5 megapixel cameras are coming out. I'm sure Canon has a 5 megapixel Elph in the works, but for high-quality photos up to 8.5x11, it's hard to improve on the S400.
Rating:
Summary: Lot's of Features in Small Package
Review: Hope to help Xmas shoppers with this review. We just got our S400. We've had a Fujifilm Finepix 1400 for about the last 3 yrs, but it is only 1.2 mp and larger in size than the S400. The Fujifilm camera was a good one to learn on though and has helped us to understand a number of features on the S400. If you are techno-savvy, go with the S400. If not get a more simple camera to learn on. The quick start guide is easy to get you going. We also bought a case, 256mb simpletech card, simpletech card reader, and extra battery pack. Don't buy a charger like we did as one comes with the camera. I followed all the instructions and have had no problems taking pics and downloading. To use the card reader you have to download the software for it from simpletech's website if you have win98. The manual is sort of hard to follow for me (a non-techno), but the illustrations are helpful. Haven't used the movie feature yet. I would highly recommend a 256mb + card as only a 32mb card comes with the camera. We use the card reader to save the camera battery. The reader is only $11.
Rating:
Summary: great things come in small packages
Review: This is an almost perfect little piece of equipment. It is easy to carry with you anywhere in a pocket or a small case and that's important because a camera only counts if its with you. The outer casing is very sturdy (and attractive) and will protect your camera from bumps and falls. The biggest improvements over my previous canon S230 are the additional megapixels- 4.0 and the 3x optical zoom. Both these improvements are important to the quality of prints- especially to enlargements. An optical zoom takes much crisper shots than a digital one and 3x enlargement is superior to the 2x in the S230 and other small digital cameras. The 4.0 megapixels also provides a sharper picture again especially for enlargements. I do reccommend purchasing at least a 256 Megabyte card to accommodate the extra data you'll be storing. And buy an extra battery so you don't run out of power unexpectedly. This is a great camera and so easy to use that anyone can take great photos in no time. Once you buy this camera you'll use no other one.
Rating:
Summary: Great photos anywhere!
Review: Great have it with you always camera. Terrific for all types of shots by a novice, such as myself. Comes with easy to use software and accessories. Would get larger flash card (at least 128MB) and spare battery, and soft case. Takes great photos. Distant zoomed shots beyond the range of the to optical zoom are the only weakness, as they are with all non-telephoto lens cameras.
Rating: 
Summary: liked the previous version better
Review: great battery life, fast power on/off, fantastic size/weight, generally beautiful pics but...slow shutter speed (miss the great shots & if forced the pics aren't in focus) & very frequent red eye shots even with people with blue eyes & people with glasses.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Camera
Review: This is a wonderful little camera that takes great pictures! I have taken 200 pictures so far and all of them have come out great! The only problems I have found with it is that it does get a little warm as you use it and also when using flash indoors the contrast is not as good as I would like it to be. Other than that I would highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a small easy to use digital camera.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the A70 you will love the A80
Review: I went to Italy for the first time in October. I took my new Sony trv39 digital camcorder and realy liked the movies I took. I found I really used the swivel lcd monitor that came on the Sony movie camera that allowed me to shoot pictures above the crowds at the various places I visited in Italy.
Just before I left on the trip, my sister talked me into taking her Canon A70 and am I ever glad I took her up on her offer. The camera is light weight, easy to carry anywhere and with 3.2 megapixels took some great photo's I couldn't get with the Sony that can take photo's but at only 1 megapixel. I was wishing the A70 had the same type of swivel LCD monitor feature and now the A80 comes with it.
I ordered the A80 that has 4 megapixels and like the A70 is light and compact. I took the A80 to my nieces birthday party at a restaurant and it took great pictures. I found I wanted to crop and enlarge some of the pictures and with the 4 megapixels there was no loss of clarity when I enlarged any of the pictures. I also like the stich assist mode and all the other camera select functions. The camera uses ordinary, easy to find anywhere, AAA batteries which is a plus. I've taken about 100 pictures and I am so glad I bought this camera. The pictures are clear, the colors are true and the camera is simple to use. I think this is a camera that I can grow into as I become more experienced with it.
The one thing I noticed as a drawback is that it is a little delay in the pressing of the picture button before the shutter functions. After the first 10 shots I found I wasn't concerned with that delay.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS CAMERA
Review: This is actually my second digital camera. My first was an Olympus C-3020 zoom. I was very excited when i recieved that camera as a gift but as i began to use it i became very unhappy with it. It is very bulky and doenst have audio capabilities like the S400. It also used 4 AA batteries which didnt last very long and added alot of weight to the already heavy camera. Needless to say i was very happy when it was stolen because i got the money from my insurance company which allowed me to purchase the Canon PowerShot S400. I was immediatley satisfied with the PowerShot S400. I love the audio & video capabilities and the camera is very easy to use. Also, there is no comparison in the size of the S400 to that of the Olympus. I am able to take this camera everywhere because it is so small. Also the Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery is great and lasts very long, even when you use the LCD screen for playback very often. I did a lot of research before i purchased a new digital camera after my first one was stolen, and i couldnt find a smaller camera with all the options that were included in the S400. I guarantee you will not be disappointed with this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it ~you'll like it!
Review: I spent 2 weeks searching the internet for reviews on digital cameras and came to the conclusion of spending more than I wanted but to get the best I could with the qualities I wanted - The things I like best are the picture quality that are much sharper than my 35mm, the size and construction- feels very solid, lots of manual features - if I needed any more I would not have gotten a point and shoot. Video mode is just amazing- that such a small thing can make a video- although when trying to e-mail it- it took a long time and I have not tried to tweek that at all yet - one thing I noted today was that dates dont stamp out on pics but if you buy a certain Canon printer the manual notes the date of photo creation will print out - overall I love this little camera and it about as exciting as your first computer ~ i did learn in my reading reviews of the ofoto.com website for downloading, editing, and getting your photos printed by them and receive thru the mail - that works great - I have a Nikon 35mm which has always taken beautiful photos but now ~ I must say - this Canon really beats it for sharpness and colors. If you are in a Christmas rush wondering which digital to get- just pick this up and save yourself the time of reading the reviews - this gets great ratings everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Hope this helps
Review: This camera got the highest point in image quality (to human eyes) among digital cameras PC Magazine tested in its Sep. 2, 2003 issue. Here are things that I didn't know before my purchase. Hope this helps. Type I CF card:
The box came with SanDisk 32MB card, not with SimpleTech that Canon sells on their web site. As compatibility seems to affect speed of write/read to/from the card, I was a bit concerned about buying SimpleTech. My 512MB SimpleTech card has so far no discernable difference in performance. (Sadly, I was actually expecting an improvement from SanDisk CF card based on review at http://www.dpreview.com.) Amazon's product description doesn't say SimpleTech CF card is Type I or II. It's Type I that fits with S400. CF card capacity:
My S400 says 512MB card can hold 247 pictures at highest resolution and Superfine setting. (Someone wrote life was too short to bother with settings for lower quality images. I agree.) Its manual says 256MB should hold 123 images, as you can imagine. 256MB may be good enough, depending on your usage pattern. CF card reader:
I also purchased a CF (only) card reader from SimpleTech (UCF-100). Windows 2000 says CF card has FAT format as storage media. There shouldn't be compatibility issues with your PC, in theory. The software that comes with S400 recognizes CF card reader as a camera. CF card reader's package says it can transfer data up to 1.5MB per second. This can roughly mean, for S400, a picture a second. Actual speed feels slightly slower than that. (I used my clock to measure time. Can't be too accurate.) However, it seems to be three to four times faster than transferring image data from S400 directly. When you have a lot of pictures on S400 to transfer, this speed advantage can justify having a CF card reader. Leather case PSC-50:
I feel S400 needs a case as a protection though I didn't feel a need for my 35 mm point and shoot cameras from Canon and Olympus in the past. This may be from its relative weight. Because S400 doesn't come with a case of any sort, unless you know an alternative, buying this one can be a way to have one less thing to worry about in your life. Enjoy!!
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