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Canon PowerShot S400 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Canon PowerShot S400 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $449.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fast 4 megapixel wonder!
Review: After extensive research on the web ...I chose to upgrade my Canon S20 to a Canon S400. In someways, this was a step down. Unfortunately, the S400 does not support verticle alignment of it's panoramic "stitch assist" mode as they do on the S40, S45, S50 and other higher priced models. I found this feature on the S20 to be very useful in capturing more image (greater resolution and consistant panning) when stitching photos together to make a panoramic photo. Also, the S400 does not support the higher resolution movie mode of 640 x 320, as some digital cameras support. Hopefully, Canon will address these feature shortfalls with a firmware upgrade in the near future. As mentioned in a number of reviews, the S400's flash is miniscule and thus is somewhat inadequate to light wide distant shots.

Canon has improved the intelligence of the powershot digital line. Specifically in the S400 the Digic processing makes for fast picture taking and viewing. The size of the S400 is grand. It does fit in a pocket and powers up so quickly, you may never miss another shot with this camera (keeping in mind to charge your battery and have enough flash memory for the moment!!!).

The bottom line... the Canon S400 is compact, sturdy, and fast. If you are looking for a very small 4 megapixel camera with nice even colors, low levels of distortion, a basic movie capture mode, fast memory writing and reading, the S400 is a current top pick. However, if you are looking for lots of manual control, vertical "photo stitching," and more pixels try the S50.

One note if considering the S45 or S50 cameras, play with the navigation buttons before purchasing the unit; I have found the navigation to be somewhat clumsy in-which it is easy to hit "enter" when trying to navigate "up" or "down," or hit "up" when trying to "enter."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The right choice (but consider these extras)
Review: After much research, I got my girlfriend this camera for Christmas, and I can now report that I made exactly the right choice. She was one of those "I like film" girls...two weeks later it's like, "What's film?" She's loves it. I love it. In fact, I love it so much I'm thinking about buying a second one for myself. So obviously I'm recommending this camera. But I have a few suggestions for you folks who are about to hit that Buy Now button. First, this $400 to $500 camera doesn't come with a carrying case of any kind. You can get a great one right here on Amazon for $12 -- the Canon PSC-50 Soft Leather Case for Digital Cameras. Add to Cart. Second, this camera comes with a 32MB CF memory card. We've discovered this is fine for pics, but when you start taking movies (and you will, this is a great feature!) this size memory card fills up in a flash. If I was buying this camera today, I would also buy an extra CF card with at least 256MB of memory. This great camera is limited without it. Finally, while this camera takes amazing pics, it also produces amazing red-eye. Make sure your photo program has a red-eye reduction feature (and most do). Or load on the software that comes with the camera because you're gonna need to do some red-eye zapping.

So take into account these few learned nuggets of wisdom and take the leap into the digital age with a Canon S400! Trust me, you'll never look back.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Compact, light, great battery life and great pictures!
Review: I got it for Valentine's day and so far I am very happy with it. The software is also great and easy to use (I used to have a Kodak camera and believe me, this is much better). Also, battery life is excellent.

Manual controls and difficult to use, but after a while you learn the basic logic of the menus.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good if you have to have Canon--but there are better cameras
Review: This is a very decent all around camera. I have not had any reliability concerns with it at all--the only problem I have being its technical limitations. It is only a 4.0 megapixel camera, which is going to be far outdated in the very near future. It's 3x optical zoom is not as impressive as the 7x, 8x, or even 10x optical zooms that come standard on a lot of Sony, Olympus, and Fuji digital cameras. Also, the digital zoom on this camera is very poorly pixelated and not even worth enabling. For a better deal for your money, check into Sony and Olympus digital cameras with at least 5+ megapixels. It will be worth it a few years down the road when you won't have to replace your new camera already.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Marvelous!!!!
Review: One of the most important reason why I purchased the S400 is because of its size.

I've own other digital cameras before and have also traveled with them. After awhile, I would not want to carry the digital cameras because they were bulky and inconvenient. I found myself wasted a lot of money on cameras that I rarely use.

The S400 solved that problem right away. I just put this tiny camera in my pants and off I go. My hands are not weighted down by any unnecessary bulk.

Moreover, the picture quality is very good. The controls are also very intuitive. It has just enough manual modes that would make me happy. I'm pleasantly surprise how powerful the flash is compared to my other digital cameras. So powerful that I had to adjust the exposure level... I also love the long battery life.

The only complaints I have are:
1. Auto White Balance doesn't work well under certain conditions. For example in-door with light bulb lighting, the picture is very yellow. I hope Canon would fix this problem with a firmware udpate.
2. Unable to delete selected pictures from the Camera. You can only either "delete one at a time" or "delete everything". Somewhat annoying.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Image Quality Knocked Me Out!!!
Review: After doing my homework at CNET product reviews I decided that ELPH S 400 was a perfect fit for me. The color and detail in my opinion is just about perfect. I upload my pictures to ofoto.com (my pick for on line photo development by the way) completely unedited and they the come back true to the moment in tone and detail. Another plus is that the camera is idiot proof (I should know). There are advanced features but I find that I really just use a few of them like white balance settings and the macro and infinity modes close/distance shots. Unless you are a very serious photo hobbyist, this camera is perfect in my opinion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very happy with this product, though it's not quite perfect.
Review: This is a great camera, I love it and even though when I bought it a year ago it cost quite a bit, I have never regretted it.

I have two batteries for it, one battery was just not enough for heavy usage of it. I can get about a full day of heavy picture taking with one battery. Ive gotten over 500 pictures taken with it on one battery, though sometimes i get much less. My premium memory card i bought ive noticed has greatly increased the battery length. Since there is no power-remaining display, it is hard to judge how much power you have left until it's too late. Two batteries I find works great. They charge rather quick.

The 32MB card that comes with the camera is fine if you dont mind taking lower resoultion pictures with it, but I liked taking pictures at the max settings; I filled up that 32mb card in a few minutes you might guess. So, I went out and bought a premium 1GB flash card. I can usually fill it up with about 400 pictures just before the battery dies.

The picture quality is great. In light the automatic settings are fine. In the dark though, unless you use the flash, you will need to learn how to set the manual ISO and exposure settings because the automatic settings (flashless) arent so great in the dark as motions get really blurred. A long exposure set in the dark also makes things become rather 'grainy', it still takes a rather nice picture.

The camera it self is rather heavy for its size i find, but it is a really sturdy design. Ive dropped it on concrete many of times with only a slight scratch. AS you can tell i abuse this camera pretty heavily, but it still keeps on working. The trigger button recently has started to get stuck a bit sometimes when pushed, but i think that is due to my abuse of it.

the movie clip mode is pretty simple. It only can take 3min clips with sound, 3 mins is okay though i wish it was unlimited. The video quality is ok, but you cant zoom or get it to auto-adjust the exposure while recording. THe sound recording quality could be improved, especially with being able to pick up heavy bass. Heavy bass just seems to saturate the sound recording with a loud rumbling garble. What im trying to say is that you cant use this to record sounds when you're at the movies or at a concert.

This camera has a lot more to it then that, but everything else about this camera just seems to be just the way i want it. It really is a great camera that will do a great job for taking pictures for a long long time to come.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Point-and-Shoot
Review: S400 Review:

It took me several weeks of research before I finally purchased the S400.

I had been looking for a higher mega-pixel replacement for my (excellent) Fuji MX-1700). My first stop was Fuji, since the quality of images produced by my MX-1700 is excellent, and the camera is extremely durable and easy to use, not to mention that it looks very cool and is ergonomically well designed. But, the latest Fuji products are simply too expensive. So, I then toyed with a variety of cameras including the Canon G5, Nikon 5400, Olympus C5050/5060 and a whole host of others. In the end, I went for small with reasonable power.

Now, I'm glad that I did!

The first thing that I noticed, right out of the box, is how well put together the S400 is. It exudes quality. It looks great and it feels solid. Everything is small, which means that people with larger hands may find it a little 'fiddly' (I would recommend that anybody who is thinking of buying an S400 should first go to a local store, and actually handle one), but everything is neatly laid out. The camera makes good use of what space is available, and most everything is reasonably logical and intuitive.

Now that I have had the camera for a few weeks, I can also state that the quality of the images is also very good. I have taken a few hundred shots, and the only complaint that I have, is some (minor) vignetting when at full wide angle using the flash. The battery life is good and I have taken considerably greater than 200 shots with the display turned off and at least 150 with the display on.

One of my major concerns when purchasing the camera was the flash. Several of the reviews that I read had stated that the flash was "puny", so I was nervous when I first used it. But, I'm not sure what kind of camera those reviewers were comparing the S400 too. The flash is perfectly acceptable. Sure, it's not a Vivitar Pro flash than can shoot 60ft, but it's just as good as any other flash on any other point-and-shoot camera. I was pleasantly surprised.

In just a few short weeks, the S400 has taken a place in my heart. I still have my MX-1700, which is now being handed down to my 7-year-old daughter, but the S400 is the camera that travels everywhere with me. I got a Lowepro DS8 case, which fits it like a glove, and is ideal for day-to-day carrying.

As a final point, I should say that I have played a little with the movie capture mode of the S400, and was very pleasantly surprised. I thought that it was nothing more than a gimmick. But, I took a few minutes of video of my daughters, downloaded it to my PowerBook and then uploaded into iMovie. It actually looks reasonable! Obviously, it's not really of DVD quality, but if something was happening in front of you that you absolutely HAD to get on record, it's good enough.

So, provided you are looking for a small, easy to use, reasonable image-quality, ergonomically pleasing point-and-shoot camera, then the S400 is excellent. If you want something a little more 'professional', get a Nikon D70 - they are REALLY nice.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: LCD just broke
Review: LCD just broke when the camera was in my pocket. I can swear that it was not impacted with anything. Cant see a thing on the LCD now. For what i had bought a $400 monster is useless point and click now. I have my mixed thoughts on it

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I think this is a great camera. I purchased a 256MB Flash Card, and w/ it set on the highest resolution & quality it will fit 250 pictures! That's enough for me. The image is beautiful - bright, crisp, clear. The colors are excellent! I have the flash set to auto, and I haven't had any problems. The camera has been perfect so far. It's small, and excellent quality for this price.


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