Help me decide S45 or S50

[dinky1]

Hello there.
I'm about to delve into the world of digital photography for the first time. I need some help with my decision.

I have read that the S45 is better than the S50 in poor lighting conditions and in it's red-eye reduction capabilities. Is this true; if so to what degree and would it affect underwater photography?

From your experience. at what enlargement size would i notice a difference in quality between the 4MPixel and 5MPixel camera?

Any other comments on these cameras?

I need to decide soon as i'm sure S45 stocks are dwindling at the moment.
Any help or advice appreciated.

Thanks
dinky1

[dimip]

i dont know about the red-eye or the poor lightning but i tell you that you should buy the s-50 for sure.
The fact that is a newer camera with some characteristics more and better thn the s45 is enough for me.
why to buy a camera that is allready going out of stock ?

[chamberc]

Love my S50...

[piper]

There has been several informative discussions on this topic. The S50 does seem to be at a disadvantage under low light conditions because of CCD sensitivity - 4M vs 5M.

Do a search for "s45 vs s50" and you will find quite a few other thoughts.

[digitaleye]

you need to go for the s45, the s50 is much more expensive and the price difference is not justified. i don't know about the red eye thing, but the s50 is indeed inferior in low light conditions. plus the 4 to 5 megapixel update is NOT WORTHWHILE. so u have no reason to go for the s50.
peace

[Jimbus]

I am looking at the S50 at the moment, havent bought it yet, don't know much about the S45 except that I know that the S50 has a faster processor.

checkout http://www.steves-digicams.com/ for a good review of both.

are you in the UK? if so go to http://www.warehouseexpress.com/

you can get the S50 on there as a 1GB microdrive kit for £499

bargain!!

[Guillermo Freige]

jimbus:
A couple of things. First S45 processor is the same DiGIC processor as the S50 one. The only difference between two cameras is the CCD resolution (and the body color in USA). This means less resolution, but also less noise at high ISO (mostly in ISO 400)
Also the microdrive option seems to be not a good alternative for the battery authonomy of those cameras. It fit better the larger capacity DSLR batteries, because microdrives are more battery demanding than flash cards.

[phidong]

I have a S50 and I love it. Just don't drop it b/c the black backside of the camera seems to be really flimsy material and will deform/warp EXTREMELY easily, but I'm assuming both cameras have this issue. The S50 will get scuffed though (it has like grey color when it gets warped) so it will be less noticable on the S45. Both cameras are good though. The reason I got my S50 is b/c of the 5MP + its black and looks nicer. :p You should get whatever is in your budget. I doubt you'll regret either choice.

[MNA_33]

first of all, I never heard about any difference in focusing between the S45/S50.

can't tell if it's true, as I have not tried this myself.

however, and which you can also read more about on dpreview, is the issue of chromatic aberrations (or purple fringing as some call it) - this is my pet peeve.

Almost every picture I take outdoors have distracting chromatic abberation in it. I'm not saying this is the only camera that does this to your images, but there's a lot and that's really disturbing - compare with the images taken with the S45 there's a lot less there and not as annoying (almost on level with my old 2MP sony..)

difference between 4 -> 5 MP isn't that big, but if the AF issue is true, I'd say the advantages of the S45 outwins the extra 1MP resolution you get with the S50.

[nanllyn]

I don't know the differences between the S45 and S50 but I have a S50. I am very impressed and happy with my purchase. My friends love the S50 over theirs (Kodak, Olympus, and Vivitar). They always ask me to bring it and they end up using it. They especially love the fact that it takes movies as well as amazing photos. I think either camera is a great buy. If you can afford to move up to the S50 then go for it.

[UK_Terry]

I have an S45 and i am really pleased with it
photo was taken with it in July.

printed at 12 x 18 and it looks great.

http://robinsfc.topcities.com/Forum_Posts/horsecart.jpg

[afinegold]

Here's a link to an extremely comprehensive review of the S50 from the Digital Photography Review forum.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons50/

The review concludes, as you'll see, that the S45 may be a slightly better match for the lens because of the slightly lower MP rating of the CCD. Since most other features of the two cameras are identical, I don't think you can go wrong with either, esp. the S45.

I bought the S50 a couple of weeks ago and had I read this review beforehand, I might have gone the S45 route.

Al Finegold