Future Release

[Researching]

Does anyone know of plans for the next digital Elph? I am interested in purchasing the S400 but I'm tempted to wait for the next model. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[stduc]

It's always tempting isn't it. I don't think there is an answer. Only you can decide. I look at it this way.

If I wait - I can pick up the old model at a bargain price.
If I wait I've missed all those shots I could have taken.
If I don't wait I may regret it - but then again I can always buy the new model and sell the old one on.
If I buy mid lifecycle the product should be de-bugged.
If I buy the new product it may turn out to have unexpected problems.

etc. etc.

The one thing I can be sure of - I will probably make the wrong choice :-)

[cA70]

stduc wrote:
The one thing I can be sure of - I will probably make the wrong choice :-)

As long as at the end of the day u have a camera u've made the right choice!

[billh101]

Any time you area talking about technology, the next model will always be better. The real question is, does the current model meet your requirements? If it does and if you have a need for the camera, then maybe it's time to jump on the bandwagon. If you buy now, you'll be shooting and enjoying it immediately. If you wait, sure, you'll have a better camera, but it too will become outdated and you will have gone all that time without the camera. If the current model does what you want it to, then I say go for it.
Bill

[dtrayers]

Have you seen this?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0309/03091201canonsd10.asp

[Researching]

Thank you for the link. I'm just beginning to understand all the different aspects of digital cameras and I saw a lot of information regarding the S400's 3X zoom. This new camera says to have digital zoom but not optical. I assume there is a big difference? Also, is there a benefit to using SD cards instead of compact flash? I appreciate any replys.

[till]

Digital zoom is not recommended to use. There is simply taken the central part of the image captured by the CCD and magnified to the full image size. This is naturally impossible without loosing quality. If only the central 640x480 pixels of the CCD are taken and by interpolation blown up to 2048x1536 then you still have only the information of a 640x480 image but waste the space of a 2048x1536 one.

So this new PowerShot SD10/IXUS i cannot be compared to a real optical zoom camera, it is more competition to the small zoom-less Casio Exilims than to the zooming Digital IXUS cameras.

In SD cards I see only the size as an advantage, Compact Flash is cheaper per megabyte.

[Researching]

So would you recommend the S400 as the best digital Elph? Any idea if they are coming out with additional Elph's in the near future? I've read that the S400 doesn't take very good pictures at nights so I was hoping the newest version would be improved. Thanks.

[till]

The S400/IXUS 400 is currently the best of the IXUS/Digital Elph series. It has 4 MP, 3x optical zoom, Compact Flash. The problems with shots at night you will have with every pocket-sized camera. For getting more light onto the sensor with a fast shutter speed you need the big lenses and flashes of SLR cameras, but then you have to carry a heavy bag around with 2kg of SLR and flash instead of heaving 200g of IXUS/Digital Elph in your pocket.

The image quality and the possible manual controls are also better as with most ultra-compact 3x-zoom competitors: Casio Exilim, Pentax Optio S, Minolta Dimage X series, ... Only the Minolta Dimage F series gives full manual control, but the behaviour in low-light conditions is probably the same as with the S400/IXUS 400 (note, thet the fixed aperture of the IXUS/Digital Elph cameras is always as wide open as possible). In addition the F series has a very slow zoom and a very startup time and SD cards. Compact Flash is cheaper per MB.

There will be a new IXUS/Digital Elph with optical zoom in the future as Canon sells the S400/IXUS 400 very well, but it is not known when.

I recommend the Canon PowerShot S400/IXUS 400 currently.