A80 vs. s400

[peterm1]

I am in the market for a new p&s camera to accompany my 10D, and am considering the new A80 and s400. While I thought the s series was supposed to be better, the A80 looks better to me since it has more shooting options and a swiveling lcd screen. It is said to use the same sensor as the s400.

The A80 is a bit larger and heavier, but it's still tiny compared to my 10D, and I assume it could easily be carried in a jacket or my wife's purse. I like the fact that it uses AA batteries too since I have some powerful rechargeable batteries I am not using.

Can someone tell me if I am missing something?

-Peter M

[Matzzzy]

I was myself thinking of whether to buy an A70 or an S400 (before the A80 came out) and I ended up with the A70, which I don't regret for a second.
It's really great, and the fact that you use AA batteries is excellent.
The bad thing about the A80, is that you don't have the same resolution in the filmingmode, only normal and low resolution instead of the A70, that also has 640*480 (high res)
But I would personally go for the A80 if I was to consider your choises

/ Matz

[stduc]

I wish my A20 had lasted a bit longer as I can't really justify getting the A80 so shortly after getting an A70. The A70 is great, providing you give it a bit of help setting the correct exposure whenever it's either rather overcast or too sunny - i.e. in the Med. Still, I can't wait to see what the A90 spec is!

[mike j]

That's funny - the fact that the A70 took 4 x AA batteries were mainly what put me off buying that camera !

I imagine that they play a fairly big part in explaining why the A70/A80 is far larger and heavier than the S400, which is what I actually chose in the end.

Agreed - the S400 has fewer manual shooting modes than the A80, but if you're just after a p&s camera, then should that really matter ?

I actually do like both cameras, but opted for the compact p&s route as my conventional SLR will take care of anything fancy.

[peterm1]

I just compared the s400 and A70 in a store (I assume the A80 will be the same size as the A70). I was surprised to see how little difference there was in size and weight. While the s400 is a little more pocketable the A70 was more than small enough for me, and I liked how it handled since it has a curved grip in the front. I decided to go with the A80 unless it get bad reviews.

-Peter M

[garfield]

stduc wrote:
I wish my A20 had lasted a bit longer as I can't really justify getting the A80 so shortly after getting an A70. The A70 is great, providing you give it a bit of help setting the correct exposure whenever it's either rather overcast or too sunny - i.e. in the Med. Still, I can't wait to see what the A90 spec is!


I have recently purchased an A70 and have found that using preset settings in P mode on a sunny day, the shot comes out way too bright. Can you sugest a solution to me?

[stduc]

garfield wrote:
I have recently purchased an A70 and have found that using preset settings in P mode on a sunny day, the shot comes out way too bright. Can you sugest a solution to me?


I can't suggest a solution - but I will do my best to tell you how I cope.

I know exactly what you mean - and it's a real pain, especially if you only get one chance to take the picture. If your taking a static scene (landscapes etc) then it's not too bad.

The real problem is that because of the bright light you can't even see the result in the LCD screen properly to ascertain how your doing.

P mode settings

I set ISO 50
I set the camera to centre weighted average.
I point the camera at the brightest part of the scene and half press the shutter to lock that exposure.

If I can, I take 3 shots, one at no exposure correction and two more, one at -1 and one at -2.

Sometime it is possible to get out of the sun and check the shot. If I'm taking location shots and this is possible I will do the above and view them out of the sun. I will then set the manual settings to the best of these and use them until the light changes. Switrching to P mode for the odd shot that's in differennt circumstances.

I have also found that in bright light, setting Av mode and f8 gets better results than P mode alone or if taking action shots setting Tv mode and 1/500 or 1/250 sec also works quite well.

Basically, play around and see what works best for you.

[garfield]

Thank you for your response.

I will give it a shot :)