First Camera - Ixus v3/S230

[symbiote]

Greetings,

I just bought my first digital camera after saving up for it, and what I got was the Ixus v3 (aka S230). I had the choice between the S230 or the S400, but decided to take the S230 since it was cheaper and came with a free Canon i450 printer.

However, upon reading, it seems that the S230 is an old model, and the S400 might be better than it. Did I make the wrong decision? Is the .8 megapixel and extra 1x zoom really that noticable that i just blew my money away for its supposed value?

Also, a few questions regarding the camera:
* Macro shots are terribly blurry, unlike the sample shots that most make. Even with using the Macro setting, turning on/off zoom, and using the timer to avoid a shaky hand.

Thank you for your time.

[khs8]

The s230 is not an old model, it is just another line. I had the choice between s230 and s400, but chose the s230 because its video clip is vga quality. The 0.8 MP difference does not affect the final outcome of the print unless the size is greater than 8x10. The other difference is the 3x zoom. But I am more happy with the vga than the 3x soom, since I can get closer to the subject to compensate, but there is no way to compensate for a poorer quality video clip. As for the macro, I have not used it much, but I think you need to have very steady hands or use a tripod. You asked about my normal settings. I always use manual with AiAf off, the highest L setting for resolution, lowest compression, and all others are default settings. I took a trip to eastern europe recently, and took over 500 pictures and many video clips. I have a 256 MB cf card, but have a multimedia jukebox (Archos) to download the pictures every day. The pictures are very charp, colours are great, and sometimes I took video and forgot to take a still. I took a frame from the video and made it into a still image, and the qualtiy is not bad for a 4x6. Anyway, this long message is just to tell you not to regret making the wrong choice. It is a great camera.

[symbiote]

Thanks for the reply buddy. After taking several shots, I am impressed with the camera, even without having any point of comparison. I'm simply loving it.

My settings are at the Largest resolution as well, but with the best compression (Super Fine). With yours set at the lowest compression, is there much noticable difference with the overall picture quality when shots are taken?

[khs8]

My mistake, mine is set at S compression. I thought super fine is lowest compression, giving the largest file space.

[Matzzzy]

Superfine makes the largest file of them all, with the least compression / Z

[atkinson1]

It's best to just buy a huge memory card, and take all your photos in the highest resolution with superfine. That's what I do.

[jlocatell]

What about Photo Effects? Any recommendation in use this feature?

-jl