Canon A630 vs Fuji S700?

[Fragster]

Howdy all

Im upgrading from a 4MB Sony Cybershot that has really been bad for low-light conditions. I took a whole bunch of pictures at my son's 1st birthday party and the majority of them came out bad...some were blurry, some had too much noise and purple fringes, etc.

I used both Auto and manual modes that it didn't help. For the close-ups shots using Auto (with flash), turned out pretty decent but again, I think it was because of the limitation of the camera.

Anyway, saw the CCity Fathers Day sale over the weekend so I ordered the canon A630 (for $186 using 10% coupon) as it got good reviews.....anyway, Ill be picking it up today after work but before I open it up (CCity charges 15% restocking fee:mad:), should I consider the Fuji S700 as people say their lens make them good cameras for low-light conditions?

I did some research and while the A630 seems the 'recommended buy', the Fuji is also praised for low-light conditions:confused::confused:. On the same note, the editiors tag the 630 as a consumer fav while the Fuji is nowhere on their list! What gives?

Any advice or recommendations would be highly appreciated. To owners of the A630/640 series, how does the camera perform in parties, indoors ,etc?

Ray

[Fragster]

Anybody at all??

I've picked up the camera for now but I was talking to another electronic salesrep (CCity) and he said at this point, people should be looking at advanced features like "face detection, high ISO, better lens, IM" and all are missing from the A630:(

I normally hold on to my cameras for a good 2 years or so, so I wonder if I should return the A620 and spend a extra money and get something better that has all the 'advanced features'.

Any current A630 owners wanna chime in and reassure me of my purchase so shall I make a return trip to CCity:(

Thanks in advance.
Ray

[Alex_H]

I have an a640. It performs very well indoors. You just have to be sure to adjust your flash intensity, aperture and/or ISO level to make sure enough light gets in the camera.

The a630/640 have a spot on the mode dial called "SCN" (scene). Under SCN, there are several pre-configured settings which have the aperture, ISO and shutter speed setup in a way which Canon believes are good settings for those light conditions. There is an indoor setting which works great. There is also a kids/pets setting which can work indoors or outdoors.

Good luck with your new camera! :)

[Jon]

Classic attempt to upsell you. Of course you need the latest features. If he doesn't sell lots he doesn't keep his job. The A6xx series have a very good lens already. High ISO on small sensors isn't all it's cracked up to be. Face detection's handy if you don't want to learn the camera, but the A630 lets you put the focus where you want. And "IM"? Instant Messaging?

[Alex_H]

High ISO on small sensors isn't all it's cracked up to be.

And "IM"? Instant Messaging?

I second this statement. When the ISO setting is too high on a pointer-and-shoot camera, the noise can ruin otherwise good photographs. Some of my shots with the a640 have been ruined this way.

What is this "IM" the sales rep was talking about?

How is the new camera working out?

[Fragster]

I decided to give the A630 a trial run last night.....initial impressions of low-light shootings........not good. My 3 yr old Sony Cybershot appears to be better flash range than the A630:(

The cannon software is also flaky on my XP system....installed the drivers fine...rebooted my PC....plugged in the camera..all good. Transfered the pictures using the software....stopped the Camera under my USB devices..took more pictures, plugged it back to my PC and it wouldn't recognize the camera anymore:rolleyes:

Plugged in my Sony camera and it got detected fine....switched it back to the cannon and no detection......rebooted my PC and it saw my Cannon again. It was 11pm and I was just done with the Cannon software:mad:

Another thing I've noticed is in Auto mode, there are times where the lighting would be inadequate BUT the flash never fires! I tried it with my Sony and flash came on just fine. Tried it for some other dark areas in my house and the Canon is very flaky with the flash in Auto mode. There are times, it will fire up as usual and then sometimes, it doesnt at all. Is there a way to leave the flash on 100% in Auto mode?

One thing I like about the flash on the Canon (when it does fires) is, it doesn't overexpose the shots unlike my older Sony and the pic has a natural look to it.

If I can only sort my flash/drivers issues, this will be a keeper. Im at work right now so I'll post some of my night-time shots I took last night and see if u guys can figure out this weird behavior with the A630. The slightly darkened shots clearly indicate the need for flash when the shots were taken but the flash never kicked in!

Later
Ray

[Alex_H]

I think the problem is that you stopped the camera under USB devices, if I'm understanding you correctly. When you open up My Computer, does the camera show up in there? I think if you delete it in there it won't work.

Make sure your Camera Image Library 8 service (I think that's the name), the SSDP discovery service, and the Windows Image Aquisition Service are all turned on and are set to start automatically. Go to start, run and type in services.msc to get to the services. Right click on them and go to properties to change the startup type. I had the same problem with my camera.

I will be able to look at the flash settings on my a640 when I get home and might be able to help.

[Fragster]

Hey thanks Alex...I will try those tips tonight....I hate proprietary software.....bought a Sony PC a while back and it gave me so much head-aches with compatiblity with other software/hardware, I ended up EBaying it and then building my own rig.

Anyway, I'll play more with the Cannon tonight but if I can't get past my flash issues, its going back to CCity......I'll probably get the Fuji s700 instead as the few reviews I've read on it seem to indicate its a better performer when it comes to low-light conditions.

Regardless to say, I'll update my experiance tomorrow in the hope it will help any potential A630 buyers out there.

Ray

[Fragster]

After further testing tonight, I conclude the Canon A630 has some issues performing in low light conditions.....this is in comparison to my older Sony Cybershot DSC600....

Below are some rough comparisons with both cameras set to Auto.....With the canon, the flash NEVER kicked in; With the Sony, flash kicked in usual.....u be the judge.

I also took several pics with both cameras outside later evening today and the Cybershot comes out with better pictures. As a result, my Canon is going back to CCity and I'll stick to my Cyberhot for now......if my need for a good low-light cameras arise, I may move straight up to a SLR or something.

Here's the test shot with the Canon:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9271/canontestxj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Heres the Sony shot::
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4408/sonytestle0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks to Alex for the big help and good luck to anyone out there looking for their perfect P&S camera.

Ape Out

[Jon]

What mode were you using the A630 in? You can set whether the flash is "Auto" or "Off" (or "Always On" in some modes). In the "Basic" modes (pictures on the control dial) it defaults to "Auto Flash"; in the "Creative" Zone (letters) it defaults to "Off" (this is the zone where "Always On"is also available).