S30 to S50 Trade-In - Is it worth it?

[archiebald]

I've had my S30 for nearly a year and I am fantastically pleased with it. Also bought a Canon 850i printer and although it is only the four color model I have been more than pleased with the results.

Anyhow, to the question. I am tempted to trade-in the S30 against a new S50 (I already have most of the S30 accessories including the w/proof case.)

Does anyone have any good comparisons between the two models? (apart from the extra resolution)

[tallone]

You'll see quite a nice jump in quality going up to 5mp from the S30. One thing 5mp allows is more ability to crop, which can be handy to be able to do. I believe the S50 has a better focusing system and chances are will operate faster. Plus, the S50 can handle compact flash larger than 2 gig of which the S30 can't. If you do happen to make the jump try selling the S30 privately and not going the trade-in method...you'll get more money for it that way. One thing to also consider...does the S30 work well for you now? Do you find the quality of the images limiting with what you want to do? If the S30 works well for you now then fight the urge. You can always load up with more compact flash cards and shoot high res or raw as much as possible. I'm actually drooling over the S50 myself and I use the G2. One thing would be to just be patient and wait to see what will come next after the G3 cause they can't have that at 4mp for long with the S50 out now shooting at 5mp. It is due for an update!! So patience may be in order. Something we all have problems with when it comes to photography equipment. Just a few things to think about...hope it has helped some. Definitely don't do the trade-in sell it privately if you do upgrade.

[sean000]

As Tallone mentioned, the big advantage to more mexapixels is the ability to crop down to a small portion of the original image. For making prints up to 8x10, I don't think you will see a difference in image quality unless you crop down to a fragment of the original.

I believe the S45 and S50 do allow you to record longer movies at a higher resolution. I love my S30, but I never understood why I have a 30-second limit on the higher res movie when I have a 350 MB microdrive...seems like I should be able to record until I'm out of space.

If you do not have the memory to take at RAW or Large SuperFine quality at all times, I would recommend simply getting a larger memory card for your S30. As long as you are taking the highest resolution photo and saving it in the largest size format, you can print sharp 8x10s or crop down pretty far and still have a decent 4x6 image. If I had the cash to burn right now, I might buy an S50 and give my S30 to my girlfriend or a family member; but at this time I just don't see a compelling reason to upgrade as far as casual photography is concerned.

Sean

[Kutchey]

NO NO NO !! Don't do it! I owned an S30 for over a year and took well over 20,000 pictures...Loved it dearly. It took the greatest pictures known to man.... But then ALAS ! I dropped it and broke it. Had to "upgrade" to an S50 at Best Buy because the S30 was no longer available. The pictures are darker and less vibrant than the S30! Very disappointing! I returned the camera and got another one (in case is was the camera itself with the problem). Same deal! By comparison - no good ! Then I sent the thing S50 to the Canon repair shop in ILL. They "fixed" it and sent it back and it is the same. They did not fix the color. They have changed the color chip in the new Canon cameras. The S30 has the good old RGB chip. Wonderful pictures. The S50 which has the new Digi chip and a different color chip, called a cmyg or something. It is NOT faster or better in anyway shape or form. I say don't do it ... Keep the wonderful old S30 or sell it to me! I can't find one anywhere. My S50 is going for sale on Ebay. I hate it.

[pblevitt]

Upgraded mine a few months ago, S30 to S50, same reasons, have underwater case etc.

Likes - extra resolution, colour brighter, menus easier to find, 'rocker selector' is better, Custom mode, lighter (weight), autofocus point selectable, 2nd curtain flash, RAW/JPEG straight after shot, FAT32 - able to read over 1G cards, memory/battery compartment more secure, can't remember anything else off hand.

Dislikes - Photo's a little under-exposed, low light speed photography, that's about it.

[Corey H]

S30 low noise, S50 noisy. Don't upgrade yet. Wait till something better comes. I've tried both, and I'll stick with S30 for now.

[Guillermo Freige]

archie:
As you see, it's a very personal matter of taste if the upgrade is worthless or not. My recomendation: go to some camera shop, and try it by yourself. Carry your CF and camera, take some pictures with both, and compare them in your PC, and then make your own choice.

[Tyrel]

I have an S30 and an S45, having returned a previously owned S50 for the 45.

kutchey wrote:

> The pictures are darker and less vibrant than the S30

This is definitely true, at least in my experience with all 3 cameras. I was intending on selling my S30 after I got the S50/45, but I'm now keeping it. The overall quality of the images is much nicer on the S30 than the newer S45/50 models.

Also, the noise on the S50 is significantly worse than the S30. And this is not simply because the 5 megapixels "exaggerates" details like noise. The noise is simply bad on the S50 comapred to the S30. The S45 is also worse than the S30, but not quite so bad.

If you do buy an S50, keep your S30 as well. The S30 may be older but the overall image quality is superior.