S30 vs S40

I got to borrow both of these from work.

The value is in the S30. The only 3mp with manuel features, no the nikon 885 does NOT have them.

Also the difference is only .8mp. 3.2 and 4.0.

the s30 can go up to ISO 800
the s40 can only go to ISO 400 because 4,000,000 pixels in the same space as 3,200,000, the 4mp will be grainier, noisier.

the s30 is also faster, not because of faster ram, but smaller file size. but remember, you really only need 1 or 2 for a great 4x6 if you have a pro lab print it.

if you use the S40 and change the res to a 2mp, you are still useing smaller sensors on the CCD, so the S30 will win again.

People don't buy higher megapixel cameras for the higher res, they buy them for the features, now that the s30 has them, there really isn't a need for the s40.

Dave

I agree with you on the feature comparison--you listed all the reasons that I picked up an S30 instead of an S40. But I disagree that people in general buy higher-res cameras for the features alone.

I think it's more to do with technology filtering down. A lot of the new 2mp cameras have a few more advanced features than before. At the same time, there are a number of 4mp cameras that are pushing the point-and-shoot feature set.

It's analogous to cars. Power doors and windows used to be a luxury option that was only available on high-end models and luxury cars. Now, a lot of lower-cost cars are power-everything. The same goes for car remotes and side airbags--it just took awhile for the high-end technology to filter down.

Russ

The new A30 and A40 powershots have manual control now - major coup for Canon as I think they will attract many more 'photographers' with this. I purchased an S40 myself. I work for Jessops (Sutton-Coldfield) and have used both S30 and S40, side by side there is not a huge difference, but I did find that the S40 did have that edge in deffinition.

The S30 is great as well - my mother has one, so I think they are both great camera's!

I have to disagree with you...

Ok may be S30 has better focus and sharper picture. But the rason why to by camera with higher resolution is not number of features (today u can find same features in 1.2MP camera and 5mp camera) but postproduction and work with image. If u use camera with 5mp and 3mp for the same picture and want to make crop etc. which one will be better? Another reason is detail of picture. U can see more detail in Hi res cameras.
I think thats all for now

Ici

http:/www.pbase.com/ici

I agree that higher-res is better for post-production work and printing, but isn't it reasonable to assume that people who want to do that stuff will be the ones who want extra features as well? That would suggest that people buy cameras for both features & resolution.

Film cameras are fairly straightforward--if you want features, you buy an SLR. Otherwise, you buy a point-and-shoot. Some people probably buy digitals in the same mindset, but a lot of us like the idea of pocketable cameras with lots of features. And yeah, some only care about megapixels.

It seems to me that there are lots of different consumer-types with valid justifications. So, I don't think we've reached the point where we can make generalizations about buying habits. Some people look for features, some look for resolution, some look for both, and some look for neither. On this forum, we'll probably hear most from the people who look at everything: size, features, resolution, price, speed, media type, etc.. So, I'm not sure that we can validly represent the general public.

And I'm not sure that there's any point in trying to.

NO! There are not any cameras that are 2mp that have manuel features. The A30 and A40 or whatever DO NOT have manuel features. It has a setting for manuel, but that just allows you to pick from more res settings, different flash modes. NOT sutter speed, aperture, and both.

You can make a good 8x10 from a 2mp. Digitaly zooming & cropping is never a good idea. Take it right in the 1st place.

Sooner or later, 1 hr labs like the place i work at, will be able to do 100 pics in 1 hr at 4x6, and that's what people will do 95% of the time. THEN you only need 1mp.

Most people haven't seen an exposed print from digital, it's VERY VERY good. No ink, no dye, no dots. I show people some pics i took with a Canon elph, and they are EXCELLENT at 8x10.

As far as post perduction, get a D-SLR, they are down in price by 66%!!!

D30 came out at $1000 per MP
D60 came out at $333 per MP


To sum it up, 0.8mp for $200 is CRAZY! buy a 256mb card instead. That's why many places have stopped carring the S40, Circuit city has pulled it from it's store, only avl. online 'til their gone.

Dave

I think we all agree that the extra .8mp in the S40 isn't worth the $200. I'm more interested in debating the public's buying habits. Can we make a general case about why people buy certain cameras? As I said before, I don't think we're there, yet. There are too many different types of users out there.

I like carting my S30 everywhere I go (can't do that with an SLR), being able to print a decent 5x7 photo from my inkjet (which is grainy at 2mp), and I like being able to crop my 2048x1536 pixel images (I've only got a 3x zoom). But that's only me. I don't 'need' the manual controls, but I'm trying to learn how to use them. That's why I bought an S30.

If you look at the products out there in terms of resolution and features, you can easily find examples of low/low (res/features), low/high, high/low, and high/high. This says to me that there isn't an average user. There's just a bunch of people who want different things out of their digicam.

That's why I don't think we're there, yet, and I'm not sure we'll every get there. Personally, I rather like the idea of cameras designed with specific users in mind, and no 'average user'.

But yeah, I definitely wouldn't spend another $200 for the S40. Maybe for an Olympus D-40Z, but not the S40.

Russ

I'll chime in...

I think people DO buy megapixels. That’s the first question out of someone’s mouth when they see a digital camera. How many megapixels?

My belief is that megapixels are only one metric of what makes a camera good. If everything else were equal, more megapixels would always be better. Of course, everything else isn’t equal. I’m super happy with my S110, despite it’s 2 megapixel maximum.

I wouldn’t be too quick to give the general buying public much credit. There are a lot of people who think a 4mp tiny compact will take a better picture than a D30. One person I queried about their position told me that lens speed and quality are basically irrelevant… All that matters is megapixels. Nice.

It’s clear to me that people don’t want to hear about image sensor size, lens quality, or electrical noise. They want to have a checklist of features with resolution at the top of that list. How many people try a camera out before they buy it and make a couple of prints with it to see what it can REALLY do?

Tom, you are so right. I have an S100 & D60, (used to have d30 hince my user name)

Like i said, i work at ritz camera and people do come up and ask "how many mp?" ALWAYS!

I've said in a few other posts, some day MP will be deep in the specs in the back off the book. It will be so high that people will just know it's good. So this whole MP thing will soon die off.

You're 2mp really shouldn't be breaking up at 8x10. I've got some really good 8x10's, but that was on a printer the size of a car.

But then theres another thing to say, why pay upwards of $1000 and print on a $200 printer? WHere as people buying a $100 film camera print on a $200,000, they have the advantage. It's totaly backwards, print on a good printer if you're going to spend SO much on a camera.

I know it's fun to play around with them, but you can always save to CD.

Lens size does matter. A lot of lenses I would like to buy for my D60 are more than the s40 itself! This is still photography, you still need light (photo means light). The better light you get, and the more you get the better.

I posted this for people who were wondering what one they should buy, NOT to try and tell people they wasted $200. I think this is what happend though.

Dave

I hear you, Dave. I'd hate to think that we killed the S40.

Tom, you make a great point about the consumer public. I'll admit that, before I started looking for a digital camera, I didn't think much beyond brand, media type, and megapixels.

Out of curiousity, Dave, what ratio of people would you say walk into Ritz Camera without a clue and buy a camera? I can't imagine dropping even a few hundred bucks on something without proper research.

Russ