Replacement Elf for my wife, which one ?

I use an S3IS and plan on getting a DSLR pretty soon, but the wife appreciates easier to understand functionality and the compactness of the Elf series. She currently has a (much beaten and battered but still highly functional except for the battery) SD110 which is the 3.2 MP model. Yes, old indeed !

We just got back from a 3 day excursion to Virginia in order to see Radiohead, but the event was horrible because of the weather. I wanted to take pics with my S3 and tripod, but couldn't gather the courage to get it out of my bag. The elf would have come in mighty handy in that case...

Her battery was dead, and I also know that it's a decent enough camera to take night shots if the pics aren't being blown up to print, but I think it's high time she had a new camera, even if she detests the thought of ditching "ol' faithful".

We're going to visit Sarasota next month, and I'd love to surprise her with a new camera, and I'm sure that one of the biggest hitting points with her and the Canon, is its very compact size and its easiness to understand the GUI and menu's.

I would like to get her an Elf to replace this one, but I've seen the results with the SD1100 and the night shots are horrid in terms of noise, even at ISO 80. Yes, it's for her, but I refuse to get her a camera which won't play well at night. That said, I think IS is a great feature, and she'd benefit from it a lot, as well as face detection etc..

To be honest, the Fuji F50fd looks great, but lacks a few key things I find to be important, such as a shutter speed that goes beyond 10 seconds (it only goes to 3 seconds) and IS. If it didn't lack those two things, I'd probably consider it, but I also feel more loyalty towards Canon products since they've served both my wife and I fairly well in the past. (minus flimsy battery doors).

So, what should I consider in Canons Elf line (if any) for :

Low noise night shots, even w/boosted ISO
IS
Good build quality including Battery compartment


Or, and I'd love to hear from the women here, should I get one of the slightly larger sized powershot models ? At least with those, I know the sensor won't be as small, and might not have as many MP crammed in on it, and will also have better night shot abilities. It's a crap shot really, as I know she'd love to keep the cam in her pocket, which is what those Elf's are so accommodating with.

Opinions wanted.

Doug

Actually, the SD950, the A650 and the G9, all at the tops of their respective PowerShot lines, have the same size 12.1 MP 1/1.7" sensor, the biggest physically in any Canon PowerShot model. Other models of owerShots use different sized sensors, but you'll find different sizes used even within the general product classes. In general, up to 8 MP, the cameras use a 1/2.5" sensor; the exception here is the A630, which uses a 1/1.8" sensor, so at 8 MP has probably the largest pixels of any PowerShot currently available. However it doesn't have IS, and the only ones I can find are refurbished.

As far as the wet conditions go, pick up a package of the Op/Tech RainSleeves - under $10 for 2, and they're small enough to fit in your camera bag, glove compartment, or raincoat pocket. They're basically a plastic tube with a drawstring to fasten around the front of your lens.

Thanks, but that didn't truly answer my question(s)...

Perhaps I didn't ask the right questions, so I'll try a different way:

I'm sure that my wife would absolutely love another Elf because of its form factor (size-pocketability) but I on the other hand, when using HER camera in a pinch, would also love to have the ability to adjust more than what the line of Elf camera's "manual" settings is capable of. I would really like the best of both worlds I guess, but I'm sure that's not possible, so I"m left wondering:

If I do indeed get her another Elf series camera, which one of them will produce the best images in terms of noise at a high ISO setting for night shots, and which also has IS and is pretty much the best bang for the buck ? I would rather get one which has a larger sensor and less MP than a small one with lots of MP's crammed onto it.

I was going to get one of the compacts, but I think she'd be much happier with one she can put in her pocket, so I guess I'll have to live w/o AV or shutter priority modes and such.

Also, I don't want to pay a premium for the newest camera considering that the prices are going to be slashed in a few months anyway, and I don't really think that most new add on features are usually worth paying extra for... Well, not usually anyway.

Doug

dougrb wrote in post #5552962
Thanks, but that didn't truly answer my question(s)...

Perhaps I didn't ask the right questions, so I'll try a different way:

I'm sure that my wife would absolutely love another Elf because of its form factor (size-pocketability) but I on the other hand, when using HER camera in a pinch, would also love to have the ability to adjust more than what the line of Elf camera's "manual" settings is capable of. I would really like the best of both worlds I guess, but I'm sure that's not possible, so I"m left wondering:

If I do indeed get her another Elf series camera, which one of them will produce the best images in terms of noise at a high ISO setting for night shots, and which also has IS and is pretty much the best bang for the buck ? I would rather get one which has a larger sensor and less MP than a small one with lots of MP's crammed onto it.

I was going to get one of the compacts, but I think she'd be much happier with one she can put in her pocket, so I guess I'll have to live w/o AV or shutter priority modes and such.

Also, I don't want to pay a premium for the newest camera considering that the prices are going to be slashed in a few months anyway, and I don't really think that most new add on features are usually worth paying extra for... Well, not usually anyway.

Doug

Well, you said the following:

dougrb wrote in post #5523206
Or, and I'd love to hear from the women here, should I get one of the slightly larger sized powershot models ? At least with those, I know the sensor won't be as small, and might not have as many MP crammed in on it, and will also have better night shot abilities. It's a crap shot really, as I know she'd love to keep the cam in her pocket, which is what those Elf's are so accommodating with.

Opinions wanted.

Doug

I was pointing out that that's a misconception. The SD950 uses the same sensor as the A650IS and the G9. So you can get Canon's largest PowerShot sensor in an SD model. You aren't going to see much, if any, difference in the low light performance of the electronics on any of the three. Other models in the A, S, and SD lines also share common sensors. So throw that idea about the SD models having a less-capable sensor right out. But none of the PowerShot models will really impress you with their low-light performance when compared to any EOS. Decide what lens zoom range (look at the focal length equivalents, not the zoom "multiplier") and decide what gives you the most useful range. If you want to be able to set the aperture and/or shutter peed but still want a small camera, look at the A720IS or the A590IS.

Oh, ok. Sorry Jon, it's been a long week for me work wise, so I guess I tripped myself up on that one. Thanks for pointing those things out to me. I guess now, it's all a matter of as you said, the focal length and perhaps a few niceties such as advanced face detection and some other niche stuff.

AE and shutter priority don't matter worth a damn to my wife, I guess I'd just like to be able to mess with those things if I ever use it, but as long as the camera isn't known (which ever I choose) for really over exposing shots, and is able to meter well, then perhaps I shouldn't worry too much about those modes to begin with. And perhaps that should have been my first question... Which of the Elf cameras is better in terms of metering/exposure in tricky lighting situations etc..

Doug

Well, there again, the electronics are pretty much the same in all of them down to the most basic . . . and it's in the tricky situations that you really want human over-ride. Even the models that don't allow direct aperture or shutter speed control do allow you to adjust exposure compensation and ISO, so you should be able to get a decent overall exposure as long as you don't need more than a couple of stops adjustment.

Ya know, I was just looking at the A570, and its size specifications indicate that it's really not that big of a camera, possibly even able to fit in a loose pant pocket...

I'd be doing her more of a service by getting an A series camera so that she can eventually learn how to use the manual features, and then adopt my Canon S3 once I get the Xsi.

Is there a place which lists each of the Powershot series dimensions ? I think I'll just try and get the least thick of them, and should be safe as far as IQ and features goes.

Doug

Visit the Canon PowerShot web site and click on the models you may be interested in. Or you can download Canon's Digital Camera brochure which has dimensions for all the models listed. The A570, A590 and A720 are all about the same size.

Thanks Jon. Wish the second link worked though, because the only specs the comparison chart gives you is the weight and not the size. That's ok though, I think that if the dpreview database is accurate, I'll be able to work it from there. Thanks for all of your help, it's appreciated.

Doug

Sorry - that's what I downloaded from this page.

The dpreview database does have a few errors, I've been tripped up on that. Go to the Canon PowerShot web page that Jon links above and click each camera you're interested in, click Specifications and scroll down to the bottom for physical dimensions; the Compare Now function gives only weight, not size.

The 570 is indeed very light. My son has one (Happy Birthday To Youuuuuu) and while it's not as thin as any of the SD series it could fit in a (large) shirt pocket or pants pocket.

Update: I wound up going to B&H Photo, and bought the A590 IS. Its form factor was the smallest of the bunch I saw, and it seems to do what my wife will need it for, very well, and as a bonus, has those manual features I wanted.

She was very pleased with it, and it even fits into the same case she was using for her old Elf. Now for some vacation shots, and we'll be good to go.