Canon Compact Camera Question

[DesiPower]

I am interested in buying SD1400. But as this has not yet been reviewed I have many questions.

#1 Compared to SD1200 (for which there are several favorable reviews) does 1400 have a better/worse lens? From the specification it seems that they are of different class, 1200 is in mm and 1400 says (W) ??? WTFis that? 1400 ofcourse has a newer one but is it bigger and/or better?

#2 for about $100 extra, is SX210 worth it? is the only difference (lens/picture quality) the extra Zoom? or does it have a even better lens? I know SX210 has lot of extra features but I will probably never use them. Zoom, its definitely something I might use...

SD1200
Focal length: 6.2-18.6mm f/2.8-4.9 (35mm film equivalent: 35-105mm)

SD1400
Focal length: 5.0 (W) - 20.0 (T) mm (35mm film equivalent: 28 - 112mm)

SX210 IS:
Focal length: 5.0 (W) - 70.0 (T) mm (35mm film equivalent: 28 - 392mm)

 

[Fardringle]

The (W) and (T) just mean Wide and Telephoto. The numbers are still in 35mm equivalents.

Without seeing any reviews or real specifications, I'm going to say this assuming that all three are essentially the same quality camera..

While it doesn't seem like much of a difference, the 28mm equivalent on the SD1400 is a LOT wider than the 35mm equivalent on the SD1200, which means you can get a lot more into the picture at close range and for wide panorama photos. For a comparison, take a look at these samples: http://picasaweb.google.com/fardringle/WideAngleComparison#

The samples are 36mm and 27mm shots, but they are close enough to the 35mm and 28mm lenses on your two cameras to give a good idea of how much more the SD1400 camera can "see" with a 28mm lens.

If you frequently find yourself wishing that you could get closer to your subjects, then the longer zoom on the SX210 might very well be worth an extra $100. For an idea of the difference between the 105/112mm "zoom" on the SD cameras and the 392mm long end on the SX210, take a look at these samples showing the comparison between 100mm and 400mm equivalent focal lengths: http://picasaweb.google.com/fardringle/ZoomComparison?authkey=Gv1sRgCP-F8bW_tdfg0AE#

In both galleries, you can use the little scroll bar in the upper right to resize the thumbnail pictures, or click on a small thumbnail to see a larger image.


Again, this is assuming everything else is equal, which it may not be. Personally, I would wait for some reviews to be published on the cameras before making a decision since it's entirely possible that the newer camera is much lower quality than the old one, in which case the old one would be better even with the narrower field of view on the lens. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but without knowing the cameras, all I can do is give you an idea of the difference in the lenses.

 

[speedy2]

If you're looking to get into photography the SX would be the better choice. You'll get more control. The image sensors are pretty much the same. Although I think the SX camera would have larger elements than the SD. The SD's are more about being compact.

 

[DesiPower]

Thanks guys, the information provided is really helpful, I will be on the lookout for reviews. I am not at all planning to get in photography, but SX210 is small enough for me to carry around so I though if by spending some extra bucks if I can get better quality images, why not go for it.
SX210 is not even out yet, I am gonna till I see some reviews on both of them before I get one.

meanwhile... does anyone know what would be Sony's equivalent to DS1400 and SX210 if any? just curious...

 

[DesiPower]

So SX210 is out for a while now, reviews look good. Any inputs or personal experience? Planning to get one soon... 2 or 3 weeks maybe...

 

[slashbinslashbash]

If you are thinking about the SX210 then I would take a little step up money-wise, but a BIG step up photo-quality-wise to the S90. Especially if you ever take photos in low light (i.e., indoors). It's got a lens that opens to f/2.0 on the wide end (28mm equiv.) and a larger sensor, which means better high ISO performance. It lacks the superzoom of the SX210, but that's a good compromise IMO.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

You know the SD1200 has an amazing lens. I've read on POTN from a lot of tests that the 780, 960, etc can't even keep up. The 990 on the other hand may be different as it uses the G10 sensor which is larger.

I wish it'd be easier to compare these things. I know for lenses there are easy sources to check like Photzone.de or The-digital-picture where you look at 100% crops and pixel peep as we SLR people do all the time.

I'm curious about the SX though. On paper it looks nicer with more features, but performance is always a separate issue.

 

[DesiPower]

Here are some of the reasons why I want to go for SX210
avi video and ability to zoom during video (i am aware of the sound issue)
14X optical Zoom
I have a camcorder but never used coz it was a pain to carry it around. Something integrated like seems to be a good idea. S90 records MOV, a major turnoff...
I am not expecting any sensational picture or video quality, will be using it just for fun. I am paying the extra bucks for the video capability of the SX210.

 

[randomlinh]

pretty sure the SX210 shoots in "MOV" too. but it's more a container format. specfically, it's h.264 (alternatively, canon uses motion jpeg as well).

 

[DesiPower]

pretty sure the SX210 shoots in "MOV" too. but it's more a container format. specfically, it's h.264 (alternatively, canon uses motion jpeg as well).

ya... you are right... wow... OK... some of the early reviews mentioned something about avi, Just looked at cononusa, it is MOV. I guess i will have to do some research on conversion before I buy it. I was hoping to be able to play avi directly over my philips blu-ray player

 

[randomlinh]

ya... you are right... wow... OK... some of the early reviews mentioned something about avi, Just looked at cononusa, it is MOV. I guess i will have to do some research on conversion before I buy it. I was hoping to be able to play avi directly over my philips blu-ray player

it still wouldn't necessarily play directly, all depends on what codecs the blu-ray player supports. I would suspect it could do h264 because, well, that's what bluray uses. It might not see .MOV, but it could be something as simple as renaming it to .avi so it can recognize it.

I suggest looking for sample movies from reviews if they have them, and just downloading them and trying to see if it works.

 

[DesiPower]

OK, so I looked at SX210 at the local Bestbuy last weekend and was disappointed. My sincere apology to anyone who bought it but... the flash thing was really annoying and the zoom button was a joke. Didn't like the shape/size either. And the pictures showing only on a part of the screen was ridiculous. I gave up on SX210, I am so glad I didn't buy it without physically looking at it.
I am still in a mood for a high/mega zoom compact camera. I am looking around and found that Sony came out with some new stuff that's getting pretty good reviews! There are two that caught my eye, and I have some questions regarding them.

I looked at HX5V and some reports complained about its over noise reduction that causes softness. Of-course I am amateur when it comes to camera but I couldn't find anything wrong with the sample images. I love some of the other features in the camera like panorama, burst mode, full HD movie and the GPS...

I also look at the H55, it has a pretty good features too. It has a "Super HAD CCD" as compared to HX5v's "Exmor R CMOS". How do they compare? how good is HX5's sensor compared to H55's. Is there anything else significantly inferior in a H55?