Deal on Canon S400 Back through 11 pm central today!

[Empire_DNH]

I am too just order S400 from Dell.
To get this I have to sale my goody Canon S330 to a friend at work
and ebaying the other firm camera Canon Rebel 2000 deluxe with 28-90mm lens.


Therefore, for what ever it takes, I feeling good right now
Come my S400 -> Convenient is the name of the game

Cheer

 

[ariom]

I used the S400 very intensively at a party last weekend and found it terrific, with ONE BIG exception: the battery drains out quite fast if you want to use the lcd display all the time, as I am inclined to do. It was a bit embarassing and painful to hunt for wall outlets to charge the battery ever so often.
So if you plan to buy the S400, I would advise you to factor in the cost of an addtitional battery (or two) if you plan on lots of shots around the same time and using the lcd display a lot as opposed to the viewfinder. I used up an entire 128 CF card (about 110 shots) and half of another at that event. The last forty shots required freuent visits to the wall outlet!
The zoom feature is a little less powerful that I would like, but I am a camera newbie, so YMMV.
I read elsewhere on AT or FW that the Minolta Dimage S414 is available at Amazon.com for $335 or so with a 64mb flash and an accessory kit included (using coupons). The Dimage apparently has all the features of the S400 plus a better zoom (4x) plus many manual controls plus uses standard AA batteries and not the Canon-specific battery. Also weighs 11oz or so compared to 6oz for the CanonS400.
If the Minolta is indeed equally feature rich as the S400, it sounds like it is the better deal, at least as priced at Amazon. I tend to like the feel of a slightly heavier camera myself, but I do like the S400. It is high on the 'cute' quotient too.

Would appreciate any feedback on the s400 v/s dimage s414 issue.

 

[jono8]

I think the big advantage of the S400 is the small size of the camera. Like you said ariom, teh CAnon is about 6 oz and the Minolta is about 11 oz, that's nearly double the weight! Personally, I had the Nikkon Coolpix 950 for a few years. It was a great camera, but was so big that I wasn't able to use it as much as often just because it'd be a pain to lug the camera around everywhere I go. Right now I have the Pentax Optio S (which I will return to Costco if my S400 actually comes) and I love it because it fits in my pocket right next to my cell phone.

 

[spikemike]

everything i've read so far about this camera(the optio S that someone asked about earlier) makes me think its not worth it. Yeah its small but it doesn't take very sharp pictures, and doesn't have teh greatest saturation.

 

[Ocuflox]

im not sure where i read this - but im pretty sure i read that the s400 is no comparison to the s230.

 

[s0ssos]

even though the s400 is a lot smaller than the dimage s414, i'd say go with the dimage s414 if you like features ariom. so, you probably can't fit it into your pockets, but you sure can pick up great batteries for it

so on dpreview they did a test of battery life. s400 has 230. dimage has 270. not, that's already like 20% more, but then, if you factor in them using 1600 mAh batteries, and now that 2200 mAh batteries are out, i think that's like 40% more battery life.
so basically, since you can pick up a nice set of AA's, the minolta will run you a very long time on batteries.

but yeah, you can't really compare these. the minolta is a real camera. it has a great lens, and fast shutter speeds. but it's a lot bigger

 

[slycat]

i actually switched from s230 to s400...i got it for $360 from Dell after selling my s230 at Ebay for $315.
The upg from 3 to 4mpix is onle thing but what i wanted was
sound output during video playback and 3x optical zoom, better battery and internal circuitry.

 

[Tokar]

how is this camera compared to the S45?

i picked up an S45 2 months ago from dell for $385...

 

[s0ssos]

s45 is better, but bigger. s45 has manual features like aperture control, shutter priority, manual focus, etc, that the s230 doesn't have.
and i'd guess it has better battery life. but the s45 is thinner by like half an inch. and looks cooler to some people, cause it's a rectangle

 

[NeoMadHatter]

i want this camera but $400 is too much. they had them on sale a few weeks back for $357 shipped i believe. it's nice that it comes with a 32mb CF card as opposed to the 8mb CF that i got with my camera over a year ago. i wish they'd put more than 3x optical zoom though. it's not nearly enough as i've decided when taking pictures when a little far back and didn't get as good results as i wanted. and i hate digital zoom, it's retarted to have as it sucks.

 

[bargainshopper]

I used to own an S230 and now have a S400. I think the S230 has "sharpper" pics then the s400. I did not do any close comparision between the two since I sold the S230 right after I got the S400.

 

[s0ssos]

neomadhatter, the only way to get lots of optical zoom in a small size is the pentax optio 550. check it out. (there's also a 450, that's 4 megapixel instead of 5).
it has 5x optical, 5 megapixels, and the size of the olympus c-50

 

[cvstrat]

We sell these at work all the time, very good camera, very sleek too. I would recommend it to anyone. Or if you were able to accept a slightly larger size the Minolta F100 would be a good choice also!

 

[bigpow]

Difference between this and G2??

 

[abominable]

I think alot of people here are trying to compare apples and oranges by comparing the s400 to a larger camera.

What I really want to know is if anyone knows from experience how the s400 compares to the Olympus Stylus 400. Both are 4 megapixels and both are compact, put-in-your-pocket digicams that seem to have gotten good reviews.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

Is this deal dead?
I think this is the camera I want to get. I wanted the Optio S BADLY but after seeing some sample pics, I was very disappointed. It's too bad, because that camera's size would have been PERFECT. I have an Optio 330 now which is exactly the same size as the S400... decent size, but I could really use something thinner.
Oh well, S400 sample pics I've seen are many times sharper and cleaner than Optio S pics, so right now I think the S400 is the one to get.

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: GnatGoSplat
Is this deal dead?
I think this is the camera I want to get. I wanted the Optio S BADLY but after seeing some sample pics, I was very disappointed. It's too bad, because that camera's size would have been PERFECT. I have an Optio 330 now which is exactly the same size as the S400... decent size, but I could really use something thinner.
Oh well, S400 sample pics I've seen are many times sharper and cleaner than Optio S pics, so right now I think the S400 is the one to get.

I had a hard time finding it on the home site. I found it by searching for the part # A0089356.

 

[ariom]

Originally posted by: abominable
I think alot of people here are trying to compare apples and oranges by comparing the s400 to a larger camera. What I really want to know is if anyone knows from experience how the s400 compares to the Olympus Stylus 400. Both are 4 megapixels and both are compact, put-in-your-pocket digicams that seem to have gotten good reviews.

You have a point.

But the 'larger' camera (in my case the Minolta DiMage S414) is more feature rich (more manual controls, faster shutter speeds) and much less expensive ($335 with a kit plus more memory plus cheaper batteries); so the question reads (to mangle your analogy totally): Should a FW'er buy a pretty looking light apple or a smarter and sturdier and much cheaper orange that has an apple inside?

I haven't physically played with the DiMage and not with the Olympus you mentioned. So I cannot help with a comparision. However, the S400 is very easy to use and handle.

Fwiw, in addition to the drainage of battery when using the LCD, there is one other tiny downside I noticed: the fourway selector knob (for camera or review or moviemode or one other function that I do not recall) tended to get dislodged rather easily when one handled the camera in a bit of a hurry, so that I found myself at times in movie mode when I had no intention of being there.

 

[TekDemon]

The A70 also has DiGiC processing, but I the reason I chose the A70 is for it's superior movie move(it can do 640x480, the S400 is limited to 320x240). Not really a BIG deal, but I do appreciate the fact that I can capture "quality" stupid moments on film when the occasion arrives =)

I didn't realize that the AiAF was different though =(

I think the A70 actually has slightly better picture quality in terms of optics since the S400's optics are compromised by having to fit so closely so you get more chromatic abberations and more darkening in the corners.

Personally I went with the A70 because it was a good deal(like $250 with 128MB CF card and a reader even though I already owned a reader it's nice since I have two PCs so now I can load to both of em easily).

But I did feel pangs of jealousy when someone else had an S400 bought for them...bah!

Forget it, someone get me $7000 so I can buy the 1Ds and never be jealous of 99.9999% of camera

And damn you people, this thread has started up my brain gears cranking again and now my stupid capitalistic competition buying urge is starting up again...as if a 3.2MP 3X optical zoom camera with DIGIC and 5 point AIAF isn't good enough...even though it technically has better lens quality if you look at the pics...plus that better movie mode...

I guess the only way to settle this is to buy the G3. DAMN YOU ALL!

 

[s0ssos]

sorry tekDemon, the g5 is already out =P

 

[Ricecake]

:beer:

So how is the S400 compare w/ Sony P10? Which one is better?

 

[bigpow]

Originally posted by: abominable
I think alot of people here are trying to compare apples and oranges by comparing the s400 to a larger camera.

What I really want to know is if anyone knows from experience how the s400 compares to the Olympus Stylus 400. Both are 4 megapixels and both are compact, put-in-your-pocket digicams that seem to have gotten good reviews.

Not really. We just want to know how good it is compared to what we already own.
I'm actually in the market for lower (*cough* cheaper) model for my brother's gift.

 

[Boiler]

Personally I went with the A70 because it was a good deal(like $250 with 128MB CF card and a reader even though I already owned a reader it's nice since I have two PCs so now I can load to both of em easily).

But I did feel pangs of jealousy when someone else had an S400 bought for them...bah!

I bought the A70 a couple of weeks ago because it cost me $199 after about $100 in Circuit City GC rebate. I debated on getting the S400, that's why I asked for the differences. I was prepared to return A70 to CC but I just don't see the benefits for double in price. I am also very reluctant due to having to carry the charger... I hate doing it for the camcorder.

The A70 has served me well, I took over 170 pictures last weekend using the LCD exclusively and didn't have to change batteries(10% with flash), even though I carried an extra set of 4 NiMH spare. The pictures look great. The Canon stitch photo feature was easy with amazing results.

My buddy also received a S400 as a gift but he turned around and asked for a G5, greedy bastard! The S400 is very nice and compact.

 

[MonkeyloveGood]

I got me an a70 too. I think it's a much better value than a s400. In my opinon, the LCD screen on the a70 and s400 are the same, pretty crappy. I miss my C-4000 lcd screen. That was nice and crisp. And does the a70 have the same digic processor that the s400 has? I neevr compared the quality of photos against the a70 and s400, considering they're different Megapixels, I don't see how exactly it would work. But yeah. I'm happy with my a70 and C-4000 for super nice pictures

 

[Csium]

Cheap spare batteries for those who got this camera. Doesn't explicitly say that it'll work for the S400, but it is the same battery as all the other canon elph's.

So you'll never run out of power... although I haven't noticed my battery life to be short, even with the LCD.