Buy it if you can get a great deal, otherwise avoid it.
Written: Jan 31 '01 (Updated Jan 31 '01)
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Pros: Compact size, sturdy, elegant
Cons: Average picture quality, difficulties in loading film
The Bottom Line: Solidly constructed camera but has poor picture quality.
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| richardchiu's Full Review: Canon Elph 240 APS Film Camera |
I have had the pleasure of owning 3 APS cameras. It hasn't been a year yet since I caught this APS love 'bug' but within the short time frame, I managed to purchase 3 APS cameras and taken hundreds upon hundreds of photos.
The first one I bought was an Canon Elph Jr. Then I bought the Elph because it was a boxing day special ($199 Cdn). I was satisfied with my Elph Jr. but wanted a zoom camera and the Elph fit the bill nicely (the Elph 2 was out of my price range). Immediately, I started having problems with the camera. After my first roll of film, I tried to load a new roll with no luck. The camera would not load the film and give me an 'H' error on the LCD. I took it back and got an exchange but this problem reappeared but this time I couldn't exchange the camera because I had moved and the city I was living in didn't have the store where I purchased the camera. Instead of shipping the camera off for exchange, I decided to purchase a higher end APS camera. Not having luck with the Elph, I passed on the Elph 2 and purchased the similarly priced Nikon Nuvis V (I also wrote a review for this camera).
I'm not sure if it was intuition or something, but I took the battery from my Nuvis V and placed it into the Elph. Voila! No more loading problems! It was a weak battery all this time but there was NO indication the the Elph that the battery was low! I tried to return the Nuvis V but couldn't, so I was now stuck with 3 APS cameras. Making the most of the situation, I decided to compare the cameras by taking essentially similar photos, with the same lighting and same film. Here are my findings:
Picture Quality
Pictures taken with the Elph are grainy and some are blurry. Subjects lack sharpness and detail. Between the three cameras, the Elph placed last with the Elph Jr. in second and the Nuvis V in first. Closeups and far away shots are blurry. Indoor shots are very grainy, probably due to it's weak flash. And panoramic shots are too blurry to be worthwhile. If you want sharp details in photographs, get another camera.
Camera Construction
The Elph is top notch in terms of its construction. It feels very sturdy and durable. It's heavier than the Elph Jr. and the Nuvis V but is very compact. The popup flash however, is something left to be desired. On a few occassions, I managed to hold down the flash with my forefinger without knowing it, resulting in ruined indoor shots. Another bad thing about the Elph is the noise level it generates. Just turning it on and off creates this high screeching motorized sound which is very irritating.
Features
The Elph doesn't have many features compared to the newer APS cameras on the market today. One such feature that Canon should have included was MRC (mid roll change). MRC is a very useful feature if you want to switch film speed for taking indoor and outdoor pictures. The Elph's on/off switch is poorly placed (on the front of the camera) resulting in accidental powering of camera while it's still in its case.
In conclusion, the Elph is compact and solidly built and is a definite eye catcher, but for the picture quality it produces, I don't recommend it.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 135
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Epinions.com ID:
richardchiu
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Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 1 member
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