Not your Keebler's Elph
Written: Jul 07 '01 (Updated Jul 08 '01)
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Pros: Tiny, great optics
Cons: Learning curve
The Bottom Line: Buy it 'cause it's cool, use it 'cause it's quality
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| showard's Full Review: Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Camera |
When I first saw the “film” Elph, I clutched my private parts. Tiny, shiny and functional is hard to beat. The digital Elph “pushed me over the edge”. A couple of weeks ago I bought. It’s cool!
Canon lists this device with a price of $599. “Street” prices average about $499. Being frugal (cheap) I found an Internet site that offered the camera for $375, printed the blurb and had my local Staples match the price. No problem.
The Elph does come with an 8 Meg CompactFlash card and some retrieval and editing software. No case or AC adapter is included.
The card is a bit small (in terms of capacity. If you want to spend a month in Europe and save all your photos until you return get a few extra CompactFlash cards. An 8 meg card holds 4 pictures in super fine mode (1600 x 1200 pixels), 12 in fine and 46 in 640 x 480. The later resolution is all that you will want for most on-line applications such as EBay. I’m able to copy the card’s contents to my palmtop and have a few extra cf cards, so capacity is only a minor problem. Additional CompactFlash cards range in price from $25 to $100 depending on vendor and capacity.
The included ZoomBrowser EX and Adobe PhotoDeluxe software appear very ho-hum. They do an OK job and are sort of intuitive and, as I play further, I may reevaluate their functionality. I have yet to experiment with PhotoStitch where a number of images may be merged into a panoramic photo. There are many other photo packages that deal with Canon’s JPEG’ file format. Find one that you like. It’s especially important in digital photography to be able to crop, re-center and “correct” your images easily.
A fabric or leather camera case is probably a good idea although the Elph, in the off condition, covers the lens mechanically. My case is a Kmart thing that also holds the charger in a separate compartment and was well under ten dollars. I did order a second battery. The lithium ion battery is “good for” between 80 and 200 pictures depending on flash/LCD usage. Charge time is about two hours. An AC adapter is available at an additional $30+.
I shan’t belabor the small size or the 2.1 megapixel capacity that is the Elph’s major selling point.
The Elph has a 2X optical zoom that is activated by a little lever adjacent to the “take picture” button. This feature is valuable. The digital 3X zoom (on the Elph and any other camera) is nice but analogous to looking at your subject through a toilet paper tube: the view is concentrated but the resolution is the same. You can achieve digital zoom effects via your editing software just as easily.
You can use the optical viewfinder on the Elph just like your normal camera. The view will zoom just like the LCD if you are utilizing that feature. As in other optical devices that are not SLR, in close-up situations the phenomenon of parallax lets the lens see something a touch different than the viewfinder. Take a few extra photos at different angles.
The LCD display is wonderfully sharp. It allows playback of past photos. It further displays teeny icons that are indicative of the options and modes you have selected. You will initially be somewhat traumatized by their meaning and their (lack of) visibility.
The Elph definitely has a “learning curve”. You are probably smarter than I am but don’t lose the User Guide (if you do it’s available on Canon’s web site). Canon’s menus are like your digital clock: “Click a button then scroll with another, then select etc.”. You may need some time to fully master the Elph’s capabilities.
Whether you have a PC or a Mac the Elph will serve you well. You won’t master it overnight.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 375
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Epinions.com ID:
showard
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Member: Steve Howard
Location: Lebanon, Maine
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 23 members
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