The Best Just got Better!
I'll keep this review short since I'm sure there will be a lot more coming soon... The main thing I noticed that was different and an improvement over the S400 is the ability to shoot 640x480 VGA Videos up to One minute in length (versus 3 minutes for the 320x240 and 160x120 modes) but at this resolution it consumes a lot of memory/storage space... It's ironic that the original S200 (2MP) had this 640x480 VGA movie recording ability but it was only good for 6 seconds which of course is quite useless! Both the S230 (3MP) and S400 (4MP) removed this ability for some reason, and many folks have been asking... WHY?... and I guess Canon finally listed to the customers and brought this S200 feature back!!

The little speaker on the S410 just like the S400 and SD100 is really nice when playing back videos you record! This feature was missing on the S200 and S230 Canons...

With the price of Compact Flash memory cards dropping, just pickup a few extra memory cards and you'll be recording some nice videos in no time! Not to mention the photographs it takes are awesome as well! Instead of bringing both the digital camcorder and camera, we now just bring the Canon instead!

Truly an amazing camera!! It'll be interesting to see how the S500 compares to the S410!

Great Camera, I love it!
Recently my girlfried and I decided to purchase a new digital camera to go with our new computer. I wish I could speak to the process of getting information on digital cameras from the big box stores. (Man, talk about uniformed.) Basically I decided on this model because of many friends' reccomendations and the reviews I read online. Let me assure you that the reviews are all correct. This camera is nearly bulletproof in it's pros and the cons are no different that any other digital camera- battery life is a little short. Just buy an extra battery. I chose this model because it uses cheap media to record the images and does so very quickly. I compared this against the Olympus 410 splashproof. The reviews were also correct that the Olympus lags so much in taking the photo that the moment is gone. With a simple menu change one can activate," Quickshot," on the Canon S410 and picture response time increases significantly. This camera is extremely easy to use and within a day you'll want to start experimenting with all the extra modes. The color is so vivid the it makes my 17" LCD monitor look like a window. I really want to thank the other reviewers of this product. You were all a great help in my purchase decision. I do not regret purchasing this model in any way!

Great Camera for what it is meant to do!!!
I've owned the S410 for a couple of months and I give it 4 Stars. This camera targets a particular kind of consumer and it does a great job of it. I've seem some hard-core enthusiasts portray a negative picture of the S410 as well as it predecessor the S400, and I believe it is unfair.

This camera was a gift for my wife. My wife will carry a camera only if,
1. It is relatively light in weight,
2. It is compact (fits in her pocket-book), and,
3. It will think for itself.

The Canon does these well, and is meant for consumers like my wife. Switch on and shoot!

My wife upgraded from the Canon Elph (APS) to the S410. If the SD110 had a 3x zoom, we'd probably have gone with it. The S410 is built in stainless steel and is built like a tank. You will feel this in the weight of the camera. It is not the smallest or lightest out there, but it's one of the best when it comes to balance between weight and size. It feels very comfortable in the hand.

The buttons are sized and laid out very well. I like the mode-select wheel, which is particularly advantageous to people with large fingers. People who have not used Canon P&S cameras will be pleasantly surprised by the zoom controls. The zoom encompasses the shutter-button and is extremely intuitive.

The menus are self-explanatory and relatively simple to use, though it does take a little getting used to the menu mechanics.

The most used controls, macro mode, flash modes, metering modes and timer functions have hot keys and are selectable without accessing menus - a big advantage to accommodating last second changes.

There is a short startup lag, so don't expect to just pick-up and shoot. The auto-focus is fast. There is a delay between depressing shutter and capture, but is about the same as other cameras in this class. There is also a slight lag between shots, but again, is the same as other cameras in this class. One glaring issue is that the red-eye reduction is not very effective. To speed up shot-capture, switch this mode-off. It really helps!!

The photos are AMAZING! Indoors and outdoors, the photos are crisp, the colors vibrant and life-like, and, this was very surprising to me...the camera could capture depth. The photos are truly a pleasure to look at.......you can experience Canon's over 50 years of optic and technology expertise at work here. (FYI, I'm a NIKON person...it is huge for me to say this!!)

Why only four-stars?!!

1. Strong, over-powering flash. The flash is SO strong that it hurts subjects 5 feet away. You can literally feel the heat. There is a high possibility of flash-spots or wash-outs in case your subject is in front of a reflective surface.
2. This might be related to the strong flash...the front of the camera body becomes "very warm" but not "hot" after taking a few photos (approx. 10), with the flash on, in succession. I guess the metallic body heats up.
3. Auto-Focus. The auto focus can get annoying at times, especially if two subjects are nearly the same distance from the camera. It'll keep shuttling between the two subjects. The multi-zone AF is one of the reasons I did not buy a Canon SLR a few years ago. I find it inconvenient.

Overall, I think this is a great camera. It balances mega-pixel resolution, optics, technology, size, weight, price, and features-functionality in a compact package.

If you're the kind of person who likes getting great photos without working for them, this is the camera to buy.

Exquisite little gem!
I own a 10D which I absolutely love and was getting tired of using my old Olympus Epic (a GREAT film camera) and was looking for a good digital point and shoot. My two major candidates were the S410 and the S50 and possibly the new S60 (not yet released at the time of this review).

If you follow the photography boards at all you realize that this is a fairly common dilemma - the S410 or S400 vs the S50. The S50 offers excellent manual controls while the S400/S410 is significantly smaller without any manual control whatsoever other than exposure compensation. I just LOVE the look and feel of the S410 though if anything it could be argued that it is TOO small. If you feel it is and you are looking for a carry everywhere camera it is well worth the effort to get used to the small size because the camera takes beautiful pictures.

The S400 is simply beautiful. I can live without all the manual controls since I own the 10D and since this camera is primarily for my wife and for me when I don't want to lug the 10D around.

Several have pointed out that since this camera is so small it will always be with you whereas the S50 would be less likely to be carried along because of its increased size. This is a very good argument! The camera is SUBSTANTIALLY smaller than its bigger brother the S50. The form and size factors are what finally won me over.

One criticism of the camera. Low light focusing is less than ideal. You need to work with the camera to understand its limitations indoors.

I am a huge fan of the Canon cameras and I would advise anyone looking for a camera, whether a point and shoot or a DSLR to carefully consider the Canon line since, in my opinion, Canon currently represents the state of the art.

Camera to Last a Lifetime
Compact, light, affordable, and quality are the 4 words that describe this camera. The Canon S410 provides top-notch photos with vibrant colors and amazaing detail. It is one of the smallest cameras in its class contained inside a rich, strong metal body and an excellent rigid shape designed for the use of one hand. It provides adequate night shooting (wide range of shutter times), great macro shots (closeups), and a good host of functions (rapid shots, photostitch) needed for the beginning/intermediate photographer. Although it does not have many of the advanced features of other cameras in its classes, most users will not need them as point-and-shoot is generally what is desired. This camera will not disappoint as it's quality and size will make picture taking an enjoyable experience. This 4MP camera with its adequate functions will be the camera that will last for a lifetime.

Pros:
1) Small, light, good looking
2) Excellent quality, zoom, colors, macro shots, night shots
3) Easy to use, good battery life
4) Great beginning/intermediate functions

Cons:
1) No battery display indicator (only displays when time to recharge)
2) No advanced functions
3) No scene modes

Do not use a generic battery!
I want to point out that you should never buy a generic battery, like the person from San Diego who reviewed the S410 on May 15, 2004, was recommending. Yes you'd save money, but there have been many reports of generic batteries exploding when charged for too long. And don't think if your generic battery explodes you can sue somebody and win millions. These batteries are made in sweatshops in China, India and Korea, and I doubt you can find anybody to sue. So play it safe, both for your own sake and the camera's sake. If you want a spare, get a real Canon one.

Go with Canon and Don't Look Back
Regardless of what style of digital you choose - make sure it is Canon. These, like all of their cameras are great. I currently use the Canon Rebel and I am looking at the digital rebel. I am not a big brand name person - unless it counts. It counts with Canon. Here is a link to some photos taken with the 35mm Rebel. Canon is a great company.

www.blairknox.com

Still Loyal
My first Canon digital camera was actually called IXUS (branding in Asia & Europe) because my son's godmother bought it for us in transit through Tokyo 5 years ago. It is the same size as the S410 and we used it all the time because of the size. When we lost our IXUS earlier this year, there was no doubt we will get another in the ELPH series. We bought the S410 instead of the S500 becaue of the balance between the price and Pixal counts. We love our S410. Simply put: we use this camera (IXUS/S410) because it is the only one we bring everywhere we go (over 12 countries and 21 states), and it is easy to use. The ZoomBrower software is easy to use and my six year old son can use it. Canon keeps it simple even with all the additional features since my first Canon digital IXUS. It is not the smallest camera in the marketplace, but it is that perfect combination of features and size. By the way, our IXUS was US$799 5 years ago and it only had 2.1 Meg.

Always handy for GREAT shots
I've owned a number of SLR and point-and-shoot cameras over the years but this little guy gives me sharp, clear photos wherever I am and downloads them via USB in a few seconds so I can edit them or send them to friends via Ofoto. At a dinner for 25 people at home recently, the movie mode allowed me to capture the real feeling of the evening along with the stills - neat! I also bought a 128mb chip and a spare battery to make sure I don't run out of storage or power on sightseeing trips and a leather case to fit on my belt which keeps it with me when I want it. All in all, I'm really happy with this camera.

Poor Focus, Redeye doesn't work
I was very disappointed with this comers. I had better results taking pictures with 2-year-old Kodak digital camera. The auto focus is very slow. The color is bad.

I took many pictures of people in low light and most of the photos had severe red eye. The flash is very bright.

The menu is difficult to navigate, and somewhat confusing.

I have returned my cannon S410. The picture quality wasn't nearly as good as a cheap advantex film camera.

great camera
I love this camera!! After researching digital cameras, I narrowed my search to the S410 & S500. After looking at all the reviews for multiple sites, i notice that the S500 had more electrical problems/defects posted from people who own them. So, i decided for the S410 and I am so happy!! It rocks

Excellently made compact camera
I've been reading the reviews on this Canon PowerShot S410 camera before and after purchasing my own. There certainly are numerous whiners out there. It seems people love to find something to whine about. Honestly, this camera has given me nothing but pleasure, excellent pictures and compliments from others. This is a solid well-built camera (my cats knocked it off my desk and dragged around a bit and it had no scratches and still works excellently) with excellent picture quality both indoor and outdoor and easy to figure out menu and buttons. People also seem to complain about the LCD screen being small on digital cameras in general. My answer, look through the view finder. In addition, with the Canon S410 the image on the LCD screen is so vivid and clear and the colors so rich that it doesn't really matter. After all, the most important thing is both the final print and how it looks on your computer not the size of the LCD screen. When I connect the camera to my Canon CP-330 compact photo printer, it's a one press operation and away it goes printing the best quality pictures ever. Unless you love to nit-pick (there's really nothing to nit-pick about on this one) you'll love this camera. Minor note, Canon could have possibly been a little more generous in what comes with the camera, such as an AC power adapter (although I love the battery recharger). However, don't consider this a complaint, just a suggestion to Canon. If you do decide to purchase, ENJOY! And to those whiners, life is too short .......

Terrific snapshooter, if lacking in manual functions
For about 80% of people, this camera is going to be a dream come true.

Simply put, it's the pinnacle of ultra compact digital camera technology. With a 4 megapixel resolution with a better sensor than almost all of its competitors in a body the size of a pack of cigarettes, the Canon S410 is fabulous. The buttons and other physical factors of the interface are all well designed: the zoom and shutter button are in the same place for ridiculously easy one handed operation. The function knob on the upper right provides easy access to several shooting & playback modes. Compare this to other recent sexy, ultra-compact powershooters by Casio & Fuji (Think Z4U and A340) and you'll understand why this is a superior camera.

Other pros:
-Canon STILL uses Compact Flash media, which is significantly cheaper than xD and sD, which a good 90% of other brands use. I have yet to see a downside in everyday use (don't ask me about extreme temperate conditions or whether the various media survive prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields of varying strengths, as I won't know, and most people don't care).
-I personally like Canon's picture quality far better than that of most of its competitors, within the same style of camera.
-The auto-focus system is superior to all other cameras of this size and strength. VASTLY superior.

Cons:
-Canon's movie mode is growing steadily outdated. This is one area where you may be able to find another camera that serves better: This camera is limited to 3 minutes of 15 FPS 320 x 240 resolution motion capture, regardless of the size of your memory card. I do, however, think that if you're that serious about wanting to record digital movies, you should look to a device more aimed at that sort of thing, like the new Panasonic digi-video-cams that take still images as a secondary function.
-Memory door is made of plastic, not metal like the rest of the camera, and I have seen it break.
-1.5" LCD leaves something to be desired (esp. compared to Casio's line of 2" LCD ultracompacts).
-No easy, pre-set scene modes like Fuji or Minolta have.

Reasons why you would NOT like this camera:
-If this is your first digital camera. I can understand how you may be disappointed by the fact that 99% of point & shoot digital cameras do not make film-quality prints. This is something you will just have to deal with, or not use digital cameras: short of a $700+ SLR digi camera, you will NEVER consistently get film-quality prints, and even then, you will not get the same quality as a comparably priced film camera.
-If you are a photo enthusiast. Canon's Digital Elph line of cameras is designed around every day snapshooters that do not need or know how to use things like manual white balance, various aperture settings, add-on lenses, etc. The similarly priced Canon S45 is much more along the lines of what you're looking for, if you insist on remaining in the compact category. Otherwise, invest in a digital SLR camera, as you will be much happier.

Wonderful Small Camera
I received this camera for Mother's Day. It's wonderful, I can keep it in my purse and always have a camera to catch a picture.

It is very easy to use and takes great pictures. The pictures are very clear and noise free and have perfect color.

The best camera I've ever owned
I have had my Canon Power Shot S410 for a little over a month now and it hasn't ceased to amaze me. This is by far the best camera I've ever owned. All the photos have all come out surprisingly crisp, clear and colorful. My favorite feature by far is the 3X zoom. I love that it lets me take up close and personal shots that are still clear and in focus.

The Power Shot is straightforward to use. Basically if you can point and shoot, you can use this camera. Some reviewers complained about the menu, but from my experience it only takes a little consulting with the manual and then the menu is quite easy to navigate.

All in all, I would recommend the Power Shot to anyone looking for a reliable, easy to use, good picture taking camera.

Great Camera. Very, Very Durable
So far, the dog has gotten our ELPH Powershot S200 (the 2.0 Megapixel version of this camera), and it's been outside through an entire day of thunderstorms and then an entire day of sunshine. Still works perfectly. This camera is small, easy to use, takes good pictures, and it's as strong as a tank.
If you're looking for something that you can drop 100 times and still work, this is the camera you want.

Wonderful Point-and-Shoot Camera
This is the ultimate camera for active/sporting/outdoor snapshots. It's so small you can stick it in a pocket, and yet it has flash, 3x optical zoom and 4 megapixel resolution! Because it's digital you can see the results immediately, and you don't have to worry about wasting film. Send your experiences and memories to everyone!

Pros:
* Very small and handy
* Unobtrusive-your friends will stop posing every time you try to take a picture! My friend Christine has mastered the art of stealth photography with her S410; she looks in a different direction while glancing at the LCD viewfinder!
* Uses Compact Flash (CF)- Low-cost easy to handle memory cards available in capacities up to 1 GB!
* Picture quality (so far) is excellent

Cons:
* Uses a rechargeable battery-This takes some extra planning and perhaps a purchase of a spare battery.
* Non-automatic operation is difficult-the small size makes it hard to read and navigate the controls
* Small size can be a danger! You could lose it accidentally or drop it out of a shirt pocket

Very good little camera
I've been using a Canon G-2 and went looking for a smaller camera for my wife (wink, wink) and for travel, and ended up with the S410, a compromise trading size for features.

I've been using it now for a couple of months on and off, and I'm growing to like it very much. It takes excellent photographs in a variety of lighting conditions. Controls are somewhat different from the G2 and I'm still learning, but results have been generally good. It has pretty good macro capabilities.

(...)/

I would probably rate the S410 a "5" if it handled RAW files.

Here are the facts!
I have been using Canon Powershot for around 3 years now and I think I am in pretty good position to dissect it's features, pros and cons.

I started out with Canon Powershot S100 and now upgraded to this one. And it's been pleasure all the way. Let me explain why.

1. It's incredibly rugged and the aluminium-steel body is way classy then most plastic-bodied cameras out there.
2. The picture quality is awesome and I can rival Webshots in photography with this tiny little camera. I am a lot satisfied with the quality of photographs I have been taking all these years. Shots at night are perfectly focussed, thanks to focus-assist light that turns on when you press the shutter halfway down.
3. The movie mode has been upgraded over earlier versions and this one lets you shoot clips of upto 3 minutes, with sound. The number of movie clips you can shoot is only limited by your card size. The sound quality is not great, but okay for amateur shooting.
4. Ease of use is not really a very important criteria coz I believe no one using a digicam is that dumb. But I believe this one is really easy to use.
5. The battery charger doesn't have dangling wires and the prongs are collapsible. Not a great thing, but pleasant.

Cons: (What canon could have done to make it better)
1. Should have a battery level indicator. This is important and can give you heartbreaks when you run out of power in the middle of a great shoot. It does have a low battery warning, but that comes too late.
2. It's not plug and play. You can't just connect this camera to your Win 2K or XP pc and download the photos. You need canon software or a CF card reader. Can be an annoyance sometimes.
3. The 640X480 movie resolution doesn't look great and doesn't really make sense to shoot in that mode. It looks as if 320X240 mode is digitally enlarged. The picture quality in 320X240 is satisfactory.
4. The text near controls got erased by use a little too early I guess. They could have used better technology for printing text onto the camera's body.

The facts:
Fact 1. When I purchased this camera, my friends had none. Now after 3 years, I can see atleast 10 of them who own Canon Powershot. This makes me believe this is the best of the lot.
Fact 2. I recently went to a store and wondered if a Sony or a Nikon would be better choice over Canon Powershot. The store guy told me this - "Are you insane!"

Now the verdict: Everything has cons. But ultimately I believe for a digital camera, the quality of photo matters. That stays as memory. Everything else is history.

You can take my word and get this one. You will thank yourself!Good luck.

Just Excellent
After reading all of the contradictions between customer reviews, reading countless online publications, and going to electronic stores I ended up buying the Canon S410. Sure people will complain about small things, but I find people complain about almost anything.

The bottom line is when you are trying to get the best quality shots off quickly this is the camera. It's ability to calculate exposures and make rich, beautiful picures is just amazing. You can shoot in to the sun with this camera while standing in shade and still get beautifully exposed shots. I was worried that the camera was completely automatic. It actually is not. You can control exposure quite well (even take night photographs), use manual focus, and use as b/w. If you are an amateur photographer looking for something fun and light I highly recommend.

Top 5 Pros and Cons
First lets talk about cons:
1) Auto mode light distribution on the pictures was not as good as in Manual mode.
2) It is heavier than other ultra compact cameras in the market.
3) Battery gets heated up after some time (maybe other cameras has the same problem).
4) No preset modes like night portrait, sunset etc are available in this camera (only portrait and landscape modes are available).
5) Has only a 1.5'' LCD

Pros:
1) Take very good quality pictures
2) Has a very helpful picture details like Histogram( display the light distribution in the captured image), ISO Setting and other details in the playback mode that could help you to improve your picture taking skills.
3) Eventhough the LCD is small it is bright and display qulity is good
4) Has a good Manual mode with White balancing, ISO and Exposure settings(if you are a person who likes to take pictures in manual mode rather than in auto)
5) Can do Panorama assist for 26 pictures.

Overall, this is a very good camera that takes very good pictures.
If picture quality is the most important thing for you in your camera then this is THE camera.
If you like to have many cool preset modes and depend very much on auto functionality then you may need to research other cameras.

Hope this was useful.

Excellent camera for basic, family-type shots
The S410 is built like a little tank and feels much more robust than the Nikon digital I have owned. I have yet to drop it, but it seems like it can withstand impact. The camera reminds me of my old 35mm in that it is basically point and shoot, unlike my Nikon that required scene selections via a scroll wheel selector to get a decent shot. The fast shot option allows you to quickly take second and third shots when needed. The 3x zoom is pretty standard, but does feel quite limiting. Other cameras offfer trade-offs between options and zoom. It may make sense to consider this before making a purchase decision. While the memory card is pathetically low capacity, all of the manufacturers do this; I guess to reduce cost? The camera's sound effects are selectable and add some value.

One of the best cameras out there for its size.
I got this camera because I was looking for a camera that was small but had great resolution. This camera can fit right into the palm of your hand. The only thing i didn't like was that the video is 320x240 pixels but the camera takes outstanding photos. This is a camera for someone who wants a small camera but with great resolution.

Great camera, easy controls, uses cheap CF memory
The fully auto mode of this camera is the closest to making digital photography a totally idiot-proof experience. While I am personally not at all technologically challenged, I have several other users and potential users of this camera who will appreciate the idiot-proof modes.

I like the fact that this camera uses Compact Flash (CF) memory which is not only cheaper that SD and xD memory formats but also appears more rugged. But for me CF was a big plus since I had a number of old CF memory cards left over from my a previous digital camera that I was able to reuse.

The only con I really see is that the battery is proprietary and expensive and also cannot be charged in-camera. If you buy this camera do consider purchasing an additinal battery to keep handy. This camera does not have a battery meter so the battery could go quite suddenly. Having a spare battery would be very helpful in such cases.

I found the basic mode (1024x768, Normal Resolution) to be good for most type of pictures. I purchased an after market 512 MB memory card from Costco for $79 and using the basic mode the camera reports that I can shoot 2714 photographs. Naturally this is a ridiculously large number of pictures to take even on the most exotic vacation. But I am comforted by the fact that I can now let my kids take pictures with wild abandon not having to worry about deleting pictures. In fact this is the only memory card that I will need for my upcoming holiday.

Great camera
It's very small, and takes very good pictures. You'll need a little time to figure out how to operate the many modes, but after that it's easy to use. It will take 3 minute movies, and they don't take up that much space, either. It comes with good software that will manage your pics, including a program to splice together images to get panormic pics. The battery life is great, and it recharges in about 30 minutes. I can't think of a single problem with this camera.

OK for what it does
If you don't mind using flash for indoor pictures, this is an effective and convenient snap-shot camera. I bought it mainly for my wife to use to record her family, parties, flowers outside, that sort of thing and she's quite pleased with it. It's hard to do selective focus or anything creative with this camera. I'm looking for a decent digital slr for myself.

But back to the Canon. Flash flattens everything out, especially a tiny unit locate close to the lens such as with this camera. But if you turn off the flash you'll need a tripod to hold it steady, and even then it's very difficult to specify what part of the picture you want in sharp focus. Other than that, it's a pretty good Instamatic replacement. The initial investment is a bit high, but it's inexpensive to operate for the long hall. You can view the pictures on the computer screen and only print out and keep the real winners.

and I thought Sony's took good pictures...
This camera is insane. Takes beautiful crisp pictures. The auto mode will usually give you everything you could want. But if you're a camera person, the manual mode gives you plenty of ways to alter the photos. I immediatly got acquainted with the photo stitch program that comes with it and used it along with the camer'a panoramic mode to make some sweet surround photos. The movie mode is pretty good. It won't replace your camcorder, but it's great for making little movies for your computer. I don't mind not having VGA sized videos. They're usually way to large and I prefer having movies that are better sized for transferring. One hand operation is easy with the shutter/zoom combo. The AI auto focus works really well is quite impressive to watch. I enjoyed playing with the custom sounds/pictures. You can set your own background picture and record/upload you own camera sounds for startup, shutter, etc. The flash is really bright and works almost too well. The only downfall I have found is that to get the clarity that the camera can provide, you need to keep the camera very still between the focus and shutter, which isn't too long. If I really want a crisp picture, I use a tiny little tripod to get rid of my arm motion. It takes decent actions shot, but it's no SLR. All in all, unless you're a professional photographer, this camera is just what you want. I bought two 256 mb sandisk ultra cards and that was plenty. My parents used it yesterday just during the day. They liked it so much, they put in an order for their own.

The little engine that could
In my oppinion you could spend the next few weeks, maybe even months looking for a better pocket-size digi cam, and you won't find one. I've owned this camera for a little over a month now, and I took it on 2 vacations with me so far. I've taken some great pictures with it, but like every camera it has it's flaws...and not all came out great.

Generally, however, I found that if you read the instruction manual carefully, with the camera in your hand, and practice with different settings, when time comes to imortalize a moment, you won't be disappointed. I fiddled with it for a while before I took it for a spin, and I figured out what works best for each type of situation. Unfortunatly, this camera doesn't offere memeory buttons that allow you to load pre-set settings at the touch of one button, but it usually won't take you more then 5-10 seconds to get everything right if you need to.

I've read people say that the menu is not very intuitive...but I've found it to be quite the opposite. People also said that there aren't a great deal of manual functions available... well this is my first camera, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I've been very satisfied with what the manual shooting mode offers in terms of addujusting the exposure, shutter opener timer, shutter speed, lighting environment, etc. Again, by playing with all these settings I've taken great pictures in poor/no light, indoors/outdoors, portraits and panoramics.

I particulary like the fact that you can shoot short 3-minute clips w/ sound, I really like the stiching feature, and the fact that it allows you to record 60 sec voice memos for the pictures you take. I didn't hear anyone mention the software, which I think is an importan part of the package. My experience with it has been a very good one so far. I found it to be very easy to use, especailly for first timers, but it also allows you to get into more detailed settings once you know what you are doing.

My biggest dislike about this camera is that it doesn't have a battery indicator. You never know how close you are to a dead battery untill it happens, at which point it will flash you a red battery icon on the display and 15 seconds later the darn thing will turn off and you can't do anything about it. Now the battery will last you pretty long (190 shots they say). If you play with the settings, view pictures and what not, it is really much less then that. But honestly when will you ever take 100+ pictures w/o being able to recharge the battery.

I would also recommend that when you buy the camera you also buy a CF card with no less then 256 MB available. I like to take my pictures in the finest setting at the second highest resolution. This will give you about 230 pictures without sacrificing picture quality whatsoever. If you go to the highest resolution you will get about 115 pictures.

Having said all that, I think this is a great camera if you are looking for portability w/o sacrificing the most basic functions and still get some great shots. If you want more functions, more performance then you're gonna have to sacrifice size, and you shouldn't buy this camera

One fatal flaw
I bought this camera to replace my Powershot S30, which is old and tired now. Love Canon quality and features, and had lots of CF cards, so wanted to stay with Canon. I like this camera's small size and found it very intuitive to use. I enjoyed the movie mode. I had to call Canon to find out how to set the high-speed continuous mode, and that's where the trouble lies. When using the high-speed continuous mode, it only takes pictures quickly in bright conditions. While in my office, I took several quick shots under the flourescent lighting in a couple of seconds. Great! At home, it would take a picture every 4 to 6 seconds. Not enough to capture expressions of my 1 year old son. I got so frustrated at missing shots because of shutter lag that I had to return the camera. Talked to Canon twice more and was told that this is a disadvantage with their Elph and A-series line, something about the lens and small aperture. The only cure, according to them, is to move up to another Powershot S-series. So, I have a Powershot S60 on order. Love Canon, would have loved to give this camera a complete thumbs up, but it just couldn't hold up to what I needed.

Great on almost everything
This camera fixed many of the flaws of the S200 and S230. There is now 3 min movie recording with built in speaker so that you can hear your video on the camera, an optical zoom improvement (2x to 3x makes a pretty big difference) and a battery life improvement. My old S200 used to drain the battery in half a day but with this one, I am finding that I can often go 2 or 3 days without recharging! There are only two things that I wish I could change on this camera: One draw back is that this camera isn't too good at taking fast action shots. There is some shutter lag that is often frustrating. The second is that even though it is in the super compact category, it is still a little bulky to put in my pocket (I'm looking at the Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 but I hear the picture quality isn't too great), but I mean, getting smaller than this may be asking too much. Overall for regular shots of non-moving targets and even slow moving targets, the pictures are crisp, clear, and colorful (especially with the "vivid" mode), and I reccomend it.

Great Camera - for the amatuer to the enthusiast
Amazing camera. Very easy to use in the auto mode for the amatuer photographer and the capabilities are unlimited if you are an enthusiast. Very intuitive menu features. Crisp impages, nice for short videos too. I plugged in a 512 Sandisk CF card and my wife went crazy clicking over 550 pictures in a 10 day trip. Night shots in complete darkness come out phenomenal using some basic speed and light settings (set the flash off and speed at 400ASA.) The camera is versatile and we used it for timer setting on a rough nature trail. With the tough casing did not have to worry about damaging the camera when setting it on the ground of dirt, just enough to keep the camera steady.

Only downside was that it does not have a good cover. Taking it in and out of the pocket the mode switches to video and gotta be careful particularly if u hand the camera to someone to take a snap of you.

Overall very pleased and highly recommend it.

great little camera
I've had this camera for a week and so far it's been wonderful. The reason that I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5 is that there is a lag between pushing down the button and taking the picture, that makes it hard to catch action shots. Other than that, the pictures are wonderful in all settings and it can be used as a point and shoot camera or much more advanced. The movies are great! Definitely buy a large flash card.

High quality
This is my second digital camera, my first was a HP315. You can't take a bad picture with this camera. Great color and exposure. Build quality is outstanding. I compared this to my work camera which is a Nikon 2100 the detail and color is better with the Canon S410. I also ordered the ELPH leather case.

Incredible technology
Amazing what can be packaged in such a small case. This camera takes incredible pictures. I had a Cannon digital camera before, and I was very happy with it, this one surpasses my expectations. The movies are very crisp, and look almost as good as if they were filmed with a camcorder. The only minus for the price it costs is you can't zoom in the movie mode once you start recording. I have a friend with an Olympis which does zoom in this mode but no sound, and the movies look like they are filmed on an old super8 movie; fun but I'll be keeping my Cannon. If you want to film in different perspectives just stop filming change the zoom, and shoot some more. Then make your movie with the easy to use software. Editing the movies with transitions is actually a lot of fun. If you set the price aside this camera is a very good value. You're not going to buy a camera every few months so spend the money, and get what you will really be happy with.

Good travel camera
Hi,
I just took this stylish little camera on a three week tour of the UK. It performed very well over the entire trip and provided me with over 800 quality pictures. I really enjoyed the cameras small size (fits in a baggy pocket) and ease of use. Overall, a very good camera.

For people looking at buying this camera there are three things that are very important to note before you purchase:

1) Because this is such a SMALL camera, the lens is also small. If you are used to a larger digital camera, with a larger lens, this one will NOT take quick, sharp indoor pictures in most cases. Expect to hold the camera VERY steady or place it against a stable object. If you can live with this it provides fair to good indoor pictures (in comparison to other, larger digitals).

2) The flash on this camera is very, very strong. Hard to believe considering it's size, but it is. I try to never use the flash, the pictures just turn out too bleached.

3) This is my biggest complaint, and the reason I gave it 4 stars. This camera has no battery meter! You only get a warning that the battery is low, and at that point you only have between 4-15 pictures left (depending on LCD and flash settings). This requires you to either have an extra battery or just miss out on important events. This is a huge problem if you are on a trip without an easy place to charge your battery. You'd think canon would have figured a battery meter out by now. I didn't find out this important fact until after I had mine.

Hope this helps!

Awesome
There are a couple things absolute about this Canon S410 and that is simplicity, cute, and takes nice pictures. Hands down with a couple of adjustments it will take very nice pictures. I recommend the automatic settings. Its very stylish yet not sacrificing intuitive controls. In short, everything is comfortably placed accordingly. Higly recommend this camera to anyone itching for outstanding pictures.

Canon does it again!
I've been a long time fan of Canon products from the original APS Elph to my personal Canon PowerShot S210 Digital Elph. So when our family needed a new camera, getting a Canon was a no-brainer and I'm glad we made that choice. This camera lives up to all the expecations that I have for a Canon. The pictures are generally very crisp and high quality and the zoom provides equally good pictures in the optical mode. The digital zoom never is as good as the optical zoom but still allows you to have adequate picture quality for most purposes. The video recording feature of this camera is never meant to rival a true video camera, but it is great for getting a quick video of something while on vacation, especially if there is sound involved you also want to capture. The microphone will capture a decent mix of area sounds perfect for that special moment, like a clocktower or an impromptu sidewalk concert. Combine all this with some of the best battery performance in the industry. I am always pleased with the fact that I can take about a hundred pictures before requiring a battery change. I would highly reccomend to anybody buying this camera to purchase an extra battery as well so that you always have a spare around. It can come in real handy and is a small investment to keep your camera clicking, especially when compared to other digital cameras that require 2-4 AA batteries for every 50 pictures. Overall, the Canon is one of the best buys in the industry right now and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a simple point and shoot camera. It's well worth it.

Great Camera
I spent a lot of time shopping around for digital cameras last summer, and we purchased an S400 - same as the S410 w/out the pictbridge feature. Have had no regrets about our purchase, and now my entire family has the S410. The camera has proven to be very reliable in auto mode, and we have used the manual features to shoot in a variety of conditions. Ease of use is wonderful, and the thing is built like a tank. Feels nice and weighty in your hand which is nice due to it's small size. Small size is one of big selling points for us on this camera, and because of this we can take the camera everywhere!
The battery life is excellent, but I do recommend another battery or the car charger for when you are on extended road trips or will be shooting for a long time.
We have been printing our photos on an Epson R200 - the greatest $100 photo printer out there. Excellent quality for the price.

A gem of a camera
If you're looking for an ultra-compact camera at a good price that is very versatile, I'd highly recommend the S410. I recently purchased one before a long trip to the UK and was impressed with it's many features and how easy it was to get familiar with them. It's nice to see more manual settings (e.g. ISO, shutter speed) available compared to earlier digital Elph models. The 3x optical zoom is great, and although the LCD screen isn't as large as with some competing cameras, the ability to zoom in and out in review mode more than makes up for it. And, the smaller screen size keeps the camera nice and compact and is easier on the battery. I also like the bundled ZoomBrowser software (it's a nice improvement from earlier versions offered by Canon). The S410 is fairly priced, and with CF media slowly losing share to SD cards you can get tons of storage at great prices. And most importantly, I've been very pleased with the picture quality...it takes sharp pictures and rarely requires manual settings for optimal results. Night/low light performance is particularly impressive.

Performs as Advertised - Very Good Product
Power Shot S410 does all that it says it will. Very Good pictures, servicable video (wouldn't call it good video) with sound, very good battery life, and excellent ergonomics in a compact case. Well built. Feels solid.

Have had no troubles with anything.

Buttons and switches make sense. Menus are complex but that is because of all the flexibility you have. Full auto mode works very well and I use it most of the time. Manual mode allows great tweaking. Rapid shoot mode works as described. Video mode is handy though no replacement for a video camera. Great options on picture storage and compression. My only improvement need is that I would prefer the digital photos to be brighter than they are. But I feel that way with almost all digital photos and it may just be my preference.

I bought the camera my 5 year old son to use on an father son trip. I gave it to him at the start of the trip begging him not to drop it. After a week, he could take pictures zooming in and out, review his pictures, and delete those he didn't like.

BIG BANG FOR THE BUCK
This is a great 4 megapixel camera. As with all Canon PowerShot S series cameras, the S410 is very easy to use. Key features include a useful 3x optical zoom, bright 1.5" LCD screen, and movie video with sound mode. In addition, it focuses quickly, the flash is bright (sometimes too bright), and the battery life is generous. Not only does this camera have all the must-have features, it packs all that in a tiny body--you can easily carry this in (guys) your pocket or (gals) your purse. Plus it's packaged in a beautiful silver exterior. A must-have accessory is a much bigger CompactFlash memory card (get at least a 256MB card). An extra battery would also be helpful--since this camera comes with an external charger--so that you will always have a fresh battery handy. Plus, with the new SD200 and SD300 being produced by Canon, the price on this S410 camera has been dropping steadily. You should be able to get this for under $300 now.

Handy, smart, stylish, and clear.. crystal clear.
After doing tons of research, I ended up going with the Canon S410 and am thrilled! This camera takes such a great picture- especially for its size. Now granted, this model is a little outdated in terms of features, but don't let that stop you. One thing this camera has that makes a load of difference is a focus assist lamp for low-light shots. Although I've been told this is common, you'd be surprised how few cameras actually have this.

Another thing I love about this camera is it's size. It's really small, but not so small that it's hard to hold or use.. even one handed. Not only that, but lets say you want to snap a shot of something not right in front of you at night (i.e. - other people at a party while you're talking to someone else), you can palm this thing, hit the flash, and use the focus lamp to aim your shot.. very handy and great for candid shots!

Some people might be turned off by the small LCD, however, a smaller LCD is less likely to get damaged if you use this alot after a few drinks or as a road warrior..

The only real con I can see is the lack of a battery life indicator. Not a big enough deal to not buy the camera though.

Expect more out of a 4mp camera, especially canon
I ordered this camera as a replacement/upgrade to my 2.0mp Nikon Coolpix 2500 camera. It is on its way back to Amazon for a refund. The Nikon camera takes much better pictures than this 4mp camera.

The color on the canon pictures was fantastic, saturated and beautiful. The sharpness left much to be desired.

Maybe my Nikon has spoiled me, but I'll stick with the 2.0mp camera for now and save my money!

perfect!
I reviewed different cameras for a while before deciding on the S410. I've now had the camera for 4 months and I see that I've made the right decision. A lot of the reviews for the other cameras were made within a day or so of getting the camera-- but this is not. This camera goes everywhere with me and is light enough and small enough to fit in my bag. It even has survived Hurricanes Charley, Frances AND Jeanne with pictures as proof (literally, outside in the hurricanes)!

The only con, as with the other reviews is that theres no battery life indictator but I bought an extra battery so if I go somewhere that I know it'll be use a lot.

E 18 error re occurs
i have used the S 400 for less than a year. the photo quality and manual controls are very good. battery charger system good.
HOWEVER- for the third time in < 12 mos, the camera HAS FAILED. error message "E 18" appears, and you must return the camera to Canon for service. They have handled it n/c twice, and i expect they will again- BUT this lack of reliability is , in my opinion, a fatal flaw.

Darn good camera for me!
I had a hard time researching digital cameras...there's just too much info out there. I even tried to use the recs from Consumer's Reports, however the things i needed didn't necessarily match what they would rate as high. For example, it was more important for me to have the camera fit in my purse than say for special ergonomic handling.

If you're looking for a great camera that gives Better Than Your Friend's Cheap Camera That's Only 2MPX, this is the camera for you lol. Even the CF card is more than enough for a weekend trip of picture taking.

The only downfall is the battery situation...you get all of 10 seconds notice when it's about to die. It's easy to plug in and recharge the battery, but i would buy an extra one if you travel alot.

Problems with camera's screen
After using this camera for a mere 6 weeks, we had problems with the screen displaying wierd colours. I carry the camera in it's leather carry case, so no damage to the camera can occur.
However the screen has now completely frozen up with what looks like an internal 'bruise' It's very odd and totally unusable.

Great Camera
We bought this light weight, easy to use camera for the entire fmaily to use and now we are going to buy another for our college daugther. The software is especially easy to use and we have used software for many competitive cameras. Canon's software by far is the easiest. We find 4 megapixels is enough for reasonable quality prints. Good little camera.

Some nice unexpected features
This is my first digital camera purchase, and I relied heavily on customer feedback from Amazon and Circuit City. I bought the Canon S410 from Amazon. Amazon free shipping exceeded my expectations as usual, even in the busy holiday season.

Here are a few pleasant surprises the camera provided:
- The lens has a couple levels of protection. First, it's offset from the camera housing, protecting it in the same way as the human eye. This was useful when I was doing a closeup of my dog, and he licked the lens housing. The lens remained perfectly clean. Second, a shutter automatically protects the lens when the camera is off.
- You get a visual "motion" warning when you're not holding the camera steady or when your subject is moving too much to keep focus.
- You can view magnified shots you've already taken, using the LCD display. This has given me instant feedback on just how crisp my shots were.

The only minor nuissance is likely related to my old Windows98 computer - I need to restart it prior to downloading pictures. Otherwise, all software & features work fine.

Overall, I'm very happy with the Camera and with Amazon, and recommend both.

So compact and easy to use!
My husband and I did a lot of research looking for a camera that I could throw in my purse/diaper bag and have it handy for everytime my kids would do something that I wanted to remember. The ease of handling this camera makes it nice for a busy mom of 3 small children. I was looking for a camera that was compact, sleek, pretty stylish and easy to turn on, point and shoot. My boys love looking at the pictures right after I take them and the handy screen on the back is a plus for all of us. When you're taking pictures of three kids you sometimes can't get everyone looking and/or smilling at the same time. With this camera I don't waste money on developing pictures that aren't up to my standards. I wind up taking at least 3-4 pictures before I get exactly what I want and then I just go back through the photos and erase what I don't want. It's so easy to download the pictures to Shutterfly.com and order right from there! This camera is a must!

How to fix the memory error on these camera, rply to Charles
All I can say is that I tried it in this camera a few days before posting the original error solution and so far it still works! Try it, it doesn't hurt anything and it might work. By formating the card it makes something reset in the camera.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Original message;
I have a Canon S400 and after the warranty expired I got a memory error. I did a lot of research on-line and found the following information that it was easy to do and fixed the Memory Error problem.
You will need a card reader and a computer (I did it in my laptop)
1.Get the CF memory card (CFMC) and place it in the reader.
2.On your desktop, Click on "My Computer" icon
3.Right click on the reader drive
4.Click on Format
5.Make sure that the file to Format is the "FAT" file.
6. Proceed with formating.
7.Insert formated card back in the camera and try it.
I formated the 256mb that I purchased separated and it didn't work. Then I did it with the 32mb. card that came w/ the camera and it did work. Even the 256mb worked after the 32mb did, I am using the 256mb now and it is working fine. Canon will charge you over $150 to fix it and chances are all they do is the card formating. Also, before formating the CFMC remember to download any pictures that you might have in it since formating it will erase it all.
Hope this works for you. It is also supposed to work with other Canon cameras that get the Memory Error. ; )

Great camera, but some gripes
I've had this camera for about a month and used it extensively.

My shots have come out clear, and in fully automatic mode, the point-and-shoot couldn't be easier. And it's tiny - the size of a pack of cigarettes - so I take it everywhere.

My complaints:

First, there's NO camera case included. When spending several hundred dollars on a camera, I don't expect Canon to be cheap and not include a case. A small gripe, but annoying nonetheless.

Second, the manual is tiny, hard to read, and not especially well written. I've read the manual cover-to-cover and I still feel that I'm unsure how to use all the features of the camera. Too much time is spent explaining dumb features (see below), leaving important features to be explained only briefly.

Third, the camera is needlessly complex. For instance, this camera has the ability to change the sound type and volume of each beep and whistle for its various warnings. Do I need the shutter to sound like a loud bird chirp and the self-timer to sound like a soft train whistle? This may be important to a small number of people, but for the rest of us, it results in long on-screen menus and unnecessary complication. Don't worry, if you just want point-and-shoot you won't be navigating these menus anyway.

Fourth and most important if you want really great photos, is that it's very hard to control where the camera focuses. There's a 9 zone auto-focus, but telling the camera which zone to focus on is impossible. You can use an AF-lock feature, but this is a clumsy and difficult solution versus other cameras that let you select a zone easily. Again, for point-and-shoot, this is almost never a problem. But if you want to compose a shot, you'll be frustrated.

great product !
The Canon PowerShot S410 is a slightly upgraded version of the immensely popular S400 model, which has been discontinued and can be found for close to three-hundred bux. I think since the S410 is only slightly improved -- it is slightly faster than the S400 and sports a new print/share button which I'm not sure you'll be using a lot if you are the typical user -- the S400 is a much better buy.

buyers beware of the e18 error message
ok i have just gotten the dreaded error message of the e18, which doesnt allow the lens to come out due to either dust or the gears, this seems to be a common factor for ALL canon retractible lenses. canon wont stand by their product after the warrantee and will cost you between 150 and 200 dollars to repair, and it probably will happen again. if you want do a web search for canon e18 error messages and see what others have said. stick with a sony or a nikon.

NO DATE STAMP
I bought this item based on the good reviews it has received. But I am surprised that it doesnot put date stamp on the pictures. This is the least of the features I would have expected in a DIGITAL camera. A 50$ film camera does that.
Picture quality is good. I am really disappointed that it doesnot put date stamp on the pictures.

John
Got the camera yesterday and i have to say it is great, I took the instruction book to work and read the whole thing. It works great and takes great pictures, Good deal on a very small camera. I ordered a extra battery and card for my cruse in may, Anyone looking for a great camera this is it but just wish it came with a camera bag or holder.

amazing product !!
The Canon PowerShot S410 is a slightly upgraded version of the immensely popular S400 model, which has been discontinued and can be found for close to three-hundred bux. I think since the S410 is only slightly improved -- it is slightly faster than the S400 and sports a new print/share button which I'm not sure you'll be using a lot if you are the typical user -- the S400 is a much better buy.

Great little camera
I bought this for my wife and we love it. Easy to use, the movie feature is great and the pictures are great for a point and shoot.

No complaints, worth every penny.

beware dont buy this one
I just got the dreaded e18 error message on this camera and its only two years old. canon has a problem with all of its retractible lenses and they get either jammed in the out or the in position and the camera wont power up, rendering this useless. canon will fix it for 175.00 but the problem, as i have found from others on the web will happen again. it is a mecanical flaw? and canon wont support you at all.

Compact and Dummy-Proof
It's a camera for those of us who don't know what a darkroom is...This camera makes taking pictures a snap! It's nice and compact, small enough to fit in my pocket! It's also feature-heavy, although I must admit I don't know how to use most of them. The accompanying software is pretty basic - I'd recommend getting Photoshop - you can pretty much do anything you want to a picture with that program. One recommendation - Get an extra battery! The low battery indicator does not come on until you have just a few snaps left. Pay the money - you won't regret it!

Canon S410 4MP is my favorite lil camera
I just received the S410 in the mail and I love it!...it is sleek, small and easily fits in a tiny purse. It does a good job capturing detail in all kinds of lighting. The 32mb card that comes with it is a waste since it only holds around 20 pics, so order at least a 256MB (holds around 120+ pics) card right off the bat with your new camera as I did.

The only downside is that I haven't been able to figure out how to upload the pics to my laptop/pc. I downloaded the software that came with the camera, but somehow, I am still unable to make it work! I will try again and will eventually call customer service if I can't figure it out.


02/11/05:Update
I finally managed to download the software...I think my laptop was acting up before.

I've been using my camera a lot...the pics turn out great...even at night time....I have been taking pics of my niece (9 months old)...as you may know that 9 month old babies don't stay put...even with the movement, the pics turn out awesome and the 4MP helps a lot. All the candid shots of my niece are going to be cherished by the family forever...as I keep them updated every week.

I have uploaded all the pics I have taken onto my laptop without any problems. I am using a 256K MB card (Viking) and it does a great job thus far.

That's it for now.

Very Good Camera
Just bought the S410 2 days ago and took alot of pictures, did not do too much manual reading, only when I was,nt sure of what to do.
Most shots were on full automatic and some on manual automatic.
Results are beautiful, sharp, great color. camera is built like an MBTA1A, printed some, they were even better than on the lcd
I cannot critique a thing on this little beauty, just love it.
On most of the smaller digitals, the finder is a joke, too small, this one is a good size, clear and extremely usable.
One of the best.

amazing product !!
just received the S410 in the mail and I love it!...it is sleek, small and easily fits in a tiny purse. It does a good job capturing detail in all kinds of lighting. The 32mb card that comes with it is a waste since it only holds around 20 pics, so order at least a 256MB (holds around 120+ pics) card right off the bat with your new camera as I did.

The only downside is that I haven't been able to figure out how to upload the pics to my laptop/pc. I downloaded the software that came with the camera, but somehow, I am still unable to make it work! I will try again and will eventually call customer service if I can't figure it out.

Very nice little camera
Quite impressive overall. It's SMALL yet I wish it was just a little bit smaller. I have yet to read the manual cover to cover but have enjoyed snapping pictures in the automatic and manual modes so far.

The size of the S410 was one of its two biggest selling points. I want a camera I will have with me, not one that's at home taking up space. The other thing I wanted was decent to good image quality, and what I've seen so far makes me think that this camera is a good choice.

I ordered a second battery and used an inverter I already owned to charge it in the car. Much cheaper than the Canon car charger. The manuals are (somewhat comically) also very small little books. A useful road-map poster of features is included along with a quick-start guide, which is always square one as far as I'm concerned.

Color reproduction seems very good. Clarity is decent at this point. I obviously need to read the manual to understand everything that's going on, and it's clear that there's a LOT of technology stuffed into this little gem. The controls are well-placed and the menus seem concise, operation overall is quite snappy. I'm pleased. The LCD screen is extraordinarily bright and crisp. Time between shots is acceptable, pretty quick, really, and time-to-first-shot is very good.

I don't think you'd need a case for the camera. Wrap it in a handkerchief if you're worried it will get scratched. I like the lens being covered by two little doors that close on power-off. Keeps the lens safe and you don't have a loose lens cap to worry about. The camera is smooth, no protrusions to catch on anything. It's a great looking little thing. It's a little bit heavier than you'd think it would be. I wish it was a little bit lighter and a little bit smaller. Which seems greedy given how light and small it is now!

One thing I like in particular is the B&W setting. Shooting in black and white is something a lot of folks who didn't spend time taking Intro to Professional Photo back in college may not have experienced, and it's worth checking out, particularly for portraits. Black and white can tell a better story than color.

I'm probably being unfair giving this camera only four stars -- there are certainly no glaring faults, far from it, but this was a realistic choice for me, a camera that I can take everywhere with me, and, no, for this price it's not going to perform like a Canon D20 which is ten times the price, but it is MUCH smaller and twice the resolution of my beloved old Nikon 950 (circa 1999). Maybe I'm expecting D20 performance at a S410 price..?

For its size and the price, this camera is quite a good value and is everything I expected, very well put-together and quick. A good choice. Not film-quality images, but very good for what it is. A good balance of resolution, size and weight. A handy, good quality camera to snap photos of the kids with, small enough to have with you everywhere you go. Not that I'd mind the "inconvenience" of having a Canon D20 over my shoulder 24/7... but that's simply not in the budget!

No regrets at all having chosen the S410!

GREAT LITTLE CAMERA
I have numerous expensive digital cameras, but I wanted one for the wife that took great pictures, was small, and easy to use. I could not be happier with the 410. The only concern I have it that the camera does not have a battery level indicator. To combat this problem, I simply bought an extra battery.

Happy shooting.....
R)W

What a lemon!
I bought this camera after being a loyal Canon customer for years. After spending roughly $100.00 in shipping on 3 separate occasions to send the camera back to Canon's service center, it still is not working properly. In the 8 months I have owned the camera it has only worked properly for a total of 3 days. Everyone at Canon is sympathetic that my camera is not working properly, but no one seems empowered to just ship me one that works. Instead, I have to endure a never ending sequence of shipping and receiving the camera only to find out that they can't seem fix the root cause of why the LCD is not working properly. I find the whole experience with Canon and this product unacceptable. I've been using Canon products since I bought my first A1 almost 20 years ago. I'll never purchase another Canon product, ever.

Great Camera -- for a year
I've now owned two Canon digital cameras. The first was their 2 megapixel model, and now the PowerShot S410. I loved the first camera, took 1000's of photos, but eventually the display screen went stopped working. I decided to replace the 2MP with the 4MP S410 since all of my old accessories match the new model (batteries, CF cards, chargers.) The S410 is compact, takes great photos, is fun to manipulate with custom manual settings, but is easy to switch back to automatic for point & shoot. I love using the macro-zoom for up-close shots, and enjoy the night-shot function to make party photos more arty and interesting. The camera has documented every vacation, party, dozens of sunsets, and bike rides. I have no quarrel with either camera while they function, but they only seem to last for about a year and a half. This one now has two problems: 1) it gives a "Memory Card Error" and won't re-format the 256MB card, and 2) It is sporadically responding to the "power on" button. Sometimes it won't turn on. Is it the batteries? Is it the camera? Will I have to buy another one? I'm getting tired of spending $300+ every 18 months to replace my digital camera. Check the warranty info before buying, and hold onto your receipts. Learn the features and take lots of pictures!

Excellent Camera
This is a great camera. One of the best buys for your money if you are looking for semi - professional photos. Very Easy to learn. Great battery life.

What I love about this camera the most is that it is ultra compact and yet I dont feel limited in terms of the features. Even has an instant Histogram to let you see if the light / exposure is right.

The manual controls are also good to have in area of halogen lighting and dark conditions. You can set the ISO from 50 to 200. Exposures upto 15 secs.. for starry nights !

Very Impressed ... great buy at $ 250.

Great point and shoot...with a few alterations
I have been riding the digital wave since its beginnings with my first casio digital camera that would only print postage stamp sized photos. Since then I have owned my share of digital cameras and this one fills a niche I didn't think could be filled.

I use two cameras on a regular basis, this camera (S410) and a bulkier digital SLR (Canon 20D). This camera is exactly what it needs to be. A point and shoot camera that will fit in your pocket. The pictures it churns out are not of the same caliber of that of the 20D but that is to be expected in the price diffrence ($1500 to $240). I take this camera everywhere because of its ability to fit in almost any pocket.

The camera is easy to learn out of the box but there are a few modifications you might want to make to the settings to optimize the camera for what it is really made for. First of all never, and I mean never use the full auto mode. This is because of the lack of options. Sometimes it is nice to cut down on the options to choose from but this camera is designed not to be a professional camera so it really dosent have many options to change. In the (semi) manual mode there are new flash options (i.e. night mode) a multiple exposure option for getting more shots in (great for sports when timing needs to be perfect) and even another focus mode (the full auto only allows for portrait mode)

With this camera it is all about accessability. Because of its small size it is really meant to be used as the moment arises. This makes shot to shot time and start to shot time (from when you turn on the camera to when it takes its first shot) a big concern. You can decrease the camera's time by turning on the "quick shot" option. This makes the camera focus faster but sacrifices the ability to see the camera focusing on the LCD in real time. This cuts the focus down more than half in some cases. This was a real good option put in by Canon.

Another option you might want to change is to set the camera to auto ISO in manual mode. Because of the small size of the camera there is not a dedicated button for changing ISO speed (another nice part about SLRs) This makses it nessicary to change it through a menu system. This is not something you want to be doing with a point and shoot. You really want to "point and shoot" not "mess around with ISO and shoot" The camera gets the ISO right almost every time and usually it knows better than you. Let the camera do this for you.

There is a mode on the dial for stiching together pictures (like a landscape) by taking multiple shots. The camera has you take one shot which it then moves over a little and allows you to line up your next shot. It allows you to string together shots like this until you run out of memory. All and all, this is a pretty useless setting and really has no business being on the mode dial

A more usefull feature is the movie mode which allows you to take a movie for as long as your card will allow. These movies are low quality but it is a fun feature for a camera like this.

The battery life of the camera is amazing. I can get more than 500 shots of the highest quality (not using flash) on one single charge. If you are using a 512 MB card (or less), your card will run out of memory before the camera runs out of batteries.

All the buttons are well placed and easy to use after spending an hour or two with the camera. Those will large hands will find the camera hard to use due to the lack of a good place to put your hand but this is something you sacrifice for such a small size. One thing I dont like about the design is the difficulty of selecting soemthing (i.ei delete). The set (okay) button is in an awkward place and so a frequently used button is hard to reach. If canon put the set button where the "pict-bridge) button is it would have been a useful improvement (if Canon removed the pict-bridge button it would have been an improvement, most useless feature ever for a camera that has the megapixles to crop images)

More on design the optical viewfinder is useless. It does not cover the full size of the picture, does not show you when the image is in focus and makes you squish your nose when you use it. I guess it would be useful if you need to save batteries but because the battery life is so good that really isn't a concern unless you are traveling and forgot to bring the charger or a couple spares.

As for image quality it is pretty high for a camera of this size. It isn't near the size of quality of my 20D but for the price, I would give it an 8. There is a small problem with purple fringing in high contrast areas (i.e. taking a picture of two buildings with some sky in between) but this is pretty usual. Photoshop (or another image editing software) can usually take this out pretty easily. Another problem with image quality of this camera is the image degrades a lot when exposed at high ISO settings. Because of the small size of the chip the sensors are tightly packed together causing a big ISO problem.

All together this is a great camera for those who need to take something with them. It will easily fit into a pocket or purse and is tough enough to resist small drops or your keys (the lens is covered when not in use by an automatic cap). The LCD could be bigger if you wanted to sacrifice some battery life (which is great) and the buttons could be a little better placed, but the image quality, shallow learning curve, and speed of this camera make up for that (and more).

Awesome!!
This camera rocks!! Given the specs, price and the brand it is an absolute must have camera.

Great pocket camera
This is a great camera for it size. My only complain is that under low lighting the flash whitens things out. If the Flash is turned off, the picture will be blurry some times.

Design Defect in LCD - electronics failure
I purchased this model camera as a retirement gift my parents in June 2004 as a highly portable digital substitute for their 35mm models. In December, they first experienced problems with the LCD viewer which displayed only partial images. The screen completely failed in January. The camera was evaluated by a local Canon repair store which had seen other similar failures. When the camera was sent for repair, Canon accused my parents of dropping the camera and charged $150 to fix it! This camera was NOT mishandled! Of course they offered to sell them a refurbished model from the rest of their dud supply. CONCLUSION: The images are great but the reliability is horrible.

Chose it after months of research that paid off
I spent months (2) reading reviews and going to stores knowing it was going to be a lot of money for a digital camera and knowing that I would have it for years-so I didn't want to get one that wouldn't fill my needs.

My main need was something relatively small. As one reviewer said so insightfully, if you don't have your camera, you can't take pictures and having a camera I can put in my jeans pocket means more fun taking it to parties, dinners, to school (I am a teacher), and everywhere. If I want I just strap in on my belt with a case and extra battery, and off I go.

Other than that I wanted to make 5x7 prints that are near photo quality.

This camera easily does both these things. So here's the breakdown:

Pros:
Small
Long battery life
Video
Near photo quality (I can't really tell the difference)
good construction
Easy to use
Easy to charge and quick charging
Easy to upload photos onto PC and do simple editing

Cons:
Proprietary battery (bought two for long outings
Ignore digital zoom, it's worthless
Not too inexpensive
Comes with too small a memory card (I went up to 512, been great!)

In the end this has been a great camera. I CF cards are taken everywhere and are really stable and don't have exposed connections, and the camera is easy to use and carry

Bad pictures
I have had this camera for 6 months, and have yet to be able to take a clear picture. Even on a small tri-pod, the images are still blurry. It appears the blurry quality is better, with the flash on, but I would suggest looking at another model, and Canon is hard to deal with when you do have a problem.

Go With Nikon
I am switching. After years of being a committed Canon customer, I'll never buy a Canon product again. Before you buy ANY Canon digital camera (especially the Elf model), go to Google and type in Canon E18. Canon has refused warranty service by saying that the problem is a broken lens. This is a design fault to which Canon is refusing to admit. There are better cameras and better companies out there.

"WHATS"
It would be helpful if you included "What's in the box" as you do in other cameras. It would be helpful if I knew that a battery charger, for instance was included with the camera and what ever else is included. Thanks, ----WJH PS I also notice that the S410 is sold at Staples for $229.50.

Zoom lense is stuck. Search for "canon E18 error" first.
I read reviews that mention "E18 error" before buying this camera but I did not pay attention. I thought that there must be some defective units among millions of Canon cameras and that those camera that had the error must have been abused. Search for "canon e18 error" on google, and you will get 17,100 results as of 04/23/2005. It is a very common problem and it can happen to your camera even if you don't abuse it.
What is E18 error then? The camera displays "E18" on the screen when the zoom lense is stuck. Once it happens, you cannot use the camera again as it turns itself off after displaying the error code. There seem to be various causes for it - shock to the camera with the zoom lense extended, sand or dust in the zoom lense gear mechanism, TURNING OFF THE CAMERA WITH LOW BATTERY, no apparent reason at all, and so on.
If your camera is out of warranty (i.e. over 1 year old), you are out of luck as Canon charges $250 or so to fix it. You might try fixing it yourself (http://www.ixus-world.de/tips/repair_guide/e18_01en.htm) but it seems too complicated for ordinary people. Maybe I should consider myself lucky as mine is just 7 months old and is still under warranty.

E18
I bought my canon digital camera and two days after using it, the E-18 signal appeared. This also happened to my friend. Canon's digital cameras give good quality pictures but are unreliable.

Canon's Terrible "Customer Service"
I was (emphasis: "was") really happy with this camera, which I bought 1 year and three month ago (For those of you who know that Canon only insures their products for one year, you may be able to guess where this is going... ). Apparently, Canon digital cameras have a nasty habit of breaking down at or around the one year mark.

For me, it was the dreaded: MEMORY CARD ERROR. I have treated my camera better than my girlfriend (honestly, ask her). Keep it safe, dry, never drop it, etc. Both of my memory cards are fine (my computer reads them effortlessly). But the camera mysteriously stopped working. ý$%^!

Another common complaint is the zoom lense error (check other postings). Both of these errors regularly occur without any cause (!?!) or mistreatment of the camera! Its unbelievable!

What does canon have to say? Here's the heart of their email to me:

"The age of your camera and/or the cause of the error will determine your service options. If the camera was purchased less than one year ago, and you have a copy of your sales receipt, the unit can be sent to our Factory Service Center for repair (address and instructions below). If the camera is more than one year old, or if the camera was damaged by liquid, sand, or impact, it is out of warranty. We have two options available for out of warranty cameras: you may send the camera in for repair, or (if eligible) you may participate in our PowerShot Upgrade program.

For non-warranty repairs, the standard labor cost to make the repair will range from $150.00 to $300.00. Parts may be an additional cost. Cameras damaged by impact, liquid, or sand may have a considerably higher repair cost, depending on the results of the Factory Service Center's evaluation."

Solution: Send Us Money!! It doesnt matter that you spent $400 on this camera and now it inexplicably just doesnt work... send us another $150-300 (plus postage...) and you can use it again... OR trade it in for $100 off a new canon camera (that may well stop working too in another 15 months...)

This isnt a freak incident, search around. There are hundreds of people in this situation and Canon just turns its back. Maybe its a problem with digital cameras in general, maybe its manufactured obscelence or maybe you should just buy a Nikon. Either way, I would not recommend gambling on this camera (in particular) or Canon (in general).

Error code E18
One month after going out of warrenty, I got the common E18 error code that 1000's of others have reported. The camera is now useles. I will never buy another Canon camera....

John

CF Card Error Repair
I had good luck (so far) fixing the CF Card Error on my Canon Digital Elph. Here is what I did. I removed the memory card and battery. Then I removed every screw I could see on the outside of the camera. I opened the CF card door and carefully opened up the camera a crack and blew inside. (I did not even remove the case completely.) Then I closed it up and replaced the battery and CF card. THE CAMERA WORKS NOW!
(Note: The tiny screws look alike but they are NOT! Keep track of each screw and place them on a card with labels or something so you know which screw goes where.)

My camera was 3 years old when the CF Card Error appeared all of a sudden, for no apparent reason. It is an S200 digital elph. After trying a new card, a new battery and other things that did not work, I contacted Canon. I received the same response as other people: repairs would cost at least $150 OR I could upgrade to a "refurbished" S410 for $175 (only six month warranty on this one).

So I decided to buy a NEW one rather than buy the refurbished one. Amazon had a great deal on the S410 (came with battery, card, software, cables, etc.) so I ordered it.

Then, since my old one was headed for the trash can, I decided to look inside. I don't why looking and/or blowing inside it fixed it, but it really did! I am very happy right now. I hope this works for other people. Who knows, it might work with other cameras too. Spead the word if it does.

I get stunning photos with my S200 so I canceled my order for the S410. However, most people would probably like the S410 even better than the out-dated, low megapixel one I have. I will likely upgrade to another Canon Elph in the near future. For now, I am completely nonplused by the fact that my S200 is working again.

Good value but limited features.
I like the camera and for the price it is a pretty good option.

GREAT CAMERA
I JUST HAD TO WRITE BECAUSE I READ ON SOMEONE'S REVIEW THAT DIGITAL CAMERAS WILL NEVER TAKE THE SAME QUALITY PHOTOS AS SIMILAR PRICED REGULAR CAMERAS. HOGWASH. I HAVE A CANON ELPH THAT TAKES FILM AND THE CANON S410 DIGITAL AND THE DIGITAL CAMERA TAKES FAR SUPERIOR PRINTED PICS THAN THE FILM VERSION - BETTER CLARITY AND COLOR. I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT FOR NEW DIGITAL USERS - DIGITAL IS SUPERIOR TO FILM CAMERAS HANDS DOWN. MY ONLY PROBLEM IS MY LCD SCREEN BROKE - I WAS CARELESS. BE SURE TO ALWAYS KEEP YOUR CAMERA IN CASE AT ALL TIMES WHEN NOT IN USE.

Short Lifespan
I bought this for my fiance, and while it worked, we were both very happy with the size and quality of pictures. But then the day came, less than a year after buying it, that it decided to stop working. Very frustrating, and it seems like we are not the only ones.

Memory Card Error... after warranty expired
Wonderful camera until memory card errors show up... after warranty expired. Needless to say that after having lost vacation pictures and confirming with a quick research on Google that it is a common problem, I won't be buying another Canon camera.

The Little Camera That Could
I'm naming this "The Little Camera That Could" because it far exceeded my expectations of what a digital camera could pull off. I was a hardcore 35 mm SLR lover until I went on trip with someone who had one of these tiny babies. Suddenly I was envying the gorgeous shots he was getting simply because he had the camera in his pocket while mine was still around my neck the with lens cap on! A little thicker than a deck of cards, this Canon is palm-sized and very easy to use. Yep, turn it on, point and shoot.

The flash is shockingly powerful for such a tiny camera ... enough to capture the light on dust motes floating in the air. Generally, a flash is only good for about 6 feet. I swear this one shoots to at least 7 or 8 feet. The zoom's pretty good too. Put that together with a serviceable manual mode (for those of you who still want some control over your camera), and you got the ultimate travel camera.

A few drawbacks, just to keep honest (but these are not enough to keep me from raving about the camera). Small LCD screen in the back. Comes with a small compact flash card (as all these cameras do) which I recommend you immediately upgrade. Movie mode is limited (but get a movie camera if you really want to get into this mode).

Great things about this camera include its optical viewfinder. So many of the newer digital camera are leaving out the eye porthole for design reasons. Very shortsighted ... if you are in bright sunny conditions, the LCD window is all but useless. Long battery life and excellent refresh. Canon customer service is great as well.

You'll be pleased by how many people ask you if the awesome pictures you took were with a digital camera! Who knows? You may make a few more converts!

Stay away from the S400, S410, etc. cameras
Stay away from these cameras like a plague. My S400 got the infamous "E18" shortly after the warranty ran out. Then I did a search on the internet and was shocked to learn that this is a widespread problem with these cameras. Do a search on "Canon E18" on Google before first before buying...

erases memory cards
I bought the previous model Canon Elph S400 just a year and a half ago. It worked for about a year. Now it has started erasing my memory cards so that all the pictures on it are lost. I called the Canon support number and they said I could send it in to be repaired for $155. I plan to but a new camera instead, but not a Canon.

Ok camera but looks haven't changed for 5 years now...
First off, I love the Canon digital Elph series. I bought the S100 when it first came out, then the S200, and most recently ordered this one because I wanted to have more megapixels (both the latter cameras still function.) I have to say that I am disappointed though, for the following reasons:

1. The screen is tiny and hasn't gotten any bigger over the past 4 years despite gains in screen technology on the market... Clearly Canon has the technology to do it--just look at the SD200 or SD300 both of which have beautiful big screens. The tiny screen on this thing is put in the lower left hand corner of the camera, no ability to pull it out or rotate it which are functions available on other Canons.

2. The 'box' hasn't changed in 4 years...it was an impressively small size when it first came out, but at this point, it looks big compared with the SD series or against the Sony series. Guys, it's time to change the look!

3. I was quite reluctant to keep a camera that got so many poor reviews...even though the overall review at amazon is more than 4 stars, there are a ton of 1 stars hidden back there, and it's clear that there is a fundamental error in the design of this camera. Check out the other reviews to learn more.

In the end, I decided it was worth it to pay more for the same functions in a smaller package, and to buy an SD300. I hope that I won't experience any of the errors described here.

It's good...until you get the "memory error"
Just like all other reviewers said. I had the old model (S400) for over 18 months and it was so good that I even recommended to tons of my friends. Until last month, all of a sudden, the famous "memory error" showed. Will not bother to spend another $150+ as requested by Canon. Actually, I think a class action should be initiated. I can't believe such a big company can get away this easy.

Will never touch any Canon camera.

What a CAMERA! Fabulous!
This is a wonderful camera, I was amazed at the digital zoom capabilities! Crystal clear photos, this is a super easy camera to use. Truely point and click, great for the "technically challenged" it comes with a battery charger (most brands don't) so you are not wasting $$$ on batteries. I have yet to run my battery down. I also purchased the Canon MP760 copier/scanner/printer. That is a wonderful machine as well. I would recommend purchasing a larger CF card if you want to take video. This camera is worth every penny!

Canon PowerShot S410 4MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoom
The Canon PowerShot S410 4MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoom it is brand new in box,never opened.I have 6 Canon PowerShot S410 4MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoomat the price of 200$ each.Thanks

Excellent Point and shoot
This is one of the best point and shoot camera's out there in the market today. You can't get better than Canon S410 for a simple point and shoot 4 MP camera that takes excellent quality pictures. The battery life is pretty good and dont forget to get an additional battery from Ebay. Of course for this price range, you cant expect many manual controls.

My advise is:
- Get a second battery
- Get a good compact flash card (Ultra II)
- Use self timer for night shots (preferably on a tripod)

and check out the excellent pics taken from this camera at: http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/powershot_s410

I have not encountered the E18 and other errors described by other reviewers, so cannot comment on that.

Love the camara!
First let me say that this is the first digital camara I have
owned. I am very pleased with the camara. It is easy to operate and the pictures are great. I would definately recommend this camara.

Great camera for the money.
What to do when a family member covets your SD400? The answer was to buy them an SD410 and save almost 40%!
I have been buying digital cameras from the beginning, starting with some brands that are now extinct and some cameras that offered less than 1 megapixel resolution. My most recent acquisition was a Pentax Optio SV which I panned in a review posted here on Amazon.
Anyway, Canon is the benchmark for all other digital cameras. This model offers the usual Canon sturdy build and very good visual appeal. The size and weight are about 50% larger than the SD400, but still not too large for a purse.
The LCD screen is excellent; 1.5 inches and readable even in bright sunlight. The optical viewfinder (I just don't like cameras that make you rely upon the LCD only for framing images; sometimes I feel I need to frame an image the old fashioned way) is tiny but very bright and also features all of the menu items you select from setup (or none if you prefer).
The 3X optical zoom is smooth and fast and in most cases that's enough zoom power, though I did buy that Optio in search of even more power. For the record, pay no attention to digital zooms. They are computer trickery that enlarges the central part of your image at the expense of image resolution. For example, a 2X digital zoom effect exactly halves your resolution, making such images often unfit for printing. Talking about resolution and printing, the 4 megapixels available on this model allows for high quality 8" x 10" prints. The camera is also capable of functioning as a camcorder in a pinch.
The controls of the SD410 are simple and intuitive and the menus have evolved nicely, making it much easier than it was with my S200 to navigate and adjust things. That said, the SD410 is part of a class of cameras designed mostly for automatic users; if you crave control, you're probably not shopping for this type of digicam.
I find the Canon colors to be about the truest, though performance in that area is degraded when using the flash. Also, "red eye" is a problem, though newer software programs like Microsoft's PictureIt! Photo Premium 9 have finally made red eye fixes really easy.
The fact that this camera operates on 2 AA batteries is great. You can be environmentally friendly using rechargeables and in a pinch you can just use alkalines available anywhere.
Of course the included 32 meg CF memory card is too small to be useful, but that is the case with every single digital camera I've bought. No matter, these cards are the most reasonably priced format available, with prices now below ten cents a meg.
Lastly, I want to commend the new Digic II processor in the SD410. It is ready to shoot in about one second after it is powered up, and there is almost no shutter lag at all. Recovery time for a second shot is similarly brief. Shutter lag is a big factor when selecting a digicam and this one jumps that hurdle very nicely.
On balance, I'd say the SD410 is a "best buy".

outstanding item
super fast delivery and item was as described and works perfect i couldn't be happier thanks

Great camera!
The S410 may be skim on features and manual options, but the photo quality is excellent.

I just LOVE the photo quality of the S410. The S410 is probably the best camera on the market when it comes to photo quality and print-outs. The video quality is very good too, though, the videos can not be shot at or above VGA, and the S410 can only handle low resolution. However, the video quality is crystal clear, and crisp. There is barely any lag at all when taking two pictures, or a multi-shot.

The durability is very good. I haven't dropped this yet, but if I happen to, it seems it will take the damage. It has a very strong build, and seems to be made of very strong material. That's quality right there.

A negative on the S410 is that there is one or two manual features. That's fine if you just want to take normal pictures, but ones in a complex scene will have a loss in photo quality. Actually, there aren't any big features on the S410 at all. The LCD is normal and is the size of most common digital cameras, and there's no manual settings. Once again, if you just want a basic digital camera, this is it. But, if you want some features, you may want to look around. Photographers may want high resolution videos if they're doing a documentary, or a special project. If you need features, get a camera with features. If not, the S410 is your camera.

So, even if the S410 is very skim on features, it's excellent photo quality and durability should make you think about clicking add to cart.

Recommended.

LCD screen breaks under light pressure
I purchased this camera seven months ago and was satisfied with its overall performance. However, its durability has not impressed me. The camera has been stored in a canon leather case and never been abused or mishandled. Then one day we found the LCD screen to have a crack internally which made it impossible to see the display properly. After sending the camera in for repair Canon stated that the LCD screen cracked due to too much pressure. This of course made the warranty irrelevant and I was stuck with the costs of repair. I told the canon representative that the camera had been stored in its case and kept in a purse. She replied by saying that the camera should never be carried in a purse and that due to the sensitive nature of digital cameras they should just be carried in your hands. I thought she was joking but she wasn't! What good is a camera if you can't carry it in your pocket, purse, luggage, etc... I have had a Nikon digital camera for 4 years and it still works great and is definitely durable enough to be used under NORMAL conditions.

Very Good Camera
Positive:
+ Good Battery Life
+ Wonderful Photo Quality
+ 3x Optical Zoom
+ Wonderful Video Quality

Negative:
- No Manual Options
- Only 32 MB Memory Card Bundled


It's a great camera, unless you don't mind not having manual options.

Canon makes faulty products!!!!
the one star is simply because there are no negative ratings. Please, please, please whatever you do don't buy a canon digital camera. i used to own a powershot 400. right after the warranty ran out, i suddenly couldn't use the camera. an error message would pop up immediately; i couldn't even get the lens to extend or anything on the camera to work. The message? E18. if you do a google search for canon E18, you will see tons of forums with literally thousands of people who have had the same thing unexplicably happen to their cameras. and it's not even limited to that one model. canon refuses to admit there was a problem inherent with the camera, and the only solution they offer is selling you a refurbished model for half the price of the original.

well, after that i was set to buy a sony camera, but i had purchased a few extra batteries and memory cards, and i realized that i'd have to put out some major money to do all that over again with the sony. canon had released the 410, which i though would be bug-free since it was completely the same camera save for a print button. so i bought it, but this time made sure to buy from amazon so that i could return it if there were any problems. good thing i did! i received the camera in april 2005. it's now july 2005. the thing is already broken, displaying "memory card error" messages even though i've tried about 5 different cards that work perfectly fine in my friends' camera. i can't even use it at all 99% of the time, and if it does let me get as far as actually taking a picture, that too is useless because the camera crashes without saving a thing!! i was so livid it took all of my energy just to keep myself from throwing the thing off of my roof deck.

so, to make this clear, two cameras. one broken after 1 year. another broken after less than THREE MONTHS!!! Canon makes crap!!!! and they don't even fess up to it and do the right thing and replace the cameras! i am never, EVER giving them one more red cent.

memory error - make others aware of the problem
Just received the response shown below after me second email to Canon regarding my S400. It seems familiar - exact wording that I saw on another website claiming ignorance about a problem. I have now filed a complaint with the California and New York Attorney General's Office and the New York BBB. I strongly suggest all of you with this problem to do likewise so we can build a fire under Canon. If your camera has this problem and you haven't yet posted to this site let us hear from you. We should also start posting to other shopping websites (dealcatcher, epinions, etc) as well as the photography sites, including their Letters to the Editor. We need to make others aware of the way Canon has turned this problem into a profit center.

------------
Thank you for contacting Canon product support. We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.
Please note, Canon USA does not monitor, confirm, endorse, or attest to the accuracy of any information posted on third party websites. It seems many customers are overwhelmed by the barrage of information (or misinformation) being posted on unregulated, non-Canon websites. Unfortunately, this is not something over which Canon has any control. We are able only to confirm the performance of the camera based on our
own testing.

No service notifications have been released for the PowerShot S400.

Unfortunately, we here at the Care Center do not have the opportunity or authority to extend the terms of your warranty or to offer you free repair service outside of the 1-year warranty period. I understand your disappointment in encountering this issue with your camera, but you will need to address your concerns with the Factory Service Center. They are
the only entity within Canon USA authorized to make warranty decisions.

I suggest mailing your camera to them, along with a detailed letter explaining your situation, just as you have done in your correspondence with us here at the Care Center.

The Factory Service Center personnel will assess your camera and read your letter. If they decide to complete your repairs free of charge, the camera will be repaired and returned to you at Canon's expense. If they determine that the repairs will not be covered, you will receive an estimate for the costs to repair your camera. At that point, you can determine if the cost of repairing the camera is of value to you. If
not, it will be returned at no cost to you.

I apologize for any inconvenience this causes you.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,

Chris
Technical Support Representative

Cannon PowerShot S410 digital Elph Camera
Very, very happy with this camera. Easy to use for beginner digital camera user and has many features to grow into when I am ready. Excellent price.

Lens cover fails on 2 Canon Elph cameras
The automatic lens cover on my Canon Elph S410 camera has just failed -- it will not close. We bought this camera in June 2004, right after the lens cover on my two-year-old S400 failed. The S400 lens cover would not open. We sent the S400 to Canon to repair and were told that the repair would cost almost as much as buying the S410.
We assumed that the first failure was a problem that Canon would have fixed and bought the second Elph because its predecessor had been great in other respects. Now, of course, we feel like fools and will not take a chance on any more Canon cameras.

Memory Card Error
I recently purchased this camera for a second smaller camera to supplement my Nikon D100. I had it 2 weeks when it began to display "Memory Card Error" and would not store any of my pictures. I don't have any problem with that same memory card in my other camera. I have the older 3MP powershot and have never had a problem with it. I have since returned it but wish I had listened to the reviews on this camera.

Don't pass on this camera...
This is the most compact incrediable camera you can buy. It is my second one and I love it. You can learn how to operate this camera with out using your owners manual, adjust the camera to your personal settings, and carry it in your pocket. It is great for travel and everyday use. Don't pass on this camera...it is well priced through amazon.com and a must have!

Canon Powershot S410
Great camera for such a little package. Easy to use and enjoy the ability to view pictures immediately.

Canon coach S410
It is really good one. I am using one and bought the same one for my parents. I think they can really enjoy it.

the camera works great
I love the camera and the compact size is great for vacations. I just slip the camera into my purse. The pictures are very clear. I would recommend this camera to everyone who would like a compact digital camera.

Awesome camera
Great battery life. Don't need to worry about additional re-chargeable batteries since the camera comes with its own battery pack and charger.

Easy to use features even in manual mode. Red-eye reduction on the camera doesn't seem to work on some people but nothing that the provided software can't fix. Wonderful clarity, not the mention the very portable size.

never miss a shot
A great digital, small, light, & good battery life. Easy to operate, also has move mode. Very clear & bright display.With a 512mb memory takes all the pictures you want.

Canon Powershot S410
I LOVE my camera and I couldn't be happier. It was delivered earlier than I expected and is in perfect condition. I'm extremely happy with my purchase.

Great all-around camera
I bought this camera for a trip to Hawaii and because it is small and fits well in my purse. Could have more memory and a larger view screen, but for the price, it is an excellent deal!

nice camera
After about a year of thinking about ordering a camera, I finally took the leap and bought one. I chose the canon s410 and thus far have been happy with it. It is easy to use and the pictures look good. For the price, I am happy with this 4 mp camera. It has a solid metal body which makes it heavier then other models, but I think will make it better in the long run for durability. The battery charges pretty quickly and you don't have to charge it completely before using it again...which is nice if you