| Canon PowerShot S230 3.2 MP Digital ELPH Camera with 2x Optical Zoom | ||||||||
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by Canon  Uses proprietary lithium-ion rechargeable battery (included) Connects with PCs and Macs via USB port Included 16 MB CompactFlash card holds 26 images at default settings Autofocus lens with 2x optical/3.2x digital (6.4x total) zoom 3.2 megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 8 x 10 prints and medium-quality prints up to 11 x 14 |
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| Amazon.com Product Description With the Canon PowerShot S230, you've got the best of both worlds--the compact size and high style of the digital Elph series plus the higher resolution of a 3-megapixel camera. Updating the popular 2-megapixel PowerShot S200, the PowerShot S230 also features a 2x optical zoom, an improved 3.2x digital zoom, movie mode for videos up to 3 minutes, and more--all in a stylish, compact package. Optics and Resolution
Storage and Transfer Movie Mode More Features The PowerShot S230 uses highly advanced technology to make your digital photography experience simple. DIGIC enhances image definition and processing speed, while the sophisticated iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology assures faster and more accurate autofocus, autoexposure, and automatic white balance. The intelligent-orientation sensor ensures your pictures are always right side up, on the LCD or even while downloading.
Power, Size, and Contents An amazing little camera!
I got this camera a few days ago and after constant use, I can tell you that its a real big improvement over previous digital Elph cameras. In the Canon line, you might be considering the S200, the S230, and the S320. Here's my take, based on my experience and that of others: The S200 and S230 are the smallest, having the same exact body as each other. The main difference is that the S200 can process 2 Mega Pixels and the S230 can process a little more than 3 Mega Pixels. If the larger images are not important to you, you might want to save some cash and get the S200. Otherwise, the S230 is definitely a little faster, has a much better quality movie mode and longer movies, 9-point auto focus (the S200 has 3-points), and a higher price tag. They have exactly the same zoom, which is only 2x optical. The battery life in both has been very good. I use Macintosh computers and downloading the pics is a breeze in OS 10.2 and OS 9. The menus are really intuitive and operation is generally quite user-friendly. As for the S320, I can't think of too many reason to buy it. Sure, it boasts a 3x zoom, but for most situations, this is only a slight improvement over 2x. Otherwise, its a larger camera. Still small by most standards, but to me, size was a huge selling point, since I am much more likely to take a camera with me if it is not a hassle. This one fits unobtrusively in your jacket pocket. If you require more zoom, you should probably look at something other than an Elph. As for the S230's weaknesses, there's the small optical zoom and otherwise the only complaint I have heard is that the flash in the whole digital Elph line is kind of weak. However, I have found the flash to be more than sufficient for most indoor situations. I have only had this camera for a few days, so I can't comment on long-term reliability, but I have great faith in the Canon brand. I tend to research my purchases to death and I feel like I made an excellent decision with this camera. So glad i spent the extra money
This camera is awesome. I am glad i spent the extra money to get a pocket sized high megapixel camera. I can now take this with me everywhere. It has the convenience of the size of a disposable camera with all the benefits of a digital camera. It is VERY easy to use in every sense of the word. The buttons are not too small and are very easy to manipulate. Hooking it up to my pc (alas i wish i had a mac though) was incredidbly simple. I would recommend upgrading to a higher memory chip however (i bought a 256 compact flash card so i dont have to download everytime i use it). Also i would recommend buying an additional battery so you dont "die" in the middle of a party. Worth the wait
I've been waiting a long time for Canon to come out with a 3+ megapixel version of their Elph line of cameras and I wasn't disappointed when I recently purchased the S230. I've always considered 3 megapixels to be the minimum required for photo quality 4x6 prints so when I came time to upgrade from my Kodak DC280, I went with the Olympus C-3000 over the 2 megapixel S110 despite the fact that I found the Canon's small size very appealing. Now that the S230 has finally arrived, I can say that I am very happy with my purchase. The picture quality is not quite as good (a bit more 'noise' is noticeable in night shots) as my Olympus but still much better than my old Kodak DC280. Just as a note to those who can wait: Minolta will soon be releasing the Minolta DiMAGE Xi 3 megapixel version of their popular DiMAGE X camera. This camera is thinner and features a 3x optical zoom as opposed to the 2x zoom on the S230. If it's priced competitively, it might be worth a look. Although for me, it didn't matter; this camera is small enough for me to carry around in my pocket...anything smaller really wasn't necessary and I really didn't want to wait with the holidays coming up. If you love the new iMac, this is the camera for you
If you've read the other reviews, you know the technical merits of this camera. If you want a camera that you will always have in your pocket with easy to use controls, this is it. I take it everywhere and get photos that I would never have "planned" to take; all without looking like a photographer for National Geographic. As a former Windows user, I love the simplicity of getting photos from the camera to my iMac (with OSX.) You have to initially set the camera communication setting to PTP, but after that - plug it in, turn it on and let iPhoto do the rest. No software or drivers to load. Did I get a lemon?
I was so excited when I got this camera (S230) delivered this afternoon. I charged up the battery for a couple of hours and put in the Compact Flash card. I snapped a total of three photos before this thing died on me, with an "E18" error message. I tried again after a short while, and it took a couple more photos. And that was it - the end. Now I can't do a thing with it. I researched this E18 message online, and apparently it's a common error with other models of Canon digital cameras (although none mentioned on this model - perhaps too new). Am I the only unlucky one? Did I get a lemon? BTW, this ruined my Thanksgiving photo-taking opportunities! Great bang for the buck!
I love this camera. It's small, durable, and takes very sharp pictures with little to no effort on the user's part. There are better camera's out there, but for the money, ease of use, toughness, and size, this one has treated me very well... Excellent compact camera
I got this IXUS V3(powershot s230 ELPH)just 2 nights ago and has taken close to 150 shots. This is my first digital camera which i got after months of research. I was skeptical about the small size as it makes the handling of the camera a lot harder but it turned out otherwise. The photo quality was astonishing for both indoor and out door shots.Pictures taken in perfect darkness turned out as if i had taken them during the day while day-shots turned out vividly. I was disappointed by the flash when taking macro objects as the falsh did not trottle down, so, i ended up taking it in manual mode without flash. Having used a manual SLR camera before, I chose to ues the manual mode when taking indoor shots, giving me the freedom of deciding how i would like the photo to turn out( if you find that indoor shots turn out blur, do increase the ISO speed in manual). One thing i felt was missing was the apature mode. Red eye was not really a problem for me(it has yet to turn up in any of my shots). Playing the pictures back on the television is not a problem as long as you have a cd-rw drive. You can burn it as a VCD using the provided video editing software. It performs very well as a point and shoot camera but, I would recommend at least a 128 mb card. Best 3.2 Mega Pixel Camera for it's size.
I replaced an old Olympus D340 with the S230. The pictures are fantastic and the video is also very good. It is easy to use and is smaller than the S330 and the S200. You won't be disappointed. I recommend that you buy a 256mb card since each 30 seconds of video at 640x480 is about 11.5mb. My 128mb cards get filled up fast when taking video. Canon PowerShot S230: Pocket Hercules
WHY I PURCHASED THE POWERSHOT 230: I was never really a fan of Canon cameras, especially Canon digital cameras. It wasn't until recently that a few of my friends were sending me pictures via email that were taken with a Canon Powershot camera. I was pretty impressed with the results and decided to check out the newest Powershot; the S230. This camera packed a lot of features, but kept the bulk to a minimum. Producing images at 3.2 megapixels, the S230 was definitely appealing. WHAT IT COMES WITH: POCKETABILITY: DURABILITY: EASE OF USE: ADVANCED FOCUSING: PICTURE QUALITY: VIDEO MODE: BATTERY STRENGTH: The S230 comes with a separate battery charger. This is very convenient, as you don't have to charge the battery using the camera, like most of the Sony cameras do (Sony sells the battery charger as a separate accessory). From a fully discharged battery, the charger is able to completely charge it in about two hours. There is an LED which displays in `red' when it's charging and `green' when it's complete. OVERALL WEAKNESSES: SUMMARY: A skier's digital camera
My Cannon S230 arrived last week... I took it skiing today and it is perfect for the outdoors... The size is the most incredible and useful thing about it... it's a camera that you don't have to debate whether it's worth lugging around... you'll forget that you are carrying it... Even though it's tiny, it was pretty easy to use with gloves on... the auto-closing lens "cap" is key, and it's difficult to turn the camera on by mistake. The battery lasted all day in the cold... powerful tiny point and shoot
You cannot beat this camera for size/performance ratio. It's tiny, the spapshots are generally good, the controls are easy to use and powerful, and it's got great start up and shot to shot times. I'm not totally convinced by the AiAF (autofocus) yet. Some shots I have taken seem a bit blurry, when I know the subject was focused properly. Mostly low light shots it seems. The size is perfect. Stealthy. Keep it in your pocket and only those with a keen eye notice when you pull it out. You'll be taking more shots than you ever thought possible. Manual control of the camera is also powerful for a small point and shoot. There is a long shutter setting up to 15 seconds. There are manual exposure, white balance and ISO settings. Macros are good. The panorama setting is awesome, string together many picts for a great 360 shot. Movies are good too. Long! Best of all I love how the camera remembers its last setting so that when you power it off and back on it's right where you left it. Some issues however: 1. The flash is weak. It's good if your just feet away from the subject, but that's about it. If you want to catch something in the distance at night your going to have to turn the flash off and pump up the exposure. Get a tripod for this. 2. Red eye galore. The red eye prevention doesn't appear to work very well. Canon S230
My experience is that 2.1 mepixel digital camera can produce equal to or better 8"x10" picture than 35mm camera(I used to do wedding photo's). Thus I didn't need a digital camera above 3.2 mp. I wanted a good balance of weight/size, and cost, and features. S230 weight/size is unmatched with beautiful stainless steel brushed face. The camera is full of great features: new image processing system, good lense, new focusing system, strong Li-I battery, and digital camera with adequate camcorder features. Camcorder feature is very high quality though bit choppy. The Flash, the weakest side of any point-and-shoot camera, is much better than my previous digital camera (Canon S10). Only feature I wished it has is external flash hotsynch wire connection. New Zoombrowser software is much better in handling database then previous versions, but lacks grace. Mouse Scroll does not work. Awkward way of deleting shots from the camera after downloading. Should have given Adobe Photo Element instead of Archsoft stuff. Beautiful small package
Canon is coming close to perfection here. Any smaller and it would be difficult to operate with adult hands. Skip the Canon software and use a compact flash card reader for getting originals into your computer. If you're a Mac user, Cameraid and GraphicConverter will handle most beginner needs. Buy a larger CF card and at least one spare battery. If you don't have a computer or don't know how to use the one you own, don't bother with any digital camera. And No, Email and web browsing don't count as knowing how to use a computer. Too Cool to Fool
I still havent delved into the cameras compensation mode but this Camera could not be simpler to use. Its still a bit pricey but compared to all the other digital cameras of its kind (and ive seen many) its worth the price. I think the LCD display takes too much battery power and the flash is too close to the lens but it is a very handy and smart camera. If you like small and well constructed things the likes of how Macintosh makes, (IPOD)you will like this camera. Its ability to take a good picture is 90% and to take the picture you want is 80%. Meaning youve got to put some work into changing the presets to get what you were hoping for but the beauty of digital is that its so manipulable. Great choice! A must buy!
This is an excellent camera. I like both the size of the camera and the quality of the images that are produced. I mainly use the camera to take pictures of friends and family and I also use the camera to take pictures of Surgical cases in the Operating Room and the detail is excellent for both uses. I have compared the pictures created by this camera to that of my father's much more expensive Nikon CoolPix 990 and the quality is almost identical. Both cameras have a resolution over 3 megapixels however the S230 doesn't have the bulky size of the Nikon. The Compact Flash memory card is the way to go. I didn't even install the software that came with the camera because I use a SanDisk external USB Compact Flash reader and the transfer is very fast. I use a 128mb Compact Flash Card and on the middle quality setting I can take 380 images which more than satisfies me. I assume with a 256mb card you can take twice that number. The camera also takes motion pictures which also comes out with very high quality. I also appreciate the automatic rotate feature. Any feature you can find on other cameras can be found on this camera combined with the great compact size which fits in my shirt pocket. I would suggest purchasing an extra Lithium Ion Battery with the camera because I am able to take 80 pictures/battery charge with the display on and around 120 pictures/battery charge with the display off. I also recommend the PSC-300 soft case. If you can get over the ugly purple color it is a compact case which fits the camera perfectly and provides easy storage and transportation of an extra battery and an extra compact flash card. I enjoy using my camera and I feel that it will not be obsolete for some time. Great for beginner.
Especially good for those who wouldn't take pictures otherwise because other cameras are so much bigger. This is a small, rugged camera that you can actually fit in a pocket. Pros: SMALL, good build quality, compact flash, nice LCD, long movie mode with sound (great for apartment hunting). Cons: RED EYE!!! 2x zoom, occasional focus issues. The most carryable high quality digital camera
Several friends & co-workers have the older 2 megapixel PowerShot models.. from the S110 to the S200. I've always been fascinated by these cameras and their carryability, but being a person who likes image quality I waited and waited (and waited) until Canon finally came through with the S230 with 3.2 megapixels. What a great camera, I bought it just before going on a week long snowboarding trip to Canada. Litteraly took it everywhere. It performed nearly flawlessly in every situation. It handled the cold & condensation just fine, and night shots at the bars came out great. The only small gripe I have is that the 9 point autofocus does wierd things, causing the occasional blurred shot. The improvement of the movie mode (now you can shoot 3 minutes instead of only 30 seconds at 320x240, as well as the ability to shoot 640x480) was a great move on Canon's part. The microphone does well except in loud or windy situations where the audio will clip. The only weak part on the camera body is the compact flash door which is plastic, a friend broke his off. Software: Most of the software works ok, the only thing that works kindof iffy on my machine (win2k) is the zoombrowser software. I went out and spent $20 on a usb compactflash card reader and now use that to transfer my pictures, plus it works as a portable disk to tranfer other files between home/work/friends. You can get 128mb flash cards for about $40 now, definitely pick one up, the 16mb card is useless except as a backup. An extra battery would be helpful, or just carry the charger (it's the same size as the camera) and charge it up at lunchtime or some other downtime. I used my camera throughout the day and only had to charge at night for an hour or so. All in all, it's a great camera, would like to see Canon squeeze a 3x optical zoom into the next version, but if it makes the camera any bigger I'd likely not carry it. The combination of size, quality and features of this camera are unmatched! Excellent buy
I started out with a s200 6 months back, only after doing extensive research on available small digital cameras. Small size was most important to me as I had been using a SLR full size before this, and found that for the money i had spent on that camera, it was not being used to its fullest potential- simply because it is not the type of camera for the amateur photographer- too large and not practical. The elph range seemed the most appealing, especially when considering the features. My only gripe at the time was that it was without a higher MP range. Strongly recommend this camera for the amateur/start up digital photographer. Many moments of photographic fun guaranteed! Could not be happier after 2 weeks
Had the camera for about 2 weeks and I love it. Great pictures! It is very small and I really like the metal body. I recommend getting a bigger flash card, I am going to buy a 128 MB card. Prices are coming down and Amazon has a bunch of them to choose from. I also recommend a card reader, instead of hooking the camera up to the pc. Long story short, I read reviews for at least a month, and finally picked this camera over the sony P7. Very happy with it so far... Just Peachy
We were looking to upgrade from the much bigger / bulkier Sony mavica. After plenty of research, we chose the Canon S230 - mainly for its VERY compact size and light weight. I give it 5 stars for portability. It literally fits in a shirt pocket. The quality of the images are good - but a little "hit and miss". The 2x zoom is a shortcoming, and many photos turn out "soft". The red eye reduction feature is not very effective. Overall, we're pleased with the S230....but don't expect perfection. Still five stars
There are some faults with the Canon S230 but they don't diminish the overall quality of this little camera. I previously reviewed this in December when I first purchased it and still rate it as five stars, but I will comment on some disadvantages now. First is the red eye that appears on indoor, flash photos. This is true of most small digital cameras that I have used. The problem is the location of the flash close to the lens- unavoidable if you want small size. I've mitigated this by putting translucent tape or paper over the flash to lessen its impact or taking pictures without flash if possible. The next problem is the battery. It works great and stays charged through many photos, videos and reviews of my pictures. It does not let me know when it is about to run out of power. As soon as the indicator for a low battery comes on the camera dies. This does not allow much time for changing batteries in the midst of an important event. My suggestion is to have an extra battery and to always use a newly charged battery for important events. Now for some great features; I dropped this camera twice onto hard cement and the metal casing and components survived unscathed. I take this camera with me to sports events, skiing and hiking. The humidity of our school pool at swim meets has posed no problem. Its nice to know that it can stand up to even my carelessness. The video clips are great. At an event I simply video each part individually. Three minutes is long enough for each race in a swim meet- even the relays (Okay, not the 500 free, but my arm would tire from that one anyway). I taped my son's All County orchestra concert- each piece was about three minutes- and even the sound was pretty good. I use a 128 MB card and can get at least a few events on each card. The 256 MB can do more. So far I'm still very happy with this camera. My best photo experience to date!
The PowerShot S230 is my first digital camera. The very first impression after having taken several shots with the S230 - "I can't believe this small camera can produce such amazing images." Sharpness, color saturation and balance, exposure - there's nothing to complain about. The build and overall quality are great, the camera is small, but feels very solid. Another pleasant aspect is the number of professional-like manual features the camera packs. From my point of view, the only primary "professional" feature that's not there is aperture/shutter priority. Nevertheless, the camera gives you a lot more control than any 35mm film point-and-shoot camera. Having used the camera for a while, I can't see any reason why anyone would ever go back to film. Now, some people have been complaining about the flash red-eye effect. Well, that I just can't understand. I have this thirty dollar digital image editing software from Microsoft. It takes me about 10 seconds to remove red eye from any picture taken with the S230. I bought three add-ons for this camera: the dedicated Canon bag, a 256MB CF card, and a spare battery. To summarize, if you are not a professional photographer, but just need to take excellent pictures of your vacations, family, ball games, etc. - this is the camera for you. It's light, compact, and affordable and produces great results. A great little compact digital camera
The reason I purchased this camera is for the convenience of having such a tiny digital camera without giving up too many features. The 3.2MP is more than sufficient to take excellent photos and the MPEG feature (although I don't use it that much) was very easy to use and turned out a good product. I have two complaints, however, and if these two things are bothersome, it would be wise to look elsewhere for a different model. First complaint is that it gets hot when it's been on a while - not extreme heat, but enough to comment about it. Second complaint is that it only has a 2X optical zoom. Although it has a 6.4X digital zoom, it gets quite "pixely" when used. So far I've been extremely pleased with my S230 as far as picture and image quality as well as its convenience and user-friendliness. I highly recommend it. I love this camera
This is the 4th generation of what started as the S100 camera. I had an S100 and held off on buying a new one until this one came along - the upgrade to 3.2MP - along with the all the other improvements made in the S110 and then S200 cameras that came in between (my brother bought an S200 having seen my S100, a friend bought an S110) - this was the one to get. The software it comes with is "OK" - better than most stuff I've seen for this purpose but I mostly find myself just using the built-in stuff for photos in XP. The images though, are incredible - especially for such a tiny camera. Strong Points: Weak Points: David Best Digiatal Camera for the Price
I was a little skeptical at first about buying a digital camera because I wasnt sure if it was time to adopt the technology. Like most people I read constant reviews here and there and came to one conclusion...this was the best camera out there for the money. Canon has always been a leading company with cameras and they proved it to me. This was easily my best purchase in recent memory. On a Mac computer iphoto automatically recognizes the camera and downloads your pictures (time to buy a mac people). The pictures are crisp and clear. It even handles moving objects very well unlike the lower end model S200. I love how compact it is and I can just slip it in my pocket and its not even a nuissance. The design is amazing and very durable. The menu options, etc is easy to use/set-up and I didnt even have to look in the manual. You will be stunned at how easy it is to operate. One word of advice, buy a bigger memory card, b/c the factory one holds next to nothing. I purchased a 256Mb card, I suggest you do the same. If you buy another digital camera other than this one....big mistake!!! High quality images, solid design, top notch portability.
I recently sold my Canon S30. While it was an EXCELLENT camera, I still found myself wanting a more compact design. It wasn't difficult to decide upon the S230 from the Digital ELPH line of camera's once they had a 3.2MP version. I'll say this, everything about this camera is top notch. If your looking for a high quality, well built camera that easily fits in your pocket, look no further. Only bad thing I can think of is the rubber door that covers the proprietary connection port on the side of the camera. It seems pretty flimsy and eventually with enough opening and closing may just wear off. It's a very thin piece of rubber. Other then that, that's all I can think of. You can try and knock the flash or the weak optical zoom, but if you consider the size of camera your working with I'd say they are more then adequate. If you need a lot of flash power, or a big zoom lense, look for another camera. This Charming Cam
I agonized for weeks (months) over this purchase -- and a printer to go with it. Was my Xmas gift for myself. The size, feel and features are all great pluses. The LCD screen is not as good or as big as big brother Canon S30s and S40s, but it does the job. The 3 minute vid clips (30 secs on 600x480 res that looks amazing) is also a GREAT add-on. And fun. But you buy a camera for its picture quality. I focused on Canon because of quality. But I really focused on the Elph because of size. Some of the Fuji cams were cool looking but try fitting the zoom ones in your pocket. Anyway, I digress. Since this was my first digital camera, I had a big learning curve. I have to say, some basic knowledge of light and aperture is a plus. Luckily I had some .. very basic. But each week my pics get better and better. The big key, esp. at night when you are playing with lighting settings, is to keep deadly still otherwise it all blurs. But the automatic function settings work fine. Anyhoo, I digress. My first pics, printed on a Canon S820 photo printer bowled me over. Better than anything from the quick processing at the drug store. WOW. My only complaints: 1) red eye is bad, but that is why you have digital imaging software to remove it. But unless you're adapt at using such things, it can be a pain and time consuming. 2) pictures using flash all have somewhat of a blown out quality. It may be that I just havent learned to use it. But basically a flash is NOT needed in most decently lit spaces. And at night, you get much better quality by using the camera's slow speed settings and, like i said, being deadly still. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend!! For those waffling between the s330 and s230...
So, I recently purchased a Canon Powershot s230 earlier this month (Feb/2003) after weeks of angsty buyer's indecision. I was torn between the s330 powershot (which has a 3x Optical Zoom but only 2 megapixels) and the s230 (which has a 2x Optical Zoom and 3.2 megapixels). This camera will go with me on an upcoming overseas trip, and I was torn by a single question: will megapixels or optical zoom give me a better photo? (as you can see, I am not an aficiando in digicams -- this purchase is actually my very first digital camera). For me, ultra-portability is a necessity as I need to pack as lightly as possible. I had decided against Canon's impressive, feature-laden s30 (which is only slightly larger than the s330) because the lens covers on the store models that I had seen had almost been ripped off, and I was concerned that it wouldn't stand up to moderate travel bag abuse (with or without a case). I read every review of the two cameras that I could find, read a zillion newsgroup postings, and asked three people who work with cameras professionally what their opinions were. I had thought that I had made up my mind to go for the s330 and save myself $100 (the reviews of both cameras are excellent, and I had decided to use the saved $$ to buy accessories). But the 3 professional opinions that I'd sought out all agreed with buying the s230. Their reasoning? If you buy the camera with more megapixels, then when you use the _digital_ zoom to go to 3x, the extra megapixels will help give you the same image that would be gotten from a 2MP + 3x optical zoom combo. This makes sense if you think about _digital_ zooming as taking a cropped portion of a picture, and simply blowing it up. More megapixels means more granularity and picture detail -- so taking a piece of an image and making it larger won't affect detail and clarity as much as if you started out with fewer pixels in the first place. Either way, when I got my hands on a working s230 store model and tested what 2x (optical) and "3x" (digital) zoom looked like on that camera, I realized that the difference in what you can see via those telephoto settings isn't that important. In other words, both 2x and 3x aren't going to let you take a picture of someone from across a field -- they're snapshot quality zooms. So that got me thinking. I realized, too, that 3.2MP means excellent 8x10 photos. I don't usually print that large, but hey! this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip, and I wanted the option to make a large print if necessary. Also, my normal 5x7's would come out supersharp. And 3MP also means that you can crop and edit pics without nearly as much loss in picture quality. So I bought the s230. My impressions? The camera takes amazing daytime pics. I was afraid handshake would be a problem, but I've had no trouble with that at all, except under low light conditions when I try to snap photos without using a flash (and then, it's not really "shake" that's the problem -- just lighting). Oddly enough, despite expectations, I have NOT had red-eye problems...yet. I've used the preset white balance settings, and my indoor pics have turned out with totally natural colors. The LCD is awesome. Panoramic pics are AMAZING (it is such a cool, cool feature). With the included 16MB CF card, I've taken 45" of video in 320x640 (I didn't expect to care about this feature, but I've had a BLAST taking quick videos). As for zoom, I've noticed that, if I take large, superfine shots and then crop what I want to focus on, the resulting image looks the same as if I'd zoomed A LOT. So, zoom has ended up being a moot purchasing factor for me. All in all, this camera (and it's picture quality) have met and exceeded my expectations. I was nervous to plunk down $... for something so small and after reading so many mixed reviews, but I have not had one iota of buyer's regret. My advice? Just buy it! :-) great overall, but one complaint
A lot of people wrote in their raved reviews and opinions about this camera. I agree with all the satisfied owners that s230 is a great 3.2 megapix camera-accurate colors, well adjusted white balance, intuitive, user-friendly menus and adjustments and so on. However, one complaint that I have (a complaint that I have not read any where else but I think people should know about) is that in order to recharge the battery, you have to take it out of the camera and slide it in the charger unit. This worries me because 1) the camera will reset when battery is taken out for a while, and I will have to go through setting it up again, like time and date and whatever the manual settings I have chosen. 2) there will be more wear and tear from taking it in and out many times. This is definitely a scheme for consumers to buy a second battery, because in the manual, p21 it says, "battery charge is insufficient to operate the camera, replace the battery pack immediately." Yes, you will spend more than what you think because you will most likely buy another battery and a higher capacity memory card. Or, if you decided not to get a second battery, you might have want the AC adaptor ACK500 to keep the camera active to prevent resetting. The best gets better!!!
I have had a Canon digital camera for a few years now... had the A50. At the time it was the world's smallest 1.3 megapixel camera. That camera worked great and finally I updated to the new S230. WOW!!! what a great new camera. Takes great pics and is much faster than the old A50. The movie mode is great for quick little movies. I do construction management and take short movies of remodel projects in progress. The best small digital camera I think you can buy. Its small, takes great pics, has great features and is easy to use.. buy it!! The Best Camera I ever bought !!
Without a doubt this is the best camara I ever bouhgt. It's small enough to place in your pocket or in the case of my wife in her purse. She carried everywere and we have the most incredible pictures from us and kids. Easy to download pictures to your computer and the quality with the 3.2 megapixels is amazing. Definatly a must have. To bad is not chip enough for averybody to have one. Good Price Good Camera GREAT Results
I got this camera because of the 3.2 MP and the size. It fits in my purse, my pocket, in my glovebox in my car. It takes awesome photos. If you are at a concert and do not want to have a camera detected, this is your best friend. You can turn the flash off and take a good shot without anyone ever knowing. Want to photograph your computer screen? Get a nice clean shot with the flash turned off the camera. Always wonder why the heck you don't have your camera when you need one? This will solve your problem. You'll find you'll never leave the house without it again. I have photographed dragonflies, people, places, car accidents and more because of the fact that this camera is so easy to carry around, therefore I get 1,000 more opportunities to take photos. Photo and print quality is astounding for it's class. Also works as a movie camera with 3 minute videos!
I'm not going to repeat everything the other reviewers said, just emphasize that this little camera can take 3 minute long movies at 320x240 resolution, which when viewed on a TV come out amazingly sharp and fluid with fairly good sound. I used it a lot during my last vacation and then stitched the movies together using the EO Video software (not included with camera) to make one long movie with different scenes. So many small 1 minute to 3 minute movie clips add up to a decent show. The camera is very easy to use for movies since you don't have to keep the shutter pressed, just press it once to start recording and again to stop. You can easily hold it up over people's heads in crowds, but the funniest is to film unsuspecting friends, since they would never imagine being filmed by this little thing. Make sure you get at least a 256 MB CF Card with a high 25x speed rating so that you don't have to wait long for the camera to write the data. I found such a 256MB 25x CF card manufactured by Transcend for only... a great gift
i've had it for a while now and am extremely happy with it. the battery life is just fine, the optical zoom is a plus because its greatest feature is its small size. its very portable and it can be taken anywhere. oh, and the 3.2 megapixel photos turn out great. Turn off the LCD!
I also have to give this little beauty a high rating. A number of people have expressed complaints or problems. I thought I'd describe some of my own experiences. I recently bought the camera for work, along with an extra battery and a 256MB CF card. In initial testing I was very impressed with the clarity of the pictures, though I changed the white balance for indoor pictures. I took 110 pictures of varying sizes and 3 movies of about a minute each (much more than I expected, based on reviews I've read of battery life). This week my wife and I went to Disneyland. I brought the camera, the empty CF card and both charged batteries. I took 182 pix at max size/min compression without depleting the first battery! Ultimately, I got 328 pictures over a period of two weeks - about half taken with flash. I kept the LCD display off the whole time, except for the two-second review display in the LCD after you take a picture and the status icons which appear when you change something (like turning the flash off or forcing infinity focus). The review display defaults to 10 seconds, but as I grew comfortable with the camera I changed it to 2 seconds -- partly to conserve battery life, but also because you can't do anything with the camera until the display clears. By the last day of our trip, I had turned if off entirely due to the discovery of an undocumented feature: if the LCD and review settings are both off, and you keep the shutter button pressed after taking your image, the image will be displayed for a few seconds. This has the potential to decrease the time between shots if you're busy taking several in a row in a short time. I have an SLR 35mm camera and two point-and-shoot's. Though I like looking through the lens to exactly frame a picture in the SLR, I've learned with the point-and-shoot's to see as the camera does and not worry about the viewfinder. I took this point-and-shoot approach with the S230 and it works fine. If you think "digital camera" means "looking at an LCD display to frame your picture," I urge you to rethink this. It will mean far less worry about the battery. It should be noted though, as it is elsewhere, that the "weak battery" icon doesn't come on until the battery is pretty much dead, which means you could end up in the lurch if you don't have a spare; but the battery life is less of a problem than I thought. In different stores I took many macro mode close-ups with the flash off, which requires a slow shutter setting for the dim light. They weren't as blurry as I thought they'd be, and a couple came out great. A pocket tripod would make the blurriness problem moot, of course. A curious feature of CCD digital cameras you need to understand is that longer exposures create grainier (more artifacts) pictures, exactly the opposite of what you can get with film. Flash pictures of 8-foot circular displays, taken from 4 or 5 feet back, came out quite well, and hand-held macro pictures under sufficient light were very nice. I switched from auto mode to manual (mostly to access the white balance settings) early on. When turning on the camera in manual mode, you only have to think about a few things: Whether to set infinity focus (in situations where you're shooting something more than 10 feet away and don't want to wait for the auto-focus); whether to set macro mode for sharp close-ups up to 1.5 feet away (not commonly used, but handy); and whether to turn the flash on or off. To review several pictures you've taken, just flick the mode switch from photo to review. Images will tend to have more contrast than you see with your eye, a bit more than with film. If you're within 8 to 10 feet, use a fill flash. Alternately you can work with images in the provided software (Photoshop Elements). For example, I shot some photos of the Small World exterior late in the afternoon. The sun shone brightly off the white building, and the shrubs and waiting area were in shadow. I aimed at the building and half-pressed the shutter to set the auto-exposure. In that image, the building looked fine, but the shadows were were almost black, even though they were easily visible to my eye. In a second photo, I aimed the camera at the shadows to set the auto-exposure, and then aimed at the building and took the picture. In this image, the building and surrounding area was completely washed out, but the shrubs and passing boats in the darker areas were much more distinct. I fixed the first image in Photoshop, but the second image couldn't be saved. I did this to test the camera's limits, but the best solution would have been to come back and shoot it in the morning. A common "bad photo" problem is not understanding when you need to recompose a shot, change the lighting (or wait for better lighting), or not accepting that you just can't get certain photos to come out. For those special photos it's still not time to replace my SLR, or even my point-and-shoot APS camera. But for the size, weight, and quality of images, even though I purchased the camera for work, I'm very happy with it and will use it for personal uses as well. Awesome camera!
I love this camera, and I take it everywhere I can, cuz you never know when you might have a Kodak moment! The only complaint I have is the redeye...even though it claims to have redeye reduction, boy is there a lot of it! Oh well, nothing a little photoshop editing can't take care of. Besides that, this is THE camera to get. What an impressive camera!
I have been absolutely thrilled with the quality of photos, ease of use, durability, and compact size of this camera. Shortly after I bought it, I took some pictures at the highest resolution, and had them professionally developed to 11x13 size. The quality of the photo was outstanding! The photo was crystal clear, and I'm certain that I could have blown it up further. I previously owned a Kodak 2.0 mp, and although it took nice pictures, the delay (from pushing the button to the time the picture recorded) was nearly unbearable. I constantly missed photo ops of my new baby in action. My Kodak also began having problems after 18 months (what a dissapointment- of course it was then out of warranty). The S230 is lightening quick, and the recovery (from shot to shot) is also extremely fast. I found the software to be very intuitive, as well as easy to install (I'm running XP). Although I have other photo software, I am using the Cannon software, because I find it that functional. I did a lot of research in the way of compact cameras, before this puchase. I considered the Sony Cyber Shot (average response time, and very high price), the Minolta Dimage(got sub-par reviews for quality of photo). Three people in my family own the s200's, and have been thrilled with them for over 1 yr. The proprietary battery concerned me prior to my purchase, but I have been extremely pleased with the battery performance. I have not had the need to purchase a spare. I set up the camera (fooling with ALL of the settings), took over 100 photos, reviewed them MANY times, and downloaded them from the camera, before I had to recharge the battery! The battery also fully recharges in about 1 1/2 hours. One neat extra: the camera has a gravity sensor that "remembers" the orientation of your photos, so they are always "right side up". In low light conditions, the camera has performed far beyond my expectations (compensating with a very good flash). Because of the compact size (and flash proximity to the shutter, red eye is occasionally a problem (although no more so then other ultra-compact cameras), and can be fixed with the software. However red-eye is certainly no worse then my HUGE Kodak camera was. If you are looking for a compact camera, with excellent photo quality, and intuitive features, look no further. Excellent small camera
I have owned a few digital cameras in my time, and spent too much money on them I might add. This one was cheaper than the others, and as far as point and shoot goes, this one is the best. Easy to use and it takes great pictures with little hassle. The battery provided takes enough pictures on one charge to fill a 64 mb card. (about 111 shots in the largest size & 400 small shots) I am Impressed with the quality of the camera for the price. It fits comfortably in my pocket so I can take it with me everywhere, wich I do! Best money ever spent, feature rich super compact
I struggled with all the options of digi cams. I've never taken lots of pictures, so I read up everything from CCD size to megapixels to apperatures and shutter speeds. I determined brands. Sony was out due to the limitation of its (proprietary) Memory Stick. Olympus was the front runner with options, models, features, and lowest prices. Canon was second. I started to like the features on the Canon PowerShot S230. ... Put simply, this is some of the best money I've EVER spent. I come from an industrial design background (sort of); and it is rare I ever say a product is nearly flawless in design, function, and value. Trust me. If you can only spend $200 or $250 on a camera, save up your rainy day funds. Wait another month or two. Drop $400 and never worry about a camera again-period. You'll be happy for the 3.2 (true-not rated) MP's when you start shooting. Images are so good, you'll want to have a good printer like the Canon i950 (4800x1200 dpi). Images enlarge to 8x10 perfectly. Never buy film again. Change between 50 and 400 ISO frame to frame. Black and White is fantastic. Sepia has that old world quality perfect for some pics of New Orleans. The long shutter speed allowed me to shoot some cool shots that are "instant Desktops" for my Mac. Downloading's a breeze. Bottom line. The S230 is a feature rich camera. It's size allows me to take it everywhere with me. The Olympus D-5550 I assure you would not fit in my Triple5Soul cigarette belt-pouch. My flash covers AT LEAST 15' of throw. The only downsides? Sometimes I need to fiddle with settings for a minute or two to get them right for a shot. I mean: set ISO, white balance, light metering, color setting/b&w. Then there's always the movie setting. Took lots of video of my dog playing outdoors. But hey! I wanted more features and control over shots, right? For the first time, I have it. Oh, the "red eye reduction" feature doesn't work as well as I might've hoped. Yes, it's only a 2x optical zoom. That's the limitation of such a compact camera. I do wish it was a 4x-6x (3x wouldn't make that much difference), then I remember I probably wouldn't be lugging that monstrous camera and couldn't be holding it right then. I'm just glad I didn't buy a Nikon F1 or Canon AE-1 a few years ago. The 35mm camera would sit while my compact Canon travels. All these positive ratings aren't wrong. It would be a mistake to buy anything else. Extremely happy
This is a fantastic camera! I agonized over the purchase of a digicam and finally settled on this one - it was the right choice. The size is a great feature. I slip it into my pocket and always have it available. As a result I have captured some great candid moments with my kids that I would have missed had I run to get the camera each time. 3 min video is great! With the flick of a switch you can capture adequate video (up to 180 secs!) WITH SOUND!! See above about capturing moments that were previously lost. Battery life is impressive - I keep waiting for the battery alert to go on but this little camera keeps chugging away through filming, video taking, and playback. I can take between 100 - 200 shots before having to switch batteries. And these charge fully, fast. Image quality is stunning, the included software is extremely useful and intuitive enabling you to bulk prepare photos for email by saving them as smaller images - no need to launch a separate photo editor just to reduce the size of the image for email or web. I would lke a larger optical zoom (the s400 has 3x) but the digital zoom impressed me with its clarity. The AV out cable is great allowing you to view all images and videos (WITH SOUND) on a standard TV. I also purchased a 256MB CF card which allows for loads of picture taking at all resolutions. And also get a spare battery to have ready to go. A superb choice in its domain
In April of 2003, as a footnote to the purchase of my Canon G2, I bought a Digital Elph s230 for my wife .... This is a very popular, ultra-compact 3 MPixel 2x zoom camera. I won't do a full review of it, but here are some quick impressions. Overall I'm pretty awed by this camera. My wife took great photos with it, and she is neither a photo geek nor a computer geek. I highly recommend it. (Canon has since introduced the s400, which is one step up from this camera -- 3x zoom and 4 Mpixel -- for more money.) It is incredibly small, feels very solid and tough. The model I bought is made in Japan. There are extensive manuals - with one major error: the manual doesn't make clear that to get the "continuous shooting" and "infinity shot" behaviors you have to switch from "automatic" to "manual" mode". These modes are mislabelled; they should be "simplified" and "standard" mode. In the default "automatic/simplified" mode a number of the controls don't work (white balance, infinity, continuous shot). In the "automatic/standard" mode all the controls work. It took me a while to figure this out, the documentation really fell short on this critical point. It supports the EXIF Orientation Tag. A sensor in the camera is used to document camera position at the time of image acquisition. Uses CompactFlash, same AV output and data cable as the G2, the same desktop software and very similar camera interface and operations and similar CF card format. So if you are familiar with a G2 (or G1, G3) this is almost your only logical choice. Since a camera-plug charger is an unnecessary optional add-on, you really want to use a CF Card reader with your PC and don't bother using the data cable. My favorite CF card reader is hardly larger than the USB data cable, and arguably easier to transport. Canon made a very nice case for this camera, the PSC 300, that was sold on Amazon for $...! It had a small pouch for a flash card. Naturally, it was discontinued. It's been replaced by the PSC-50, which is even smaller. As of April 2003 neither of these cases is available, the PSC-50 cases are on back order and the PSC 300 have been discontinued. Incredible Quality, Several Small Problems
Wow. I got my s230 about five weeks ago, and have taken over 1500 photos already. I am thrilled with the quality of the camera. It is heavy, built with a very sturdy case, the buttons are quality, the menus (software) are incredibly concise and easy to use/understand. Of course, what most people are concerned with is the picture quality--for this type of camera, it is outstanding. Very few of my photos have turned out "flat" and looking like cheap digital pics. Most of them are vibrant and full of depth and detail. Here are the only problems I've encountered so far: 1) The worst problem is the delay from the time you push the button to the time the photo takes. It is NEVER immediate, and often takes half a second or more. This is fine for a posed shot, but good luck taking action shots or candid moments. You have to learn the art of predicting where people and objects will be in a half second. Do not buy this camera if you intend to take photos of people in action, i.e. playing sports. You will miss every key photo. I have not found any way around this--playing with the settings does not change the delay. 2) Dust collects in the viewfinder lens (on the outside). Not a major problem, but it's very difficult to clean. 3) The 2x optical zoom is indeed small. You will have moments where it frustrates you. 4) The flash is weak and does create bad red eye. 5) The custom USB connection point seems very delicate. I am concerned that in the future this will wear out (however, that is just a guess--no problems have occurred yet). 6) The tripod mount is in an awkward position (on the left, but the trigger button is on the right, so the camera tends to wiggle while shooting on a tripod). As for the battery life, I have no problems. I've taken dozens of photos and movies (using the flash and the lcd screen) and it has lasted fine. No complaints there. The memory card is very small for taking hi-res pics, so you will have to get a bigger one. This thing has changed my life. I slip it in my pocket everywhere I go, and it has not let me down. I would highly recommend getting one. Incredible quality + very few complaints. Great Little Digicam
This is a really great camera. Has a lot of features like autostitch and movie recorder (has a built in microphone). Allows you to change picture settings like b/w, sepia... Very convenient to carry around, fits into a pant pocket easily. This a great camera
I think that this camera is great. I like that it is compact making it very easy to keep with you. The picture quality is great I have taken far shots and close-ups. The color from the pictures are so full. This camera has many features such as manually setting the AWB (auto white balance) or you can have the camera do it in the auto setting. I like the 3 minute video feature. Now nothing is perfect so this is what I don't like about the camera. First is you don't know how much battery life there is for the camera so best bet is to keep an extra battery available. I recommend getting the 256mb of memory the 16mb that comes with the camera is simply not enough. Also I don't like the switch on the camera that is used to go between still pictures, video, and replay/download. The switch moves to easily it should have a little more resistance. I like compact and quality prints, and many options this camera was for me. S230 Is a great compact camera
What an incredible camera! Incredible resolution for printing, compact enough to fit in your front pocket, and even has video for spur of the moment situations. Manual mode, automatic mode, things just don't get much sweeter. I would recommend getting batteries and memory on ebay for a great deal. This is the best camera in its class. I love this camera!!
I take my Canon PowerShot S230 every where. The pictures are fantastic. I love the video options. With a 256 MB memory card, I take almost 500 pictures. a very nice compact camera
I bought this little thing several months age. I didn't go anyhere without it.It's so nicely designed that you can carry it to any place.With those advanced features ,you can take very sharp pics. digitally developed photoes are no less vivid than those taken by optical cameraes.I love it Durrable and high-quality camera
Some of the reviews below are not accurate... This is an INCREDIBLE camera! Shure it's compact, but it's also very durrable, so taking it on a vacation is perfect. The image quality is very high. There is a cool panorama and auto-stich feature that let's you automatically combine multiple photos into 1. Also, a great feature is the video mode - it has very high-quality sound and a crisp picture. This camera is much better than other 3 and 4 mp olympuses and minoltas! Wondering whether or not to buy the s200 which is 2.1 MP instead of this camera (s2300 with 3.2 MegaPixels)? Pros: Great picture quality Cons: The auto-focus takes a little too long ---------- This is deffinetely worth your money. The S230's big secret - amazing video capability
The deciding factor for me in getting this camera turned out to be its high-quality video capability. As far as I am aware, there is no digital still camera that can compete with the sharp resolution of the movie clips this camera can produce (though Canon's Powershot A70 comes close). Who would guess that a camera this tiny would win the prize in that department? Yet it's true. I was considering going with this camera's 4 megapixel sibling, the s400. Yet ironically and weirdly, that camera, which is supposed to represent an upgrade to this one, has only a lower-quality video capability. [Who at] Canon...made that decision? I don't want to give the impression that this camera's video can compete with that of a real video camera. Be prepared for these limitations: 1) In the highest resolution setting (recommended), each clip is limited to a maximum of 30 seconds. It is 3 minutes in the lower settings. 2) Settings like focusing, zoom, and exposure do not adjust during a video clip. This means that if your subject starts out in the shade and shifts to a bright setting, it may look overexposed. 3) The recorded sound of the video is not great, with some hiss always audible and pronounced wind noise in a breeze. 4) You don't get the 30fps of a real video camera, so the motion is not as smooth-looking. 5) No digital stabilization. Hold the camera very steady or use a tripod. 6) You need lots of memory to record videos, approximately 1MB per second. I purchased two 512 MB flash cards. Each can record over 8 minutes of video clips, or hold over 300 highest-resolution photos. A 512 costs a little over $100 right now. Despite these limitations, the extreme portability of this camera has convinced me to use it for most of my video shooting. The 30-second time limit is not as bad as you might at first think. Even when using my dedicated video camera, I doubt I have taken many shots of greater length. The ones that are longer are boring anyway. And I have found a solution to the terrible wind noise. By putting the smallest bandaid I could find over the tiny dot of a microphone (to serve as a wind screen), the wind noise was completely eliminated without, amazingly, cutting down the audibility of other sounds. Being able to take photographs when appropriate, and videos when appropriate, with the flip of a switch from the same tiny camera that you can take anywhere, is wonderful. You can even combine both into great movies using tools like Microsoft's PhotoStory (PLUS Digital Media edition software) and Windows Moviemaker version 2 (which is a free download for XP users). The #1 Three-Megapixel Digital Camera!
I've tried/owned a few digital cameras in the past and I've found the S230 to be THE BEST digital camera in its price range. Picture quality is great. Physical size of the camera is awesome (that can't be beaten by anyone). Movie mode works like a charm...great picture and sound. Battery seems to last forever (and charging time is minimal). Since no product is 100% perfect, I'd have to say the only drawback with the camera is its responsiveness to a quick-photo. Sometimes it takes about a half-second to respond after you push the button. Other than that "problem", though, it's tough for me to think of a second drawback. I hope you buy this camera. You won't be disappointed. Great little camera!
Love this camera. Take it anywhere and shoot as many pics as I want with a 512mb card I got from Dell for $$$. This is my first digital camera and I can't stop using it. Very easy to use and takes great photos. Works great with my new photo printer, the Canon i470d. I highly recommend it. Like a Tank
I, along with most of my friends, have this camera. You really feel as though you could back over it with the car and it would still work great. The pictures turn out great. The camera is incredibly easy to use and compact. You will have to purchase an additional memory card (256 Megs recommended) since the one that it comes with will only hold 12 pictures. The negatives: The LCD display has trouble if you are trying to take pictures without good lighting. The zoom is limited but this camera is intended more for taking pictures of close up things versus long distance vistas. Longer I have it the less I like it
I've had this camera since February (it's now June). I really liked it at first. When I took it to Cancun, it was great for taking photos of Mayan ruins and such. But the longer I have it, the more the drawbacks irritate me. The biggest drawback is that in anything less than direct sunlight the CCD SUCKS. I have a horrible time getting good focus even just in the shade of a tree. Indoors I get a lot of digital artifacts. With my previous camera, a Canon Powershot A50, it was wonderful in low-light applications, very clear, very sharp, very good color. There is the flash, but it isn't the best. I still end up with soft (fuzzy) photos with a flash indoors, and if I'm close to the subject it often ends up being washed out. I consider myself a fairly advanced amateur photographer and have tried all sorts of automatic and manual settings to improve it indoors to no avail. At this point I am beginning to review other cameras because I need to replace this. The "low-light" drawbacks (that's in quotes because it's not so much a low-light problem as a less than extreme sunlight problem) make the image quality too embarassing to share photos from family functions. I used to be proud of the photos I took indoors at family functions and now I only share them reluctantly. That said, the small size and the fast startup and shot speeds are great. And the video function is the one function that works great even indoors. I definitely like everything except whatever causes it to perform so poorly indoors and in low light. Buyer beware! great bang for the buck
ultra tiny, excellent over all image quality, great for point-and-shooters. also some nice features for semi-advanced users. takes very good videos. i got a second battery and a 512meg card, cost an extra $...,however,you will never need anything extra for day trips. two batteries and that size card will keep almost anyone content for days on end. in my experience the battery will last for about 120 pictures,with the LCD,and a handful of videos. what most don't mention is this camera comes with the built in ability to stitch together multiple images to great a panned image. you can stich as many photos as you wish. maybe a large scene won't fit in the cameras lens but you don't want to zoom out because it will include some unwated feature? zoom in and take 2 pictures rather than one and the computer software will stitch the photos together flawlessly. you can also do 180/360 degree pan of a scene. gripes: the full res videos are a tease, they are only up to 30 seconds long. if the camera had the ability to record streaming video right to the compact flash i wouldn't even need my camcorder anymore! get a compact flash card reader, the USB cable and software is a bit cumbersome for more advanced computer users. **side note for the gentlemen who dislikes the lag between pressing the shutter button and the actual photo taking.** Everything I hoped for
I upgraded from a several-year-old Kodak 1.3 megapixel camera. I bought this based on reviews from this and other sites, and am extremely pleased with the camera. Great value for the price, and the Li-Ion battery makes all the difference. I found it easy an intuitive to use - I was able to figure out how to take, review, and delete pictures without having to read the manual. Now that I've looked at the manual, this camera has just about everything I could want. If I have a complaint, the first few photos I've taken have had issues with Red Eye. It's something I can easily fix, and I believe there's a red-eye reduction option in the camera, but I would figure that would be a default rather than an option. Verdict: Highly Recommended. You get exactly what you pay for
I owned an S110 before it was swiped from my desk drawer. The little puppy could do quite a lot.I thought that it had all that I needed. I recently bought the S230- it's quite the camera, and now it has more features than I know how to use correctly, like manual ISO settings, manual shutter speed, etc. Considering the size of the camera, the image quality is excellent. However, considering the size, it's easily lost or stolen. On a side by side comparison with a sony camera, the canon tends toward a red shift, where the sony tends toward the blue. This makes skin tones look great on the canon, whereas the sony takes some great landscapes (the sony pictures of the sunset over San Francisco Bay blew the canon out of the water) I have a 128mb CF card, and always run down the battery before the card fills. I haven't tried turning off the LCD to see if it helps. I held back 5 stars simply because 5 stars should be a flawless product. In my mind, 4 stars is still excellent. I love this little thing.
I just purchased this camera about a month and a half ago and I love it. I got a new boyfriend so just like my new toy I take so many pictures of him and they all come out great. Also I take pictures of my family and myself. I originally purchased the camera because I'm a graphic design student and we use alot of pictures and photography in our work. I don't want to deal with licensing issues with stock photography and I can avoid all that by taking my own pictures. This camera is great, I thought I would want a camera of more than 4 megapixels but the 3.2 megapixels are very crisp. I have not yet printed any pictures from this camera because but I'm sure I will once I return back to school. So I can't really comment on how the pictures look when printed. I only rated it 4 stars because I think the Optical Zoom [works too slowly]. It's only 2x and that's not too good when you are trying to take some pictures of something far away. Also it takes a long time for when you press the shutter until it actually takes the picture. My boyfriend, his family and I went to this spectacular fireworks show this past 4th of July holiday and the camera took to long to take the pictures of the fireworks. I mostly just have pictures of the black night sky. The only way I could get any thing of the fireworks was to just record it with the movie mode. I also wish I had a bigger card so I could have gotten more than just the Fireworks Finale. Other than that this is a great camera and really easy to use. My three year old nephew can use this camera. He runs around taking pictures of everything using the crisp LCD screen as a viewfinder. This is great to use with your computer
I have always been a cannon fan and this camera is very easy to use. It can be connected to you computer and is easy to use to print pictures to your printer. I like not having to buy film and always able to swap in a fresh memory card which I can then resue once I have downloaded my pictures to my computer. This is a good camera worth the price. Best Regards to all, MC - TheStickRules.Com Good things come in small packages
Received my Canon S230 last week in the mail. For two years I have been experimenting with a 1.0 MB digital camera to justify my need for switching to a higher pixel camera. Two years ago there were not too many choices and average of $500 for a good 2.0 MP based camera was beyond the budget for most point-and-shoot enthusiasts. After reading many reviews and experimentation I decided to go with the Canon S230 for the following reason; best value for this price point ... for a 3.2 mp digital camera with the added bonus of form, feature and design. After playing with the camera for a week, I am happy with my selection. Its packed with features and the included software package is more than enough for basic adjustments. Menu is easy to understand and finding/setting regular feature is only a few clicks away. The included 16 MB memory card is only good enough for a short day trip. It works well in low-lit areas and daylights pictures are vibrant with natural colors. Canon has kept up with its reputation with high quality products. Their new line of photo printers will please users who want immediate results. A bit of advice for new users, evaluate all your needs carefully. Don't go for the mega pixel only. Size, feature, build quality and price plays equally important role in choosing the right camera for your need. First time buyers will be very happy if they choose to go with Canon S230. Great for your pocket
While I have owned several digital cameras,the Canon Digital Elph series has always amazed me. I owned the early 100 modle and gave it to my Father who has used it aroung the world. My S230 was used for over 5000 pictures before I retired it for the new S400. Honestly the 8x10 pictures I get from the new S400 are no better than the S230. The longer zoom is nicer, but the s230 still as other owners have said an oustanding camera that is small enough that you will acytually take it with you on the ski slpes or other action sports where a big slr type is just too big. If you don't care about video, this camera rocks!
I use to own a Canon S200 and an old HP digicam. The Canon S200 lacks in pixels and the S400 is just overkill and overpriced. Canon S230 sits right in between and everything is right. POSITIVE NEGATIVE Reasons why you may not like this camera
This camera is definitely one of the best point-and-shoot cameras around. I know 'cuz I've tried 5 other cameras before deciding to keep this one for good. I've tried the Kodak DX4900, DX6340, Minolta S414, Canon PowerShot S45, and the Sony DSCP8. This camera beats all the others I've tried either in size, weight, ease of use, and/or autofocus ability. Most reviews I read here tells you what's good about this camera. I think it's important to list all the negative things about this camera, so you can make a better informed decision. Here goes... 1. Short battery life. At full charge, the bundled 840mAH battery last for around 30 pictures (with LCD screen on). Buy a 1000mAh battery ... it last much longer. 2. Autofocus works 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time, you'll get fuzzy pictures, regardless whether it is inside or outside. I find this acceptable since the other cameras I've tried only produced well focused pictures 80% or less of the time. (The DX4900 produced well focused pictures 99% of the time) 3. Red eye. I get many more red eye pictures with this camera than I do with others. This perhaps has something to do with the fact that the flash is very close to the lens. This is acceptable to me 'cuz I have software that can solve this easily. 4. 512MB card only gives 308 pictures at 3.2MP and the best quality mode. I was able to get 209 pictures with a 256MB CF card in the DX4900 when set at 4MP and best quality. The math just doesn't add up...I thought I would get at least 400 pictures with the S230. 5. Battery door easiy pops open. It lacks a battery door lock so you can open the door easily. There is however a lock to keep the battery from falling out. 6. Zoom is insufficient. 2x zooming is certainly not enough for times zooming is needed. Two cameras I own in the past had 4x zooming and I certainly love to have that in this camera. 7. Very very close-ups cannot focus at all. I tried taking a picuture of the serial number on my pen and it simply would not focus. I tried that with my DX4900 and it was able to focus on the serial number. 8. Casing scratches easily. I found a number of visible scratches two days after using it. I tried very hard to handle this well and even bought a case to hold it. But it still is vulnerable to scratching. 9. Controls and menu options are fairly complicated to use. You really have to read the manual to use this well. All in all, this camera is an excellent camera. I love most of the features on this camera and finds it as a keeper. The other cameras I've tried cannot match up to this camera. You simply can't go wrong buying this camera. I bought mine ...brand new just last week, so shop around for bargains. Good all around camera...
I've only had this camera for about a week, but it's amazed me in many ways! The shape and size can't be beat (very indiscreet in your pocket) and the photo quality is better than i expected. The 2x optical zoom is adequate, but there could have been more. The digital zoom, however, makes up for that by zooming in a lot before losing too much quality. The battery life is great for shooting lots of pictures, and the interface is intuitive and not hard to figure out. The software however, does little more than flip the picture and save it to your computer. I would definetely recommend a larger CF card and a case (i have the PSC-50) plus an inexpensive image editor for touchups. Overall, Canon did a great job on this tiny camera. High Quality in a small package
I shopped for digital cameras for months, read the reviews, asked the experts at various stores and finally bought the S230. The best features of this camera are: It will fit in your shirt pocket, it is made of all metal (no plastic), the movie mode goes for about 2 minutes (which is the longest I've ever seen), it uses a rechargable lithium Ion battery (no AA's here), it is very easy to zoom in/out with the same finger you will snap the picture, the digital zoom is incredible, and the photos are absolutely fabulous. I take some of my digital photos and have prints made. They look like they came from a film camera. I find myself taking a lot of photos, as it is so easy to just put it in your shirt pocket just in case you need it. This is my second Digital Elph....I highly recommend it. So much better than expected
This little camera is very easy to use yet has all of the features that an experienced, amature (sp?) photographer can hope for. And the software package rocks! This was the best 3 figure purchase I have ever made! Great Camera, if you keep it away from dust!
I bought this camera to replace the S200. It's the same camera, upgraded with more megapixels and better software. Physically, they're the same WARNING: My camera survived being basshed about a lot, and being dropped from five feet onto rocks (twice). What it can NOT deal with is dust and sand. Once anything goes into the little crevice around the zoom lens, or enters the camera through the gaps in the battery or flash card holders, it doesn't come out, and the camera eventually malfunctions. Awesome, feature-laden little camera
This is a fantastic camera. I bought it for my wife as a general point and shoot and after playing with it found it to be far more capable. Excellent feedback, easy menus, lots of little "neato" features such as black and white, sepia toning, oversaturdation, signal histograms, 50-400 ISO range, video recording, etc. Enough features to make it a worthy tool for even more serious photography. It's shortfalls are few. It lacks a manual focus capability, the zoom range is limited, video record times are somewhat limited, and though its small size is abundantly convenient, it makes holding the camera steady for slow shutter and telephoto shots difficult. Nevertheless, it is a lot of camera for the price. Go to Amazon and spend the $... to buy a 128MB or 256MB Compact Flash card. The extra storage will be appreciated. Enjoy! Solid camera, great size, great quality
It's a little sparse on fancy features, but it's got great stuff all around. Good resolution, decent zoom, some customizability with different color settings (B&W, sepia, etc.). The menu is very intuitive and easy to use. CompactFlash memory is cheap now, so it's easy to have TONS of space for pictures. The shutter lag is fairly short, so you don't have to worry too much about action shots. The weakest part is it's low-light shooting, but it just takes some fiddling around with the white balance. Generally, once you find the right settings on exposure and so one, the flash is fine for most general purposes. It handles close-ups well (even macro-type shots), and is a great size. The battery life is a bit on the short side, so get an extra battery to carry around with you if you're going to be out all day. I use this camera alongside my Canon SLR, so it's a nice mix - the SLR for the stuff I'd like to set up more for, say when I go hiking or weddings, or something like that, but I also carry around the S230 for that stuff as well, and it's just nice to have around when going out with friends or a date with my girlfriend. Nice Quality - Stylish - Zoom could be better
Pros: Nice Size Style Great image quality LCD works great in light or dark Energy Efficient compared to other cameras Only two hours or so to charge the battery pack It may be small, but this camera has lots of options Cons: Ddate can NOT be displayed in pictures on PC
When you print the pictures taken from Canon digital cameras, date can be printed out. However, you can not have the images displayed with date on your computer! Must Have
If you are an insurance claims appraiser or adjuster, this camera will make your life simple. You just can't take a bad picture. It gets all the details. Crisp and clear. Perfect!
This camera has been perfect for me! I've had it for 4 months now (I was away for two months in the summer) and still I've taken over 1,000 pictures. The quality is great, the features on the camera are amazing too! I never expected it to be half as good as it is. Also, the size of this thing is really small! It's not that thin, but it's so compact! I love it so much, anyone who is considering a 3 megapixel camera should get THIS one! Best camera for its Size
This is absolutely a great camera. I love it. Its so easy to use with solid quality. I thought the quality of the pictures wouldn't be great given size, but I was surprised. Pictures come out great. Video clips are decent, but still was surprised by the quality of images. And the best part is the size. Its so easy to put in you pocket and take shots. And that's what really matters. Get this Canon. great value 3MP compact camera but it is showing its age
it's amazing how fast new products are brought to market, especially in digital photography. the s230 was the first 3MP in canon stable of ultra-compact cameras. since then, they have brought out a 4MP s400, a slightly smaller sd100, and an even smaller sd10 (no zoom though). the s230 continues to be a strong performer and pricing has dropped to match the competition. this camera remains a strong value. pros: cons: as already mentioned, the s230 continues to be a good value but there are newer entries in the ultra-compact segment of the market. if you want 4MP resolution and 3x optical zoom, consider the canon s400 - the eighty dollar premium is well worth it, in my opinion. more comparable cameras at about the same price point would be the canon s100, pentax optio s, and the casio ex-z3. i hope this helps you with your buying decision. peace. What a greate little camera!
It's my second Canon Elph, I had the 100 and it was a great camera. I purchased the 400 for the higher resolution, but the video resolution is not as good. For the money the Elph 230 is the nicest camera on the market. Excellent camera!
I have owned this camera for about six months now. I have taken over 2000 pictures with it, and very few have turned out bad. The detail this camera picks up is amazing! I am able to zoom in on objects in the photo and still have good detail. The 2x optical zoom is very disappointing and has been a limiting factor for some very nice shots while hiking. I have yet to use the included 16MB CF card. I ordered a 512MB CF card the same day I ordered my s230. At maximum resolution, and maximum quality, it takes over 300 shots! At maximum resolution, and standard quality, it will take 550 shots! (~15 rolls of 36 exposure film!) I have yet to find this to be a problem. A 256MB CF card is really all you need for this camera. A second battery would also be a good idea. You can expect about 100 shots from the battery with the flash and LCD on, along with constantly going to the ępicture viewerę mode to show everyone the pictures. The one major drawback that I have not seen mentioned is the mode selector switch. Its on the top-back edge. About 25% of the time when I pull the camera out of my pocket, the switch catches just enough to move from picture mode, to video mode. Then I take a nice video instead of a picture. This issue has been addressed with the s400. I have also seen some complaints about the offset tripod mount and the picture button being on the other end so it shakes when you take pictures on the tripod. You can set the camera timer for two seconds of ten seconds. Set it up for two. Then you push the button, step back, and it takes a perfectly clear shot! I have used many Canon digital cameras; they are a very good choice! Very solid, (I take mine mountain biking every weekend) and it takes great pictures. The 100-240 volt charger works nicely too! Took it to china for a week, and had no trouble at all. really good!
this was a really good camera. took really good pics. the only think i didn't like was the shutter speed. took really long for it to take the actual pic. otherwise everything else was good. A bit long in the tooth.
This itineration of the now venerable ELPH series was meant to be a half step up from the once very popular S200 model. The change here was to increase resolution from 2 megapixels to 3.2 megapixels. Otherwise, its features were much the same: a slick looking steel body, a proprietary battery & charger, a too-tiny memory card and a 2X optical zoom and a (not very useful) 3X digital zoom. All of the Canon models (I've owned 4) have been durable and all of them take good pictures. By now the 230 has been surpassed in most areas by cameras costing more or less the same amount of money. Higher resolutions, longer optical zooms, faster image handling (meaning less time btwn shots) and better battery conservation are now commonplace. Perhaps more devastating to the elan of these Canons is the plain fact that their diminutive size appeal has been lost to cameras featuring all of the above advancements in packages that make the 230 seem like a leviathan (the Pentax Optio & Minolta DiMage being two good examples). If you already have an S230 or someone gives you one, you have nothing to complain about. It's a reliable and capable camera. However, if you're about to invest in digital technology, try one of the more advanced cameras mentioned above. Great Camera and Reasonably Priced
I just got my Canon s230 from amazon for a real low price. Anyway, I must say I am very pleased with this little camera. Here is Why: 1)Small yet durable. Well constructed metal body 2)Made in Japan (well know for high quality in electronics) 3)Takes video at 640x320 (with sound), very sharp video you just have to see to believe (highest resolution around, better than even higher end cameras like nikons and s50 and s400) 4)Softwares as well as camera menus and controls are easy to understand even for beginners. Instruction manuals are well written as well. 5)High resolution LCD screen so you can see your pictures crystal clear (unlike competitions such as Casio and Minolta which have very low quality LCDs) 6)9 point AIAF is great technology that allows for nine focus points, and the flexizone even lets you choose which zone you want to focus out of nine, so you don't have to worry about leaving out a part of a beautiful tree or roof of a house just because you want to focus on your friends and family members when taking picture. 7)Professional and Efficient customer's service. If you have a question go to canon website to search for answer. You can also ask them a question and they get back to you within 24 hours (I was surprised). My Thoughts about Some Complaints Others May Have: One misconception I see alot in reviews is that people don't see the overall funtionality and quality of a product base on camera class. You can't expect this thing to perform like a huge camera, at least not in today's technology. Finally, I read numerous reviews and saw various cameras before I finally decided on my s30 and now s230 (my second canon baby brother). I catergorized digital cameras in general based on overall feature and performance with 1 being the finest and 5 being the most basic as follows: (Note Canon and Nikon are tie at first place) I love this Camera!
I am extremely happy with this purchase. This camera exceeded all my expectations! Excellent Camera So Far!
Just received it in the mail from Amazon. After playing with it over the past few days I must say that I made the right decision. It is easy to use. The quality of the pictures is outstanding. The design is easy work with - it just feels like a good solid camera. Other things that stood out to me from other cameras is that it uses a re-chargable battery and the directions from Canon are so easy to follow the camera is idiot-proof. Canon suppplies you with not only the in-depth directions but quick setup directions and an easy to follow system layout. Now I see why this camera was #1 on Amazon's list of Digital Camera Best Sellers the day that I ordered it. Perfect Digital Camera
I just received my new Canon S230 digital camera. It is my first digital camera. I did a lot research on it. I had two choices Canon S400 & S230. I went with S230. It is about $100 cheaper and 3.2MP is high enough for me. S230 is fantastic! small in size and takes amazing pictures. BTW, I got really good deal on Amazon. Great camera! Fine camera if you want a tiny good one.
I searched and checked out all the offerings, and settled on this one. I wanted a good 3.2 camera I would be able to keep easily in my pocket, at a reasonable price. I considered the A70, but too big. It came down to this one and the same one with SD storage...It was twenty dollars more...So I went with the Compact Flash memory, and saved the twenty dollars. This camera is fine for what I want...The 2x zoom is plenty for framing purposes, and the 3x is not worth the extra money for me...The 3.2 MP is also PLENTY, despite the pixel wars raging...what do you need to do, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue??? No, I didn't think so. I got the 128 card for the extra bucks, got a good deal with rebate on Amazon....about half of other vendors.. I do not yet have a reader, since with XP, I don't need to load the Canon software, which a friend hated....With XP, the computer finds the camera and it is simple to upload....It does not appear as a hard drive, however, so I still may pick up a reader for under the price of a movie for two. The camera works great, and if you really want to find out how well, check out some of the websites devoted to testing cameras..the canons do fine. If you would rather get another, do so....I think most every digital is worth the selling price....as a matter of fact, my kid wanted one, so I picked up a Kodax CX series for the price of five movies for two. 3.2MP too!!! No zoom, but who cares? SO bottom line, I am using the elph to document my workdays, since I am a television photojournalist and go to about 4 or 5 news stories a day...I am grabbing a quick shot of each one just to have them...since I sometimes get to interesting locations...I just needed a camera to have in my pocket while I am lugging the tv camera around...SO far I am very happy with it. I waited for the price to drop below three hundred, and sure enough it did! why would you buy this camera?
I don't own this camera, but I sell digital cameras and I have used them all. I really like the Canon compact digitals in general, but this is one of my least favorites. I have a problem with cameras that offer little or no optical zoom and try to convince you that digital zoom is anything more than a joke. I love the S400, with the 4 megapixel sensor and the 3X optical zoom, but I just don't understand the thinking behind a 2X optical zoom like the S230 has. If you are looking for a small durable digital camera in the same price range check out the Olympus Stylus 300. You give up sound with your video mode, but most people don't care. It has a 3X optical zoom and it is weatherproof. Another one of my favorites is the Samsung V3. Check your specialty photo retailer, because you won't find this gem at a big box store. It is a 3.2 megapixel, 3X optical zoom camera with a three year warranty and a Schneider glass lens. They are being discontinued finally, and the price is down to $269 with a $50 mail-in rebate to boot. I promise you won't find a better value for a point and shoot digital camera anywhere. The V4 is still around, though, and it is exactly the same with a 4 megapixel sensor. It is about $379 and currently offers the same $50 rebate. I could go on and on, but the point is don't buy the Canon without really checking out your other options first. Good solid camera with a few problems
I read a ton of reviews before purchasing this camera and am happy with my purchase. I saw all the negative comments made about this camera and assumed it was made my people who were comparing to other digital cameras and looking for perfection. But even though this is the only digital camera I have used and have no idea how others are, I agree with a lot of what others have said. So beware of these things before you purchase! But even with these flaws I'm happy with it as my first digital camera. - 2x optical zoom is not enough, and who cares about digital zoom when its the same thing as cropping a photo afterwards - flash is weak, camera doesn't take good photos in low light situations, have had spots show up when using the flash; when I don't use flash, photo often comes out blurry - not an action camera, and sometimes feels hard to tell if it has taken a photo when you are trying to take a quick photo - USB port cover looks like it will break off at any moment - you won't know your battery needs recharging until right before it needs to be.. there is no indicator telling you how much battery time you have left - the switch to choose between movie mode, camera mode, and view mode easily slides around and annoying that you have to switch out of camera mode to view photos - movie mode time is limited even if you have a ton of memory This is a good camera to consider if you want one that is easy to use, and you will mostly be taking outdoor and bright light photos. Batteries last a good amount of time and recharging only takes about an hour. ELPH!
I have quite a collection of digital cameras due to my fiance's photography. I really like my Elph and I use it quite a bit, though I have a smaller camera made by Casio that I tend to use more often. I've been able to use this camera quite a lot and rarely had bad pictures. It works fairly well, though I agree with many other reviewers in that the 2x optical zoom is somewhat disappointing. Like most cameras I've bought, it comes with a teeny card (16MB I think). I have several 256MB and 512MB cards that I use - you can hardly fit anything on a 16MB card! I wish the camera companies would start selling their cameras with better cards, but that's getting off the topic. This camera is easy to use and probably best for taking outdoor shots, or shots in good lighting. It's not meant for taking shots in low light, and the flash isn't the best out there. The movie mode on this camera is GREAT, and easy to transfer from the card to your computer. The batteries last a decent amount of time, and its quick to charge. Overall, a great camera - especially for beginners who are not quite sure how to use a digital camera! There are better out there, but it is a solid camera and definitely a good buy. SMALL SIZE, BIG RESULTS!
This is a feather-weight, tiny digicam but the results are nothing short of your typical Canon -- stunning. The colors are vivid and the movies are fun. PROS: (1) In the video, the sound and pic quality are shockingly better than what G5 manages. CONS: (1) The optical zoom is decent but will leave you wanting more UPSHOT: Excellent carry-around cam for people who want their cams lightweight, or buying their first modern digicam, or upgrading from an archaic 1-pixel piece. Recommend souping up with some extra memory and battery and you're good to go. Great Camera!
This is an awesome camera! When dad got a Canon Powershot S100, I was amazed by it, it seemed so good. Then for my birthday, I pulled off getting an S230. I loved it! It took (and still does take) a very short time to charge. Though it has only 2x optical zoom, you can do a wide variety of shots. Digital zoom seems to work fine for me, it never gives me poor quality images. Video mode is probably the best thing about this camera. Though 3 minutes is the maximum, you can always use your computer to merge the videos together. This is a very good camera, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new camera. GOOD!
the quality of the pics are excellent! the only con is the movie that you can take is max 3 min for every clip no matter how big is your CF card...... Amazing digital color!
As a part-time graphic designer, I truly appreciate the picture quality that you get with this camera! This is my second digital camera and the 3.2 megapixels is great if you want to print up 8X10 pictures and don't have a necessity to print poster size pictures. If you want to print 11X14 and bigger pictures, you may want to consider the Canon Powershot S400. I am very happy with this camera! Perfect mini compact camera
This camera has really impressed me. It's easy to use and the images are very nice quality. The battery life is incredible. I've had my camera for 4 weeks and have taken several hundred pictures and have recharged the battery only once! My only criticism is that only has a 2X optical zoom, but all these compact cameras have 3x or less for the most part. It's a great gift and fits nicely in your pocket to carry around at all times. Why spend more for a larger camera that you can't put in your pocket? If the camera is not with you, you can't use it. Don't wish you had your 5MP 10X zoom camera with you. Get this camera, put it in your pocket, carry it around with you, take pictures and enjoy them! Great camera
I wish I can give 4.5 stars but the dropdown won't give me that option. This camera makes great pictures. It is small, lightweight, looks durable. I wish it can do 3x zoom but I didn't want to pay the price of the s400. This makes clear, fun movies too. Fast and reliable uploads too. I used to have a Kodak that gives frustrating mysterious I/O errors from nowhere. I am taking a half star off for not able to add date stamp into the pictures, although the upload will put it in the right directory. The menus are a bit confusing. I should Read-The-Fine-Manual. Besides the driver, the software that it comes with it is quite useless. I don't need such things. limitations of a compact camera
This camera is far from perfect, but I don't blame the manufacturer for most downfalls of this camera. Also, look into reviews and actual pictures when comparing digital cameras. Some people will just compare features, which isn't going to cut it. CCD sensor and lense quality will often outweigh the importance of how many megapixels the camera has. Problems with this camera: Good CCD sensor. Outdoor shots come out well. I could go on about every feature but it has been covered. If you can't deal with the artifacts, red-eye, and 2x zoom, then look for a bigger camera. If you have to have a small camera, then this camera will be a fine choice. Remember, the best camera you own is the one you use the most. If you find a Canon G2 for a good price but find it a little bulky and fragile and don't want to bring it with you everywhere, then what good is it? Grainy pictures, no battery life
I own a Canon digital SLR and bought this as a "portable" camera. After reading the reviews, I expected that this camera would take good pics, albeit not in the same league as my 10D. However, to date, I have found the pics grainy and lacking color detail. I have switched to manual and set the ISO to 50. Perhaps that will solve the problem. I suspect camera may be defective because no one else has suggested the pics are grainy. One other problem--the camera does not have a battery meter, so you cannot tell when the battery needs re-charging. This is a major design flaw. On a good note--the build quality is excellent. The camera is responsive, although there is a lag with the pics and the buffer. I may wait for Kyocera to perfect their ultra-compacts, because they have recently developed a chip that will load directly to the SD media, and lag is not an issue. Perfect for its purpose...
...as it's small and well-built. It works great, though more manual features, like shutter and aperture priority would be nice, like the A70/80 models. It has a superb VGA movie feature that substitutes well for a DV camera when you don't want to lug the DV and its paraphernalia around. A couple notes: digital cams do NOT have "grain", that's what film has. Digital cams have noise, which can be seen in blue and black skies, due to pixel heat. As for those circles in flash pictures, I noticed that the reviewer is from the desert, well, ALL digicams will have ghostly circles in flash pics, due to dust. This is NOT relevant to just the S230, but ALL digicams. Small, Quality Camera
I bought S230 based on many other people's reviews. I am glad that I made the purchase based on the majority of good reviews. I agreed that the camera takes quality pics. I'd like to give suggestions to one buyer regarding the pics taken by the camera were grainy. Based on my experience, if the ISO speed is set to 50 instead of 400, the grainy effect will disappear. And the picture is very clear. Also I do find the digital zoom is useful when a landscape pic is taken. I took 2 minutes movie. It's so easy to download and view the movie on the computer. (with sound) Overall, I love the camera. It's the best buy! Surprisingly good quality, Compact and Inexpensive I purchased my S230 for those times I do not want to carry a heavy camera. I have a Nikon D100 that takes superb pictures. I think the D100's images look better than 35mm film images taken with the same lenses. The D100 and any interchangeable lens digital SLR are far too heavy and bulky to carry when your principal activity is anything other than photography. The snaphots I've taken with the S230 have been sharp and contrasty. There is a surprisingly useful video mode that takes 30 second mpegs (with sound). The included 16 Mb CF card is ridiculous but 250 Mb cards aren't that expensive anymore. The camera even writes to the 1GB CF card from my D100. For the novice di | ||||||||