My minolta g400 recently bit the dust. I had one MAJOR problems with it. First, it was HORRID indoors. i took over a 100 pictures at a wedding, intending on making a website for them of the event.
95% of the pictures came out pathetic. it had so much trouble in the lower light, there wasnt enough quality (at full quality settings) to make 640x480 pictures for a website.
So, I'm almost glad it died.
I'm thinking about buying a canon s410 today. It's very close to the s500 and the s400. I was hoping someone had some experience with one of the cameras?
I have two priorities. Indoors and shutterspeed. I have 2 1/2 small children and I need a camera that will take the picture almost the same instant I press the shutter button. I'd also like to take pictures indoors and not have blobby pictures!!
thoughts? Opinions? This runs $335 at dell, unless someone can recommend a better camera.
tom
Thoughts on the canon s400/s410?
the s400/410/500 is very compact, and therefore has a weaker flash than some of canon's other units. indoors it would nto be the most ideal camera for flash photography.
when you want indoor pics...did you mean with or without flash? indoor lighting is usually so poor that you will almost always want a flash. if you do not use a flash, you will need to boost iso (grainy ugliness) or slow shutter speed (blurriness), in which case any consumer camera will give you questionable results.
all consumer cameras have shutter lag because they need to autofocus. the only way to avoid it is to use manual focusing or get a more expensive and complex D-SLR. if you still have your memory stick, sony has some good midrange models (eg p73) which focus more quickly than others, and can also focus on the fly much like a camcorder. that might be your best bet.
Jeremy
when you want indoor pics...did you mean with or without flash? indoor lighting is usually so poor that you will almost always want a flash. if you do not use a flash, you will need to boost iso (grainy ugliness) or slow shutter speed (blurriness), in which case any consumer camera will give you questionable results.
all consumer cameras have shutter lag because they need to autofocus. the only way to avoid it is to use manual focusing or get a more expensive and complex D-SLR. if you still have your memory stick, sony has some good midrange models (eg p73) which focus more quickly than others, and can also focus on the fly much like a camcorder. that might be your best bet.
Jeremy
I dont need INSTANT picture taking, it's a matter of my old HP camera took over 3 seconds. The minolta was just under a second (.7), which I thought was amazing and more then enough.Jeremy wrote:the s400/410/500 is very compact, and therefore has a weaker flash than some of canon's other units. indoors it would nto be the most ideal camera for flash photography.
when you want indoor pics...did you mean with or without flash? indoor lighting is usually so poor that you will almost always want a flash. if you do not use a flash, you will need to boost iso (grainy ugliness) or slow shutter speed (blurriness), in which case any consumer camera will give you questionable results.
all consumer cameras have shutter lag because they need to autofocus. the only way to avoid it is to use manual focusing or get a more expensive and complex D-SLR. if you still have your memory stick, sony has some good midrange models (eg p73) which focus more quickly than others, and can also focus on the fly much like a camcorder. that might be your best bet.
Jeremy
Here's what I mean about indoors. I was at a wedding and I took a picture of the bride walking down the isle at the enterance about 30 yards away. It was a large church with enough lightining that this should have been a problem. The flash went off, but was ineffective at that range. The picture was so grainy that there were NO details on the face at all. It was pathetic.
I dont think the camera you suggested is available in the states. I am looking at that new 5mp sony (with the 2.5" lcd), forgot the model number on that one.
about the indoor shots, you should normally turn the flash setting to off when shooting beyond 10-15'. the auto settings will try to use flash and screw up the picture as it has many times with the two cameras i've owned. the graininess was probably boosted ISO to make up for the distance, improper focusing in low lighting, and a slower shutter, which all make for a mess of pixels.
i checked http://www.sonystyle.com and the dsc-p73 is listed for $300US. i don't like sony because they use memory sticks, but the images and features that come out of them are excellent.
if you're looking for something as compact as your g400, the W1 looks very good too.
the T1, which is the thin one with the big lcd, looks cool, but i never trust those super small cameras for performance and quality due to smaller components, especially the lens and sensor combo. generally a big lens means good images.
i would probably pop into a store and test a bunch out and see how they feel to you! that's really the only way to tell. then you can also simulate shots you'd take in the future as well.
i checked http://www.sonystyle.com and the dsc-p73 is listed for $300US. i don't like sony because they use memory sticks, but the images and features that come out of them are excellent.
if you're looking for something as compact as your g400, the W1 looks very good too.
the T1, which is the thin one with the big lcd, looks cool, but i never trust those super small cameras for performance and quality due to smaller components, especially the lens and sensor combo. generally a big lens means good images.
i would probably pop into a store and test a bunch out and see how they feel to you! that's really the only way to tell. then you can also simulate shots you'd take in the future as well.
you rock.Jeremy wrote:about the indoor shots, you should normally turn the flash setting to off when shooting beyond 10-15'. the auto settings will try to use flash and screw up the picture as it has many times with the two cameras i've owned. the graininess was probably boosted ISO to make up for the distance, improper focusing in low lighting, and a slower shutter, which all make for a mess of pixels.
i checked http://www.sonystyle.com and the dsc-p73 is listed for $300US. i don't like sony because they use memory sticks, but the images and features that come out of them are excellent.
if you're looking for something as compact as your g400, the W1 looks very good too.
the T1, which is the thin one with the big lcd, looks cool, but i never trust those super small cameras for performance and quality due to smaller components, especially the lens and sensor combo. generally a big lens means good images.
i would probably pop into a store and test a bunch out and see how they feel to you! that's really the only way to tell. then you can also simulate shots you'd take in the future as well.
I think I'm going to go with the p73.
tom