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Canon PowerShot S230 3.2 MP Digital ELPH Camera with 2x Optical Zoom

Canon PowerShot S230 3.2 MP Digital ELPH Camera with 2x Optical Zoom

List Price: $399.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing Little Camera!
Review: The Canon Powershot S230 is an amazing little camera! This power-packed little item is great for taking crisp, clear photos. Don't let the lower price tag fool you, this model is just as powerful as most of the higher-priced competitors and has better results!

Why this camera is great:
--Canon's digital cameras take the best quality pictures. Sure, some other cameras flaunt their miniscule size and weight, but this camera beats those all in what matters: photo quality. Crisp and clear!

--It is small! Perfect for putting in a pocket without worrying you'll lose it. Sturdy and stylish exterior, and lots of easy-to-use features (such as movie mode) are on the camera.
--It has optical zoom. Although the zoom may only extend to 2X, it is still useful. An unless you are taking extreme close ups all the time, it's all you really need.
--The price is amazing! I looked at the competitors, and you cannot find this combination for under $300. Some of the more expensive models are bulkier, come with smaller memory cards, or don't have optical zoom! The price is likely low because Canon came out with the SD100 to basically replace this camera, but that has some problems with it and doesn't have better features (except for a special chip that prevents erased photos. Basically an expensive gimmick!)

Overall, if you want a great digital camera that is small, sturdy, easy to use, has an optical zoom, takes crystal clear photos, and is relatively inexpensive...go for the Canon S230!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ELPH!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SMALL SIZE, BIG RESULTS!
Review: 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.
(2) Body design is good for holding and clicking with one hand.
(3) Controls are sensibly positioned and, for the most part, adequately labeled.
(4) Software bundle includes Canon's adequate photo utility for downloading and managing images, and ArcSoft Camera Suite 1.2 .

CONS:

(1) The optical zoom is decent but will leave you wanting more
(2) The response time from a click is a bit sluggish
(3) I like low-light pics without the flash, but this cam is not as good as the big brother PowerShots.
(4) Some of the advance features are a bit hard to navigate, e.g., setting different focal points and certain light adjustments.

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.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: CF Card Error
Review: When I turned on the camera, I got a "CF Card Error" message. I tried to eject the card (it was the 16 meg card that came with the camera), nothing happened. The eject button went in, but the card didn't come out. Their tech support told me I had probably inserted the card wrong and bent one of the connect pins. His suggestion was to take the camera in for servicing. My idea was to return it for a refund.

This is probably a good camera, but my experience with it definitely wasn't a good one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good solid camera with a few problems
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera, Fantastic Movie Mode
Review: I have owned this camera since March 2003 and have been VERY pleased with both picture and movie quality. The 640x480 movie mode in my opinion is the best available. Even Fuji is not as good, as their movies are overly compressed, even though they tout 30fps versus 15fps for the Canon.

My main reason for buying this camera was the movie mode and I was not disappointed. I went on a 2 1/2 week European trip in July and took at least 200-300 movies in the full 640x480 mode. The limit for each clip is 30 seconds. I put together a movie for each country by editing together individual clips. I have movies now as long as 15 minutes. Oh yeah, I also took pictures . I took a total of 12 gigabytes for movies and pictures. They turned out fantastic. Since I only had one 512meg card, and three 256 meg cards, I brought along a portable hard drive that is specifically built to hold up to 20 gigs of pics and movies from your cameras flash cards. So every night I would dump the contents from my cards to the hard drive.

I took over 3 hours of movie clips and hundreds of pictures. After 9 months the camera is still going strong. I am as please with it now as I was on day one. I also got some very good reviews from those who were on my trip. I sent out a CD with the movies on it to each person. They loved them and commented that they could not believe the quality.

The 2x zoom on this camera was adequate, but of course more is better. You need to buy a spare battery as you can go through more than one if you are really taking a huge amount of pictures or movies in one day. Pictures in low light are sometimes difficult to take, however I found the movie mode in low light to be amazing. Even better than my friends digital camcorder. Also my wide angle was wider than my friends camcorder. The video clips can be downloaded to your computer so you can edit them immediately. Much easier than camcorder downloading.

A great and free editing software for these movies is at http://www.virtualdub.com

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: why would you buy this camera?
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible Action Shots
Review: In addition to all the other aspects which other reviews have extolled, this camera takes awesome action shots. I took a picture of an industrial strength fan on high with this camera and you couldn't even tell the fan was on by looking at the picture. I should note that the autofocus takes about half a second before the picture shoots though.

Overall picture quality is excellent, but that has been mentioned a million times in other reviews.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fine camera if you want a tiny good one.
Review: 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!


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