Home :: Cameras :: Digital Cameras :: Simple Point-and-Shoot  

2 to 2.9 Megapixels
3 to 3.9 Megapixels
4 to 4.9 Megapixels
5 Megapixels & Up
Advanced Point-and-Shoot
Digital SLRs
Extended Zoom
Professional & Serious Amateur
Simple Point-and-Shoot

Ultracompact
Under 2 Megapixels
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
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 15 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good quality, Compact and Inexpensive
Review: 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 digital photographer the camera may seem to have a confusing number of options and settings but there are full auto point and shoot modes that do all the thinking for you. For the experienced digital photographer the S230 is a good choice for the camera to carry when you're not carrying a camera.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Small, Quality Camera
Review: 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!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect for its purpose...
Review: ...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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Grainy pictures, no battery life
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very nice
Review: i bought this camera for my sister who is obsessed with coach purses. she cant thank me enough. if buying for a female, definantly purchase coach carrying case. This camera is so tiny!!! its a great gift for any age over 13

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect mini compact camera
Review: 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!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent product
Review: Easy to manage, great size. You need to buy the case though...
Charger makes it so easy.. no cables.
Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GOOD!
Review: 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......

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing digital color!
Review: 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!


<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 15 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates