|
Editors' Rating:
8.2 of 10
| • Value for money |
8 |
| • Ease of Use |
9 |
| • Performance |
8 |
| • Image Quality |
8 |
|
Average User Rating:
9.2 of 10
(50 votes)
| • Value for money
|
9 |
| • Ease of Use |
9 |
| • Performance
|
10 |
| • Image Quality
|
9 |
|
Where to Buy ?
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PROS
•
Very little noise or color aberrations in images
• Almost no shutter lag
•
Excellent image quality
•
Wide assortment of shooting modes
•
Stylish design with easily accessible controls
|
CONS
• Combined battery/media
compartment inaccessible when using a tripod
• Optical viewfinder tight and not
very clear
• Incompatible with accessory lenses
and external flash units
|
Includes: Canon PowerShot S30 Digital
Camera, Wrist Strap, Video Cable, USB
Interface Cable, Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM, ArcSoft Camera
Suite CD-ROM, Lithium Battery Pack NB-2L, Battery Charger, 16MB
CompactFlash Card, Case for CompactFlash Card, User's Manual,
Battery Pack, CANON USA WARRANTY.
Recommended
Accessories |
High performance for users seeking advanced
features at exceptional value.
The 3.2-megapixel PowerShot S30, released concurrently
with its companion model, the 4-megapixel PowerShot S40, is a
point-and-shoot style digital camera that incorporates many of the G2
features, but in a more compact, portable format. Like the G2, the S30 has
an impressive range of automatic and manual exposure controls, a 3x
optical zoom lens, JPEG and RAW file formats, and in-camera adjustment of
image contrast, sharpness, and color saturation. In addition to these
features, the S30 also offers expanded ISO options, an additional metering
mode, and the first direct-to-inkjet printer connection, enabling the user
to make prints not only to the Canon C-10 Photo Card Printer, but also to
the company's newest inkjet ("bubble-jet" in Canon's
terminology) printer, the S820D
PowerShot
S30 Major Features:
| • |
3x
Zoom Digital Camera featuring 3.2 effective megapixels. |
| • |
3.2
effective megapixels for
2,048 x 1,536-pixel
images. |
| • |
1.8-inch
Low-temperature Polycrystalline Silicon TFT Colour LCD. |
| • |
3x
optical zoom lens, 7.1-21.3mm (equivalent to a 35-105mm lens on a
35mm camera) with auto and manual focus. |
| • |
Digital
zoom up to 3.2x magnification. |
| • |
Full automatic, program AE, shutter priority, aperture
priority, and manual exposure modes, as well as five preset exposure
modes. |
| • |
Manually adjustable aperture settings from f/2.8 to f/4.9,
depending on zoom setting. |
| • |
Shutter speed settings from 1/1,500 to
15 seconds (Manually adjustable). |
| • |
Auto Focus & 3-point AF. |
| • |
Automatic Exposure Bracketing & AE/AF Lock. |
| • |
ISO sensitivity equivalents: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, and
800. |
| • |
Three Light Metering Modes (Spot, Center-weighted, Evaluation). |
| • |
White balance setting with seven adjustment modes
and Auto mode. |
| • |
Built-in flash with four operating modes (Auto, Auto w/ Red-eye Reduction, On, Off). |
| • |
Stitch-Assist mode for creating panoramic pictures. |
| • |
'My Camera' Function. |
| • |
Voice Memo mode. |
| • |
Records up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images. |
| • |
10 & 2-Second Self Timers. |
| • |
RemoteCapture utilities for controlling the camera
from a computer. |
| • |
JPEG and RAW still image file formats, movies saved as AVI
/ Motion JPEG and WAVE formats. |
| • |
Images saved to CompactFlash Type I or II memory cards
(
16MB card included).
|
| • |
Canon Digital Camera 7.0, plus ArcSoft PhotoImpression and
VideoImpression software. |
| • |
Powered by Canon NB-2L rechargeable lithium-ion
battery pack, with optional AC adapter. |
| • |
USB cable for high-speed connection to a computer. |
| • |
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility. |
 |
Full Specs |
|
Customer Reviews
|
Gary
Higgins,
from Bowie, MD, US, Jun 13, 2002
|
|
Great
camera for the price! Picture quality is excellent and the camera is
very easy to use in auto mode. There are also many custom/manual modes
that allow the experienced photographer to play with exposure
settings. I was amazed at the quality (picture and sound) of the
movies. Battery life seems to be very good. I bought an extra battery
(Canon part only) to have as a backup. I also upgraded to a 128MB
compact flash card, which holds about 140 hi-res MPEG pictures. I
highly recommend this camera if it is in your price range.
|
|
•
Installation |
10 |
|
•
Image Quality |
10 |
|
•
Ease of Use |
10 |
|
•
Compatibility |
10 |
|
•
Overall Value |
10 |
|
jerry
leatherman, from Lee's Summit, MO, US, Jan 11, 2002
|
|
We have owned and used this camera for about four and a half months.
It has so completely replaced our print camera that in the last two
weeks we just finished the roll of film that was in it from before
our purchase of the S30. Picture quality is, as reported, excellent.
We get great prints from our inkjet printer. Admittedly, we have not
printed, or sent away for, any prints larger than 8X10 yet. For 4X6s
and 5X7s though, you can get photo-quality prints even with the
quality turned down one notch. Battery life is very good, although
the battery is custom. We bought a second battery and had it at
Disney World with us. Averaging 75 pictures a day, I think we only
needed the second battery one day. We also chose to get an
additional CF card at 64MB, which seems to be a good balance of size
vs. cost. The minor negatives of this camera are well documented,
the biggest being the viewfinder. Unless the battery is on death's
door and we NEED one more picture, we use the LCD. I don't view the
lack of interchangable lenses and flashes as a negative, but rather
a configuration choice. The lack of flexibility is made up for by
the compact size and convenient slide-cover power mechanism; the
slide cover works especially well, activating the camera in photo
mode. You can also view images with the cover closed. We also ended
up buying a CD-Burner to make back-ups of our digital photos -- we
now have so many, that are so good, that we needed an alternate
storage medium. The bundled software is also decent. I used it a
little bit before upgrading to XP. Now I just upload pictures via a
CF reader and use XP's built-in features for handling digital
images. You'll still want the software, though, if you need to do
any editing of the pics. Some neat, and not widely reported, photo
options include black-and-white and sepia pictures. I don't know,
maybe these are standard on all digital cameras. What I'm pretty
sure is not standard are all the automatic and manual shooting
modes. Overall a great camera that my wife and I love to use, but
that is simple enough to hand to a friendly passerby to get a photo
of the whole group.
|
|
•
Installation |
8 |
|
•
Image Quality |
10 |
|
•
Ease of Use |
10 |
|
•
Compatibility |
10 |
|
•
Overall Value |
10 |
|
The Lowest Price is not always best !
When you buy a digital camera, the basic package almost always includes
extras such as a battery charger, lens cap, batteries, flash memory card, and software.
One of the more disreputable practices a dealer can engage in is called unbundling. These
dealers remove items from the package that are normally included in the price and
price them separately.
When purchasing
a camera you have three components of the price to consider - the camera price, postage and
handling, and taxes. Many dealers lower the price to make the camera more attractive, then
increase the postage and handling to boost their profits.
Hesitate before
accepting extended warranties. Every knowledgeable consumer expert says it's better to
gamble. Most of a company's profit is in the sale of these warranties so they press, and
press hard. Your job is to resist, and resist hard. The only thing to keep in mind is that
digital cameras can be horribly expensive to repair. If you want peace of mind, you may
want the warranty, even though it's probably overpriced. The cost of a repair can
approach, or even exceed, the original purchase price.
When you buy a
camera from a reputable dealer, you expect to be able to return it if you aren't
satisfied. Some dealers try to discourage this by requiring a restocking fee for returned
merchandise. This is always explained as a way to recover their costs of checking the
merchandise and restoring the packaging you may have opened.
Many dealers is
truly a false, deceptive and a total crook. Bait and switch tactics used. Does not sell
new merchandise and will ship used or refurbished goods without notifying customer. They then
try to charge a restock fee on top of their exobitant shipping fees to make a profit where
they could not on their goods. A try case of buyer beware.
|
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Where To Buy
Canon PowerShot S30 Digital Camera:
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