Which is better - Canon SD110 or SD410?

[eliza_desch]

I want to buy my first digital camera, and am debating between these

two Canons:

 

-Canon PowerShot SD110 3MP Digital Elph with 2x Optical Zoom

-Canon PowerShot S410 4MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoom

 

The most important factors for me are:

 

-Ease of use (just want a point and shoot camera that does the

thinking for me).

-Good picture quality

-Very compact size

-Good battery life

 

Any opinions/feedback welcome! Thanks!

[chip]

Eliza,

 

I did a LOT of reasearch and carefully considered the capabilities and image quality of the smallest, most compact 3-5MP point and shoot digital cameras.

 

I looked hard at the Casio EX Z4U for its small size and histogram preview. But Casio was eliminated due to the need for a cradle to hook up the USB and TV outputs and due to Casio's history of poor repair support from the company.

 

I also looked at the new Sony T1 for its size but found that it was too slow between shots and lacked an optical finder as did several others in this class. IMO you need an optical finder for the bright conditions this type of camera will mostly be used under so any camera I was going to consider had to have an optical finder or it was out.

 

I looked at the Canon SD10 for its extremely small size, but I had issues with this camera. The SD10 is very, VERY small and uses the very limited SD type memory cards which are also VERY expensive to buy in higher capacities. I think $300 for a name brand 1GB media card is too much (I paid $160 for a name brand 12X 1GB CF card for my S230 P&S). The Canon SD10 is also very limited in features and also lacks an optical finder and has a weak battery so the SD10 was out.

 

The Pentax S4i is a great looking and working P&S digital camera but used expensive SD memory and only has USB 1.1.

 

Being a digital EOS shooter I also looked at Canon's better digital P&S cameras. The Canon S410 and S500 cameras are right in there in terms of size and have most any feature you could imagine using in the better digital P&S segment. The Canon S410 and S500 have the small size I know my niece likes, they are stainless steel bodies and are very tough.

 

The Canon S410 and S500 also meet ALL of my selection criteria for compact P&S type cameras. They have optical viewfinders with true zoom image, use batteries that are easy to buy from a third party ($10 each!), use easy to find and buy CF cards for media, can shoot very quickly even in max. image quality modes and have one of the most logical and easy to use while shooting menu and button layout. They can also produce a detailed, very high quality 8x10 with realistic, accurate color.

 

So I wound up giving my neice a nice new Canon S410 with a 1GB CF card and a small soft case. The whole sheebang was less than $570 out the door here in California including the sales taxes!

 

HTH

[devin_serink]

Chip, you seem to have missed the SD110 in your list of cameras you checked up on.

 

Anyway, there is of course the obvious differences in the two cameras, the extra zoom on the 410, cheaper cards (CF vs SD) and the extra megapixel. But on top of that, and perhaps the most critical still, is the lens/sensor size. The SD110 uses a 5.4mm (W) while the S410 uses a 7.4mm (W). Both of these traslate to about a 36mm in 35mm film equivalent. What that means is the sensor in the S410 is about 1.4 times larger than the SD110. Sensor size happens to be the key factor in terms of noise on digital cameras, and less noise means you can shoot at higher iso speeds. Bottom line is that the S410, megapixels aside, takes better pictures.

 

This also explains the large price gab between the S410 and other brands' 4MP ultra compacts, as well as the extreme popularity of the S400/410...you're getting a compact camera with the quality of a regular sized digicam.

[eliza_desch]

Thanks to both of you for the excellent research and information! Based on this, I'm going to get the SD410. Thanks!

[chip]

Hi Devin,

 

When I had originally started looking for a camera for my niece I thought that 3MP would be enough for her but the cameras she really wanted were in the 4-5 MP ultra-compact P&S segment. I had not overlooked the SD110 but excluded it from consideration due to changing the requirements for her camera to a minmum of a 4MP sensor.

 

As I mentioned I've got an S230 (bought it about 9 months ago, incredible price of $199), and am pretty happy with what I can get out of it if I shoot carefully. It's no match for my EOS 1D or D60 but it's a pretty good compact P&S. At the price I paid it was almost free considering that I also got a year of free prints (288 free 4x6), included with the deal.

 

The S230 is the same camera as the SD110 but about a 1/10 of an inch thicker, uses a larger battery and the same CF type media cards I use in my EOS 1d and D60. The SD110 was also less attractive for its expensive SD media requirments and small battery so I didn't mention it. There are a few others in the ultra-compact 3MP range but due to poor lens characteristics (S-L-O-W), image noise, almost no usefull features, even weaker built-in flash and lower build quality they really are no more than toys for JSG's so 3MP cameras were not considered.

 

HTH