Fuji F410 vs Canon S400 vs others

[fredlee70x7]

I finally decided to step into digital and I'm looking for a P&S to

start with. Any user comments on these Fuji and Canon models? With

the 6MP files created by the new 3.1MP CCD, can the F410 compare

fairly with the 4MP S400?

 

Any other cameras in the price range will offer better image quality?

[craig_gillette]

http://photo.askey.net/reviews/

 

http://www.imaging-resource.com/

 

Besides the reviews and articles under the Equipment above, these two sites, have some fairly extensive reviews and forums. Imaging Resources just released it's review of the F410 which may answer some of your questions. I'm not sure I'd look to the smallest cameras for the highest performance.

[kumpf]

I own a Fuji F410. I researched a lot of cameras in that price range and selected the Fuji primarily for two reasons: the "4th Generation CCD" and the xD-Picture Card storage which has an architectural capacity of 8Gb (256Mb is currently the largest I've seen available).

 

I think the fundamental question for an owner is "If you had to do it all over again, would you still make the same purchase?" Sadly, my answer would be "No".

 

Perhaps I should have expected some of these things, but the reviews I read did not point out the flaws I discovered, specifically:

 

1...Forget about using the flash. This is a good outdoor camera, but even using the redeye reduction (which emits a single preliminary flash - not a series) you will still get redeye. If you put it on Auto, prepare for virtual globes of light in your subjects' eyes - so much that you can't correct it electronically.

 

2...Exposure is not correct. I've been using it on ASA 100 to get the highest qaulity, but I need to correct virtually each photo as it underexposes. There is EV compensation and I will try that next. For now I am experimenting with ASA 200.

 

3...I don't see an appreciable quality improvement between the 3Mb and 6Mb mode. I did read that Fuji's compression (not user-adjustable) is too high and now I believe it.

 

4...The viewfinder only provides 80% coverage. I have never gotten adept at composing shots using the LCD panel and will normally use the viewfinder. If you don't think 80% makes a big difference, think again.

 

After all this, does it do anything well? Sure:

 

1...It is very compact and suits my need to always have a camera at my side wherever I go.

 

2...The macro cabability is excellent.

 

3...Colors are very natural and well-saturated.

[kumpf]

In the above response, it should read I was using ASA 200 and am now trying ASA 400; the F410 does not have an ASA 100 settting.