what's the best small digital camera?

[srika]

I think I've been spoiled by my Nikon D70. It takes great pictures and I love it, but its large and I can't take it to all the places I want to take it. For this I want a small camera that I can fit in my pocket. There are tons of small cameras out there, but from all the reviews and sample pictures I've seen, they seem to all share one similarity - the picture quality is just mediocre.

So my question is, is there any small compact digital camera out there that takes decent pics?? Obviously I'm not expecting anything close to Digital SLR quality, just not mediocre. thanks in advance.

srika

[Michael Fanelli]

I think I've been spoiled by my Nikon D70. It takes great pictures and I love it, but its large and I can't take it to all the places I want to take it. For this I want a small camera that I can fit in my pocket. There are tons of small cameras out there, but from all the reviews and sample pictures I've seen, they seem to all share one similarity - the picture quality is just mediocre.

So my question is, is there any small compact digital camera out there that takes decent pics?? Obviously I'm not expecting anything close to Digital SLR quality, just not mediocre. thanks in advance.

My Canon S400 does an excellent job. It fits easily into a pants pocket, small enough to forget it's there. On the screen, you can't tell the difference between my Digital Rebel and the S400. At less than or equal to 8x10, the S400 is just as good. Highly recommended.

[srika]

thanks guy, I checked some sample pics of the S400 and they do look good. And, I have heard good things about S400 in the past as well. I will look into it. Do you know if there is a newer model coming out? I am looking into that also. thanks for your input.

oops I just noticed there is an S500... I'm checking that out now.

[Michael Fanelli]

thanks guy, I checked some sample pics of the S400 and they do look good. And, I have heard good things about S400 in the past as well. I will look into it. Do you know if there is a newer model coming out? I am looking into that also. thanks for your input.

oops I just noticed there is an S500... I'm checking that out now.

I know there is an S410 and an S500, Personaly, I think cameras that squeeze 5 MP onto the tiny sensor do more harm than good.

[Van A]

I have an S400 also and love it. I basically got it for the same reason as you - my Canon 10D is too large to tote everywhere. I carry the S400 with me everyday in my briefcase. And the picture quality is pretty impressive. Just for fun, I took a macro shot of flowers and printed it to 13x19" and it turned out just awesome. People's jaws drop when they see this pic and find out that it was taken with this camera the size of a deck of cards. I do, however, prefer the Neutral color setting to the Vivid. The Vivid seems like Velvia and then some.

I picked up this camera at Amazon w/512mb Viking for $329.00. The S410 and the S500 had just come out and Amazon ran a special on the S400. From what I see, the S410 only adds a print button on the back of the camera. Anyway, like Michael, I highly recommend this camera.

[srika]

I have to agree after viewing the S500 sample shots... they don't look any better than the 400's, if anything they look a bit worse! crazy. I think I am going S400 shopping now. Thanks guys.