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General discussion

Sony DSC-P200 v. Canon SD400

Mar 27, 2005 2:59AM PST

Okay...

This is my first "real" digital camera purchase. I've been looking for a good, compact digital camera with nice manual options, too. I'm trying to decide between the two, and here are the arguements going on inside my head:

Sony v. Canon:
7.2mpx/5mpx
6x zoom/12x zoom
Memory stick/SD (prefered)
Carl Zeiss?/Canon (trusted name)

Both are priced the same, but I need someone to help me decide between the two. Is Sony a good brand in the Digital Photography world? Etc...

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Comparisons
Mar 27, 2005 4:41AM PST

Sony vs Canon
Both are popular.
Canon has a larger variety of digital cameras.

7.2mpx/5mpx
More megapixels are only needed when printing very large photographs. Or if you plan to do some extensive cropping of photographs.

6X zoom/12X zoom
You almost threw me on this one. You are talking about optical and digital zoom.
Only think about optical zoom.
Digital zoom degrades the photo.
Digital zoom should not be used if you want quality photos.

Memory stick/SD (preferred)
There is no advantage to a Memory stick and it costs more.

Carl Zeiss?/Canon (trusted name)
Carl Zeiss is a trusted name too.
Both make excellent lenses.


It may be time to toss a coin.

...
..
.

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Sony DSC-P200 is better.
Mar 27, 2005 2:56PM PST

Since you shouldn't refer to digital zoom and refer to optical zoom, Sony DSC-P200 is better.
And FYI, Carl Zeiss is also a trusted name. Happy

Canon SD400
MP - 5MP Effective Pixels
Optical Zoom - 3x Optical Zoom
LCD Monitor - 2.0 inch low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD
Storage Media - SD memory card
Burst Mode - N/A
Flash Effective Range - Normal: 1.6

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Thanks
Mar 28, 2005 2:04PM PST

Thanks! I see that you own a Sony P200... I assume you like it? Now, I'm just a "newb" in the photography world, but how are the manual features on the Sony P200? I've seen many places on the internet that there are no maual features to speak of on the sd400, but they would be very important. Also, how do the images from your Sony compare to ones processed using the Digic II?

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Canon is the choice
Mar 27, 2005 10:54PM PST

I did took some test. Canon's new DIGIC II outperform Sony's processor, considering the noise. The noise level is significant while taking the picture at the very dim light. Go the store, take some shots and put it on the computer screen. You'll see what I mean. Good luck.

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Thanks
Mar 28, 2005 2:01PM PST

Thanks, but I'm not sure that your "test" is sufficient. Does anybody else know the advantages of either Sony's chip or the Digic II?

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(NT) (NT) What noise?
Mar 28, 2005 2:54PM PST
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Noise !
Mar 29, 2005 12:16AM PST

When shooting a picture at the very low light level, most digital camera ( mostly compact ) will automatically move or be manually moved for the higher ISO for more light sensitivity. Therefore, the taken pictures reveal unnecessary noise ( comparing to the grain in film camera when shooting with the high ISO film ). Consequently, the pictures, taken at the high ISO, deviates the required contrast and clarity of light.