12. Conclusion
| Name | PowerShot S200/Digital Ixus V² | LS420 | FinePix 50i | Dimâge X |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Canon | Kodak | FujiFilm | Minolta |
| Price (US$) | $349 | $299 | $599 | $399 |
| Price (Euro) | 579 € | 399 € | 899 € | 499 € |
| Sensor | CCD 2,1 megapixels | CCD 2,3 megapixels | Super CCD 2,4 megapixels | CCD 2,1 megapixels |
| Max. resolution | 1600 x 1200 | 1752 x 1168 | 2400 x 1800 | 1600 x 1200 |
| File formats | JPEG, AVI | JPEG, MOV | JPEG, AVI | JPEG, TIFF, WAVE |
| Memory supplied | 8 MB CompactFlash | 8 MB internal | 64 MB SmartMedia | 8 MB SD |
| Zoom | 5.4 - 10.8 mm | NA | 8.3 mm | 5.7-17.1 mm |
| Zoom (35 mm equiv.) | 35 - 70 mm (2x) | 38 mm (fixed) | 36 mm (fixed) | 37 - 111 mm (3x) |
| Aperture | f/2.8- f/4.0 | f/3.9 | f2.8 | f/2.8 - f/3.6 |
| Shutter speed | 15 to 1/1500 | 1/2 to 1/1200 | 1/4 to 1/100 | 2 to 1/1000 |
| Sensitivity | 50 to 400 ISO | 100, 200 ISO | 125 ISO | 100, 200 ISO |
| Metering modes | Spot, Matrix | Matrix | Matrix | Matrix |
| Base included | No | No(optional) | Yes | No |
| LCD Display | 1.5" | 1.6" | 1.8" | 1.5" |
| Connectivity | USB | USB | USB | USB |
| Multimedia functions | Video | Video | Video, MP3 | Video |
| Batteries | Li-ion, rechargeable | Li-ion, rechargeable | Li-ion, rechargeable | Li-ion, rechargeable |
| Dimensions | 87 x 57 x 26.7 mm | 109 x 45.5 x 28.5 mm | 85 x 71 x 23 mm | 84.5 x 72 x 20 mm |
| Weight (without accessories) | 180 g | 145 g | 160 g | 120 g |
In the end, rather than having four cameras that compete with one another, we have two distinct camps. There is the Kodak LS420 on the one hand, an economical camera, but one with many limitations, so ideally the camera should be restricted to making 10 x 15 centimeter prints. On the other hand there are the Canon, Fuji and Minolta cameras, which are capable of producing prints of a much higher quality that are even suitable for A4 bleeds. That is on condition, of course, that you have a printer that is capable of reproducing your photos perfectly. If that is not the case, plan to buy a new printer, otherwise your camera won't be able to show its full potential. Canon, Epson and HP all offer excellent printers, either multi-purpose or, even better, dedicated to making prints from digital photos. For the tests, we used a Canon S9000 and an Epson Stylus Photo 950. In both cases we used the photographic paper recommended by the manufacturers.
The Canon camera is generally very satisfactory. Unlike the Fuji 50i, it has an optical zoom, and the colors are rendered faithfully. The sharpness of the images is excellent and the camera operates very quickly. It lacks an uncompressed storage format, however. It would also have been better if the automatic white balance worked better indoors and if it had been sold with a little more memory than the miserly 8 MB supplied. But of the four, it is the most worthwhile camera.
The Dimâge X benefits from a more powerful zoom than the S200, but the sharpness of the photos is less than that of the Canon. On the other hand, there is one good point, in that it is the only one that also produces TIFF images.
The Fuji 50i is more expensive, lacks an optical zoom, and its photos are very noisy, but it has 64 MB of memory, it can also be used as an MP3 drive for playing sound, and the noise disappears when the photos are printed.