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June 26, 2005
Old And Busted: Sony. New Hotness: Canon.
 I've blogged before my new iPod Photo, and mentioned that "It makes me want to take more pictures. It makes me want to get a better digital camera."
Well, I acted on the impulse, replacing my 2001-era Sony CyberShot DSC-P5 with a 2005-era Canon PowerShot SD400. I've had the new kit for a little less than a week, and have carted it everywhere - Rattlesnake Lake, around Seattle, and up to Vancouver.
I can tell you, unreservedly, that I'm thrilled I spent the money.
My criterial for the camera have remained basically unchanged since 2001: I want a small, light, automatic camera that can fit in a pocket and take great photos. I have found that portable, slip-it-in-the-pocket technology (e.g., iPods) tends to get used, whereas larger, bulkier equipment (e.g., the "photo rig" that most people have at home, with lenses and film rolls and whatnot) often gathers dust. So being able to actually use the silly thing by having it on my person is a very, very big deal.
So with that in mind, let's take a quick trip through what four years of product evolution gets you these days.
- Size and weight. The Canon is dramatically smaller than the Sony, as you can see from the photos associated with this post. The Sony is 1" longer, 0.6" thicker, and 2.5 ounces heavier than the Canon. In fact, the Canon is smaller (and lighter!) than my iPod Photo, whereas the Sony looks like it might try to eat the iPod Photo if it gets too hungry.
In terms of "pocket feel" I can have the Canon in a jacket or jeans pocket and not notice it; the same is not true of the Sony. Given my desire to cart this puppy around with me, these are huge wins. - Speed and responsiveness. The Canon is faster in every measurable regard than the Sony: it's faster to boot (time from pressing POWER to being able to take a shot), faster to reload (time between shots), and faster to close (time to close the shutter and return to standby). This means the camera is far easier to whip out, shoot-shoot-shoot with, and put back in your pocket than the Sony ever was. Again, since I have an an eye toward capturing more stuff with the camera, this is not a trivial feature.
- Quality. The Sony is 3.1 megapixels; the Canon is 5 megapixels. The lens quality on the Canon seems to be much higher than those on the Sony. I've been pleased with the Sony output, but the Canon output looks just fabulous. I feel that the Sony takes near-35-mm-quality shots, but the Canon appears to be at (or a little beyond) 35-mm quality.
- Memory/capacity. The Sony used a 128-MB Memory Stick that allowed me to hold roughly 80 shots at high resolution. For the Canon, I bought a 512-MB SD card (price: $45 ... I still remember when 1 MB of RAM was $100!), which allows me to hold roughly 190 shots at the highest possible (5-megapixel) resolution. I shot about 120 pictures in Vancouver this weekend, along with a few video clips. The Canon handled it without a complaint.
- Battery and charger. The Canon seems to be more power-efficient than the Sony. Certainly, the charging architecture is cleaner: both cameras come with rechargeable batteries, but the Sony uses a cumbersome cable that plugs in to the camera body, and adds to the cable mess under your desk (or in your bag, if you're traveling). Conversely, the Canon battery pops out of the camera and slides into a compact wall charger. It takes about 90 minutes to charge the Canon battery from scratch.
- Compatibility. Both with seamlessly with iPhoto, but the Canon is recognized by my PowerBook is less than a second, whereas the Sony may take up to nine seconds to appear on the desktop and launch iPhoto. The Canon also uses USB 2.0, which means it can transfer about 40 pictures to my machine in the time it takes the Sony to transfer one.
The Canon PowerShot SD400 just rocks. It's small, it's light, it takes great photos and I'm totally in love with it. It's an excellent unit, and I can't recommend it more highly.
And big, big thanks to Jeff who steered me in the direction of Canon; I was considering another Sony, but he made an impassioned argument for Canon which, as it happens, was spot on.
(I can't wait to fill up my iPod Photo with pictures!)
Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 26, 2005 8:50 PM. Posted to Geek.
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