Canon PowerShot S410 4MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoom
My wife had bought this camera for herself when it first came out. Over the years both of us have used it quite a bit, and it has really served its purpose. It is very well built, durable, and for a point and shoot camera it takes really nice photos.
***** Photo Quality ****
For a point-and-shoot camera there is not much to complain about when it comes to the picture quality. 4 MP may seem paltry compared to todays 12 – 16 MP standard sizes, but in fact it is probably more than adequate for most everyday uses. Printing photographs up to 5 X 7 format is not a problem, and I’ve even gotten some more than respectable looking 8 X 11 prints. If you are only viewing pictures on a computer monitor, then 4 MP is more than enough. However, for editing purposes you obviously don’t have as many pixels to play with as you would with the larger size formats.
***** Video Quality *****
This is by far the worst aspect of this camera’s performance. When it came out video was just an afterthought. Whoever designed it must have thought that the 320 X 240 resolution would qualify this camera to be included in the video-recording category, but I’d rather have a camera with no video recording option than with one this bad. It’s really just embarrassing.
***** Look and Build *****
This is probably the most rugged-looking camera that I’ve ever seen. The heavy, metallic body would not be out of place in a combat zone. It was probably not designed for a combat zone, aside from its ability to stop bullets (please don’t test this claim), but its rugged exterior is one of the factors that made it perform this well after all these years.
***** Battery Life *****
When we first bought this camera, the battery could serve you for quite some time. Now it has almost completely been depleted and can only be charged through a single shooting session.
***** Memory Card *****
The camera uses the old CF Card for storage, which ahs become de-facto obsolete. You can still find card readers for this storage media online, but if all else fails you can always transfer your photos by directly connecting your camera to the computer via USB cable.
***** Camera Software *****
Like most cameras these days, this one also came with its own pot software. The software was fine for its day, but I never got to really use it. I prefer transferring my photos and manipulating them with Picasa, iPhoto, or some similar general-purpose photo software.
***** Accessories *****
The camera came with a whole host of accessories, including: wrist strap, cover for battery pack, battery pack, battery charger, AV cable, interface cable, direct interface cable, and the CF card. All the accessories help with the basic use of this camera, but for anything more advanced you need to buy additional products.
***** Conclusion *****
As mentioned in the title of this review, this camera has performed consistently well for many years. It’s a rugged and largely reliable picture taker. These days it sits around as a spare camera in case we need additional photo-taking power.
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