- 3.2 megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 8 x 10 prints and medium-quality prints up to 11 x 14
- Autofocus lens with 2x optical/3.2x digital (6.4x total) zoom
- Included 16 MB CompactFlash card holds 26 images at default settings
- Connects with PCs and Macs via USB port
- Uses proprietary lithium-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Amazon.com Product Description
With the Canon PowerShot S230, you’ve got the best of both worlds–the compact size and high style of the digital Elph series plus the higher resolution of a 3-megapixel camera. Updating the popular 2-megapixel PowerShot S200, the PowerShot S230 also features a 2x optical zoom, an improved 3.2x digital zoom, movie mode for videos up to 3 minutes, and more–all in a stylish, compact package.
Optics and Resolution
| S230′s nine-point autofocus lets you sharpen the image on your subject, no matter where it is in the frame. |
Featuring a 3.2-megapixel CCD sensor, the PowerShot S230 delivers a wide range of detail and color (with images up to 2048 x 1536 pixels) and prints up to 11 by 14 inches. Canon’s high-quality 2x optical zoom lens allows you to close in on the action, while the 3.2x digital zoom allows for a combined 6.4x zoom, letting you capture intimate details that might have been missed with another camera. The PowerShot S230 is also one of the few digital cameras to feature wide-area nine-point autofocus for taking crisp, sharp images no matter where the subject appears in the image frame.
Storage and Transfer
Images are stored on CompactFlash memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included. When shooting images at the medium or fine setting, the 16 MB card will store approximately 26 images. Images can be downloaded to either a Mac or PC via USB storage-class connectivity, which means it can be connected to any USB-based Windows Me/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.6 or later computer without installing any software.
Movie Mode
In addition to taking still photos, the S230 can also record movie clips of up to 3 minutes. You can choose from three different video formats: 160 x 120, 320 x 240, or 640 x 480 pixels. Both picture and sound quality have been improved, and an editing feature allows you to delete unwanted scenes during playback. The S230′s photo-effect mode lets you do more with your still images. Choose from low sharpening, vivid color, sepia, neutral, and black and white.
More Features
Though it’s primarily designed as a point-and-shoot, the S230 includes several advanced features for photographers who want more creative control, including exposure compensation, low-light manual shutter speeds, manual ISO and white balance, and stitch assist, plus black-and-white, sepia, vivid, and neutral modes.
The PowerShot S230 uses highly advanced technology to make your digital photography experience simple. DIGIC enhances image definition and processing speed, while the sophisticated iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology assures faster and more accurate autofocus, autoexposure, and automatic white balance. The intelligent-orientation sensor ensures your pictures are always right side up, on the LCD or even while downloading.
Horizontal |
Vertical |
| S230′s Intelligent Orientation Sensor knows which of your images were shot horizontally and which were shot vertically. | |
Power, Size, and Contents
The camera is powered by a proprietary Canon rechargeable lithium-ion battery (included). It measures 3.4 by 2.2 by 1.1 inches and weighs 6.4 ounces. This package includes the PowerShot S230 digital camera, 16 MB CompactFlash card, lithium-ion battery (model NB-1LH) and battery charger (model CB-2LS), USB and A/V cables, wrist strap, and CD-ROM with imaging software and USB drivers for Windows and Mac.
Canon PowerShot S230 3.2 MP Digital ELPH Camera with 2x Optical Zoom
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WHY I PURCHASED THE POWERSHOT 230:
I was never really a fan of Canon cameras, especially Canon digital cameras. It wasn’t until recently that a few of my friends were sending me pictures via email that were taken with a Canon Powershot camera. I was pretty impressed with the results and decided to check out the newest Powershot; the S230. This camera packed a lot of features, but kept the bulk to a minimum. Producing images at 3.2 megapixels, the S230 was definitely appealing.
WHAT IT COMES WITH:
- Canon PowerShot S230 Digital ELPH camera
- NB-1LH Lithium-ion battery
- 16 MB CompactFlash (CF) Card
- USB cable
- A/V cable
- Wrist Strap
- CD with Canon software suite
- Users Manual
POCKETABILITY:
The first thing you notice about this camera is that it’s small. Probably the smallest digital camera I’ve seen in the 3 megapixel category. You can truly put this in your pocket and not have everyone stare at the bulge…
DURABILITY:
I’ve already dropped this camera once on my hardwood floor. Amazingly, it still works like a charm. The S230 is encased in stainless steel with a few chrome accents and a couple of plastic parts (mainly the switches & dials). I expect this camera to last several years without any problems, if not longer. A buddy of mine has owned his Powershot S100 for over two years and he still loves his to death.
EASE OF USE:
The S230 was as easy to use (if not easier) as my previous Sony digital cameras. Before selling my Sony DSC-S75, I had the chance to compare the two, side-by-side. The size alone, gave the S230 an overwhelming advantage. The picture quality is very impressive with the S230. The indoor photos that I took without the flash turned out great. The auto-exposure, as well as the auto-ISO settings works fine, but if you want to manually set those on your own, it’s easy to do. There are other cool features on the S230 such as picture effects (black and white, sepia, soft, sharp, etc.). The 1.5″ LCD is very useful and is very clear, even in bright sunlight.
ADVANCED FOCUSING:
AiAF (Artificial Intelligence Auto-Focus) is a new feature found on the S230 that was not present in the earlier models of the Powershots. This function allows the S230 to select from one of the nine focus areas within the frame to capture the sharpest shot. It’s pretty amazing how this works. This feature can also easily be turned off in the settings. This feature is found on the new Canon G3, as well, and is the flagship of the point-and-shoot digital camera line for Canon.
PICTURE QUALITY:
As I mentioned, I was quite impressed with the photo quality. I managed to print some of them on photo paper using my HP 960c deskjet printer. Printing them in 5X7 produced brilliant, almost photolab quality pictures. I might add that my Sony DSC-S75 also produces some of the best photos, as well, but I expect that from a camera that boasts a Carl Zeiss Sonar lens, 3.3 megapixel resolution quality…. If you own a Canon printer, you should be able to directly print off of your S230 using the supplied cable. I just ordered the Canon i850 printer, so I’m anxiously waiting to try it out.
VIDEO MODE:
The ability to capture 30 seconds of 640X480 AVI video (20 frames per second) with sound is awesome! My father was surprised at how clearly it captures motion video. Although you’re able to capture the video with sound, you won’t be able to play it back with sound on the camera itself, as it is not equipped with a speaker. The S230 is capable of capturing more than 30 seconds if you use smaller resolution. After visiting the Canon Powershot website, I learned that if you use a high-speed CompactFlash (CF) card, you should be able to capture more than 30 seconds of 640X480 video. Canon expects to market the high speed CF card soon.
BATTERY STRENGTH:
This is where I’d say that my Sony DSC-S75 shines. All of Sony’s digital cameras display the remaining life of the battery in minutes. The S230 goes strong until there’s about 5% or less power left. I’ve read a few articles and reviews stating that the battery life is the weakness of this camera, but it’s not all that bad. It all depends on how much you use the LCD display, the flash, and how often you turn on/off the device. I quickly ordered an extra battery from buy.com and I’m perfectly happy now.
The S230 comes with a separate battery charger. This is very convenient, as you don’t have to charge the battery using the camera, like most of the Sony cameras do (Sony sells the battery charger as a separate accessory). From a fully discharged battery, the charger is able to completely charge it in about two hours. There is an LED which displays in `red’ when it’s charging and `green’ when it’s complete.
OVERALL WEAKNESSES:
Some people will say that the small size can be a weakness, but I’d say that the size is definitely its strength. The optical zoom capability is only 2X, so you won’t be able to zoom up very closely from afar. It does offer a digital zoom, but this may result in grainy photos. The macro mode of the S230 isn’t as crisp as my Sony DSC-S75, but I can live with it. Also, the flash on the S230 isn’t as effective as it should be. The flash tends to white out (too bright) close-range subjects, but is very weak for any subjects more than 6 feet away. I’ll have to play around some more with the settings, I guess. Finally, the tripod mount is not positioned in the center of the camera. It’s actually placed on the side, causing it to be off-center and hard to balance.
SUMMARY:
I mainly purchased this camera for its size, but it’s turned out to be a much better camera than I anticipated. In terms of photo quality, it may not beat the higher-end digital cameras, but it will sure give them a run for the money. We have to hand it Canon for developing a truly pocket-sized 3.2 megapixel digital camera.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is my third digital camera; I bought this because I wanted an ultra-portable, 3-megapixel camera. So far it’s proving to be what I want — high quality snapshots in a very small package.
Likes:
- It’s truly small; very easy to carry in pocket, coat, briefcase or purse.
- Durable steel case
- Very easy to use
- Very good image quality.
- I am very happy with battery life. I do not agree w/folks challenging battery life on this — I’ve used it liberally for a whole day of wandering around on vacation, taking photos, looking at images…more than 60 photos in a day. I have bought extra batteries for my other cameras but really haven’t felt the need for this. (For me, having a big memory card and extra batteries makes a digital camera much more convenient for heavy picture taking dealing with a film camera and extra film).
Dislikes:
- Lots of red eye in indoor flash situations
- Some difficulty w/autofocus in low-light situations
- Relatively limited zoom (however, I don’t think moving to the 330 with the 3x zoom is worth the tradeoff in size).
Recommendations:
- Buy a case. You’ll want to carry this everywhere and a little case protects it from scratches and impacts.
- Buy at least 128MB memory card (256 even better if you don’t want to worry about using up memory on a longer trip)
- Having experimented w/lots of digital photo editing software, I like using ofoto.com’s software to pull photos off the camera, quickly look at snaps and upload photos online to share. It’s very easy for the basics (crop a snapshot, zap out the redeye, upload some photos for sharing or printing 4 * 6′s). For more serious editing, I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2. The Ofoto.com software is free for the downloading off Ofoto’s website; the Elements 2 software is reasonable if you take lots of photos and want to learn how to get the most from your photos. I find that Canon’s software is too cumbersome for simple tasks and not flexible enough for heavier duty; Ofoto and Elements make a nice combination for me.
- If you’re really just using this for casual snapshots, consider the Canon s200 for a significant savings. If you aren’t going to blow up your photos the S200 would be fine for most simple shots. The 230 is great but may be overkill if you just want a fun, portable camera.
Rating: 5 / 5
I have owned this camera for about six months now. I have taken over 2000 pictures with it, and very few have turned out bad. The detail this camera picks up is amazing! I am able to zoom in on objects in the photo and still have good detail. The 2x optical zoom is very disappointing and has been a limiting factor for some very nice shots while hiking. I have yet to use the included 16MB CF card. I ordered a 512MB CF card the same day I ordered my s230. At maximum resolution, and maximum quality, it takes over 300 shots! At maximum resolution, and standard quality, it will take 550 shots! (~15 rolls of 36 exposure film!) I have yet to find this to be a problem. A 256MB CF card is really all you need for this camera. A second battery would also be a good idea. You can expect about 100 shots from the battery with the flash and LCD on, along with constantly going to the �picture viewer� mode to show everyone the pictures.
The one major drawback that I have not seen mentioned is the mode selector switch. Its on the top-back edge. About 25% of the time when I pull the camera out of my pocket, the switch catches just enough to move from picture mode, to video mode. Then I take a nice video instead of a picture. This issue has been addressed with the s400.
I have also seen some complaints about the offset tripod mount and the picture button being on the other end so it shakes when you take pictures on the tripod. You can set the camera timer for two seconds of ten seconds. Set it up for two. Then you push the button, step back, and it takes a perfectly clear shot!
I have used many Canon digital cameras; they are a very good choice! Very solid, (I take mine mountain biking every weekend) and it takes great pictures.
The 100-240 volt charger works nicely too! Took it to china for a week, and had no trouble at all.
Rating: 5 / 5
I just got my Canon s230 from amazon for a real low price. Anyway, I must say I am very pleased with this little camera. Here is Why:
1)Small yet durable. Well constructed metal body
2)Made in Japan (well know for high quality in electronics)
3)Takes video at 640×320 (with sound), very sharp video you just have to see to believe (highest resolution around, better than even higher end cameras like nikons and s50 and s400)
4)Softwares as well as camera menus and controls are easy to understand even for beginners. Instruction manuals are well written as well.
5)High resolution LCD screen so you can see your pictures crystal clear (unlike competitions such as Casio and Minolta which have very low quality LCDs)
6)9 point AIAF is great technology that allows for nine focus points, and the flexizone even lets you choose which zone you want to focus out of nine, so you don’t have to worry about leaving out a part of a beautiful tree or roof of a house just because you want to focus on your friends and family members when taking picture.
7)Professional and Efficient customer’s service. If you have a question go to canon website to search for answer. You can also ask them a question and they get back to you within 24 hours (I was surprised).
My Thoughts about Some Complaints Others May Have:
1)2x optical zoom: this is a mini point and shoot camera and most of the time you can just stand closer to your subject if you need a closeup. I mean, I also have a canon s30 which is 3x, but I personally could not justify much advantage with a single x higher. (if you want to see a real difference pickup a 5x-8x optical zoom camera and you will understand my point, but be ready to pay an extra 200+ dollars)
2)Red Eye: Small camera means close proximity of flash to shutter = red eye. What do you expect? Plus this only happens at night, and can easily be corrected with software provided.
3)Technology: which other camera gives you 9 point focus? (not to mention Flexizone). which other brand give you 640×320 video? How often do you actually want video clip longer than 30 seconds? (if you need longer, if would be great idea to buy a camcorder, cause 512mb flash is only going to give you 8min at max)
4)Proprietary Battery: I challenge anyone out there to fit 2AA battery in this thing. There is no way.
One misconception I see alot in reviews is that people don’t see the overall funtionality and quality of a product base on camera class. You can’t expect this thing to perform like a huge camera, at least not in today’s technology.
1) Just because a camera has the same 3 megapixel doesn’t mean their picture quality are the same … Some camera over compress the file so it looks a little grainy at full size, which for me is annoying.
Finally, I read numerous reviews and saw various cameras before I finally decided on my s30 and now s230 (my second canon baby brother). I catergorized digital cameras in general based on overall feature and performance with 1 being the finest and 5 being the most basic as follows: (Note Canon and Nikon are tie at first place)
1) Canon (sharpest,most color accurate pictures)
1) Nikon (sharp, outstanding macro capability)
3) Sony (great laser and lens, picture quality can be better)
4) Olympus (AA battery and good picture, high optical too)
5) Minolta,Casio,Fuji,Kodak (these you have to enlarge their sample photos to see what I am talking about, and understand why they are in the last place)
Don’t just take my word. I encourage you to read more professional reviews. Just thought my research can help give you some insight.
Wish you all get to own a great camera for keeping precious memories of life!
Rating: 5 / 5
There are some faults with the Canon S230 but they don’t diminish the overall quality of this little camera. I previously reviewed this in December when I first purchased it and still rate it as five stars, but I will comment on some disadvantages now.
First is the red eye that appears on indoor, flash photos. This is true of most small digital cameras that I have used. The problem is the location of the flash close to the lens- unavoidable if you want small size. I’ve mitigated this by putting translucent tape or paper over the flash to lessen its impact or taking pictures without flash if possible.
The next problem is the battery. It works great and stays charged through many photos, videos and reviews of my pictures. It does not let me know when it is about to run out of power. As soon as the indicator for a low battery comes on the camera dies. This does not allow much time for changing batteries in the midst of an important event. My suggestion is to have an extra battery and to always use a newly charged battery for important events.
Now for some great features; I dropped this camera twice onto hard cement and the metal casing and components survived unscathed. I take this camera with me to sports events, skiing and hiking. The humidity of our school pool at swim meets has posed no problem. Its nice to know that it can stand up to even my carelessness.
The video clips are great. At an event I simply video each part individually. Three minutes is long enough for each race in a swim meet- even the relays (Okay, not the 500 free, but my arm would tire from that one anyway). I taped my son’s All County orchestra concert- each piece was about three minutes- and even the sound was pretty good. I use a 128 MB card and can get at least a few events on each card. The 256 MB can do more.
So far I’m still very happy with this camera.
Rating: 5 / 5