Pros + Cons: Canon SD300/400/500

[rob_uk]

Hi,

I have been researching compact digital cameras for a little while and would appreciate some input from you guys on these three cameras. The imminent use will be for a four week trip around South America, but also longer term for events with friends etc. I am looking at the three Canons, having considered the Fuji F10, but deciding that although the images might be better, my inexperience and shallowness at wanting an attractive camera mean that I will be happier with a Canon :)

The internet prices in the UK of the three models are £180/215/270. Although I had been on the brink of going for the SD400, as it was smaller and cheaper than the SD500, I have read that as it uses the same lens as the SD300 the images are significantly more noisy than either the SD300/SD500; is this accurate? At most I will be printing at A4 size and more often smaller - would you judge the SD400 as sufficient for my needs, or would I be better off spending a little extra for one of the higher resolution models?

Many thanks in advance for any comments.

[rob_uk]

Any thoughts people?

How large can photos from the various cameras be printed and still look sharp? Would 12x8" from the SD300 be ok?

[jessie25]

You can do the math yourself by multiplying the dimensions by the ppi (pixels per inch) required for a sharp printout to see how many pixels you will need.

But since this question gets asked so often, here's a chart for your reference (remember in each case you need extra pixels than what is listed, because of cropping to the proper aspect ratio):

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b158/segacs/printsize.jpg

You're probably looking at some of those megapixel counts and thinking that I must be crazy, because no cameras exist anywhere near that level. But remember, you will probably never need to print anything at 600ppi unless you're a professional printer or magazine publisher or something. 300ppi is more than enough for most uses, and most consumer or personal uses are fine at 150ppi.

So a 3.2 megapixel camera will get you very nice 5x7s and acceptable prints up to 11x14 without too much trouble. Maybe National Geographic wouldn't print them like that, but you're unlikely to notice any difference.

Also remember a lot depends on the compression used, the paper type, the printer quality, inks, and a host of other factors besides resolution.