A Small, easy to use everyday camera for everyone

It is silly to discuss premium picture quality in this point-and-shoot class. The purpose of these small, easy-to-use cameras is user friendly and good picture quality.

The 4.0 megapixel SD300 will be released to market at early December but I couldn't wait. And this 3.2 megapixel one is cheaper ($400 vs $300) and lighter (130g vs 115g.) I have a 3.2 megapixel CANON already and I know 3.2 megapixel is more than good for 4X6 print.

The purpose of this easy-to-use camera is to take everyday picture. The important attribute is fast startup, small size, simple operation. Canon SD200 is best match for all these three attributes.

I shopped SONY Cybershot P100 for a long time, watching its price drop. The biggest drawback of the SONY is that proprietary Memory stick, which is expensive for the capacity. The SD200 uses more popular SD memory. It is way cheaper than memory stick.

SD200 has very easy user interface. My another camera is Canon G1, which has a lot of functions. One day my wife took it to my daughter's birthday party and she accidentally turned mode dial to Black-and-white. Guess what happened with the birthday pictures.

SD200 doesn't have external mode dial which can be accidentally turned. At AUTO mode, it is friendly for any novice. And the video clip can be recorded easily too. My wife learned how to take pictures and video clip in 15 minutes.

The 640X480 30fps(frame per second) video clip is clear. I don't need to buy a video camera. The 512MB SD memory ($77 at Best Buy) can hold 4 minutes 58 seconds long video. The standard SD memory can continuously take approx. 5 minutes. You don't need to buy premium, highest transfer speed memory. (But I don't think extra cheap drugstore memory cards will be capable too.)

The battery lasted two Halloween parties and a trick-or-treat run. It is not of top capacity. I have ordered another battery, as a part of kit (battery, Canon carrying case and neck strap =$50 at amazon.com. The battery charger charges a battery off the camera, so it is possible to charge extra battery while the camera is on the move.

Overall build quality is good. The lens barrel does not move when extended and switchgears are of good feel. The exterior is equal to SONY P100 and far superior to HP R707, which is of stamped stainless sheet metal bonded over plastic body.

The camera can be connected to standard TV with simple cord. The cord is with fairly standard connectors and same one as a lot of camcorders'. Which increase you odd to find match cord at friend's house even if you forget to bring your own. Meanwhile SONY use proprietary connector so it is impossible to show your pictures to the friends if you forget to bring your proprietary cord.

The picture quality is good. Its flash is strong, which is helpful for these small cameras are usually used to take indoor shots. Even there is a mode which regulate flash power to bring more natural picture when other indoor light is available.

And there is "postcard size" which locks resolution to 1600X1200 to fit 4X6 picture. In this mode, there are shade band top and bottom of LCD monitor to correctly frame pictures for 4X6 print aspect ratio. I like it very much. There is no more "cropped head" picture when printed on 4X6.

** Update 11/05/2004 **

I found not all SANDISK SD memory cards are same. I put my old 64MB card (also standard blue memory) and the camera shows buffer overrun after taking 10 seconds of 640X480 30fps video. It cut the shot at 15 seconds by itself. Meanwhile, I can take a continuous 4min 58sec long shot with my 512MB SANDISK card (also standard blue) without problem. They are same mid-class (not cheapest Shoot-and-Store, nor expensive Ultra II)

The 'slow' 64MB shows problem in playback, too. The video playback skips scene intermittently.

Conclusion: Be cautious in buying a SD memory. If you are not sure, buy a hi-speed memory (such as Ultra II)