Yet another digital camera question -- is it worth $60 to get 2 million extra pixels?

[wiegie]

I have basically narrowed my camera choice down to either the Canon A630 or the Canon A640. (Basically they are the same camera except the 640 has 10.0 million pixels while the 630 only has 8.0 million.)

 

We will mostly use the camera for day-to-day simple snapshots, although we do take landscape photos when we travel and I would like to leave the possibility open of making some large-size prints if I get some very good photos.

 

Any expert want to tell me if the extra pixels are worth it (the 640 costs about $60 more than the 630)?

 

(Alternatively, if anybody wants to recommend a different camera in the $200-$300 price range, I would be open to hear your suggestions (but I'm leaning towards these models because we had the Canon A620 previously and really liked it and these models are fairly similar next generation models).

 

TIA

[Gonkis]

 

  COMPACT MODELS   Canon PowerShot A640  $340 76.   10 12 13.8 520 2 0.7 4 • • •	•		     Canon PowerShot A630  $260 75.   8 12 13.8 520 2 0.9 4 • • •	•		     Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2  $400 75.   10.2 5 16.1 300 2 0.9 4 •	• •	   • •    Kodak EasyShare C875 CR Best Buy $180 73.   8 7 13.5 260 2 0.5 5 • • •	•		     Kodak EasyShare One  $200 70.   4 9 10.5 150 2 0.6 3	   • •			    Canon PowerShot A530  $150 68.   5 7 11.5 360 2 0.8 4 • • •	•		     Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart R927  $270 67.   8.1 7 15.6 200 1 0.4 3 •	•				   Nikon Coolpix P4  $330 65.   8.1 7 13.1 200 3 1.2 3.5 •	• •		  •    Kodak EasyShare C643  $140 63.   6.1 7 11.8 260 2 0.8 3	   •	•		     Fujifilm FinePix A500  $100 61.   5.1 6 10.2 400 3 1.1 3	   •	•		     Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart M627  $180 58.   7 8 12.5 380 3 0.6 3	   • • •		     Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart M527  $150 56.   6 7 12.5 200 3 2.1 3	   •	•		     Olympus Stylus 1000  $300 53.   10 5 17.1 260 4 1.1 3	   • •		  •   SUBCOMPACT MODELS   Canon PowerShot SD430  $450 74.   5 5 11.5 520 2 0.8 3	   • •			    Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2  $350 74.   10 24 15.7 300 1 0.3 3 •	• •			    Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH  $370 72.   7.1 7 16.4 160 2 1 3	   • •			    Casio Exilim EX-Z850  $300 72.   8.1 6 14.1 440 2 0.6 3 •	• •		  •    Fujifilm FinePix F30  $290 70.   6.3 7 21.3 600 2 0.6 3 •	• •		  •    Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50  $200 70.   6 6 13.8 400 1 0.4 3	   • •			    Canon PowerShot SD900  $400 69.   10 8 16.7 240 2 0.7 3	   • •			    Casio Exilim Card EX-S600  $210 69.   6 5 9.2 300 7 0.2 3	   • •		  •    Casio Exilim EX-Z1000  $270 69.   10.1 6 11.8 360 3 0.3 3	   • •		  •    Kodak EasyShare V570  $240 69.   5 5 6.2 150 1 0.4 3	   • •	   •	   Samsung NV10  $300 69.   10.1 6 14.8 180 3 1 3 • • • •		  •    Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10  $350 69.   7.2 5 9.2 260 1 0.3 3	   • •		  •    Fujifilm FinePix V10  $250 68.   5.1 6 14.4 170 2 0.6 3.4	   • •			    Nikon Coolpix L6  $170 67.   6 7 16.4 560 2 0.7 3	   •	•		     Kodak EasyShare V705  $350 65.   7.1 6 7.2 150 2 0.6 3	   • •			    Olympus Stylus 710  $220 65.   7.1 4 13.1 180 3 0.8 3	   • •		  •    Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01  $240 65.   6 6 13.1 320 3 1.1 3.6	   • •	   • •    Canon PowerShot SD30  $250 64.   5 4 6.6 160 2 0.7 2.4	   • •			    Fujifilm FinePix Z3  $200 64.   5.1 5 9.8 200 2 0.6 3	   • •		  •    Pentax Optio A10  $200 63.   8 5 16.4 150 6 1.6 3	   • •		  •    Kodak EasyShare V610  $290 62.   6 6 11.2 140 3 0.5 9	   • •			    Canon PowerShot SD630  $250 61.   6 6 11.5 160 2 1 3	   • •			    Olympus Stylus 720SW  $330 61.   7.1 6 12.5 180 3 1 3	   • •		  •    Pentax Optio A20  $270 61.   10 5 23.3 150 3 1.3 3 •	• •		  •    Nikon Coolpix L3  $150 58.   6 6 9.8 340 2 1.6 3	   •	•		     Olympus Stylus 740  $260 55.   7.1 6 12.5 200 2 0.8 5	   • •		  •    Pentax Optio T10  $260 55.   6 6 14.8 130 6 1.3 3	   • •			    Nikon Coolpix S6  $240 53.   6 6 8.5 200 2 0.8 3	   • •			   ADVANCED COMPACT MODELS   Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd  $340 77.   6.3 6 27.2 400 2 0.5 10.7 • • •	• • • •    Fujifilm FinePix E900 CR Best Buy $300 73.   9 9 12.1 280 2 0.8 4 • • • • •		     Olympus SP-350  $200 70.   8 8 12.5 200 7 1.4 3 • • •	•		     Kodak EasyShare P712  $420 69.   7.1 16 17.4 260 2 0.9 12 • • • •	•	•    Leica D-LUX 2  $720 69.   8.3 8 5.9 240 6 1 4 •	• •	   • •   SUPER ZOOM MODELS   Canon PowerShot S2 IS  $280 81.   5 19 17.1 560 2 1.1 12 • • •	• •	•    Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2  $300 80.   6 18 29.5 400 1 0.3 12 • • • • •	   •    Fujifilm FinePix S5200 CR Best Buy $250 79.   5.1 17 13.1 520 1 0.6 10 • • •	• •	•    Canon PowerShot S3 IS  $360 75.   6 18 17.1 560 2 0.6 12 • • •	• •	•    Fujifilm FinePix S9000  $510 73.   9 27 18.4 340 2 1.1 10.7 • • •	• • • •    Kodak EasyShare Z612  $270 73.   6.1 12 15.4 260 2 0.4 12 • • • •		  •    Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1  $250 71.   5 9 12.1 260 2 1.3 10	• • •		  •    Nikon Coolpix S4  $250 69.   6 9 9.8 300 3 0.9 10	   •	•	   •  

 

 

I have an A630 and love it.

 

Consumer Reports: The numbers in order are Price, CR Rating, Megapixels, Weight (oz), Flash Range in feet (1 decimal place), battery life, next shot delay in seconds, shutter lag, and optical zoom.

 

The A640 is the highest rated (76) by consumer reports, followed very closely by the A630 (75). Things I like about the Canons are battery life (520 shots) and type of battery (AA instead of rechargeable). The next shot delay at 2s has been acceptable for me, but that might change when 3 year old gets a little faster!

 

I haven't tried to print anything larger than a 4x6, but from what I understand even the 8 will result in good clarity at that size.

 

Note the highest rated CR Best Buy is the Kodak Easy Share, but 260 shots from a set of batteries worried me. Last thing I wanted was to not use it for a week or so and have to replace the batteries.

 

If you want more detail or the above information in another format, drop me a PM.

[Azazello1313]

for a point and shoot i don't think 10 MP is really necessary, 8 is more than enough. you reach a point of diminishing return, and with the optics, size of the camera, etc. on a p&s like that, i think 10MP is beyond it. if it were me i think i'd save the dough.

 

hey that reminds me....once you buy this thing, i've got a brand new, never opened top of the line 2 GB SD memory card if you want it. sandisk extreme iii, let me know if you want it. i was browsing through compact flash cards when i got my new camera a few weeks ago and somehow going through the links from one product to another i ended up accidentally buying an SD chip .

[rocknrobn26]

They both are solid cameras. 8Mp vs 10Mp is worth it if you plan on doing heavy cropping to simulate 10x+ zooms, as the camera is 4x. If not, as Az says, the diff. is negligible. Both will do well w/ 8"x10" prints if not cropped too heavily. The 640 has a slightly faster drive mode. The Canon G7 is their Flagship. 10Mp, 6x zoom, option lenses, faster drive mode (2fps), and image stabilization....handy when zooms go over 4x or when shooting video. It's ~$339. When I bought P & S cameras I got spoiled by the Olympus' and their 10x zoom. But that's me.

 

The extra $60 can buy some accessories. I usually tell people to allow around 20% of the budget for them. More for an SLR. Bag, cards, batts., and lens cloth are minimal.

 

Check this out. Drag and drop up to 3 models for a real side by side comparison:

Compare......

 

Last sugg. is regardless of which you decide on, make sure you get at least a week, 14 days preferable, full refund guaranteed, and put the camera thru it's paces, develop the pics, and decide. Try to use as many features as possible.

 

Good luck. Have fun! And if you have any more questions....just ask!

[darin3]

I have an SD-630 and I absolutely love it.

[darin3]

I have an SD-630 and I absolutely love it.

 

 

Oh, sorry... to answer your question: the SD-630 is "only" 6 mega pixels and it is more than enough, IMO. So I wouldn't pay $60 to go from 8 to 10.

[wiegie]

Thanks for the input. I went with the A630 (which I got tonight at newegg.com for $183.00 which included a 1 gig SD card). (Interestingly, when I posted this thread three days ago, the price for the camera at newegg was $199, so I am pretty happy I waited a few days to pull the trigger.) (By comparison, Costco wants $229 for it (but includes a 2 gig card. I will hopefully not be upset that I won't have Costco's awesome return policy to fall back on in case something goes wrong.)