Digital Cameras: Tiny and Terrific Digicams
Digicams scarcely larger than a film canister still pack in the megapixels.Alan Stafford
A bulky digital camera is like an SUV: If you have trouble finding a place to park it, you'll probably leave it at home a lot. But you won't have that problem with three new models from Canon, Fujifilm, and Sony--the camera equivalents of nimble subcompacts.
The $400 Canon PowerShot S230 Digital Elph, the $350 Fujifilm FinePix F402, and the $270 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U20 each weigh less than half a pound and can slip into most pockets (or hang around your neck--the Fujifilm and Sony models include tethers; the Canon has a fitting to accept one). The shipping Canon we tested packs a 3.2-megapixel resolution, compared to 2.1 megapixels on the shipping Fujifilm and 2 megapixels on the preproduction Sony.
Size Matters Most
The Canon Digital Elph, introduced in mid-2000, was the first respectable miniature digital camera. This newest Elph, while still small, seems almost chunky in comparison to the tiny FinePix F402 and the Cyber-shot DSC-U20. The PowerShot S230's exquisite stainless-steel body feels substantial and looks exotic compared to most other digital cameras--big or small. It fits easily into a shirt pocket, but its heft may make carrying it there uncomfortable.
Fujifilm's F402 is flat--similar in shape and style to the Kodak Disc film cameras of the early 1980s, but smaller. Its aluminum alloy body feels almost as well-made as the Canon's, but its small size allows it to fit comfortably in a shirt pocket. Its coolest design feature: a trance-inducing, ice-blue light that glows briefly when the camera turns on.
The smallest of the three cameras, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U20, has a magnesium-alloy case that will fit comfortably almost anywhere, including a front pants pocket; an adult can even conceal it easily in one hand. All three cameras protect their lenses with retracting covers.
To stuff features into their small cases, these cameras do make concessions in ease of use. All have tiny buttons that make changing settings a bit trying. Fujifilm positioned the FinePix F402's macro, digital zoom, and flash setting buttons together in a straight line where your thumb rests, and I flubbed several shots by pushing one of the buttons without realizing it. The Sony DSC-U20's most glaring fault is its thumbnail-sized LCD screen: It's so tiny that framing shots is difficult, and it also causes on-screen information (such as shot number) to obscure images during playback.
Traveling Light
All three digicams come with chargers and rechargeable batteries. The Sony has the smallest camera body, but its charger is about four times the size of the camera, with a thick, 6-foot-long cord, and together they weigh almost as much as the Canon and its charger. The Fuji's charger is much smaller, with electrical prongs that fold inward--but its cord, while thin, is just as long as the Sony's. Canon offers the best design by far: Its lightweight charger is the same size as the camera, but it has no cord--its prongs fold into the charger when not in use, and the battery slides into the charger. We didn't run formal battery testing on these models, but the FinePix F402 held out longest on a picture-snapping weekend trip.
Conveniently, the FinePix F402 also works with an good-looking $80 optional cradle that recharges the camera's battery and connects to your computer via USB; the camera's memory card shows up as a drive letter on your PC. The FinePix F402 also uses a new flash-memory card format, XD-Picture Card, that is less than half the size of a SmartMedia card. This new card is supposed to be faster, stingier on battery consumption, and more durable. XD-Picture Cards should eventually hold up to 8GB of data.
Thanks to its higher resolution, zoom lens, and more-sophisticated exposure controls, the Canon took the best photos of the three. But like many others, both the PowerShot S230 and the Sony DSC-U20 fire the flash twice in dim settings--once to get a reading to set the exposure, and once to illuminate the subject. That slows down both cameras, although the Sony is slightly faster. The FinePix F402 uses an external flash sensor, and it proved to be the fastest of the three when using the flash.
All three cameras can capture MPEG movies, although all produce somewhat choppy video. The Canon cannot adjust its aperture while recording a movie, so if your subject moves from a shadow into the light, that portion of the movie will appear overexposed. The Sony doesn't record audio.
Small Is All
The Canon PowerShot S230 Digital Elph takes the best pictures in this group. And the Sony DSC-U20 definitely wins points for its small size (except for the tiny LCD screen). For a superportable camera, however, I liked Fujifilm's attractive FinePix F402 best. It snaps good pictures with little fuss, it has a relatively large LCD screen, and it is just about as easy to tote around as the smaller Sony.
| Buying Information |
Cyber-shot DSC-U20 Sony. (Preproduction version, not rated) In addition to being the smallest digital camera we've seen, it has the smallest LCD screen. List: $270 |
| Buying Information |
FinePix F402 4.0 stars (12/05/2002) Fujifilm. Attractive and well made, it's as good a camera as you'll find for the size and price. Street: $350 |
| Buying Information |
PowerShot S230 Digital Elph 4.0 stars (12/05/2002) Canon. A fine design, but it's a bit chunky for weight watchers. Street: $400 |
Digicams Get Smaller, Lighter
| Camera | Price | Dimensions 1 | Weight (camera/camera with charger) 2 | Resolution (megapixels) | Screen size (inches, diagonal) | Zoom |
| Canon PowerShot S230 Digital Elph | $400 | 3.4 by 2.2 by 1.1 inches (cigarette pack) | 7.8 ounces/10.6 ounces | 3.2 | 1.5 | 2X optical |
| Fujifilm FinePix F402 | $350 | 3.0 by 2.7 by 0.9 inches (Altoids tin) | 5.0 ounces/8.8 ounces | 2.1 | 1.5 | 3.6X digital |
| Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U20 | $270 | 3.4 by 1.6 by 1.2 inches (large chewing gum pack) | 4.1 ounces/10.5 ounces | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2X digital |