Please Help me choose - Sony P200 vs Canon SD500?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

success_ny@yahoo.com wrote:
> Both seem to be great cameras. Canon is a bit pricier, but I just want
> to choose the best of the 2.

I bought the P200 in February and at the time the SD500 had not hit the
market. When it came out I thought about switching as I like the
general "look" of images from Canon's cameras. I decided to hold on to
the P200 once I studied the features of the SD500. Here are the reasons
that made me keep the P200:

1) The battery life and remaining charge indicator on the P200 is
better than the SD500. The P200 can give over 200 minutes of shooting
time on a charge. I have never come close to draining the battery after
a full day of shooting.

2) The lens on the P200 has no CA issue at all. The samples I saw from
the SD500 showed noticeable problems in this area. Also, the P200 lens
provides very crisp images. I was really surprised at how well its lens
performed.

3) The LCD is very well protected on the P200. You would have to
subject the camera to SERIOUS abuse to break it. I have read where many
have broken the LCDs on the SD series cameras.

4) The P200 has very, very few problems with red-eye on flash shots.
The SD500 has the typical problems seen with most small P&S cameras.

5) The P200 displays shutter/aperture/histogram information real-time
before the shot is taken. The SD500 does not. This is useful to know
because it tells you if you're about to take a picture that will have a
high probability and blur etc.

6) The P200 has a manual mode where the SD500 does not. This is the
main reason I kept the P200. Over the months I used the Sony I came to
really rely on the manual mode to get a wide range of shots that I
couldn't get with the auto settings. The P200 will sync the flash to
shutter speeds up to 1/1,000th of a second. This allows you to freeze
about any action that is within the flash's range. It also allows for
flash shots at shutter speeds that are lower (1/100, 1/200 etc.) which
helps to ensure good crisp images under a variety of circumstances. The
other useful feature of the P200 manual mode is the shutter can also
extend out to 30 seconds. This allows for long exposure, low ISO night
shots. I have taken many photos this way and they really turn out great.

7) The P200 allows the user to preset the focus. This eliminates
shutter lag and greatly improves the user's ability to take quick shots
of moving objects that stay in the DOF of the camera's focus setting.
Preset focus combined with a P&S's wide DOF makes this a powerful feature.

8) The P200 is the clear price winner. You can get a P200, 1 gig MS
and possibly a spare battery for the cost of the SD500 alone.

The SD500 has some neat features like the "My Colors" but it just didn't
make up for the lack of user controls found on the P200. Once I
experienced how useful they were to me I just couldn't do without them.