2013-12-05

ELPH 330 HS modification.

Only the 2nd day and already I can't help myself.
A bit of hot melt glue to aid the grip. Possibly fairly useless but may help on occasion.
A bit more around the video recording button to hopefully avoid accidental recording, something that's already happened too often. Also a dab on the function button to make it easier to press, it's a very useful button. These issues are noted in reviews and this is a workaround.

Already I've noted what the on-line reviews have, it has exceptionally good picture quality, what it has also reinforced in my mind after some test sessions is just how good the Olympus SZ-16 travelzoom is, despite it being generally unknown it has to be near the best of the pocketable travelzooms, lacking only the features of its upmarket brother the Olympus SH-50 but at least matching its image quality.

Naturally I was virtually forced to buy this grey market Canon rather than the local market IXUS 255 HS version, for whatever usual reason locally it's only available in boring black and bland grey, which they call silver in an attempt to put some desirability in peoples minds. Pink is much prettier.
Why did I buy a camera I didn't really need?
Image quality, all test shots I've viewed have been great.
Size, it's tiny so fits easily in a pocket.
Price, not so dear.
12 megapixels, quite enough plus smaller file sizes to save than the usual 16 megapixel compacts.
Maximum aperture f3, it may spook the reviewers but much wider seems to always bring focus and lack of depth of field issues into play, f3 is good and the lens is sharp centre to edge.
No RAW or many other features that some find indispensable but for me just add a layer of complexity for a very minimal return.

The not so good are the button issues I've had a play with.
The wide end is 24mm equivalent, I would prefer closer to 30, but it's sharp at 24 unlike many so no real drama.
The wi-fi is useless to me despite having a home network.
Some firmware things I'm not fond of but a fix may come for them.
The battery has to be charged out of camera meaning a spare is needed, they're cheap but it can be very convenient to be able to recharge from a USB port.
No doubt more things will bug me but the picture quality will ease them.

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