Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Incredible Quality, Several Small Problems
Wow. I got my s230 about five weeks ago, and have taken over 1500 photos already. I am thrilled with the quality of the camera. It is heavy, built with a very sturdy case, the buttons are quality, the menus (software) are incredibly concise and easy to use/understand. Of course, what most people are concerned with is the picture quality--for this type of camera, it is outstanding. Very few of my photos have turned out "flat" and looking like cheap digital pics. Most of them are vibrant and full of depth and detail.Here are the only problems I've encountered so far: 1) The worst problem is the delay from the time you push the button to the time the photo takes. It is NEVER immediate, and often takes half a second or more. This is fine for a posed shot, but good luck taking action shots or candid moments. You have to learn the art of predicting where people and objects will be in a half second. Do not buy this camera if you intend to take photos of people in action, i.e. playing sports. You will miss every key photo. I have not found any way around this--playing with the settings does not change the delay. 2) Dust collects in the viewfinder lens (on the outside). Not a major problem, but it's very difficult to clean. 3) The 2x optical zoom is indeed small. You will have moments where it frustrates you. 4) The flash is weak and does create bad red eye. 5) The custom USB connection point seems very delicate. I am concerned that in the future this will wear out (however, that is just a guess--no problems have occurred yet). 6) The tripod mount is in an awkward position (on the left, but the trigger button is on the right, so the camera tends to wiggle while shooting on a tripod). As for the battery life, I have no problems. I've taken dozens of photos and movies (using the flash and the lcd screen) and it has lasted fine. No complaints there. The memory card is very small for taking hi-res pics, so you will have to get a bigger one. This thing has changed my life. I slip it in my pocket everywhere I go, and it has not let me down. I would highly recommend getting one. Incredible quality + very few complaints.
Rating:  - The S230's big secret - amazing video capability
The deciding factor for me in getting this camera turned out to be its high-quality video capability. As far as I am aware, there is no digital still camera that can compete with the sharp resolution of the movie clips this camera can produce (though Canon's Powershot A70 comes close).Who would guess that a camera this tiny would win the prize in that department? Yet it's true. I was considering going with this camera's 4 megapixel sibling, the s400. Yet ironically and weirdly, that camera, which is supposed to represent an upgrade to this one, has only a lower-quality video capability. [Who at] Canon...made that decision? I don't want to give the impression that this camera's video can compete with that of a real video camera. Be prepared for these limitations: 1) In the highest resolution setting (recommended), each clip is limited to a maximum of 30 seconds. It is 3 minutes in the lower settings. 2) Settings like focusing, zoom, and exposure do not adjust during a video clip. This means that if your subject starts out in the shade and shifts to a bright setting, it may look overexposed. 3) The recorded sound of the video is not great, with some hiss always audible and pronounced wind noise in a breeze. 4) You don't get the 30fps of a real video camera, so the motion is not as smooth-looking. 5) No digital stabilization. Hold the camera very steady or use a tripod. 6) You need lots of memory to record videos, approximately 1MB per second. I purchased two 512 MB flash cards. Each can record over 8 minutes of video clips, or hold over 300 highest-resolution photos. A 512 costs a little over $100 right now. Despite these limitations, the extreme portability of this camera has convinced me to use it for most of my video shooting. The 30-second time limit is not as bad as you might at first think. Even when using my dedicated video camera, I doubt I have taken many shots of greater length. The ones that are longer are boring anyway. And I have found a solution to the terrible wind noise. By putting the smallest bandaid I could find over the tiny dot of a microphone (to serve as a wind screen), the wind noise was completely eliminated without, amazingly, cutting down the audibility of other sounds. Being able to take photographs when appropriate, and videos when appropriate, with the flip of a switch from the same tiny camera that you can take anywhere, is wonderful. You can even combine both into great movies using tools like Microsoft's PhotoStory (PLUS Digital Media edition software) and Windows Moviemaker version 2 (which is a free download for XP users).
Rating: - High quality images, solid design, top notch portability.
I recently sold my Canon S30. While it was an EXCELLENT camera, I still found myself wanting a more compact design. It wasn't difficult to decide upon the S230 from the Digital ELPH line of camera's once they had a 3.2MP version.I'll say this, everything about this camera is top notch. If your looking for a high quality, well built camera that easily fits in your pocket, look no further. Only bad thing I can think of is the rubber door that covers the proprietary connection port on the side of the camera. It seems pretty flimsy and eventually with enough opening and closing may just wear off. It's a very thin piece of rubber. Other then that, that's all I can think of. You can try and knock the flash or the weak optical zoom, but if you consider the size of camera your working with I'd say they are more then adequate. If you need a lot of flash power, or a big zoom lense, look for another camera.
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