DaveT wrote in message . ..

This points out an aps feature that is often overlooked. If you don't
have the camera with you then you can't take a picture at all. APS is a
perfect fit for casual non-professional use.
Absolutely correct. I have an Elph Jr. that carries in a pager-sized
pouch on my belt. It has a razor-sharp four element f2.8 non-zoom
lens that gives a very good account of itself. My main camera is a
Canon A1, but anymore, I take many more pictures with the Elph.

APS is one offering to the "grab camera" market, but far from the
only one. Let's compare that Elph Jr. to, say, an Olympus Stylus
Epic 35mm:

Lens:
Elph Jr. -- 26mm 4 element/4 group lens @ f/2.8
Olympus -- 35mm 4 element/4 group lens @ f/2.8
Note -- Elph is roughly equivalent to a 33mm lens for 35mm.

Size:
Elph Jr. -- 3.5" x 2.4" x 0.9" -- 4.4 oz.
Olympus -- 4.3" x 2.3" x 1.5" -- 4.7 oz.

Minimum Focus and required light:
Elph Jr. -- 1.5 feet. EV2
Olympus -- 1.1 feet. EV1

Rangefinder Magnification:
Elph Jr. -- 0.35x
Olympus -- 0.45x

Flash Range at ISO 200:
Elph Jr. -- 17'8"
Olympus -- 19'1"
Note -- These are computed values.
Elph Jr. quotes 12.5' with ISO 100, but ISO 100
numbers are moot unless you can buy ISO 100 film.

Auto Film Loading?
Elph Jr. -- Yes
Olympus -- Almost.

I could go on nit-picking, or I could run similar numbers against
any of a number of small digitals. But to what point? All of them
are roughly the same size, and all will produce a nice looking print
up to about 8x12 or so. The 35mm Epic does better at 11x16, but a
goodly number of users don't really care about that.

So in my mind, we're back to square "A" as in _A_dvanced Photo System.
APS has some nice film handling and recording features. At least in
theory -- the last time I brought a roll of APS into my local
Walgreens, they ignored the H/C/P settings and printed everything as
a 4x6. Twice.

Balance those features against paying a little more for developing
(at least where I live), with fewer choices for film, and the film
goes on sale less often.

Does APS suck? I don't think so, but I also don't think it has
sufficient advantages over 35mm to justify the higher cost, let
alone any decrease in quality. It's even more vulnerable to
competition from digitals.

--
Michael Benveniste --
I've got a Nikon Camera, I love to take a photograph. But Mama
they took my Kodachrome 25 away.