Which camera would you choose?  Canon S40 or Olympus D-40?  Both are
small, both are 4 MP, both record small movies, etc...  Canon uses RAW
and Olympus uses TIFF for the highest quality pictures.  Canon has a
proprietary battery and Olympus can use AA in a pinch.  Canon is
approxiamtely $75 more...

Help?

texquest,

What a tough decision. Since you have narrowed  your choice to these
two cameras, I’d have to go with the Canon S40, as it seems to deliver
the best output. After all, a good final result is the reason we take
pictures, isn’t it? The Canon S40 does come with, as you said, a
rechargeable battery as well as the Lithium ion battery. Try to
develop the habit of keeping the batteries charged at all times.

PC World Magazine, online has a comparison chart, listing both of your
choices.
Olympus D40 beat out the Canon S40 overall, by just ONE point in
PCWorld’s review but the Canon got “Outstanding” for output, which is
probably what you are most interested in, considering you are looking
at RAW vs TIFF. The Olympus won out for battery life, however.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,78058,pg,2,00.asp

Canon S40 video out can go to NTSC or PAL (Good if you travel
overseas)
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s40-30/specs.html

Olympus D40 -hard to see through viewfinder, uses up batteries
quickly!
http://www.edgereview.com/ataglance.cfm?category=imaging&ID=272


From DLC Photography, reasons to choose RAW. RAW can be converted to
TIFF.
“Simply stated, Raw Format in the Canon D30 provides data directly
from the CMOS sensor, as "pure" and "unprocessed" as possible. It
captures the full "bit-depth" that the D30 sensor captures (12-bit vs
the 8-bit of most other digital cameras), which in turn provides the
data needed to obtain the best images”
http://www.dlcphotography.net/RawFormatWorkflow/RawFormatWorkflow.htm

Hope this has helped you make a tough decision. If any part of my
answer is not clear, before rating, please ask for an Answer
Clarification. This will enable me to clarify the answer  for you.

Regards,
crabcakes

Thanks.  I ordered the S40 today!

Hello texquest-ga,
Out of the two, I would chose the S40 as that uses the same
electronics as the highly acclaimed Canon G2 but in a more compact
body, different lens and less some features.
This picture (large file) taken with the S40  from Steves Digicams
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/d40/samples/P9300115.JPG
is better than the more blurred indistinct image from the D40
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/d40/samples/P9300115.JPG
(just look at those woolly trees in the D40 image)

Here are some more images for you to compare at Steves Digicams
S40 images
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/canon_s40_samples.html
D40 images
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/d40_samples.html

Personally I feel the S40 is streets ahead in the image department but
image quality may not be the top of  your priorities. Other features
such as size, styling, functions add to the overall package. But as
you are after a 4 mega pixels camera I assume image quality is high on
your list.

However before you run out to buy a S40 (if you decide on a S40),
or perhaps you discount the S40 in favour of the D40, the new Canon
S45 is in the wings for the U.S. market, a much improved version of
the S40 with new DIGIC processor and shares much the same technology
as the new Canon G3 already released in the States.
Canon.co.jp
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/PSS45/PSS45_1-e.html
The S45 is already released in Asia and in Europe (I'm a proud owner
of a S45)

It's been reviewed on a UK digital camera site DP review
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons45/

Kind regards
lot-ga

Sorry texquest-ga
NOTE: the first link in my comment is supposed to be
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/canon_s40/samples/IMG_2159.JPG
!
apologies, if you were struggling to see any difference...as there was
no difference!
regards
lot-ga

Just to add one more vote for the Canon - it is a fantastic camera - I
umm'ed and er'ed about it vs. the Fuji Finepix 601, and I'm very glad
I made the right choice. The picture quality is simply brilliant -
even compressed with JPEG. I haven't used the RAW format much (as the
JPEG is so good) but it is also great - and, I think, generates files
that are considerably smaller than the TIFF option.

Get the S40 - you won't regret it!

Cheers

Dave

Thanks.  I ordered the S40 today!

For your info
new S45 just released in the U.S. Dec 03 2002
Canon U.S.A Press Release
http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/02_dec_s45.html
Canon S45 features
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s45/index.html