When I was buying my digital camera one of the feature I had in mind was manual controls. I did not wanted a simple pointand shoot type camera. Being the geek I am, I wanted to tweak the settings a bit to suit my needs. So I settled for Canon S45 first which was stolen and then I bought S50. Both of these cameras have manual controls but only available thru menu. Now after heavy use of these cameras I have come to the conclusion that these controls are not of much value. If you indulge in setting these using the menus – scene being photographed would change. Therefore a S400 would have also fitted the bill.

Conclusion: If you really want to play with manual controls on a camera go for analog controls, the good ol’s rotating dials.