All Corporations and LLCs pay the $800 franchise tax.
There's no such entity as an S corp. You have LLCs and you have corporations. Either one can elect tax treatment as an S corporation.
A foreign (meaning out of state) corporation that does buisiness in California is still subject to the franchise tax.
If you don't think you're going to do enough business, I might suggest you just register a fictitious name (also known as a T/A or D/B/A) for yourself with the state and operate it as a sole proprietorship. If things get going better, you can always create the LLC/Corporation. Note that you don't get a whole lot of liability protection if you're a one-man operation even if you have a corporation.

