Any reason NOT to buy Canon PowerShot S1 IS?

[brigden]

Originally posted by: Ornery
The 10D is not a Point & Shoot. The OP is about to drop $300.00 for a camera. IMO, that should be enough money to guarantee that 90% of the images that come out of it are keepers. The $400.00 Point & Shoot I purchased, was returned because of the low light focus issue. Thank God it could be returned!

What did the other cameras capture from that day? For a once in a lifetime event, one that you bother to drag your camera to, don't you want the results to be spectacular? At least decent?

Exactly.

The A40 I've got sucks major arse in anything but perfect sunlight. I'm also looking at the S60 and the A85.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Link

your sarcasm meter is busted again dude, i dont have that panasonic i might have recomended it tho,, it does have an impressive zoom and image stabelizers

The point is, instead of a smart ass, useless reply, why don't you suggest something?

That Panasonic looks kick ass. Not sure if it's even available, but it certainly looks like a contender!

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Ornery
No, no, no!

The OP of this topic specifically mentioned, "more often than not I'm just snapping pics of my GF and I, or group pictures in low-light conditions."

THAT is the kind of examples I want to see. THAT is where I've found most of these $300.00 Point & Shoot cameras fall down.

Never had a problem with my point and shoot. The AF beam works fine for me. I mostly shoot in Manual, P if I need to snap quick shots. If it doesn?t lock focus, I move a bit, and try to get the shot I want. But I find your clams to be a bit exaggerated.

Though, I agree with you on the S1 IS. I would skip it and get a something with a hot shoe (for 600 bucks it better!).

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Ornery
The 10D is not a Point & Shoot. The OP is about to drop $300.00 for a camera. IMO, that should be enough money to guarantee that 90% of the images that come out of it are keepers. The $400.00 Point & Shoot I purchased, was returned because of the low light focus issue. Thank God it could be returned!

What did the other cameras capture from that day? For a once in a lifetime event, one that you bother to drag your camera to, don't you want the results to be spectacular? At least decent?

I'm not really sure you'll find anything in the $300 range that'll give 90% keepers if you just take it out of the box and start shooting. Key is to learn your camera. For a once in a lifetime event, one that you bother to drag your camera to, don't you want to know what you're doing?

And to dispel the notion you need hologram assisted AF to conquer low-light conditions:

S45 F/2.8 7mm 1sec center-weighted

 

[Ornery]

"I find your clams to be a bit exaggerated."

I bought that S50 for an awesome price and it took VERY nice pictures a lot of the time. There was very little shutter lag, and the size was nice. Trouble is, we take a lot of pictures indoors, at birthday parties and what not. It failed to be able to focus lock, far too many times. Way too many missed shots while trying to accomodate the camera's limitations. You would have to move the camera about, as you mentioned, or zoom wide. That's what prompted me to shoot those images for the test. Does that look like dim lighting conditions to you? Can you imagine how poorly it performed in a room lit by only a few 75 watt bulbs? The camera HAD to go back. That was simply too poor performance for that kind of money.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: virtuamike
I'm not really sure you'll find anything in the $300 range that'll give 90% keepers if you just take it out of the box and start shooting. Key is to learn your camera. For a once in a lifetime event, one that you bother to drag your camera to, don't you want to know what you're doing?

And to dispel the notion you need hologram assisted AF to conquer low-light conditions:

S45 F/2.8 7mm 1sec center-weighted

I for one appreciate your honest input and assessment, Mike. Thank you.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Ornery
"I find your clams to be a bit exaggerated."

I bought that S50 for an awesome price and it took VERY nice pictures a lot of the time. There was very little shutter lag, and the size was nice. Trouble is, we take a lot of pictures indoors, at birthday parties and what not. It failed to be able to focus lock, far too many times. Way too many missed shots while trying to accomodate the camera's limitations. You would have to move the camera about, as you mentioned, or zoom wide. That's what prompted me to shoot those images for the test. Does that look like dim lighting conditions to you? Can you imagine how poorly it performed in a room lit by only a few 75 watt bulbs? The camera HAD to go back. That was simply too poor performance for that kind of money.

The 2 pics that came out sharp on the Sony were shot w/ flash. For your 1/10 and 1/15 S50 shots, were they handheld? Tripod?

I bet if you disabled the flash on the Sony, you'd get the exact same results. And the reason you have to zoom wide is because the lens doesn't let in as much light zoomed in. Besides in a lowlight situation, why do you want to be far away? Flash has limited range, too far away and you won't get good results.

Again, it's all about knowing your camera. The S1 IS is fine, just play with it and you'll figure out pretty quick what you can and can't do.

 

[mzkhadir]

Take a look at this review, they have very good reviews on cameras. I bought my Fuji s7000 after reading a review , plus the price was nice.

Here is the end result:

Conclusion - Pros

Very small, handles really well
Packed with features
Image stabilization works really well (and can be used in movie mode)
Very quiet
Fast and responsive
Stunning movie mode with high quality sound
Impressive continuous (burst) shooting
Good color, good exposure, generally accurate focus
'Punchy' results straight out of the camera
Clean images at lower ISO settings
Impressively little distortion for such a large lens
Enjoyable and easy to use
Optional wide and tele adapters and underwater housing


Conclusion - Cons

Some focus errors - especially at the telephoto end of the zoom
Slow AF at longer focal lengths, can struggle in low light
No AF illuminator
Noisy above ISO200
No rechargeable batteries
Small screen, viewfinder difficult to see in very bright or very dark conditions
Images lack 'bite' - resolution is average at best
No RAW or TIFF mode
Limit to highest shutter speed usable at wide apertures

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: virtuamike

the test.

The 2 pics that came out sharp on the Sony were shot w/ flash. For your 1/10 and 1/15 S50 shots, were they handheld? Tripod?

I bet if you disabled the flash on the Sony, you'd get the exact same results. And the reason you have to zoom wide is because the lens doesn't let in as much light zoomed in. Besides in a lowlight situation, why do you want to be far away? Flash has limited range, too far away and you won't get good results.

Again, it's all about knowing your camera. The S1 IS is fine, just play with it and you'll figure out pretty quick what you can and can't do.

I blew it on the V1 shots, in not turning off the flash, but that's irrelevant. The test is for whether the camera is able to focus in that lighting condition. As soon as I got the V1 unwrapped, I charged the battery. After it was charged, I stuck it in the camera, pointed at the subject and shot the first two images from it. If the flash had not been on, the images would have been grainy, yes. But again, the point is that it could focus. That was the ONLY point of that test. Nothing to do with the color reproduction, white balance, shutter speed or anything else. I hope that's clear now...


"...in a lowlight situation, why do you want to be far away?"

The first shots in that test were from little more than arm's length away! WTF? Why are you making excuses for that camera?

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Ornery
"I find your clams to be a bit exaggerated."

I bought that S50 for an awesome price and it took VERY nice pictures a lot of the time. There was very little shutter lag, and the size was nice. Trouble is, we take a lot of pictures indoors, at birthday parties and what not. It failed to be able to focus lock, far too many times. Way too many missed shots while trying to accomodate the camera's limitations. You would have to move the camera about, as you mentioned, or zoom wide. That's what prompted me to shoot those images for the test. Does that look like dim lighting conditions to you? Can you imagine how poorly it performed in a room lit by only a few 75 watt bulbs? The camera HAD to go back. That was simply too poor performance for that kind of money.

I?m wondering how the S series and the A series differ in term of low light performance.

Like someone said though, you gotta learn what the capability of the camera is. Anyway, I'd suggest brigden use one good advice Ornery gave in another thread; Buy the camera you want in a retail store so you can test it out. If it doesn?t meet your needs, then exchange it or get your money back. Obviously you will pay a bit more depending on the place you buy from, but it might be worth it if you decide to return it for a refund (besides, if you like the camera, you can get a refund and buy from a cheaper place).

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: virtuamike

the test.

The 2 pics that came out sharp on the Sony were shot w/ flash. For your 1/10 and 1/15 S50 shots, were they handheld? Tripod?

I bet if you disabled the flash on the Sony, you'd get the exact same results. And the reason you have to zoom wide is because the lens doesn't let in as much light zoomed in. Besides in a lowlight situation, why do you want to be far away? Flash has limited range, too far away and you won't get good results.

Again, it's all about knowing your camera. The S1 IS is fine, just play with it and you'll figure out pretty quick what you can and can't do.

I blew it on the V1 shots, in not turning off the flash, but that's irrelivant. The test is for whether the camera is able to focus in that lighting condition. As soon as I got the V1 unwrapped, I charged the battery. After it was charged, I stuck it in the camera, pointed at the subject and shot the first two images from it. If the flash had not been on, the images would have been grainy, yes. But again, the point is that it could focus. That was the ONLY point of that test. Nothing to do with the color reproduction, white balance, shutter speed or anything else. I hope that's clear now...

With flash on, your shutter speed is 1/60. With flash off, the only shot that was focused was at 1/40. Everything blurry was at 1/20. Hats off to anyone that can shoot handheld at 1/20 or slower without IS or VR or whatnot and not have their pics come out blurry. And you said it yourself, the camera doesn't like focusing unless it's zoomed out. So why not just shoot wide?

Another thing to consider: how close physically were you to the printer? Since you were partially zoomed in, if you were under the minimum distance for your focal length, did you try putting the camera into macro mode?

 

[Ornery]

Man, I don't advocate screwing department stores around like that. I fully intended to keep each camera I purchased. Got the best possible deals by price matching at Sears, and Circuit City. I have no doubt that Sears was able to sell that opened S50 for more than I paid them for it!

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Ornery
The first shots in that test were from little more than arm's length away! WTF? Why are you making excuses for that camera?

According to specs for my S45 (I'm pretty sure S50 used the same lens):

Lens:
- 7.1mm (W F2.8) - 21.3mm (T F4.9)

Shooting distance (from tip of lens barrel):
- normal 50 cm (1.6ft)

Looking at all your test specs, you were shooting at full zoom. You had to be a minimum of 1.6ft away to even give the S45 a chance to focus without dropping it into macro mode. And at full zoom, you're shooting a lot slower than you would at wide.

I'm not making excuses, just pointing out that there's plenty of homework you should do before you blame the camera.

 

[Ornery]

With flash on, your shutter speed is 1/60. With flash off, the only shot that was focused was at 1/40. Everything blurry was at 1/20. Hats off to anyone that can shoot handheld at 1/20 or slower without IS or VR or whatnot and not have their pics come out blurry. And you said it yourself, the camera doesn't like focusing unless it's zoomed out. So why not just shoot wide?

Another thing to consider: how close physically were you to the printer? Since you were partially zoomed in, if you were under the minimum distance for your focal length, did you try putting the camera into macro mode?

My God, you're STILL making excuses!

The camera would NOT lock focus. I didn't have the flash on, so that it would be readily apparent how bright the room actually was! If you have the S45, then you know what I mean about locking focus. The Yellow Flashing (Bad AF) indications were all that would appear in the LCD, never green (locked focus). That's it! No need for macro, which was also tried. I gave that camera every chance to perform correctly, and it failed. I took it back to the store and compared it to a second identical one. Both had the exact same problem on certain test shots. Face it, $400.00 is far too much to spend, to have to accomodate the camera's shortcomings all the time.

Gads, look at the last images by the V1. I pulled the camera out of the box, sat in the exact same chair that I shot the S50 images from, and pushed the shutter button. No macro, no special settings at all. Just pointed and pulled the trigger. That simple. No learning, no moving the camera around to get it to lock, just point & shoot. I just noticed that the flash was used on the S50 for the first images as well, all shot from the same chair.

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Man, I don't advocate screwing department stores around like that. I fully intended to keep each camera I purchased. Got the best possible deals by price matching at Sears, and Circuit City. I have no doubt that Sears was able to sell that opened S50 for more than I paid them for it!

Sorry, didnt mean to imply you advocate it. But the reason I bought it from staples + PM is so I can return it if I find any problems with it, thats all I wanted to get across.

 

[ElFenix]

i sorta want one just for the movie mode.

if that movie mode were available on an S60 i'd be in heaven

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Ornery

With flash on, your shutter speed is 1/60. With flash off, the only shot that was focused was at 1/40. Everything blurry was at 1/20. Hats off to anyone that can shoot handheld at 1/20 or slower without IS or VR or whatnot and not have their pics come out blurry. And you said it yourself, the camera doesn't like focusing unless it's zoomed out. So why not just shoot wide?

Another thing to consider: how close physically were you to the printer? Since you were partially zoomed in, if you were under the minimum distance for your focal length, did you try putting the camera into macro mode?

My God, you're STILL making excuses!

The camera would NOT lock focus. I didn't have the flash on, so that it would be readily apparent how bright the room actually was! If you have the S45, then you know what I mean about locking focus. The Yellow Flashing (Bad AF) indications were all that would appear in the LCD, never green (locked focus). That's it! No need for macro, which was also tried. I gave that camera every chance to perform correctly, and it failed. I took it back to the store and compared it to a second identical one. Both had the exact same problem on certain test shots. Face it, $400.00 is far too much to spend, to have to accomodate the camera's shortcomings all the time.

Gads, look at the last images by the V1. I pulled the camera out of the box, sat in the exact same chair that I shot the S50 images from, and pushed the shutter button. No macro, no special settings at all. Just pointed and pulled the trigger. That simple. No learning, no moving the camera around to get it to lock, just point & shoot. I just noticed that the flash was used on the S50 for the first images as well, all shot from the same chair.

Yeah I know what you mean about locking focus. And I can also tell you, in a room that bright, I never had a problem locking. Even in a darker room (hence the cat w/ 1 sec exposure) I can still get it to focus. If the V1 works for you then kudos, but I seriously think you're exaggerating the S50's lowlight performance.

Anyways the OP wanted to know about the S1 IS. As long as you use your flash when you're supposed to and maintain minimum shooting distance, you'll be fine.