Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

After researching other cameras in its class including the Panasonic DMC-FZ10 and Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2, I finally decided on the Canon S1 IS. Having taken a few hundred pictures with it, I am completely satisfied with my purchase.

With this camera I have the flexibility to take pictures with point-and-shoot ease while also having plenty of manual capabilities available to take more artistic pictures. Although the camera has "only" 3.2 megapixels this is more than compensated for by the 10x optical zoom. With this zoom you simply don't need as many megapixels (although it would be nice) because you won't be cropping out as much of the picture. Instead of cropping out excess, you just zoom in while you are there and have a nice original to begin with. Furthemore, more megapixels don't necessarily mean a "better" picture. There are other factors like the lens, cmos, and other processing that will affect the image quality just as much as the megapixels if not more.

Image stabilization is an awesome feature and until now has been reserved for the more expensive cameras. This feature definitely helps with the long zooms and low-light conditions. With the long zoom you can do shots where the primary object is very clear while the background is all blurry. This isn't as easy to do on cameras with less zoom.

The physical layout and the menu interface are excellent. The placement of the buttons are very intuitive and the menu setup is among the best I've ever used on any electronic device. It allows me to use all the manual settings with ease and speed. I can't really think of any better way to set it up.

Although the viewfinders tend to make images look like they are overexposed I think that as the viewfinder ages and dims (as any LCD will do over time) the picture will improve and not look as overexposed. So, I think it is excellent foresight on Canon's part to make the pictures seem overexposed. Personally, I don't find it to be a major issue because I view all the pics on my computer before deleting them anyway. The swiveling LCD is a feature that is indispensible. Not only does it protect the LCD if you flip it around, but you can take pictures of yourself (or others next to you) or and you take pictures at weird angles (such as close to the ground or high above a crowd) without contorting yourself.

I don't find battery power to be an issue. Just get 2 or 3 sets of NiMH batteries and you should be fine for a long day of heavy shooting. Plus the fact that you can use AA instead of a proprietary module means you can use regular AA alkaline batteries in a pinch.

The movie mode is great not only because of the high quality movies, but also because you can zoom while taking the movie. Most cameras will not let you zoom and you have to leave it where it is. The only downside is that you will need a high-speed compact flash card (like the Sandisk Ultra II) to take the highest quality movies. Slower cards can't keep up with the high amout of data being written.

The focusing system is also great and not usually found on cameras at this level. You can move the autofocus box to any postion you want and set an autofocus lock so it doesn't change once you've set it. You can also use the manual focus if you can't get a good focus in low-light situations. There is a meter that pops up showing the approximate distance to the object that you want to focus to which is quite helpful. With the manual focus, I've been able to focus on any object without too much trouble.

There are only 2 things I would like to see improved. One would be some sort of battery meter but it would be wildly inaccurate without some sort of proprietary battery (which they don't make you use) so I'm ok with them leaving that out. I would also like the lens cap to 'click' on instead of just sliding on. I understand why they made that decision though: they want the cap to slide off automatically when you turn it on which is a convenience so I don't have to take it off every time I turn it on. These are just minor suggestions and really just personal preference things. Otherwise, this camera is perfect for the price and what you get.

I highly recommend this camera to anyone to both point-and-shoot people and people who want that along with some artistic flexibility. The feature set is unbeatable and the picture quality is amazing.

I have used the Canon Powershot IS 1 for over a month and have shot many 100's of images with it.

The good points:

*Produces beautiful images under most conditions.

*The image stabilization system works very well. You are able to take sharp pictures down to 1/6 sec in the wide angle position.

*I used it exclusively at Disney World for the Epcot International Flower Show and thought the night exposures were wonderful. No flash, just hand held photography.

*The movie mode works well under the difficult lighting conditions encountered at the night time parade at Magic Kingdom.

*The color saturation was beautiful. I used the Program mode mostly at ISO equivalent of 100 and the Vivid setting.

*The noise was minimal with the 100 ISO setting. The advantage is higher shutter speeds to stop the action.

*I was able to set the depth of field in Aperture mode for good garden bed shots.

*The 10/1 zoom is incredible!

The bad points:

*The Electronic viewfinder is terrible! The resolution, sharpness, color accuracy and saturation of the finder make you wonder what Canon was thinking of. An optical viewfinder is 100% better.

*The finder blanks out when going from dark to bright outside subjects, making fast picture taking impossible under many instances.

*The resolution is so bad that it is difficult to see if the focus is right on. It usually was.

*The Canon A-70 is a better camera for faster picture taking. However, the antishake and 10/1 zoom override all other considerations for me.

*The LCD viewer on the back of the camera is useless in the bright light and its color accuracy is terrible too. I have taken many beautiful sunsets and you cannot see the red sun in the viewfinder or on the monitor. HOWEVER the resultant images were spectacular when viewed on the computer screen.

*The battery consumption seemed to be higher than the A-70 but I did not do a very accurate test. I used two sets of NiMH batteries in a full day of shooting at Epcot. However I was shooting in movie mode some of the time and using a 1 GB flash cards to hold the many images. All the images were taken with the best quality jpg settings.

The bottom line is that the camera is very good for most picture taking opportunities, but is no good for fast moving objects such as flying birds.

Forget what you do not see in the viewfinder or the viewer and shoot away.

The big thing here is to have faith!

I give the camera 4 out of 5 points.

NEW! I just had to change the Time/Date battery. My instruction manual is WRONG!! The battery goes in with the (+)positive terminal up.

Fred Sgrosso

fsgrosso@hotmail.com

Buy Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom Now

After considerable research I purchased the Canon S1 IS camera from Amazon about a month ago along with the Lexar 12X 256MB Compact Flash memory. It arrived even before Amazon said it would! This is my first digital camera and so far I am very pleased with it. I wanted a camera that would take good travel pictures and images of grandchildren who often don't like cameras near them. I expect to print the better pictures as either 4x6 or 5x7 and occasionally 8x10s. At first I was reluctant to consider 3.2MP cameras but my research showed that a figure of merit for a digital camera should actually be proportional to MP times the optical zoom factor squared. This gives a heavy weighting to optical zoom (it's related to picture area) and it also means that you can avoid considerable cropping and wasting of MP. That's why people are often surprised that this camera does so well against its higher MP competition. It's also adequate for printing my size pictures. Unfortunately, most hand held 10X cameras used at maximum zoom also need to have a shutter speed of 1/400th of a second to avoid picture bluring caused by camera shake so that you can use this 10X feature only in bright sunlight, unless you support the camera. The Canon S1's image stabilization system allows hand held pictures with much slower shutter speeds so it is useful more often. I always leave it on and I've taken sharp pictures of ducks, birds, and, oh yes, our grandchildren at a playground. Our daughter, who is a professional photographer, has even commented on the quality of these candid shots, something she did not do with my film camera with lower power zoom. Independently, I also purchased a lightweight RipVan100 battery charger that can operate at overseas voltages and I carry around an extra set of charged NIMH AA batteries, just in case, although I've yet to need them. Of course, in a pinch, I can always use universally available AA batteries, another feature of this camera.

This camera, like all 10X zooms, uses an electronic viewfinder. I find that it is hard to see well in bright sunlight (especially if I'm wearing sunglasses), even at maximum brightness setting. Its resolution is also poor and the images often seem overexposed but, and this is important, the images don't shake at 10X with the IS on! and the actual pictures are correctly exposed. The swiveling LCD screen grows on you and you can take pictures looking down at the camera at waist level. The grandchildren may not even realize you are actually taking their picture, adding to the candid effect. I haven't found the lack of an autofocusing lamp to be a problem in dim light and you can always set the manual focus to about 8 feet (no zoom used) and everything from 4 feet to infinitity will be sharp. (I got this tidbit from my research).

After it was announced but before it was readily available the camera received so-so reviews but the recent user reviews from those who actually own and use one have been highly favorable and I agree with them. It's well made, not too heavy, and the basics can be learned quickly. Advanced users can find many features to investigate and I'm still learning how to use some of the exposure and focus lock modes for special cases. I think that using the Auto mode (or the Program P mode) with IS on will work for most people, most of the time. And, as an added bonus, you can even take movies (9 minutes/1GB at best quality) if you have a large memory. I'm glad I discovered this "fun" camera.

Read Best Reviews of Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom Here

If you're like most people reading about the Canon Powershot S1, you've owned at least one or two digital cameras in the past, and chances are they've been the point and shoot kind. Now you'd like something with a few more manual controls.

I'm not going to repeat what's in many other reviews here (an amazing 10x stabilized zoom ... you'll find it difficult to move back to a camera without this, generally excellent photo quality, and really compact HOW do they fit this all in such a tiny package??) but instead I'd like to point out a few aspects of the camera that haven't been discussed that much in other reviews here.

1. Get yourself a basic book on digital photography, so you will actually use some of the manual features of this camera. A $15 investment will give you better photo results within 30 minutes. Guaranteed. I got myself "Digital Photography Pocket Guide" from Amazon and I can already see the results in my photos.

2. You'll love taking photos by using the viewfinder and not the LCD screen (which, at 1.5", seems dismally small for a camera such as this) the viewfinder is full of (though not cluttered with) details of your shot. Aperture, resolution, etc.

3. The zoom control is tricky and takes time to get used to. A slight flick of the control and you have quickly moved beyond 5x magnification. You'll get the hang of it quickly, but be forewarned that you will be frustrated using the zoom initially.

4. while other reviews have commented on using the Sandisk Ultra II card for taking VGA movies, I'm a little perplexed. While the movies are recorded on the card just fine, transferring them to my 2.4 gigahertz P4 machine leads to loss of data in the transfer and I am unable to view them properly. I am convinced there is an issue with the file transfer speed related to the camera's mechanism, NOT the memory card for I have tried multiple ones. If you are buying this camera purely for this reason, do check this out carefully so that you too don't deal with the same problems (besides, the 512 MB card allows barely two minutes of 640x480 video.)

5. The battery meter, which comes on only when the batteries are about to run out, could be better and indicate the approximate number of shots left. Come on Canon, you can do better...

All in all, these are small deficiencies, certainly not glaring. I'm pleased with my stabilized zoom camera choice (the Panasonic FZ series were too bulky, the Minolta Dimage Z series too plastic feeling).

One last point. Avoid the Canon PSC 70 carrying case made for this camera. Do read my review on that one should you purchase this camera.

Want Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom Discount?

I bought this camera about a month ago after researching about a hundred different cameras. I was looking for something aroun 4-5 megapixels and $200-$300. This camera had lower megapixels (3.2) and it was at the top of my limits. I have one thing to say:

I am glad I bought it.

I received the camera in a matter of days from Amazon. That was normal for any order that I have placed with Amazon. Fast service. I received it just a few days before we left for a vacation to Disneyland in California so I did not have time to mess with it much, but I had time to play around with some of the features on the way down and I am impressed with this camera. I took pictures from day to night and from stills to shooting scenery out of our vehicle going 85 mph. Oops, I meant 75 mph officer. I would say that 99% of them came out great. I turned the video resolution down to the next one lower. A 512 MB CF card held about 12 minutes of video in one continuous shoot. That is probably the one feature that sold me on this camera. It did not have a limit on the minutes of continous video that could be shot. Other cameras had a 1.5-3 minute limit. I even used it to record half of a speech that I gave to a group to see how I presented myself. The camera was about 10 feet away and it still picked up my voice.

The included AA alkaline batteries went dead within about a couple of hours. I bought two sets of rechargeables and found that one set lasted from 8 am to 10 pm at Disneyland. And I took alot of pictures and video! One day, I filled two 512 MB CF Cards and one 256 MB card. That is my only suggestion with this camera. Buy rechargeable batteries and a larger CF card if you are going to shoot video. I am planning to buy a 1 GB CF card later.

When I bought it, I had the intention of selling it on ebay if I did not like it. No way. I am keeping it. Oh...one other thing in my favor, my daughter-in-law works as a photographer. She could show me things that camera would do that would have taken me quite awhile to figure out. She had a chance to use it and she was impressed with it.