Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon Powershot S1 IS Digital Camera [3.2MP , 10 x Optical]

Hello,

I have writen a short 'pictorial review' of the S1 from an ameture point of view here:

http://www.theteh.com/html/canon_s1_mini_review.html

Pro:
1. Great IS for 10x zoom especially when the light is low
2. Good handling but need some getting used to
3. 3.2M is more than enough for printing 5x7 or even 6x8
4. Excellent Movie function (640x480, 30fps, see samples in my review)
5. very compact camera even at full 10x zoom.
6. Very good battery life with NiMH rechargeables (1800~2300mAh)

Cons:
1. Zoom can be TOO fast sometimes, but once used to the two speed (fast and slow) zoom, no problem.
2. Lens cap could be better, it is too loose hence falling off all the time, but could be fixed by adding more padding inside the cap. If you use lens adapter (in black only, no silver) for adding filters, the lens cap won't fit the filter (52mm) unfortunately.
3. No AF lamp and AF in low light is slow and tend to freeze LCD/EVF when half pressed.
4. ISO400 is too noisy for printing.

Overall: 4 star! Despite the cons, I would still recommend this camera to someone who wants 10x zoom and high quality video.

I've had this camera for a few days, and I've explored most of the settings and modes.

The review at dcresource.com is quite accurate, but one or two things need emphasising.

I upgraded to this camera from the Canon A20 (a three year old point and shoot 2.1 megapixel job), and the S1 has the same size of screen. Whilst it's just about bright enough to see in strong daylight, it's not really big enough to make taking shots comfortable.

The lack of an optical viewfinder means that tracking any moving object (whether it be a Formula 1 car or a toddling one year old) is a hit and miss affair, even with the continuous autofocus switched on. There is a significant lag between pressing the button and the shot being taken. I haven't experimented with the continuous shot mode (where you can fire off several shots one after the other), but I imagine the problem would be just as bad there, since the screen locks up for the whole sequence.

Of course, you can always go into manual mode, use a large depth of field and switch the autofocus off, in which case the lag becomes insignificant. But for most situations fiddling with manual focus to track a nearby moving subject (like the aforementioned toddler) isn't really an option. You have to hold down the MF button, whilst operating the four-way selector. It's fine for setting up a static shot, but useless for action.

This problem is not confined to this camera. I think all of the competition at this level (Olympus C-765, Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 and Kodak DX6490) suffer from the same limitation.

None of the cameras I just mentioned have an image stabiliser though, and it's this that sets the S1 apart. It gives you effectively another f stop in low light. I've always been able to take pictures at 1/30th shutter speed, but with the image stabiliser I can get good shots at 1/15th. With the 10x zoom, the image stabiliser means you don't need to carry a tripod, unless the light is very dim.

Picture quality is also very good, with three metering modes for maximum flexibility. Highlights still tend to blow out a little, but I believe this may be a common feature on Canon cameras (if not, all digital cameras).

There is a little chromatic aberration (purple fringing etc) at the extreme telephoto end of the lens, but it's only noticeable on high contrast elements (like the edge of a black building against a white sky). All of the competition suffer from this problem, it being a limitation of the very long but physically small lens.

The movie mode is very good, with clear pictures and solid movement. I have been able to shoot at the highest setting using a Lexar x12 128mb CompactFlash card, and the supplied 32mb Canon card works fine. But none of my other cards worked very well for movies. So, I'd recommend getting at least a 12x card.

Movie files are output from the camera in avi format, but although Media Player and the supplied QuickTime Player will read them, some editing packages will not. I've had to use the Stoik converter to create files that my editor of choice (Magix Movie Edit Pro) can see.

Despite these wee problems, I am delighted with this camera. Before I got the A20 I used SLR's for years, so it's great to be able to muck around with depth of field and exposure modes. Picture quality is pin sharp, and the big lens makes a huge difference.

Pros -
Picture quality
Image stabiliser
Big lens
Microdrive compatible (but I haven't tested this)
Great movie mode
Easy to use

Cons -
Tiny LCD
No optical viewfinder
Operating lag

Pros:
- Nice size, not too big and not too small
- Fantastic anti shake option. You can take photos at 380mm zoom in dark conditions and they are not blurred. It also helps you take photos indoors without flash, again preventing them from blurring. This is my favourite feature.
- Lens cap - innovative design. If you forget to take it off before switching on the camera you don't have to worry, it just pops off gently.
- Crisp colourful photographs both indoors and out.
- Easy navigation

- Fantastic zoom

Cons:
- Wide angle is 38. Would have been nice to have 35.
- Does not have focus assist lamp therefore sometimes struggles in dark conditions
- Chromatic abberation present in photos with high contrast black and white (eg. taken on very sunny day). This can be overcome by using the manual settings and making the aperture 5. You must note however that this is only visible when zooming in at 100% in photoshop. This would not show up on 6 x 4 prints.

As with previous reviews, I have found this camera to be excellent. I've had and used it for about a month, and am very impressed with the quality of the pictures, and especially with the anti-shake, which really does allow you to use the full 10x zoom. For me, as an added bonus, using this plus the in-camera facility of bringing the magnification up to 32x allows the camera to double up as a pair of binoculars, and produces images on the camera screen of sufficient quality to (for example) allow for bird or plant identification that otherwise might be very difficult.

I have also found that it's capable of great photos in quite dark rooms, and without the flash - again, thanks to the anti-shake feature.

For me, the big "but" is the focus - mentioned by others but (again, for me) a bigger problem than others seem to find. I find that the focusing is poor and unreliable even in good lighting conditions, especially where there's a big difference in distance terms between the main object and the background. Even after tricking around to help the auto-focus, I often find I have to resort to manual focus, and manipulating the buttons is actually quite difficult and time-consuming.

I haven't yet found any problems with picture quality - fringing, etc - but mayeb I'm not as demanding as others.

If Canon could produce this camera with better focusing - maybe taking a leaf from Sony with its laser-assisted focusing - this would be a superb camera indeed. Am I alone in thinking that doing away with the video facility and improving the functionality of still-photo-taking would be a better way of producing a great camera at relatively low cost? If I want a video, I'll buy a cam-corder; this is for photos.

But overall I'm very very pleased with my choice, and I'd recommend this camera, but do note the focus limitation!

Great camera,
10x optical zoom, 3.2x digital zoom with image stabilzer is great,not had any blurred images yet.

Movie mode is fantastic
Movie mode w/sound, 640x480Fine, 640x480 or 320x240, 30fps or 15fps
I use 640x480 30fps and burned to DVD, picture and sound on the tv is superb

The flip round screen can Be very usful

Battery life is very good 4 AA (Ni Mh 2100ma)

Overall a great camera easy to use, with some great features