Canon Pro1 and S1 IS reviews posted

[BRD911]

Steve I hope you shoot a comparison between the Panasonic FZ10 and S1 since they are head to head stabilized zooms. I love the size of the S1 but I have had to order the FZ10 due to an arangement at a special price, and I could not wait any longer for Steve's conclusion and sample pics.

But why the delay? Is it the pic quality problems mentioned in the DP Review? Can the PF and vignetting be that bad or is it early production or something?

Thanks.

[steve]

The "delay" as you put it is workload. The S1 IS is not the only camera we are currently working on, be patient folks ...

The S1 IS and the Nikon D70 are currently at the Sebring Grand Priz race this weekend. We have over ten cameras in-house right now and will get to all of them as time permits.

And no, I cannot do a head to head with the S1 IS and FZ10, we don't have an FZ10 anymore - sorry.

Besides time we also have to work around the weather, even here in Florida it isn't always "postcard perfect" blue skies. Some days we take pictures, some days we write copy, some days we time cameras and some days we actually don't do anything :shock:

-Steve

[steve]

Originally Posted by dadthemoo

In the review of the coolpix 8700 you stated that the feature advantages have less value if you need the versatility of interchangeable lenses, dSLR shooting performance, an optical thru-the-lens viewfinder and superior image quality. Does this also hold true for the Cannon Power shot Pro 1? I am considering the purchase of my first digital camera and am debating between the Pro 1 and the Digital Rebel EOS. What exactly is the advantage of the dSLR shooting performance and whay do you consider the image quality superior. Is there a difference between the dynamic range of the two? I have a lot of experience in photography but I'm having trouble coming up with these answers.

No consumer digicam can match the image quality of the dSLR cameras with their physically larger imagers. The number of pixels means a lot less than the actually size of those pixels. The 6 megapixel dSLR cameras yield more dynamic range and lower noise than any of the 8 megapixel consumer digicams.

The downside of dSLRs is the fact that dirt and other contaminants can get onto the imager when you change lenses so sooner or later you need to clean the imager. The consumer digicams offer the advantage of being able to use the LCD as a viewfinder as well as outputting live video which some find to be a necessity.

DSLR cameras let you follow rapid action easily with their real optical viewfinders and their frame rate and image storing capabilities are far superior to the consumer digicams.

-Steve

[BRD911]

Originally Posted by steve

The S1 IS and the Nikon D70 are currently at the Sebring Grand Priz race this weekend. We have over ten cameras in-house right now and will get to all of them as time permits.

And no, I cannot do a head to head with the S1 IS and FZ10, we don't have an FZ10 anymore - sorry.
-Steve

Hi Steve, I am looking forward then to an F1 Image Gallery! Actually it will be an interesting comparison of the DSLR and 'consumer' S1 with IS. The major problem I found with the S1 was the freezing viewfinder during focus lock, so I will be interested to see if some great race car shots are still possible (thats mainly why I ordered the FZ10). But F1 tracks are the hardest to get photos at though, due to the safety mesh, unless you're well back in the stands. Thats when you need 10-12x optical zoom for sure!

Re FZ10 Vs S1 Mega-Zoom Shootout, maybe you can add something when time permits? I'm sure it would rate very well!

Thanks for your reply.

[ken from the uk]

If you look at Steve’s shots that compare the Pro 1 to the Sony, in particular the close up of the boats. You can see strong purple fringing on all shinny spots on the metal with Sony; the Pro 1 has very little.

Er.... not quite right sir in my humble opinion. I downloaded the full size versions of Steves boat pictures, took the same section of each shot, and enlarged 300% in Photoshop. I overlayed the images from the Nikon Canon and Sony, then took a screen shot. The results are very exaggerated but guess what? They all show purple fringeing to about the same extent.
Have a look at
http://www.pbase.com/image/27132993

[phill.simpson]

I've been trying to determine the native bit depth for the Canon Pro1 CCD and RAW files. The Canon web site skips over this detail and Steve didn't address it in his review. Does anyone know if it's 8bits, 12bits or 16bits per channel?

[jd_noodles]

Speaking of RAW...Anybody know why Canon wouldn't support RAW for the S1 IS? I'm hoping it's something they can add with firmware support later but I have the feeling they won't.

[jd_noodles]

WOW!! Just saw the full review of the S1 and the sample pics. Looks VERY nice!

Now, I'm no professional to say it with authority, but I think the image quality is great. It's on par with the S30 as far as I can see. Very nice action shots Steve. The batter and the car look superb. I am definitely buying an S1 when they become available.

jd_noodles out...

[pellegrini]

Hi Steve!
This site is very great!
I'm owner of sigma's 70-200 2.8 and 28-105 4.0 and i'm trying to go for digital stuffs, but here un Brazil its costs 3 times more than USA, so my better option is a compact one. I was not satisfied with G5 AF and resources, so i waited.
Now i'm looking at Pro 01 like a great choice, but some questions remains:
1) the AF is slow as G5? If not, how faster? 30%, 50%?
2) Could Pro 1 make professional jobs like alive shows covers? Or indoors pics with ISO 100?
3) Do you think it will be a good change?
4) when you say ISO 50, 400, etc. is it like the 35mm film luminosity?

[steve]

Originally Posted by pellegrini

Hi Steve!
This site is very great!
I'm owner of sigma's 70-200 2.8 and 28-105 4.0 and i'm trying to go for digital stuffs, but here un Brazil its costs 3 times more than USA, so my better option is a compact one. I was not satisfied with G5 AF and resources, so i waited.
Now i'm looking at Pro 01 like a great choice, but some questions remains:
1) the AF is slow as G5? If not, how faster? 30%, 50%?
2) Could Pro 1 make professional jobs like alive shows covers? Or indoors pics with ISO 100?
3) Do you think it will be a good change?
4) when you say ISO 50, 400, etc. is it like the 35mm film luminosity?

AF speed is controlled by the camera's AF system -and- the lens focal length, aperture and ambient light. It can almost always be speeded up by using the Continuous-AF feature. Kind of difficult to rate the AF speed of these two cameras, they use very different lenses but the Pro1 is fairly robust in good lighting.

Pro jobs like "live shows covers?" not sure what this means. It is perfectly capable of taking pictures that you can sell professionally but it wouldn't be my first choice to use in a night club or some place with low to dark lighting. Canon for some reason decided that it didn't need an AF-assist lamp which is a big mistake in my opinion. You'd be better off with a 10D SLR and a flash like the 550EX or 420EX and using its powerful AF-assist lamp.

Only you can be the judge if it's time to go digital or not.

Yes, the ISO speeds quoted are the same as for film.

-Steve