Steve'sDigicams

thkn777 · Jul 17, 2005, 11:42 AM

Hello ZAKD,

I haven't tested the Canon S2 IS, but the S1 IS. It is a solid camera which produced good pictures and the IS was a nice thing to use... BUT I gave it back.

Why? It ate batteries like their was no tomorrow. I even contacted the Canon support and they told me its normal for that digicam. Main reason (to my mind) is the IS which consumes a lot of power if you have it ready all the time like I did.

See the other IS cams out there (Minolta, Panasonic) and read about the huge batteries they have!

2nd thing that is really annoying is the lens cap - better buy some duct tape to keep it in place.

3rd very annoying thing is the AF. It works well in almost every situation IF you have enough light, good contrast and time. Action shots with moving objects when using more than half of the max zoom - forget it, especially if not in bright daylight. Maybe it was just a bug at my cam but that was one mayin reason to give it back. So if you try one - please pay attention to dim light AF performance!

Almost every aspect was fine. Fits well in the hand, operating was easy, picture quality good indoor and outdoor. Flash good enough for indoor pictures, could be more powerful for outdoor. Movie mode was great - even the audio quality was a bit better than on my Oly C-770UZ, but heavy wind noise.

As for the Oly C770UZ (my current cam). Great pictures, good movies. A DIN A4 (Letter) print is usually not a problem. If you got enough light and a crisp image (you can even push the cam to some quite good interpolation mode) you might be able to print at higher resolution but I never tested it since my printer is only good enough for A4 borderless.

If you got special questions regarding the Oly C770UZ feel free to ask.

Regards

shadow-wolf · Jul 17, 2005, 9:47 PM

I also have the Olympus C770 and am getting rid of it. Poor performance in low light, no IS and no focus assist lamp, battery life (li-ion) is also rather short.

thkn777 · Jul 18, 2005, 1:26 AM

shadow-wolf wrote:

Quote:

I also have the Olympus C770 and am getting rid of it. Poor performance in low light, no IS and no focus assist lamp, battery life (li-ion) is also rather short.

I agree with the poor low light performance for the AF system. The battery life is much higher(!) than the Canon S1 I tested. 1,5 hours heavy duty and a 256MB XD card (around 250 pics) is what I usually get out of one li-ion rechargeable. With heavy duty I mean: the camera is ON all the time, zooming, operating, previewing, deleting images.

You can't do that with the Canon S1 IS.

On the other hand - my good old analog Minolta Dynax 500 SLR gave me weeks of heavy duty operation out of one power pack... with this in mind most digicams today have a poor battery life time.

As for the focus assist lamp - yes they help on short range. Both the Canon S1 IS and the Oly 770 are ultra-zoom cameras more suited for the outdoor hunt - would be better to have another AF helper system but a small lamp to provide some idea of light in complete darkness... :roll:

I found the focus assist lamp on the Fuji F700 (3xzoom, high ISO) quite useful. For a little point-n-shoot cam (add lets say lens from 28mm...something) a focus assist lamp sounds perfect to me.

Just my 2 cents.

ZAKD · Jul 18, 2005, 10:22 AM

thanks for reply *shadow-wolf*,

can you send me some pictures (the best ones) that you have taken i want to compare them. I like cameras with big zoom and want that kind for myself.

slipe · Jul 18, 2005, 11:04 AM

Keep in mind that none of thkn777's complaints about his S1 apply to the S2 except the lens cap. Reviewers found battery life to be excellent and the focusing good. Battery life is about double the S1. Normal autofocus has improved a good bit and low light autofocus is now excellent with an assist light. It is also faster than the S1. And the movie mode is probably the best you can find in a digital camera, but MPEG4 would have been better.

If you are going to get a camera with a long zoom range you want stabilization IMO.

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Jul 17, 2005, 11:42 AM	#11
thkn777 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 1,831	Hello ZAKD, I haven't tested the Canon S2 IS, but the S1 IS. It is a solid camera which produced good pictures and the IS was a nice thing to use... BUT I gave it back. Why? It ate batteries like their was no tomorrow. I even contacted the Canon support and they told me its normal for that digicam. Main reason (to my mind) is the IS which consumes a lot of power if you have it ready all the time like I did. See the other IS cams out there (Minolta, Panasonic) and read about the huge batteries they have! 2nd thing that is really annoying is the lens cap - better buy some duct tape to keep it in place. 3rd very annoying thing is the AF. It works well in almost every situation IF you have enough light, good contrast and time. Action shots with moving objects when using more than half of the max zoom - forget it, especially if not in bright daylight. Maybe it was just a bug at my cam but that was one mayin reason to give it back. So if you try one - please pay attention to dim light AF performance! Almost every aspect was fine. Fits well in the hand, operating was easy, picture quality good indoor and outdoor. Flash good enough for indoor pictures, could be more powerful for outdoor. Movie mode was great - even the audio quality was a bit better than on my Oly C-770UZ, but heavy wind noise. As for the Oly C770UZ (my current cam). Great pictures, good movies. A DIN A4 (Letter) print is usually not a problem. If you got enough light and a crisp image (you can even push the cam to some quite good interpolation mode) you might be able to print at higher resolution but I never tested it since my printer is only good enough for A4 borderless. If you got special questions regarding the Oly C770UZ feel free to ask. Regards

Jul 17, 2005, 9:47 PM	#12
shadow-wolf Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 56	I also have the Olympus C770 and am getting rid of it. Poor performance in low light, no IS and no focus assist lamp, battery life (li-ion) is also rather short.

Jul 18, 2005, 10:22 AM	#14
ZAKD Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 962	thanks for reply shadow-wolf, can you send me some pictures (the best ones) that you have taken i want to compare them. I like cameras with big zoom and want that kind for myself.

Jul 18, 2005, 11:04 AM	#15
slipe Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Indian Rocks Beach, FL Posts: 4,036	Keep in mind that none of thkn777's complaints about his S1 apply to the S2 except the lens cap. Reviewers found battery life to be excellent and the focusing good. Battery life is about double the S1. Normal autofocus has improved a good bit and low light autofocus is now excellent with an assist light. It is also faster than the S1. And the movie mode is probably the best you can find in a digital camera, but MPEG4 would have been better. If you are going to get a camera with a long zoom range you want stabilization IMO.