s2is

[lowbody2]

right now i have an s2is and im pretty happy with it. but im waiting to upgrade the camera. i was looking at the digital rebel but the one thing i dont like is the fact that the screen dont swing out. i take a lot of pics at car shows and i like being able to turn the screen down and hold the camera up high and get some good shots. so i was thinking about the s5is. would this be a good upgrade or should i just buy some lenses for my camera. i also read somewhere that the s6 is coming out soon. any suggestions.?

[low orbit]

Gidday Mike ... why not both?

Use the DSLR for the more detailed / serious stuff, and the s2 as a backup / car show camera. Having recently used a s5 for the day, I'd happily have that as my backup.

On the high shots, you can shoot from the hip so to speak after a while of practicing ... sure you lose a few shots, but you can't see LCDs in bright sunlight anyway. Method is shoot, check and shoot again if you're not happy. You'll get used to it soon enough.

Cheers.

[SimpleGirl2008]

Upgrade to a S3 Or S5

[audioteknika]

I too, switched from a S2 to a RebelXT... You'll get used to it, it's just another type of photography..

[DVan8504]

I definitely miss that feature of my S2IS. But overall stepping up to a DSLR was important to me, so I did what I had to do. Still have the S2IS of course. It's a great camera.

[ssd]

Upgrade to a S3 Or S5
Not a very good option really. Towards S3 /S5 from S2 is 99% waste of money.

[SimpleGirl2008]

Not a very good option really. Towards S3 /S5 from S2 is 99% waste of money.


Are you saying the S3 & S5 aren't good cameras?

[Jon]

No, just that neither the S3 nor the S5 offer a significant enhancement over the S2, especially when compared to the EOS series. The difference between 5 and 8 MP isn't all that big a deal unless you expect to regularly make 11x14" prints. The only other significant differences are the SDHC support of the latter two and the hot shoe of the S5.

[SimpleGirl2008]

No, just that neither the S3 nor the S5 offer a significant enhancement over the S2, especially when compared to the EOS series. The difference between 5 and 8 MP isn't all that big a deal unless you expect to regularly make 11x14" prints. The only other significant differences are the SDHC support of the latter two and the hot shoe of the S5.

The S5 IS has a lot of other added features over the S2 IS...

[msowsun]

The S5 IS has a lot of other added features over the S2 IS...

Here is a side by side comparison:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s2is%2Ccanon_s3is%2Ccanon_s5is&show=all

The S5 has some "downgrades" over the S35......


- SD card slot now in battery compartment - battery cover awkward to open and close

- No intervalometer

- Continuous shooting speed down to 1.5 S5 vs 2.3 S3 vs 2.4 S2

- Better battery life on S3

The only useful upgrades that I can see are...

+ SDHC vs SD

+ Flash Hot Shoe

+ Larger LCD screen

[Jon]

The S5 IS has a lot of other added features over the S2 IS...
The key word is "significant". Marketing bells and whistles don't add real functionality.

[SimpleGirl2008]

Here is a side by side comparison:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s2is%2Ccanon_s3is%2Ccanon_s5is&show=all

The S5 has some "downgrades" over the S35......


- SD card slot now in battery compartment - battery cover awkward to open and close

- No intervalometer

- Continuous shooting speed down to 1.5 S5 vs 2.3 S3 vs 2.4 S2

- Better battery life on S3

The only useful upgrades that I can see are...

+ SDHC vs SD

+ Flash Hot Shoe

+ Larger LCD screen

And face dection, I don't think the S2 or S3 has that.

[Jon]

If you consider it a useful upgrade for someone who's already comfortable with an S2. It's not going to drive an S2 or S3 owner to upgrade to an S5; it's included for the new camera owner, not an experienced P&S or SLR user.

[SimpleGirl2008]

If you consider it a useful upgrade for someone who's already comfortable with an S2. It's not going to drive an S2 or S3 owner to upgrade to an S5; it's included for the new camera owner, not an experienced P&S or SLR user.


I know a lot of folks that went from a S2 IS to a S3 IS....if they didn't think it was worth it..why did they? :)

[DVan8504]

I know a lot of folks that went from a S2 IS to a S3 IS....if they didn't think it was worth it..why did they? :)

To get the newest (or at least newer) toy.

[SimpleGirl2008]

To get the newest (or at least newer) toy.


I thought that was only a woman thing? ;) Haha.

But seriously, I think the S3 IS has enough added, and upgrades for somsone having a S2 IS..to want to move to the S3 IS.

[283CID]

'We' have both an S2 and an S3... For what we shoot, there is no difference, except for the annoyance of 'her' camera's controls and buttons being just enough different from 'mine' that we are pretty much locked into our own cameras. The Swing Out LCD is so important FOR US that we'd never surrender than feature. I took a whole series in a group of people that didn't want their pictures taken.... by seeming to be fiddling with my camera in my lap...with the LCD screen turned up to me!

[lowbody2]

i think im just going to save up get an rebel. not to decide on which model rebel to get.

[puttycat]

The Xsi rebel has live view on the LCD, but it doesn't work quite the same as the S2 live view. It won't take long to get used to a view finder. I prefer not having the evf, it drove me nuts, the delay when moving the camera was way to slow for me

[ssd]

Are you saying the S3 & S5 aren't good cameras?
No, I do no mean that.
I am saying that , S2 (which I am using for a long time) and S5 ( which I am using for 6 months) are both fantastic cameras as per my need. But, it is waste of money if you think of upgrading to S5 from S2. Because the exchange price for the upgrade is not really worth. Though S5 has a number of minor(IMO) changes ( upgrades and elemination of features also) over S2 but it realy makes sense if one upgrades to DSLR.
The two main loss of features IMO are
1/ Minimum ISO is 80 in S5 as against 50 of S2
2/ Untill very recently there was no raw hack for S5, there by missing lots of features than S2. It is probably available now.

About the point of 'face detection' you indicated in another post I think this feature in S5 is at a very immature state and is rarely works perfectly in many situations. This technology at its present state in S5 may be of interest to some but it often really annoys me.

[SimpleGirl2008]

No, I do no mean that.
I am saying that , S2 (which I am using for a long time) and S5 ( which I am using for 6 months) are both fantastic cameras as per my need. But, it is waste of money if you think of upgrading to S5 from S2. Because the exchange price for the upgrade is not really worth. Though S5 has a number of minor(IMO) changes ( upgrades and elemination of features also) over S2 but it realy makes sense if one upgrades to DSLR.
The two main loss of features IMO are
1/ Minimum ISO is 80 in S5 as against 50 of S2
2/ Untill very recently there was no raw hack for S5, there by missing lots of features than S2. It is probably available now.

About the point of 'face detection' you indicated in another post I think this feature in S5 is at a very immature state and is rarely works perfectly in many situations. This technology at its present state in S5 may be of interest to some but it often really annoys me.

Face detection works great on mine. :) Maybe you got a bum model.

[ssd]

Face detection works great on mine. :) Maybe you got a bum model.

Try in low light situations with a no.of persons, some with spectacles and with some light from behind the object. Which is a typical situation in day time for in house family group photos. Count how many faces have been detected in first one or two shutter half presses. If face detection is 'great' in this case then you are probably right.

[SimpleGirl2008]

Try in low light situations with a no.of persons, some with spectacles and with some light from behind the object. Which is a typical situation in day time for in house family group photos. Count how many faces have been detected in first one or two shutter half presses. If face detection is 'great' in this case then you are probably right.


I have tried it in low light and everything else. It works great for me...is it not suppose to or something?

[kyosei]

Two other considerations . . .

There is currently no SLR lens in the Canon EF-S series that'll give you the wide (kinda)-to-tele flexibility of the S2 IS, etc. If you get a Canon SLR and don't want to carry extra gear, you'll have to go with an aftermarket brand lens.

Your built-in IS comes in handy for the tele shots, especially if you're holding the camera aloft. To get IS with the Canon SLR's, you gotta drop some quid for the lenses.

[ssd]

I have tried it in low light and everything else. It works great for me...is it not suppose to or something?

I have tried three prototypes of S5 (procured at different points of time by my friends) in the situation as stated above (the camera requires flash and there is some light from back of people). It rarely detected more than 3 faces in first two shutter half presses. Often it detected one or none in the first press. Which is not good (forget about great) in my opinion. I dont know why, it mostly missed people with spectacles. I am a bit confident that the technology is not at its best in S5.
One more problem in S5 which was not really present in my S2 is occasional blurring of corners in the same focal plane.