CANON S1 USER OPINIONS

[JTF]

I have decided that I may purchase the Canon S1 for outdoor photography & the occassional indoor pics for family gatherings. The prices have come done a bit so being my first camera I think this is the one for me. I was looking for some user opinions from current owners on what you like or don't like. I have read reviews but I would like to read some real time usage info. Tks for any help of even advice on accessories that I should purchase.

[nwyman]

I've had my S1 since March. Prior to that, I had the A95 (for a very brief time) and a Nikon 3200. I gave the A95 to my son, but got the S1 for myself because I wanted to do nature shots and needed the more powerful optical zoom. I also got the converters.

I'm still very much in the learning stages - but what I like about the S1 is the battery situation (I'm still amazed at how long the rechargeables last), and the aforementioned optical zoom. I seldom use the digital.
When the new models came out this past month, I trotted 'round to the local stores and checked 'em out. All things considered, I'm still pleased with the S1 and wouldn't do anything differently.

Am still having trouble remembering all the rules for depth of field and things like that
(and frequently find myself doing stupid things, like forgetting to activate the IS. Duh.
But that is the fault of the operator, not the camera.
Only real downside I've had is the occasional case of purple fringeing, which I understand can be edited out, but I haven't figured out how yet.
Also, occasionally, when shooting white subjects on sunny days (like swan) I end up with a peculiar haze or halo around the subject. Again, I think this is a failure of mine rather than the camera, and might be part of using a teleconverter, but I'm still working on it.
If you'd like to see some of my better shots, feel free to visit
www.nwyman.blogspot.com (http://www.nwyman.blogspot.com)
the nature stuff is down towards the bottom - the needlework shots are just for documentation.l

Nancy

[JTF]

Thanks for taking the time to post back Nancy. Maybe some other users can answer the questions about the halo or purple fringeing editing. I had a look at you nature shots & they are quite good. Tks.

[JTF]

Heres a good link about purple fringing I just found:

http://www.bytephoto.com/tutorials/chromatic-aberrations.php

[nwyman]

thanks for the link - I've printed it out for future reference.
As re: accessories for the S1, you might also want to consider UV and polarizer filters if you are going to be shooting anywhere near water, or in bright sunlight. (I use Tiffen 52mm) And I also have a Sima pen lens cleaner which comes in handy.
If you go with the teleconverter, you'll also need the adapter that's mentioned in the back of the S1 instruction book.
Nancy

[Bodryn]

I've had my S1 for over a year now and I still marvel at its capabilities and that's even after acquiring a Pentax DSLR. I've taken about 3300 pix with it. I now carry it always with a circular polarizer mounted on the accessory lens adapter. I've gotten plenty of nice bird photos handheld although a tripod or monopod is recommended for best results there. The lens is fast enough for handheld even at high zooms because of the image stabilization. The purple fringe (chromatic aberration) is one of the imperfections about the camera but it can be fairly well-handled with software tweaking afterwards. The image stabilization and through the eyepiece settings make it a winner for me. The autofocus isn't so good in dim light though. At the full zoom, I also seem to get a slight loss of sharpness. It does seem to help, if you know you will be shooting at infinity focus, to set it manually and leave it. For that matter, if you know the distance of your subject, set it to manual focus for that and then for continuous shooting and you can get off 25 shots before you know it. Very nice stuff. I think this camera is better than the S2 because it has a metal tripod mount and uses CF cards which to me seem a lot more sturdy and dependable than SD cards. I hear that the S2 has some advantages image-wise.

[JTF]

Great post bodryn tks for the useful information.

[agent007]

CF cards are on their way out. There's a higher possibility of the pins breaking as compared to SD which is pinless.The small size of SD cards make them ideal to be used with other devices such as PDA's, mp3 players etc.

[JTF]

One other question, is the Canon S1 able to work on a pc with Win 98? I borrowed a new Nikon D70 from work but found out later that Nikon didn't support Win 98.

[nwyman]

I'm looking at the booklet called "Canon Software Starter Guide" that came with my camera - it has directions for Win XP, 2000, ME, and 98

Nancy

[JTF]

Tks Nancy.

[SloNeZ600]

Had mine since Christmas 04; So far I have found that most of the reviews were very accurate. typical cmplaints such as lens cap and low light autofocus are all to real but the Long Zoom for outdoor and IS is what I wanted and works very well for me.

[JTF]

Tks slonez600.

[Bodryn]

I've been using my S1 IS on my Win 98 computer for over a year now, no problems. I should mention that I use a card reader to transfer all my photos over.

RE: CF cards. I can also use CF cards in my TRGpro PDA, my HP 200 LX pocket computer, my laptop/notebook computers (using a common PC card adapter). The contacts are not out in the open to be accidentally scraped or damaged. I must have a dozen of them. It is true that the pins on the accepting device can be bent, but I've never had a problem with that. The instructions that came with my new 1 GB Toshiba SD cards (necessary for my Pentax *istDS) are to never leave data on them for long because it may not be there when you want it. I did not find that comforting. Also they feel rather flimsy. I suppose I'll have to get used to it, if they are the "coming thing". I think maybe a better name would be 'insecure digital'. :(

[nwyman]

I've been using my S1 IS on my Win 98 computer for over a year now, no problems. I should mention that I use a card reader to transfer all my photos over.

RE: CF cards. I can also use CF cards in my TRGpro PDA, my HP 200 LX pocket computer, my laptop/notebook computers (using a common PC card adapter). The contacts are not out in the open to be accidentally scraped or damaged. I must have a dozen of them. It is true that the pins on the accepting device can be bent, but I've never had a problem with that. The instructions that came with my new 1 GB Toshiba SD cards (necessary for my Pentax *istDS) are to never leave data on them for long because it may not be there when you want it. I did not find that comforting. Also they feel rather flimsy. I suppose I'll have to get used to it, if they are the "coming thing". I think maybe a better name would be 'insecure digital'. :(

I recently read somewhere that it is better to reformat the CF card rather than use the "erase all" function, as this tends to prolong the life of the card and helps to prevent corrupt data. I don't quite understand the reasons for this, but I've been doing it ever since (not for individual shots, but after I've put a batch of shots onto the PC for editing). FWIW.
Nancy

[appleoo]

I have the S1 Is and I love it.

[cjm]

I've had mine for 6 hours so far. So far so good. The biggest downside and the only one I can see so far is that the S1 can not do macro shots. Well that and that the focus on 10x isn't instant but that is understandable. Other then that its great! (at least so far)

[JTF]

Tks bodryn & appleoo, just another question. Can the video on the S1 be played on a T.V. or transferred to a dvd/vcr tape?

[Devil]

Hi JTF,

I've had the Canon S1 for about a year now and agree that it's a great camera. I'm actually considering the upgrade to the new S2 or a DSLR at the moment.

However, if the S1 fits your needs it's well worth it. I've taken quite a lot of photos ranging from close up (macro) to sports photos and the S1 rarely lets me down.

The video on the S1 is saved in AVI format and can easily be converted to DVD/VCD etc with conversion. I took a few clips from a work Xmas party I went to last year and merged them all into a little movie and recorded it onto a VCD quite easily.

[flugelboy]

I've had mine for 6 hours so far. So far so good. The biggest downside and the only one I can see so far is that the S1 can not do macro shots. Well that and that the focus on 10x isn't instant but that is understandable. Other then that its great! (at least so far)

I've heard alot of people say that the S1 can't do macro shots. Although the camera doesn't have a dedicated macro 'mode', it's plenty capable of taking great macro shots. Just put the camera as close as you want to the subject and let it auto-focus. You'll be suprised at the results.

Here's a couple of marco shots I took when i first bought the camera about a year go.

http://www.chadwhite.com/Portals/0/TTTGallery/Macros/hard-drive1.jpg

http://www.chadwhite.com/Portals/0/TTTGallery/Favorites/IMG_0253.jpg

Oh and by the way...I love this camera! It's not perfect, but even after a year of use I don't regret buying it at all. The zoom/IS is incredible and although I didn't buy it for the video capabilities, I find myself using that quite a bit. I think the only camera with better video is probably the S2, and not by much.

[Salleke]

I have decided that I may purchase the Canon S1 for outdoor photography & the occassional indoor pics for family gatherings. The prices have come done a bit so being my first camera I think this is the one for me. I was looking for some user opinions from current owners on what you like or don't like. I have read reviews but I would like to read some real time usage info. Tks for any help of even advice on accessories that I should purchase.

Since the new S2 IS is available IMHO it's better you considering buying the S2 IS.
I had the S1 IS for about 6 months and sold it and bought me the S2 IS.
It's more a camera then it's predecessor was. In so many things it's improved and focussing in very low light is now possible.
And last but not least the 12 x zoom is incredible.
In 8 days that I have this cam I have allready taken 1250 shots and there are a few that are very good. They can even compete with pictures taken with my 20 D and an expensive L lens on it. Enjoy your camera and take a lot of pictures...:lol: :lol: :lol:

[HectorsGTI]

The S1 has served me well in the year I have owned mine. I've shot close to 20,000 images with it so far and it does everything well except for the following:

Low light- forget about the autofocus in low light. It just doesn't work.

Super fast action- Again, forget about the autofocus. You have to pick a spot, lock the autofocus, then wait for the action to get to that spot. VERY annoying for capturing spontaneous high speed action.

Other than those two things the camera is incredibly versatile. I have been very happy with it to date.

[Bodryn]

Flugelboy - I am astonished at the clarity of those shots! I haven't tried closeups with my S1. Now you've given me ideas!

Salleke - it is true that there have been improvements made on the S2; these can be seen in on-line reviews like dpreview.com However there is also a down side: the camera is somewhat larger and heftier. It uses an SD card instead of a CF card which some users may not like. My biggest concern is that it has a PLASTIC tripod connector instead of a metal one like the S1. This last item suggests to me that Canon isn't taking this camera seriously ehough. This camera is in many ways state of the art - but why are they cheapening it that way? What do you do when the tripod connector thread strips out? Use superglue? I originally was going to buy one, but when I heard about the plastic tripod thing I thought to myself, what else aren't they telling me?

[Salleke]

Flugelboy - I am astonished at the clarity of those shots! I haven't tried closeups with my S1. Now you've given me ideas!

Salleke - it is true that there have been improvements made on the S2; these can be seen in on-line reviews like dpreview.com However there is also a down side: the camera is somewhat larger and heftier. It uses an SD card instead of a CF card which some users may not like. My biggest concern is that it has a PLASTIC tripod connector instead of a metal one like the S1. This last item suggests to me that Canon isn't taking this camera seriously ehough. This camera is in many ways state of the art - but why are they cheapening it that way? What do you do when the tripod connector thread strips out? Use superglue? I originally was going to buy one, but when I heard about the plastic tripod thing I thought to myself, what else aren't they telling me?

Bodryn - At first the fact that the S2 was using SD cards disturbt me to, but I have a Vosonic with 40 GB so I need one SD card to buy and one was already in the box.
Shure it would have bin easyer if it ware CF cards.
The cam is a bit bigger but for me the feel and holding it feels better then the S1. It's feeling better and have a better grip. So that was no problem for me.
About the plastic tripod connector that don't buther me at all. First of all I hev never used this cam on a tripod because it has a super IS.
If I have to use it on a tripod I believe that one must put very much power in his hand to brake the plastic tripod holder. I have tryed out and it's no problem at all IMHO.
You can go to a shop and try it yourself to put it on a tripod. You will see that it's not so week as it seem.
But you are right it would have been better if it was made like the old one. But like I said it is a fantastic camera...:D :D :D

[flugelboy]

I totally agree with the low light focusing problem It's not good with the S1. This has been improved with the S2. Another improvement (according to reviews) is the purple fringing problem on the S1. This only happened in certain conditions and was easily fixable in photoshop.

My only other gripe about the S1 was the intense noise levels at ISO400. If you were shooting dark scenes at that ISO, the pictures were nearly unuseable accept for some noise reduction software. I don't think this had been improved much in the S2 though.

[cjm]

Ok I retract my statement made earlier. The first 6 hours were great the last 6 hours today was a nightmare. And I seriously mean a nightmare. The images I got today were so bad that I would be ashamed to show my great great great grandfather (one of the first Photographers in Illinois) the images I got. And that guy was used to bad shots cause the camera was only 10 years old and took pictures in sepia.

Now before S1 fans start reminding me how good it is. I will admit two things, the S1 is a good camera for many and that mine was possibly malfuntioning because it was a refurbished camera. However with that said, the many different shots I took today were most disappointing. The zoom worked exceptional and even the digital zoom upto 16X worked flawless. However the image it produced, while crisp was rather terrible. The colors had to have massive amounts of Photoshop editing to make them right and then they were not that good anyways. The bad pictures were mainly for Landscapes and such. For people, things (such as my shoe picture below) and other things, it was much better.

However my biggest peeve even past the bad color was something that didn't malfunction at all. And that was the View finder. The view finder is a LCD screen. Good idea on paper but terrible in reality if you wear glasses and shoot while wearing them. I know dioptic meter but to me that makes no sense, how can I take a picture of something if I can't see it? Out side, in the sun it was terrible because as we all know sun & LCD screens don't mix. I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of outside. Which makes the camera essentially worthless to me because I take pictures out side mainly.

Normal batteries last about 130 pictures, which is not too bad at all considering how much power the zoom requires. I returned the S1 about 1 hour ago. Mainly because of the view finder issue, the color issue on landscapes, and because the macro wasn't very good at all.

Note: The only reason I mention any of this is to be honest, I'm sure there will be those who greatly disagree with me and that is fine. This is just my experience with this Camera. I liked the camera, I have wanted this one since I first saw it in January but I am a wee bit disappointed at my cameras performence.

[Bodryn]

Christopher, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with the S1. It really sounds to me like there must be something wrong with the camera. Maybe if you posted some examples of awful pictures I could get an idea of what's going on. I've been very happy with mine but I must say I think I routinely get better color with my A70 than with the S1. I was disappointed with some of my recent mountain photos with the S1 and it took some tweaking with Jasc PSP to get them to looking pretty good. I think my best results are if I use mostly auto settings instead of messing with "vivid" and such-like. One of my favorite features is the viewfinder LCD screen! I don't want to have to put reading glasses on to see the usual LCD screen but with the S1 viewfinder, I set the diopter to my eyes and with all the readings and data in there, it suits me perfectly.

To really get good photo quality one probably should go with a DSLR.

Somebody mentioned not having to use a tripod with IS. The fact is, your results will improve if you do use a tripod, especially with 10x telephoto. Handheld it can be hard to get the exact aim you want and also if conditions are not very bright IS may not be enough. Once in awhile I've gotten a bit of blurring because I didn't realize how much light had been lost as the sun went behind the mountains. I do have a plastic tripod holder on my A70 and I don't like it. In the old days, nobody used plastic for that. If it does strip, I'm not sure what to do about it.

[Salleke]

...To really get good photo quality one probably should go with a DSLR.

... Somebody mentioned not having to use a tripod with IS.

Yes, a DSLR would give you better pictures but at what a cost?
Look only at a 12 X zoom lens, it costs an arm and a leg...:o
I have a 20 D, lenses, CF cards and others but if I add all up take it's a
big investment. And the zoom I have is not 12 X, it's to expensive for me.

Then the DSLR himself is not cheap at all. If we see it that way we can say
that for the price of the S2 IS we get a very fine camera that is capable of
making very nice pictures. Shure not all the pictures are keepers and sometime
the S2 (or S1) misses in capturing a picture but for the price I can live with it.
I love my DSLR but I'am very happy with my S2 as my backup camera and it
happens that I use my S2 more then my DSLR at some events where a big
DSLR with a big lens and big flashgun on it would be disturbing.

BTW, do you know if we must switch off the IS on the S2 if we put it on a tripod?
Or is it the second generation of IS that senses the tripod automaticly?
Does someone know this? Thank you.

[cjm]

It was bad. I am a Powershot fan. Sure I'd love to have a 20D and glass to boot but not with my current pay cheque will that happen so I just use what I have and study photography books to get the best results with what I have. I've been using a A60 for the last 6 months and Ihave to say that if the A60 was a woman I'd marry her. It is just that good. But I today bought a A85 today and its a suuped up version of my A60! So essentially I returned the S1 then shopped around and found a A85 at sears for a great price and I am pretty happy.

The 10x zoom is pretty awesome but it is very very hard to frame at that length, never mind if you use the digital zoom of 32X (which I never used, just tried). I think for a DSL a 10X zoom would be about $300 to skys the limit for a lens since it is about 300mm film wise. A 12X zoom would be about $800 to sky for a 400mm lens, at least around here it would be. Thats a lot of mula to see things close.

[Voyager13b]

The S1 is a nice camera, and since I have lots of CF cards, it was a contender when I was looking for a long zoom full function digital camera a few Months ago. Then I found the S2....

If I bought an S1 before the S2 came out, I would still be proud of the fine camera, but since the S2 is on the market now, there really isn't enough difference in cost to justify buying an S1 anymore. The S2 is improved over the S1 in so many ways that it is really a new camera, and a very real step up from the S1 for just a little higher cost. The only hidden cost is switching to SD memory cards if you already own CF cards.

I bought the S2 in the end, along with a 1 gig SanDisk SD card, and after comparing it to the S1 my boss owns, the S2 is worth waiting for even if it takes a few weeks to fix the budget gap.

Voyager

[Rob vdKam]

I recently read somewhere that it is better to reformat the CF card rather than use the "erase all" function, as this tends to prolong the life of the card and helps to prevent corrupt data. I don't quite understand the reasons for this, but I've been doing it ever since (not for individual shots, but after I've put a batch of shots onto the PC for editing). FWIW.
Nancy
You should reformat every time you download your pics to the computer. It may or may not prevent corruption but it certainly makes a difference with memory available on the card. When you don't reformat, it's like not defragmenting your hard drive, except that you really notice all those lost bits because there are not as many.

[JTF]

Hmmm, I think I just go out & buy the S2, thanks for al the excellent info.

[weilaphobia]

i recently purchased the S1, and i am extremely happy with it..we just returned from a trip to canada, and i got some great shots..

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/weilaphobia/vacation%202005/trees6-august2005-blkwht.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/weilaphobia/vacation%202005/swamp2-august2005.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/weilaphobia/vacation%202005/trees7-august2005.jpg


any feedback will be greatly appreciated!
em

[Rob vdKam]

I finally decided on a Konica-Minolta A200. I first tried the S1 but then tried the S2 because of the difficulties in seeing objects in the viewfinder in daylight. The S2 was better, but in the end, I find the A200's extra pixels make enough difference that I can now see almost everything in the viewfinder that I can see with my eye (I said almost - limitations exist with very small objects of course, but not as much as with the Canons).

In the end, this was the deciding factor for me. It did cost extra but I got enough other functions that made it worthwhile (8MP, manual zoom, memory cards like I had for other devices, etc). The Canon had some things I'm going to miss too fo course, but you can't have everything.

[Salleke]

I finally decided on a Konica-Minolta A200. I first tried the S1 but then tried the S2 because of the difficulties in seeing objects in the viewfinder in daylight. The S2 was better, but in the end, I find the A200's extra pixels make enough difference that I can now see almost everything in the viewfinder that I can see with my eye (I said almost - limitations exist with very small objects of course, but not as much as with the Canons).

In the end, this was the deciding factor for me. It did cost extra but I got enough other functions that made it worthwhile (8MP, manual zoom, memory cards like I had for other devices, etc). The Canon had some things I'm going to miss too fo course, but you can't have everything.

Good luck with your new camera...