Canon S1 IS or Olympus C770? Please help advise.

[TroyScott]

Hello. I am killing myself over this decision. I can get the Canon S1 or the Olympus C770 for close to the same price. Both reviews are great! What is a guy to do? I want the best all around picture taking camera, indoors and outdoors. Video clips are just a plus.

Anybody out there actually tried them both?

[Rhys]

Hello. I am killing myself over this decision. I can get the Canon S1 or the Olympus C770 for close to the same price. Both reviews are great! What is a guy to do? I want the best all around picture taking camera, indoors and outdoors. Video clips are just a plus.

Anybody out there actually tried them both?

Go for the S1. It has image stabilisation, takes AA batteries and Compact Flash. CF is cheaper, available in larger sizes and is more universal than XD. It's also easier to find if you drop it, too. Currently XD is available to a max of 512 kb wheras CF is available up to 4GB as a type 1 card or 5GB as a microdrive (type 2).

The S1 also has a stabilised VGA video mode (with sound).

I have the S1 and love it!

[TroyScott]

Thanks for the Info! How does it do in low light (regular indoor photos)? Does it focus on a central object and then fuzzy out the rest? I'm asking because it only has a single point focus.

Thanks,

p.s. I was leading toward the S1 also.

[Thon]

I'm using a C770UZ and have so far been very pleased with it. The compact size and great pics are just what I wanted (and the S1 is just a bit too big).

The other advantages of the C770 are the external flash hotshoe and ability to add conversion lenses & filters. The minor shortcomings that I would find with it would be the lack of AF assist light and IS (though a tripod normally solves this problem).

Compared to the S1, the hypersonic motor and swivel LCD are nice features. But I believe the picture quality is a bit better on the C770UZ, but that's subjective.

For me the main criteria would be the compact size and good pics rather than IS etc. And xDs are not that expensive now, probably the same price as a SD/CF card of a similar size about 12 months back. I believe the price will reduce a fair bit more as time goes by.

I'd say there is nothing wrong with either of your choices. Do look at the Panasonic FZs too, they are about the same size (or bigger) with the S1 and much better overall (lens wise).

[Rhys]

Thanks for the Info! How does it do in low light (regular indoor photos)? Does it focus on a central object and then fuzzy out the rest? I'm asking because it only has a single point focus.

Thanks,

p.s. I was leading toward the S1 also.

Low-light might be problematic but.... It does have a manual focus setting. It's tricky to use but it does work and it shows a magnified portion of the image to enable focussing.

Maybe AF works better in low light at faster ISOs. I've never tried. I leave it on 50asa.

As for image quality - it was lousy until I applied the patch.

[TroyScott]

what patch?

[Rhys]

what patch?

Well, there are patches available on the Canon website for the S1 IS.

If you check the battery door and find a black dot inside then you'll have the updated firmware anyway and won't need the latest patches.

Check through the Canon forum and you'll find somewhere, a web address for patches for the S1 IS.

[speaklightly]

Troy-

Unless you really need that hot shoe and the enhance movie capablities of the Olympus C-770, what not consider the C-765 and save yourself some money.

I own both the C-765 and the Canon S-1 (with the updated firmware-"the patch"). I normally reach for the Canon C-765 before I reach for the Canon S-1.

I like the size and speed of the C-765 better.

Sarah Joyce

[Yali]

I'm also looking at the C-765 or S1. Probably a long shot but has anyone used these with the underwater housing? Both cameras have the housing for about the same price. Any particular advantages to either camera under the water?

[speaklightly]

Yali-

Other than the fact that the Canon S-1 is a stabilized 3mp camera using AA sized batteries and the Olympus 770 is a 4mp unstabilized camera using a proprietary battery, they are pretty much the same.

The choice is yours. Good Luck! However you could save money by opting for the C-765 verus the C-770.

Sarah Joyce