Rhys
08-07-2004, 01:56 PM
Well, I now have a Canon S1. It's very different from my 995 and my 3100. Each has its own special niche - the 995 is fantastic for macro work but is let down by a daft battery. Unless I plan to take pictures with it 6 hours in advance, I have to use 2CR5 batteries.
The 3100 is a fantastic out-and-about opportunist camera.
The S1 seems to me to be the ideal SLR replacement. I did consider an SLR but I didn't feel justified in spending a thousand or more pounds to buy one. In short, the S1 gives me SLR characteristics, a 10x zoom lens and many other features including the video-clip capability (which is very interesting). As dSLRs are currently APS standard rather than full 35mm standard, I didn't feel they represented true replacement value over 35mm. The S1 is nowhere near 35mm replacement value but was a lot less expensive while providing decent SLR capabilities.
Checking the CCD for dead and hot pixels proved that the CCD is very good - better than the CCDs on my Nikons. They didn't have dead or hot pixels but did have some that were very slightly off-key (not so much that it would have noticed though).
The S1 is a complex beast to use. Thus far I have left it on auto only but am beginning to play around, exploiting its full potential. Unlike Jeff's review, I have found no purple fringing. I have found excellent low-light performance though. This is a picture I took a few days ago in Aberystwyth. The colour performance seems excellent. Thus far I cannot fault the camera aside from possibly a slight delay between pressing the button and the picture being taken.
The 3100 is a fantastic out-and-about opportunist camera.
The S1 seems to me to be the ideal SLR replacement. I did consider an SLR but I didn't feel justified in spending a thousand or more pounds to buy one. In short, the S1 gives me SLR characteristics, a 10x zoom lens and many other features including the video-clip capability (which is very interesting). As dSLRs are currently APS standard rather than full 35mm standard, I didn't feel they represented true replacement value over 35mm. The S1 is nowhere near 35mm replacement value but was a lot less expensive while providing decent SLR capabilities.
Checking the CCD for dead and hot pixels proved that the CCD is very good - better than the CCDs on my Nikons. They didn't have dead or hot pixels but did have some that were very slightly off-key (not so much that it would have noticed though).
The S1 is a complex beast to use. Thus far I have left it on auto only but am beginning to play around, exploiting its full potential. Unlike Jeff's review, I have found no purple fringing. I have found excellent low-light performance though. This is a picture I took a few days ago in Aberystwyth. The colour performance seems excellent. Thus far I cannot fault the camera aside from possibly a slight delay between pressing the button and the picture being taken.