Okay...I'm down to two Canon Options...

[rebsblack]

After a month of search and questions and gong in and out of camera stores, I'm down to two Canon cameras...I'm deciding between the S1IS and the A95.
The pros and cons of S1 IS as I see them....awesome zoom....but only 3 MP no AF assist lamp. Does this mean that photos around a campfire or indoors won't be as good?
Now A95....smaller size, 5 MP....not as great a zoom
I'm travelling to Argentina for 3 months and I do a lot of backpacking...zoom could be nice for inconspicuous shots....is it necessary though? Any final thoughts out there on pros and cons of each?

[MobstaJ]

I would go for the S1IS just because I shoot more outdoor shots than indoor shots and I like to shoot birds and that IS lens would be very nice. But for your uses, the A95 sounds more your style. And remember with the a95 you can get tele and wide angle lenses to add on if you really need them. They won't be as good as the S1IS but you still have that option.

[dwig]

Remember that the zoom lens and the resolution differences are non-issues when the battery goes dead. IMHO, you should keep the differences in the battery/power options high on the list of deciding attributes.

The A95 uses standard AA alkaline batteries, available almost everywhere and have a great shelf life (years). NiMH batteries have their good points but need to be recharged, requiring you to carry the charger and vist places with power. NiMH also have a rather pitiful "shelf life" on the charge. A full charged battery will have less than 50% of its power, and perhaps only 10%, a month later even if unused, so carrying a charged spare is only a partial solution. There are solar charging solutions (generally a solar unit with a cigarette lighter style socket combined with a car charger) but their size and weight is equal to at least a day's food when you are backpacking.

[Newbie]

Both S1 IS and A95 use AA batteries and their discharge rate is probably as bad people say(2-5% per day), but it doesn't affect the batteries as badly as people say(what dwig said). In my A95, I put the batteries in and took a few shots about every other day(mostly with flash) and always with LCD on, I was able to take 409 shots over a period of 1 month, so that really isn't that bad ?

Going for Li-on batteries will not be much more economic energy-wise, they cost a lot so if u buy a spare, you could have bought at least 8 NiMH batteries and their life will rarely give u more than 409 shots(like I got with my A95), plus when they die, u need power just like normal NiMH batteries, with the exception that u can always carry regular Alkaline batteries as a 2nd and 3rd back up.

My suggestion to you would probably be the A510, it has 3mp like the S1 IS, it starts at 35mm which is better than the others for landscape shots and has 4x zoom which is better than the A95, it also more compact and uses only 2AA batteries, so u can have plenty of spares.

[Prah]

The S1 is an old model with mediocre picture quality and will probably be replaced next month.

Both of those cameras are heavy. If you're backpacking, you probably don't want to cart them around. Nimh AA batteries and their rechargers are heavy too.

If you can cope without a zoom, you may like the SD20 more as it is light and takes great pictures. The SD300's picture quality isn't as good as the SD20's, but it has a 3x zoom and you can take good movie clips with it. There are reviews and galleries on this site. I doubt battery life is as good as with the Powershots though, if that is an issue.