A95 - The good, the bad and the ugly!
 

Hi,

I've finally decided to go for the Canon A95 digicam and before I swipe my CC, I wanted to know from all the Canon loyalists :) and Not-so-canon-loyalists ;) about the A95.

I'm specifically interested in the problems with the A95 because all the reviews sites talk mostly about the positive side of the camera.

My concerns are:
1. Dreadful E18 error on A95
2. Lowlight Performance
3. Battery life

Any input is highly appreciated!

Thanks for your help.
- forevertechie

No sign of the E18 error either on the A95 I bought for work almost a year ago, or the one I bought for myself a couple of months ago. Excellent photo quality. But I wish it had a longer zoom. Also, the LCD does not "gain up" well in bright light, despite what the review on this camera says. Mine doesn't, anyway. I've often found myself either using the viewfinder in bright light, or pointing the camera and shooting blind, then checking to see if I captured what I wanted. I have the same problem in very low light. Despite this, I've usually captured the photo I wanted. Good photos, too. You can check out some of them here:

http://bethsadventurepics.smugmug.co.../talbW4aLtJKOE

Low-light performance is good, but can require a tripod. I got the camera-shake warning in a few situations where I didn't think the light was that low. (took photos hand-held and they were fine). Also, I need to use manual focus if shooting in really low light (i.e. at night) at F8 with the lens fully extended. Just found that one out the hard way, i.e. with blurry photos.

Also, I can't always tell if my photos are in focus or not until I get them out of the camera and onto the computer. Partly a function of the 1.8 LCD screen. Partly a function of my eyes.

Battery life is significantly worse than advertised on this camera; it eats power like a monster. And sometimes I get no warning before the camera just quits. I do always have the LCD turned on (although I turn off the post-shot review function). At least it takes AAs, so there's always spare batteries to be had somewhere.

Overall I really, really like this camera. I'm thrilled with the quality of the photos. Just need to realize and compensate for the other stuff.

I haven't seen any error with mine ... yet. Lowlight performance isn't too bad. I've managed to capture some pretty images at ISO 400 but have to clean up the noise with extra software. My LCD does gain up in low light so I've haven't experienced any problems not being able to use the LCD Viewfinder for menu settings or composing iamges. Battery life is much improved if you can find some Energizer NiMH 2500 mAh rechargeable batteries but like EAP said above always have spares on hand cause the low battery warning happens pretty quick. The only real issue that I've had is dealing with PF (Purple Fringe) in high Contrast situations but it's not noticeable unless you enlarge the image. Other than that I'm happy with mine.

And nice photos EAP ... ;)

I sold my A95 because of very poor low-light focusing in spite of the auto-focus assist lamp.

Although I really like my A95, I also had trouble with it focusing in very dim light. Basically solved that problem by using a small Mag-Lite to shine light at a central spot in the picture which the camera could then use to focus with. Once focus locks, I turn off the light and take the picture. It works very well for me, and doesn;t seem to affect the overall exposure to any degree, if at all.

i just bought an A95, and was concerned with the same things you are. :D

1)on E18, if you noticed, a significant number of posts in the E18 thread were not from regulars on the forum but from people who state "i googled E18 when my camera showed it, and now i'm adding my complaint to this list". :mad: in spite of that, and the fact that the thread has been viewed nearly 10,000 times, only a handful of firsthand accounts show E18's there. keep in mind that this camera was a consumer reports best buy and an industry leader in sales... millions of them are out there, with maybe a dozen results in the E18 thread. if you're REALLY worried about it, buy the extended warranty as i did and you've got 4 years peace of mind. the cost of the warranty is about half the cost of the repair, so if it happens once, you've made the warranty cost-effective. if it never happens, you had 4 years peace of mind.

2) low-light, i can't comment too much. i tend to manually focus in low-light situations, so i don't worry about auto-focus, although a little maglight would seem to be the optimum solution to that, so i may start trying it. low-light is not "indoor regular room lighting", btw. indoors with regular room light, i have no trouble with the auto-focus. :cool:

3) battery life -- well, yeah. it's a tradeoff. either you get the AA's that you can replace at any corner market from Outer Podunk, Maine to Doha, Qatar :p and know you'll never be far from batteries, or you have to live with the advance-planning-requirements and complication of keeping your $50 proprietary li-ion charged. i could lose my car keys in the parking lot walking from my car to my office door. for that reason, two or three sets of high mAh (2300 or better) Ni-MH rechargeables fit my lifestyle. if i forget them or lose my charger, i can buy replacements at the Kwik-E-Mart. you have to decide which option is better for you.

I've only had my A95 about a month and have had no issues. I love the camera. It takes great low light shots compared to my old Casio -- and all in auto mode. I have only played with a very other settings so far with only one bad shot -- which was my fault. I got some great shots of the flowers at the California Poppy Reserve two weekends ago. Again, I was only using the Foliage scene mode and don't know how the focus or colors could have been better. Absolutely no post processing was required. I just downloaded to my PC and printed beautiful shots on the Epson printer. Each and every shot had to be tweaked from the Casio before it was fit to save or print. I have heard the low light focusing is not as good in the A510/A510 as the AF lamp is weaker. That was one of the reasons I went for the A95.

What is Mag-Lite?
 

I have a CoolPix5700 and it has a bad low-light focusing ability (even the reviews said that). I was wondering if I can use your technique of using Mag-Lite. What is it? Is it just a kind of simple torch light?

Actually I have an idea of using laser pointer (like the one usually used by lecturer) , but with a difusser at it's tip.

I haven't got the chance to test it since I haven't bought the laser yet.

Do you guys think it can help focusing?

Thx,
David

what a maglite is...
 

http://www.maglite.com/productline.asp

as you can see, it's a torch which comes in an array of sizes. it has a reputation within the u.s. for being extremely sturdy and reliable. the large ones can and have been used as clubs in fistfights, they're that sturdy.
the post above probably refers to one of the mini units, or the solitaire. all of these are palm-sized and lightweight enough to be attached to a keychain.

I own the A95 and I must say I am most pleased with it...

Unlike others have found, the battery life is pleasing, I get over 400 shots using LCD 100% of the time and using flash quite a bit(50% or more)... That is over a 1 month period and as you know NiMH batteries have a rather "high" self discharge rate. This is using 2300 mAh Powerex batteries with a Maha C204W charger.

E18 error, for me this is still at the state of rumor... something you hear a lot about, but that u never see. Kind of like UFO...

Low light performance... I can notice it takes a little more time to focus, but it does it quite well and I have had no problems with that.

Things that could be improved are the zoom range, it would be nice to have a lens that starts at more wideangle or that goes a bit further at telephoto.

Below you can see a few of my pictures.... They look quite fine to my eyes.