The PowerShot S1 IS has a 1/2.7
inch, 3.3 million pixel CCD (3.2 million effective) to capture
a maximum image size of 2048 x 1536 pixels. CCD sensitivity
begins at 50 ISO, and can be increased to 100, 200 or 400 ISO.
Alternatively the Auto setting lets the camera increase sensitivity
as required.
The 10X stabilized zoom
lens is composed of 11 elements, and includes 1 aspherical
surface to minimize wide angle distortion. With a focal length
of 5.8 to 58mm, the lens provides a range comparable to a 38
to 380mm lens in the 35mm film format.
A variable speed Ultrasonic motor (USM) is used to adjust the zoom, allowing
the lens to go from wide to telephoto in about 1 second when the camera
is in the still image modes; and slowing it down to 3 seconds so as to
be quiet and fluid in the movie mode.
The lens trim can be removed to attach converter lenses.
While the apertures start at f2.8 at
the wide angle end and f3.1 at the telephoto end both closing
down to f8, the shutter speed range extends from 1/2000 sec
to 15 seconds; and noise reduction is automatically applied
to images captured at a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds or longer.
The PowerShot S1 IS can capture images in one of 4 sizes:
Image size and compression are set in the Function menu,
called up as an overlay on the left side of the EVF or
the monitor when the FUNC. button is pressed. The
Function menu serves to set 8 basic items, but all eight
are only available when the camera is set to the P/Av/Tv/or M modes:
Exposure Compensation: adjustable over a range
of ± 2EV in 1/3EV increments.
White Balance: Auto; Daylight; Cloudy; Tungsten;
Fluorescent (warm white); Fluorescent H (daylight); Flash;
Custom (user set based on the colour of a white sheet
of paper under ambient light).
ISO: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400 ISO.
Effect: Off; Vivid (emphasizes contrast and
colour saturation); Neutral (tones down contrast and
saturation); Low Sharpening; Sepia; Black and White;
Custom Effect (freely adjust contrast, sharpness and
colour saturation from Weak, Neutral, or Strong).
Bracketing:Exposure
bracketing ±2EV over 3 shots; or Focus Bracketing
over 3 shots (selected position, further away, closer).
Flash Compensation: (in all modes except
Auto) ± 2EV in 1/3 EV increments; or:
Flash Output: (in Tv, Av and M modes
if the Flash Adjust option of the menu is
set to Manual) Normal, or +1, or Full.
Image size and compression:see above.
The Recording menu, which is displayed when the MENU button
is pressed, is the first part of three, the other two, Setup and My
Camera, being shared with the Playback menu. The
contents of the Setup menu is covered in the Interface
and Software section of this review, the My Camera menu
is explained further on.
The Recording menu provides options to adjust:
Flash Synch: selects First or Second curtain
(the flash fires at the beginning or just before the
end of the exposure).
Slow Synchro:On or Off, starts
the slow synch flash mode.
Flash Adjust:Auto or Manual (in
the Tv, AV and M modes only).
Red-eye:On or Off. Activates an
orange LED located below and to the right of the pop-up
flash's head before the shot is captured.
Flash Pop-up:On or Off. Selects
whether or not the flash pops up automatically when the
camera evaluates the ambient light to be too low to guarantee
the image will be camera-shake free.
Self-timer: sets the delay for the Self-timer
(2 seconds or 10 seconds).
Wireless Delay: sets the delay for the Remote
control shutter release (None, 2 seconds or 10
seconds).
Spot AE Point:Centre or AF Point.
Decides whether spot metering follows the AF point, or
if the spot metering function always takes place at the
centre of the frame (see the Ergonomics section of the
review for the metering modes available with the button).
MF Point Zoom:On or Off. When On
and Manual focus is used, the centre point of the frame
is enlarged on the display to help focus accurately.
AF Mode: decides whether the autofocus is Single (activated
when the shutter release is pressed), or Continuous.
Tally Lamp: decides whether or not the tally lamp
(the self-timer lamp above the name PowerShot on the front
of the camera) blinks during movie recording.
Digital Zoom:On or Off. A 3.2X
digital zoom is available. The digital zoom crops the central
portion of the frame and interpolates the image to the
selected image size.
Review: Sets the length of time during which a
just captured image is displayed (Off, 2 through
10 seconds).
Reversed Display:On or Off. Decides
whether or not the image is horizontally reversed when
the LCD monitor is facing the front of the camera (as in
a self-portrait).
Intervalometer:Allows setting the camera
to shoot automatically at a selected time interval (1 through
60 minutes) for up to 100 shots if there is sufficient
memory card capacity.
Set Shortcut Button: selects one of 9 functions
for the Shortcut button which can be accessed immediately.
Save Settings: allows saving current settings
to the Custom mode (C).
Used in the Auto mode, the Recording menu is shortened
to eight options, as the Flash Synch, Slow Synchro, Flash
Adjust, Flash Pop-up, Spot AE Point, MF Point Zoom, Tally
Lamp, Intervalometer and Save Settings options are absent.
During playback the DISPLAY button can be used to see images'
shooting data. Each press of the button cycles through the three display
modes.
At first only the image is shown.
Pressing the button once adds an overlay that has the image
file name at the top of the frame and the image number, resolution
and compression, date and time at the bottom. Pressing the
button a second time replaces the image by a thumbnail that
indicates potentially overexposed areas by making them flash,
and adds further information: shooting mode, white balance,
effect, shutter speed, aperture, compensation, and ISO setting.
Also in Playback, the MENU button provides Playback
specific options in the first of its three sections, while
once again providing access to the Setup and My
Camera sections:
Protect: serves to prevent images from an accidental
erasure.
Rotate: allows rotating an image by 90° or
270°.
Erase All: erase all non-protected images.
Slide Show: plays back still images in an automated
slide show. Up to 3 slide shows can be set-up, images can
be individually selected, and display timings can be set.
Print Order: serves to select images that will
be printed on a DPOF compatible printer, or service. The
S1 is compatible with Direct Print, DPOF, and PictBridge
and can be used to print directly from the camera to a
printer supporting one of these protocols.
Transfer Order: selectsimages that will
automatically be downloaded to a computer running the included
software.
Just like all other current Canon PowerShot cameras, the
S1 IS offers the possibility of personalizing the sounds
the camera makes, and the image it displays — if so
set — when the camera is turned on.
A picture or a series of sounds,
or both can be selected using the My Camera section
of the menu. By default, the S1 is pre-loaded with 3 themes,
each a group of sounds matching a start-up image. In addition,
41 other themes are available with the software supplied with
the camera.
Sounds and images can be individually selected, and an image captured with
the camera can be used.
Sounds can be selected for the
start-up sound, the operation sound, the self-timer and the
shutter release.
The PowerShot S1 is compatible with CompactFlash Type I and II memory cards,
and with Microdrives. The slot is on the right side of the camera, and
is protected by a large solid plastic door.
Canon is retailing the PowerShot
S1 IS with a 32MB High Speed CompactFlash Type I card, allowing
the camera to store:
Superfine
Fine
Normal
32
MB
32
MB
32
MB
2048
x 1536
18
33
67
1600
x 1200
61
109
217
1024
x 768
107
189
349
640 x
480
241
393
676
Although a few seconds of video
can also be recorded with the supplied 32MB card, a 1 GB capacity
is more practical:
32
MB
1GB
32
MB
1GB
Movie
Recording
30
fps
30
fps
15
fps
15
fps
640 Fine
15"
8 '40"
30"
17' 04"
640
20"
11' 52"
42"
22' 46"
320
46"
24' 50"
91"
45' 33"
The three external connections for the PowerShot S1 IS are
on the lower back of the camera, below the LCD monitor and
covered by a flexible grey plastic door. Starting on the left,
the first jack is for a DC input, the second for the USB (1.1)
cable, and the third for the A/V out which can be configured
for NTSC or PAL in the Setup menu.
THe S1 IS is powered by 4 AA-size
batteries which are housed in the grip section. A set of 4
Alkaline batteries are supplied with the camera, but purchasing
a set of Ni-MH rechargeable batteries should be considered
an imperative when the camera is purchased.
As options, Canon offers a
rechargeable battery kit that includes 4 Ni-MH and a charger
(CBK4-200), along with a power adapter (CA-PS700), which can
be used to run the camera with household current.
Compare Prices for Adorama T-Thread Adapter Kit for the Canon Powershot S-1 & IS Digital Cameras.
Characteristics
button).
