During the course of a year there
are a handful of cameras that illicit interest which, for us,
is reflected in the e-mail we receive. The PowerShot S1 IS is
one of these cameras, and interest in its capabilities has been
widespread, coming in the form of review requests from North
America, Europe and Australia.
Obviously, the main source of that interest has been the S1's image stabilized
10X zoom lens.
With a focal length equivalent
to a 38 to 380 mm, the S1's lens covers a range that starts from
a reasonably wide angle to a powerful telephoto, and is even
more useful by the fact that it takes approximately 1 second
to travel from one end of its focal range to other.
Usually, at the full telephoto setting and in bright light, such a long
zoom causes the image to dance around in the viewfinder, making it a bit
difficult to frame accurately.
Aperture: f4.5, shutter speed: 1/500
sec, 50 ISO.
In addition, when the shutter speed
starts to drop because the subject is either too light absorbing
or the ambient light is insufficient, there is a real possibility
that the image will be blurred by camera-shake.
This is where the value of an image stabilizer comes in. When the S1's
stabilizer is active, the user is able to capture crisp images at shutter
speeds that would normally be slow to avoid the effect of camera shake.
Throughout its focal range, the
zoom of the S1 yields photos that are sharp from edge to edge.
Wide angle photos show a slight amount of barrel distortion,
effectively minimized by the aspherical element used in the lens.
And, at the telephoto end, pincushion distortion is not noticeable
when straight image elements are aligned on the edges of the
frame. However, a chromatic aberration, albeit light, can be
detected when there are sharply defined contrasting zone in the
image.
The S1 offers a gamut of shooting
modes, but its Program mode is apparently fairly simple. We noted
that most often, when presented with a well lit subject — as
is the case with the photos shown here — it establishes
the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed while leaving the
aperture set to f4.5.
Colour rendition is excellent, and the Vivid mode, part of the Effects settings,
can be used to provide a slight increase in saturation that makes colours
snap without making them look unnatural.
Aperture: f4.5, shutter speed: 1/125
sec, 50 ISO.
Aperture: f4.5, shutter speed: 1/500
sec, 50 ISO.
The 50 ISO sensitivity is noise-free.
Increasing to 100 ISO, shadows start to show a trace of noise.
At 200 ISO noise can be detected, again most noticeably in the
shadow areas. At 400 ISO, the image is clearly affected by noise
when the sensitivity is used to capture an image under relatively
dim ambient light. Used outdoors and under sunlight, noise is
less intrusive but can still be seen in shadows, or in uniform
colour areas.
The S1 only provides JPEG format
images — a touch regrettable for a camera that can support
very large capacity memory cards — but it's Super fine format
is as good as any JPEG format can be and compression artefacts
are a rarity.
Similarly, the 640f movie mode, when set to 30 frames per second, provides
an image quality that is excellent and which offers exceptionally clear
sound. And, although the AF reacts slowly to changes in focal length to
minimize motor noise, the zoom remains useable.
Used in low light, the S1 can have
some problems focusing its AF system when its auto focus system
is unable to detect a clear enough contrast; something that might
have been avoided if the camera had had an AF assist light as
is often found on other Canon cameras.
In summary, the PowerShot S1 IS offers an interesting
mix of capabilities and very few frailties. While its 3.2 megapixel
resolution may appear "small" in comparison to what
is available currently, it is well suited to 4x6 inch and 5x7
inch prints which are the most common sizes. Moreover, with its
stabilized 10X zoom lens, the S1 provides the photographer with
a great deal of freedom to capture a wide range of subject.
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