Canon PowerShot S1IS 3.2MP Camera Useful Knowledgebase

Upgraded from an older point and shoot Canon. Really researched this camera. So far, I love it. I’m used to the Canon menus, so using this camera was an easy change. Daytime pic’s are great. Night shots are challenging, but with a little experiimentation and a steady hand, I’ve taken some great pic’s. And the video mode in HD is amazing. Some have said the playback is jerky, I have a newer laptop and decktop PC, and the video is playback is fine. Great camera!

After use it everyday for two months, I think I can say something.
the good:
1.- picture quality. CMOS sensor is realistic. The camera doesn’t add any make up to the picture. Same quality than the G9, with it’s 12.1MP CCD sensor. Noise appears at ISO 800 without flash. Personally, I never go that far in ISO selection. I prefer low ISO settings. This sensor do the job perfectly.
2.- speed. pretty fast stat up and continuous up to 4pps.
3.- impressive video quality. very good sound. No intrusion of zoom motor, neither in high speed zoom. Very precise and powerful zoom.
4.- built in flash turn on and off is easy. Simply raise it to fire it or leave it hiden if you want your picture natural. The camera will do the precice adjust so your picture is always good. (shake warning if too dark)
5.- wireless remote control is a must in entertainment cameras. this camera comes with one that can be used to control the player too. You can use it as a HDMI video player if you previously record the films in the card.
6.- vary angle 2.8″ LCD wide screen. very useful.
THE BAD:
1.- the lens cap: Easy to lost. It should have a small cord to hold it so you can let go right after take it off the lens. precious moments lost because you have to engage it to the neck strap. And if you don’t use the neck strap?…
2.- I almost always press accidentally the button “display” trying to open the screen. Need to be relocated.
3.- Lack of poketability: Spontaneous pictures lost. You have to decide whether you prefer to take this camera with you or leave it in the car… because it’s big and noticeable. My soon stop being itself when he notice the camera in my hands… you know.
4.- remote control: Easy to lost. It should came with a holder attached to the neck strap.
5.- have to set at one of the night modes to get more than one second of aperture. You can’t get it on speed priority mode.
6.- EVF is bad compared with the resolution in the main screen. but is useful if you want to capture the moment.

Over all, I really like it. The picture out of the CMOS sensor is another thing. It feels like a DSLR, as it’s the same sensor. Everybody likes it’s pictures and videos quality, resolution and brightness.

I just returned (last night) from a 12 day MIT alumni safari trip in Tanzania. I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for 50+ years, and had planned to take my Rebel xsi and two zoom lenses. I bought the sx1 3 months ago to evaluate it, and after many hours of using it, shooting test shots vs. the xsi, and traveling with it, I decided to take only the sx1 to Tanzania. Four people in our group had quality DSLRs and big lenses; one had an HD DVR. I am VERY happy that I chose to take the sx1. I got many more very good stills and HD videos than any one else. The DSLR people did get some exceptional stills that are better than anything the sx1 could do, but I knew that would be the case. My sx1 was always with me, always a second or two away from taking a quick shot, and even mixing stills and HD video simultaneously. I love that you can zoom while shooting video. I used Energizer “ultimate lithium” non-rechargeable AA batteries. I got 800 stills and 45 minutes of video on the first set before the “low battery” warning.

For me, reviews that point out that the sx1 image quality is not quite as good as a DSLR+lens that are 4x bigger and heavier are not helpful. It is true, and should be obvious. The big lenses are also better in dim light. In good light and mid-distance scenes, I can’t tell the difference in 8×10 images from my best DSLR and my pocket Canon SD970.

I had a choice of taking the sx1 on safari, with a total weight of 1.47 pounds including batteries, or the xsi plus a canon 17-85 and a sigma 50-500 zoom, total weight 7.05 pounds without cases and charger. The sx1 was more than worth the image quality tradeoff, and the ability to shoot HD video was a real bonus. I’m fairly new to video, but using PowerDirector I’m integrating stills and video, all 1080 HD quality, into a really attractive presentation.

I found that the Tamrac 5230 case was best for the sx1 on safari. I wore it on my belt, with the top unzipped (it has velcro and snap closures as well as the zipper). I put the spare batteries, lens cleaner, etc. in a big zip-lock bag and folded that in the bottom of the Tamrac, under the camera. The Tamrac would fit into the zip-lock bag in a downpour. I got an adapter (LensMate, I think), and kept a 58mm skylight filter on the lens, with no lens cap. I could wipe the filter clean quickly without worrying about scratching the lens. I kept a tiny tripod in the outer pouch of the Tamrac, and I was ready for anything.

If you are considering a camera in this size and price range, and you want the 20x zoom and HD video, you will love the sx1.

Received as a birthday gift in 2004. I was unaware of the PowerShot S series at the time, but have the PowerShot G2 model.

Have had the PowerShot S1 IS for over 5 1/2 years now and still works great. Its LCD went black (known malfunction) in June 2008 and sent to Canon to have it repaired. It was well out of warranty, but had replaced free of charge because of the defect. Received it a few weeks later and has worked as it should ever since. For some reason, its picture quality is a smidgen less from before the repair. I have recently purchased Panasonic DMC-ZS3.

Overall experience…

- Taking photos of the snow comes out clear and not too blue under ambient sunlight. Takes great sunset photos without the flash. Once took many photos of the Moon – even lunar eclipse twice, with decent results on maxed zoom. However, it takes trial and error because focusing is difficult with dark/bright subject.
- Picture quality very good, but has compression artifacts and some grain/noise.
- Movies are quite yellow and grainy under incandescent lighting, but much cleaner and whiter under fluorescent. Does surprisingly well in grayscale (B&W) on well-light highways at nighttime, especially in the rain and snow (albedo effect helps?). Recording movies has subtle-bright vertical bars, i.e. chandelier, tail/head lights, and sun (says a phenomenon with CCD in the user manual), but as with any given CCD camera, these bars aren’t recorded in the photos.
- Excellent movie recording at the time of this model, but mono sound to the newer S2 IS (I don’t have that camera).
- Don’t record movies with alkaline batteries – after two minutes, they are exhausted. With NiMH Duracell batteries, once I recorded about an hour of movies before the low battery light came on display. Have not tried lithium.
- Recording movies with high-capacity card works well, but using a standard (not high-speed) card will cause corruption, or more likely, intermittent dropped frames, especially when moving or zooming quickly on the fine setting. Use of 640 X 480 @ 15 fps on any speed card recorded w/o problem.

Suitable with the neck strap and small case, but not for carrying in your pocket (why I purchased the Panasonic). I would recommend this camera, and if you do buy it, check for firmware updates and watch out for any LCD defect. If the camera’s viewfinder starts flickering intermittent green/purple blotches, it is a matter of short notice the display will go black, needing repair.

Camera Window has a tendency to malfunction on PC and Mac (uncertain of its known issues), but when it works, copying the data is straightforward, but will copy 1-2 megabytes per second via USB.

Hope this review is helpful. Overall, I’d rate this camera B to B+.

Bought this camera in 2005. It has been a good camera. Simple to use for my wife who wanted a simple point and shoot and with enough adjustments to offer flexibility for myself.

Has worked great until vacation this summer(July, 2009). The image sensor went bad on the first day of vacation. Thankfully, we brought my camera with us(I purchased a digital SLR a little over a year ago to satisfy my inner photographer), so we didn’t lose out.

When we got home from vacation, I did a little searching on the internet and found out about the Sony CCD problem and that Canon would repair at no cost. Canon customer service was extremely helpful and very rapid in their response to my e-mail. Canon paid for shipping, repaired it, and sent it back in perfect working order. And no, it was not a ploy to get the camera in the shop for other expensive repairs, as another reviewer posted. The entire process from initial e-mail to Canon until I got the camera back was 2 weeks. I’m still quite impressed.