I have owned and loved every S series camera since the S2 and so I was very apprehensive when I learned that they had made dramatic changes to the next iteration. The size is bigger, the zoom is longer, video files more compressed and the button layout has been switched around a good deal.
It's not that I resist change, I just believe that if you've got a good thing going - DON'T MESS WITH IT! But I had already promised my photo-loving little sister that I'd give her my S5 when the new one came out so I figured I had to at least give it a try, so I went ahead and ordered it.
I was most worried about the new video format as that was my favorite feature of the previous cameras, so as soon as I received the SX10 I ripped it out of the box, threw a 4gb extreme 3 memory card in and hit the record button. 4gb provided a little more than 45 minutes of the highest quality of video on the new .mov format, while on the S5's .avi, I got a little less than 30 minutes, but I've never been one to complain about the size of the files - just the quality! I walked around, trying to test it in as many ways possible, bright light, low light, wide open, fully zoomed, inside, outside, etc. I could tell that this camera had a more difficult time staying in focus when I zoomed in and out than the previous S cameras, but it wasn't appallingly bad, and I figured if that was the worst thing, it would still be a wonderful camera. So I watched the video on my computer and even though I was annoyed with having to use quicktime and found it a little less convenient (.avi files are displayed in windows with a picture of the first frame, making them very easily identified, whereas .mov files just show the quicktime "Q", meaning I would have to come up with catchy titles for all of my many video clips), I had to admit that the video quality was still quite good, and I think the audio is even a little better (that might just be the camera though).
At this point I'll talk about my impressions of the body handling. It is definitely larger than the S5, but still not nearly as large as any SLR I've ever handled - it still has a relatively compact feel, expecially considering it zooms all the way to 560mm! The grip in the right hand does feel a little weak and slippery, but I didn't ever have a problem with it slipping. In the left hand though, it actually feels quite nice as the larger lens protrusion gives you something to hold on to, including some very functional ridges along the bottom. So I'd say the ergonomics are very decent. The buttons are placed fairly well (I'd switch the play button with the function button) and they all feel nice. The wheel I hated, but I'll get to that later.
So it barely passed the first test, but I still wasn't convinced and I cleared 6 hours from my Saturday to really give it a thorough examination. I also brought my SD1100 just to have something to compare the pics and vids too.
I tried testing every limit of this camera as I stalked a crane, observed an ant colony, tried (unsuccessfully) to catch fish as they sprang from the water and just enjoyed a wonderful day among nature. Within the first five minutes I had come across two fairly serious issues. The colors and exposure of the viewfinder were terrible; things that shouldn't have been blown out were, and I had a difficult time composing a shot as nothing looked nice! The second problem came when I switched to manual (my preferred shooting method) and realized that the wheel had actually made things more complicated as now you have to adjust exposure and shutter speed on the same wheel and switch between them by pushing a button, whereas before up-down (on the 4 way selector) did the exposure and left-right did shutter speed. The interface has been improved but that was little consolation as I found this to be very frustrating.
But even all of this could have been forgiven if everything else was great. The flip screen was as good as ever, so I pushed on.
When I was finished I was actually feeling pretty good. I really enjoyed the extra zoom on this camera and I thought it handled very well. I had my reservations still, but I felt like I could get over them and learn to really love this camera. Not to mention I was really excited about some of the pictures I had taken and wanted to get back to my computer and see how they really looked.
This is when things got ugly, pun intended. I've read all the other reviews and I know some people say this camera produces sharp pics, throughout the entire zoom range, but I have to disagree, strongly. At the long end of the zoom, pictures look like there's a slightly filmy sheet of glass in between my subject and me. Any bit of cropping and this becomes very pronounced. The NR on this camera is very strong and any high-contrast, straight lines were severely deformed. Almost like the mirage effect only more blocky. Wide open, the pictures just had no detail and looked just... bad. I'm so glad that I brought my SD1100 because I was really convinced when I started looking at my comparison shots, that the SX10 needed to be returned. The shots out of my 165 dollar point and shoot looked really sharp and pretty, while the same exact shot out of the SX10 looked completely emotionless and stale. I couldn't believe it. I double and triple checked that the nice shots were actually the SD1100 but I assure you they were.
In all fairness I did get about 8 really nice shots with the SX10, but that was out of more than 200, and I know had I been using my S5 I would have had a much higher percentage.
So now I don't know what to do. It seems kind of silly to buy a camera that I just gave away and right now I'm kind of disillusioned with Canon. I might try the Fuji S100FS. I hope this helps and if you do decide to get this camera - good luck.Get more detail about Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.
No comments:
Post a Comment