I have had the Canon s10 for less than 24 hours, so these are my first impressions. I will update later. Assuming you have read other reviews, let me add some different information. Specific points.
1. Comments about the lens cap are absolutely true; it is awkward and does not fit easily. You wind up dropping it frequently and sticking your fingers on the lens. This is not good.
2. After inserting the 4 AA batteries, it is very hard getting the cover correctly shut. I am guessing that it will break easily, if that task is not done very carefully.
3. The feel of the camera is great; it fits my older arthritic bulky hands very well.
4. I didn't know until I read part of the instruction manual, that the camera has a control that allows you to vary the loudness of separate functions of the camera; shutter, turning on, menu opening, etc... PLUS, there is a button on the top left of the camera that enables you to MUTE ALL sounds of the camera if you press it as you are turning the camera on. I think this sound adjustment feature is very handy, although my poor ears have difficulty hearing anything...
5. The pictures I have taken have been very good and sharp for me. I was coming from an older Panasonic point and shoot.
6. I am really, really having to read the manual to learn all the different capabilities. If you get this camera, plan on spending some real time with the manual. For example, it is not intuitively obvious how one changes the size of the desired image from 10 to 1 megapixel. It took real manual reading to figure that out.
7. Despite my nit-picks, I am loving this camera. It is absolutely doing what I wanted. Namely giving me some really good manual and varied functions in a premium point and shoot without the expense of a DSLR.
My plan, if I continue to use this and enjoy photography, then I will upgrade to a DSLR, but right now, I have lots to learn, and enjoy with the Canon S10.
Nick
UPDATE: 16 Dec 2008
Still love the camera, but still learning. You MUST read the User Manual, and study it, in combination with playing with the camera. Good way to spend a couple of hours at Star$$s. The manual tells you specifically how to make certain changes in settings; however, it does NOT tell you when or why to make the changes. You need to study it and THINK. If you want a camera just to take simple, quick snapshots, this camera will do it, but that would be wasting this cameras terrific abilities. Spend a lot less and get a regular Canon or Sony P&S.
If you want a camera to learn how to do manual settings, like aperture and shutter priority settings, and others, WITHOUT spending the big $$$s needed to buy a DSLR, then this is the perfect camera for that.
Specific points:
1. The built in flash is not very strong at all. I will need to get a Canon external flash, probably the 430ex model, to make it as strong as I would like.
2. Figuring out how to change the image size, from 10 M to 8 or even down to less than 1 M for a 640x480 pixel photo is NOT intuitively obvious. You have to read the manual and learn that it is necessary to push the Function button while the camera is in take photo mode and then look down the list of items and choose from: 10M, 8M, etc...
3. The lens for this camera isn't the world's greatest. When it is dark it will only open up to 4.0 and that just isn't fast enough; then with a low power flash, your low light shooting is compromised yielding "noisy"/unsharp images.
4. I haven't found a camera bag that suits my taste for this camera yet; still looking. I want something that will carry the camera, an external flash, a spare set of batteries, and little nit-bits. I am sure they exist, just haven't found the right one. But then, searching for photography stuff is always fun... I AM loving the camera, but would still leave the rating at four stars.
Get more detail about Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.
No comments:
Post a Comment