Canon SX1IS Review, Compare, Prices, Discounts
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Canon SX1IS Review, Compare, Prices, Discounts.
Product: Canon SX1IS Amazon Price: Too low to display Availability: In Stock |
There is a lot to like about the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS. Being able to lift photographs or shoot 1080p video (catch a stout memory card for video!) is the main attraction for this camera, and this camera delivers. The 20x zoom lens is Fabulous. Zooming in and out is painless, like a flash, and mute. You'll appreciate the freedom this gives you. I appreciate that this camera takes 4 AA batteries. These kind of batteries are available everywhere so you don't have to disaster about running out of power like you do in cameras with a proprietary battery pack. The video mask on this camera is relatively colossal, intellectual, and sure.
But the camera is not without a few problems. Coming from a Canon D-SLR, the image quality leaves a shrimp to be desired. At 100% magnification, the images are a small noisy. However, most people don't scrutinize at pictures at this zoom-level, and at normal print sizes, the images are exciting and noise is not really noticeable in real-world shooting. I personally don't like the neck strap. Maybe I honest need to wear it in, but at its new stiffness, it sometimes gets in the diagram of the camera controls. The video looks a miniature wobbly sometimes due to the beget of CMOS sensors (Google "rolling shutter conclude") . However, I only gaze it when racy the camera quick (such as panning) . The battery compartment doesn't originate the map you might request (spy in the manual before attempting it) . The on-screen menu is a dazzling first-rate but could be better. The viewfinder is electronic and the colors on it appear washed out, but it gets the job done. Finally, there are no threads on the front of the lens to mount filters on, but there are third-party adapters that will let you do this (Lensmate makes one) .
However, I'm aloof very contented with my win and would not hesitate to recommend the camera to others looking for this kind of hybrid camera. I'm going on a drag in June and it'll be the only camera I bewitch.
Quick summary:
1. I really like this camera, especially being able to bewitch HD video and optically zoom while recording. I also really like taking 4 fps of continuous shooting.
2. You really need to read (at least soar) through the instructions. Some of the ease of consume benefits of a point-and-shoot were compromised to give you some of the versatility of a digital SLR. I'm not too crazy about the "Control Dial" to steal menu options. Over all, the software seems a bit less intuitive than other Powershots I've aged in the past.
3. Using Quicktime on Windows to concept the HD video might result in jerky motion. HD video is level-headed in Quicktime on a Mac. This is a Quicktime/Windows deny, not a camera pickle.
4. The camera is solidly built, but it's a bit heavy. It's not ergonomically designed for extended video recording.
5. Think reading and viewing a video demo by a professional at www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX1_IS/
Long version:
I was very eagerly anticipating this camera. The key feature in the Canon SX1IS is the CMOS sensor venerable in the SLR product lines. I got really angry about a single camera with HD video, 20x optical zoom, 4 frames per second of continuous shooting, articulated cloak, and standard AA batteries. I've owned several Canon Powershot models, and I've been very ecstatic with them. I'm also an experienced 35mm SLR person. I conception that the SX1IS was going to be my perfect camera... or actually the perfect gift for my wife.
I am an amateur photographer whose important subjects are my children playing sports. Since I work a lot, my wife actually ends up taking a majority of the photos. I was planning to pick up a digital SLR for her when I came upon the specs for the SX1IS. It seems as if Canon product managers have listened to everything I wanted in a digital camera. The biggest deals for me were
1. HD video with optical zoom enabled while you're filming
2. 4 frames per second of continuous shooting
3. 20x optical zoom
4. Ease of utilize of a point-and-shoot
Here are my series of reactions:
1. After the first location of photos and videos, I couldn't attend but feel as if Canon has under-delivered on the promise of a nearly perfect camera for amateurs or perhaps my camera was infamous. This was my review of the first batch of photos and videos: (please read on to the next share since my initial disappointment resulted more from ignorance and unfair expectations)
a. I wasn't getting anywhere advance 4 frames per second.
b. In the AUTO mode, the photos seem to arrive out at a lower quality than my mighty cheaper Powershot A710 in AUTO mode. By lower quality, I mean that the color, disagreement, and details appear not as apt.
c. It is very chilly to be able to zoom in and out while you are taking video, but the HD video footages came out jerky enough to be really annoying.
2. This didn't seem legal, so I actually read the instructions and spent a few minutes googling for info. It like a flash became definite that you really have to read the manual to spend this camera effectively. The manual is not written especially well, but it contains the info you need. (FYI, I've NEVER read instructions on any of my other digital point-and-shoot cameras before, and I have been very blissful with the thousands of photos I've taken.)
a. Getting 4 frames per second: I learned that you cannot shoot 4 frames per second in AUTO mode or SPORTS mode. SPORTS mode can only consume continuous AutoFocus photos which is about 1 frame per second. Most of the other modes assist quickly 4 frames per second continuous shooting. In the 4 fps continuous shooting, only the first shoot will be in focus, the others will be out of focus if the subject moves towards or away from your camera.
b. Comparing photos from SX1IS with A710: I realized that I was taking photos at high zoom that the Powershot A710 was not even able to rep, so this was not a dazzling comparison. For apples-to-apples outdoor photos, SX1IS does remove fine photos, but indoor photos does seem grainier at similar zoom levels. However, the dissimilarity is really minor, and there are many many adjustments on the SX1IS that can more than compensate.
c. Jerky HD video playback: This is a really a jam with Quicktime on my Windows Vista (on 2.5GHz Quadcore CPU with 4GB of RAM & ATI Radeon 512MB graphics card, so not a hardware assert) . I saw similar jerky playback with Quicktime on Windows XP. However, the videos play serene and perfectly in Quicktime on a Mac OS X. By reading this review, I hope you don't earn upset when your first HD video looks really dreadful because of the jerky motion. I'm definite that this is a temporary problem: either Apple will improve Quicktime playback on Windows, a better MOV player will be available, or software will be available to convert the MOV to another format that works better on Windows.
d. Further note: To obtain changes to a bunch of settings via the menu options, you have to spend this ring on the function button (called the "Control Dial") . It's the knurled outermost concentric ring surrounding the FUNC. Place button. You rotate this to purchase the menu options you want. Well, maybe I'll salvage veteran to it, but proper now, this ring sucks. It's easy to miss the your menu item because you rotate this ring with impartial enough force, but if you press a bit too considerable, you slay up with different options. This will probably suck to another plateau when I'm in lustrous sunlight looking through the viewfinder.
Here are 3 other things you might want to think before purchasing this camera:
1. The camera feels very solid, but this also means that it is a bit heavy.
2. The obtain factor is for taking photographs, so if you idea to exhaust this primarily for the HD video, your hands/arms will tire out. It is a bit awkward to sustain the camera sincere for extended video. HD camcorder will probably be better for you if your considerable motivation is to occupy HD videos.
3. Peruse a professional review with a video demo at www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX1_IS/
I'm now having a enormous time taking lots of photos and videos with this camera. The 20x zoom, HD video, and 4 fps is worth the cost premium.
I've been waiting for the HD-video-capable replacement for the SX10IS for awhile, and I'm blissful I waited. There is a lot of legitimate discussion whether this, the successor to the SX10IS, is a worthwhile replacement, and the reply is contingent on what you want to do with a camera and how experienced you are with photography.
First, this camera has an wonderful zoom range. I stood from several blocks away and photographed an entire seven-story building in NYC using the SX1IS's widest zoom setting. From the distance I stood I could barely eye that the top three floors featured terraces. I took another photo at maximum zoom and could not only behold the terraces but sight with reasonable detail that someone with a yellow short-sleeve shirt was having breakfast on their terrace. Needless to say, if you have a need for a mercurial, high-zoom-capable lens, the SX1IS has it.
In terms of run, the camera feels very responsive. The lens itself zooms and retracts speedy with microscopic noise (even while shooting video) and I was cheerful with the overall responsiveness. The focus settings need to be played with somewhat, but overall the camera feels snappy as opposed to indolent or tiring,. Also, this (over the SX10IS) is rated at 4fps, which is great fleet.
Picture quality, overall, is very fine. There is definitely fringing on the edges of a shot where the barrel carry out of a expansive, zoomed-out lens appears, but overall I'm blissful with the results. There are some issues if you are taking a shot that will wind up on the side of a bus in an ad, but even 8x10 shots will advance out wonderfully.
The camera is a bit heavy, but given the lens and the technology stuffed into this thing, I didn't feel like I needed a massage after working with it for a few hours. It's lots heavier than my snapshot go-to camera, the Canon 880IS, but that's like suggesting a Maybach is a lot heavier than a Kawasaki Ninja. Apples and oranges.
Overall, I judge this is a fine camera. It is a astronomical tool for people who really know what they're doing -- which frankly isn't me. However, I have a general concept of what I want to enact and I'm willing -- and going to -- steal the time to learn how to score more out of this camera. It's elegant as an automatic point and shoot -- a bit complicated, perhaps -- but it will definitely build me the peril and bother of going the dSLR route. Unless the lens on this camera is damaged, there should be no need to upgrade because the wide angle is big and the zoom is fabulous. The lens could be a bit better at high zoom, but I'm contented with the results.
The main thing that this camera offers over the SX10IS is the capability to do RAW images and HD Video. The outmoded is for serious users -- I haven't installed my packaged Canon software yet and haven't even explored taking RAW images or how to edit them with Photoshop on the PC -- but the HD video results are exquisite fantastic. I'm not positive how often I'll exercise this to do HD video but I can say without a doubt that I'd kick myself in six months' time if I wanted to exhaust it to hold some video and had to rely on 480p or 720p instead of stout HD video. The quality is graceful and fair, and with stereo mics the SX10IS does better at video than some fully-dedicated video cameras from several years ago.
A word to the wise: if you are willing to buy the time to learn how to exercise this camera or are very experienced, you will devour using this camera. It's a bit pricey but I judge it's a sizable fragment of equipment. If however you are looking at this as an improvement on a runt snapshot camera like the aforementioned 880IS and all you want to do is hold portraits and the like, don't exhaust the extra money, derive a snapshot digicam.
I'd recommend this to people who are either experienced or have a decent knowledge and opinion of photography, and also for people who would like to recognize the mechanics of taking a photo beyond unprejudiced hitting a button. It does accomplish some huge photos, but it can really be frustrating. Bottom line: between the expense, the size of the cam itself and the tweaking significant, if convenience is first and quality is second on your wishlist, this is not the good camera for you. You should go check out the Canon G10. If quality and the art of photography are the two highest items on your digicam wishlist, prefer it and gratified shooting.
Four stars and not five because of the lens fringe, the manual pop-up flash and the focus issues I originally experienced before I read through the manual. I'd have given this terrible boy an extra star for RAW recording but I also deducted a star because you need to install proprietary Canon 'ware (both an app and a codec) before you can manipulate RAW images in Photoshop or elsewhere.
Overall, one hell of a camera.
