 Best do-all camera, but not really intuitive |
| Review Date: May 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. Lim, Santa Barbara, CA USA |
Quick summary:
1. I really like this camera, especially being able to take 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 skim) through the instructions. Some of the ease of use benefits of a point-and-shoot were compromised to give you some of the usefulness of a digital SLR. I'm not too crazy about the "Hegemony Dial" to select menu options. Over all, the software seems a bit less intuitive than other Powershots I've used in the past.
3. Using Quicktime on Windows to view the HD video might result in jerky motion. HD video is smooth in Quicktime on a Mac. This is a Quicktime/Windows issue, not a camera riddle.
4. The camera is solidly built, but it's a bit heavy. It's not ergonomically designed for total video recording.
5. Deliberate conception and viewing a video demo by a professional at www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX1_IS/
Long version:
I was very keenly anticipating this camera. The key feature in the Canon SX1IS is the CMOS sensor used in the SLR product lines. I got really excited about a single camera with HD video, 20x optical zoom, 4 frames per second of continuous shooting, articulated screen, and standard AA batteries. I've owned numerous Canon Powershot models, and I've been very satisfied with them. I'm also an experienced 35mm SLR person. I thought that the SX1IS was going to be my perfect camera... or really the perfect gift for my wife.
I am an amateur photographer whose primary subjects are my family playing sports. Since I work a lot, my wife really ends up taking a margin of the photos. I was plotting to get a digital SLR for her when I came upon the specs for the SX1IS. It seems as if Canon product managers have listened to all I wanted in a digital camera. The largest 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 use of a point-and-shoot
Here are my series of reactions:
1. After the first set of photos and videos, I couldn't help but feel as if Canon has under-delivered on the promise of a nearly perfect camera for amateurs or I don't know my camera was defective. This was my review of the first batch of photos and videos: (please read on to the next section since my initial disappointment resulted more from ignorance and unfair expectations)
a. I wasn't getting anywhere near 4 frames per second.
b. In the AUTO mode, the photos seem to come out at a lower feature than my much cheaper Powershot A710 in AUTO mode. By lower feature, I mean that the color, contrast, and fine points appear not as excellent.
c. It is very cool 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 right, so I really read the instructions and spent a few minutes googling for info. It quickly became clear that you really have to read the manual to use this camera effectively. The manual is not on paper 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 pleased 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 take continuous AutoFocus photos which is about 1 frame per second. Most of the other modes support quick 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 theme 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 get, so this was not a honest evaluation. For apples-to-apples open-air photos, SX1IS does take superior photos, but indoor photos does seem grainier at similar zoom levels. Though, the variation 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 riddle with Quicktime on my Windows Vista (on 2.5GHz Quadcore CPU with 4GB of RAM & ATI Radeon 512MB graphics card, so not a hardware issue). I saw similar jerky playback with Quicktime on Windows XP. Though, the videos play smooth and perfectly in Quicktime on a Mac OS X. By conception this review, I hope you don't get upset when your first HD video looks really terrible since of the jerky motion. I'm sure that this is a temporary riddle: either Apple will increase 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 make changes to a bunch of settings via the menu options, you have to use this ring on the function button (called the "Hegemony Dial"). It's the knurled remotest concentric ring surrounding the FUNC. SET button. You rotate this to select the menu options you want. Well, maybe I'll get used to it, but right now, this ring sucks. It's simple to miss the your menu item since you rotate this ring with just enough force, but if you press a bit too much, you end up with uncommon options. This will doubtless suck to another plateau when I'm in bright sunlight looking through the viewfinder.
Here are 3 other things you might want to deliberate before purchasing this camera:
1. The camera feels very solid, but this also means that it is a bit heavy.
2. The form factor is for taking photographs, so if you plot to use this primarily for the HD video, your hands/arms will tire out. It is a bit hard to maneuver to keep the camera steady for total video. HD camcorder will doubtless be better for you if your primary motivation is to take HD videos.
3. See a professional review with a video demo at www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX1_IS/
I'm now having a fantastic time taking lots of photos and videos with this camera. The 20x zoom, HD video, and 4 fps is worth the cost premium.
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Waited long for this camera to come to USA, not disappointed.
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| Review Date: August 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Brian Gouge, Salt Lake City, UT USA |
I've liked Canon cameras for a long time. I went from an SD40 to an SX3IS and then to this SX1IS. I'm not at all disappointed. I reckon you can and should find more complete reviews on dpreview and cameralabs, which has a excellent HD video sample. That said, I'm not going to try to post a complete technical review, just my likes/dislikes, pros/cons, and caring info. If you get not anything else from my whole review, at least try this tip: Stop shooting with your camera set to Auto. You're missing out on facial appearance!
Where to start? This camera uses 4 AA batteries. I really, really, really like using rechargable AA batteries instead of proprietary LION packs. I have used 2500 mAh Energizers with no problems, but just switched to Eneloops over worries about self-discharge linking charges. Yes, my flash can take longer to recycle as the batteries reach half-way, but it sure beats costs $100 on a couple new LION packs in a couple years. I'd rather carry 4 extra AA's to switch to AND have the ability to use any available AA's (100 shots on alkalines vs over 400 on 2500mAh rechargables) in a pinch. At worst, buying batteries at retail or vacation-spot prices would be displeasing, but a dead LION pack means no pictures period. After using someone's camera that tries to work on 2 AA batteries, ugh, I'd never buy one of those and for small cameras you can't beat quick flash recycle times from LION packs. But with 4 AA's you have all the power you need to shoot just as well as LION packs, at least for the first half of the batteries. If I notice my flash starting to take too long to show ready, and I need to keep up quicker flash shots, I just swap to my spare set and know it's time to recharge the other ones.
With my other cameras, I always kept them on P (Program) mode on the dial, but starting with this one I now keep it on C (Custom) since I can store all my pet settings, including "continuous shutter lacking focus" for very very quick shooting, and have it always come on that way at power-on, ready to hold down the button and bloat my memory card with 8 shots of the same thing for my wife to later complain about as she goes through the pictures :-) The few settings I might mess with frequently like servo focus, I place in the favorites menu, and then have that menu come up first when pushing Menu. Very caring. I do still twirl the dial around for point things like Night shot, and if you like the results of Portrait (tries to use aperture to blur the background, keeping the face in focus) by all means use that as needed.
After numerous months now, the only annoyance for me is having to switch linking Wide and 4:3 to shoot Video and Pictures. I wish Canon would add an option to "Always Record Video in HD/Wide", so when you push the dedicated Record button it always switches to wide, and then back to 4:3 (if that's what it was before) when you stop recording. I bought an SX1 since I wanted to record HD video, right? Otherwise I would have bought an SX10! The best Picture pledge is in 4:3, otherwise you're shooting wide pictures that are "Cropped" in pixels compared to full 4:3. I suppose soon all the film places might switch to wide but for now 4x6 is the default picture standard. The 4:3 shots out of the camera are really 4.5x6 so Costco will happily auto-crop people's heads off for you if you don't process your pictures ahead of time, but my wife is excellent at that now. Ok, sorry, I'll try to stop reviewing my wife and focus on the camera. I don't use the camera's built in red-eye or other dispensation it can do, so I can't note on that.
I'm not really despondent with the noise or ISO. It's certainly no worse than my other Canon's and it is unfair to compare the SX1 with an SLR. Of course you get less noise and higher ISO with an SLR! This is a superzoom, not an SLR. I don't have to carry a huge telephoto lens around with me or switch back and forth to wide angle. As it is, this camera is really pushing the limit on a belt-carry camera. I've never even tried, even if I found a case at Walmart that does have a belt clip I still just use the shoulder strap. I could wear my SX3 but just barely... Anyway, if you need to get noise out of a picture, I can't recommend enough that you invest in Clean Image. I notice noise more in desktop backgrounds than prints, but by the same logic I also see the noise more when dispensation/cropping pictures in training for making prints.. Clean Image is very flexible and also has some presets like "sharpen a fervently out of focus picture" that can turn a mis-focused "just throw it away" shot into a "well at least you can see something" print. There is a free version but I use the 32 and 64-bit Photoshop plug-ins so I've paid for those. While that's further than the scope of the camera review, I reckon the information is caring to others and so I've mentioned Clean Image.
Video... Well with a 16GB card I get an average of 47 minutes in HD, less whatever pictures I take. The video compression will vary depending on the theme, so it's hard to say precisely, but 3 minutes per Gig is a excellent estimate to go by. I've only had to switch to a standby 8GB card once since the 16GB filled up. You can snap pictures (lacking flash) while recording video, it just sort of puts a pause-like freeze in the video for a moment though the sound continues to record. The video you get in low light is nowhere near what you can get with a real camcorder. There's no lamp built-in. Turn on lights or plot to supplement by carrying a lamp, or if you go to a school play or something bring a real camcorder. I like not having to carry a second thing around. I stopped carrying my camcorder when I got my SX3, and now HD video is bonus extra-sweet icing on the cake.
The face detection doesn't work as often as I hoped it would. It needs larger faces than I tend to shoot in real life, since I don't zoom in on faces so much. If you frame with up to I don't know 3 or 4 people standing close, getting their hair and just below the shoulders, sure it face-detects unless they turn sideways, but it's hard to get it to face detect when taking head-to-toe shots with scenery. When it doesn't find a face, I don't have any riddle bracketing a shot with center focusing and then shifting the camera to frame the shot how I want. For that reason, I leave servo focus turned off by default, since otherwise moving the camera to frame a shot can also throw the focus to the background and blur the subjects. I thought Servo Focus would be fantastic for those times when the kid just won't stop walking towards you while you are coming up to snap a picture, but after ruining a precious shot with the blurring I described from framing the shot, I went the setting to easily-accessible in the menu and defaulted it to off.
If you are used to flashes that automatically pop-up, you might despise this camera. I really ongoing to like the way this flash works when I had my SX3, so I am already used to it. In Program or Custom mode (stop using Auto!), you can set the flash to Always ON when the flash is flipped up. Even at the beach at noon in Summer, I just took a lot of shots with the flash up. Why? Since the lake was in sunlight but the baby was under the shade canopy playing in the sand. I wanted scenic shots but I wanted to be sure the baby was well lit. With this camera it is hard, but not impossible, to blow-out a theme too white with the flash. It is still excellent to step back and zoom in to avoid it, rather than step close as your instincts doubtless tell you to do, but this camera is far better at taking a very quick pre-flash exposure measurement and not blowing out someone's face to near white futility the way my SX3 could easily do. Want another tip? Indoor shots including trains, ships, etc, you may want a picture of people but also to see the view out the window. If you point at the people, the window usually comes out mostly just white. Flip up the flash, forcing it to fire. Keeping focus in mind, point so the center is at the edge of the window so it focuses on the space to the Window (not the further than), press half-way, then go the camera to your people and depress the rest of the way. You should now have a picture exposed that shows the pretty (hopefully) out-of-doors through the window, but also the flash lights up your people and they appear nicely instead of as dark outlines of their hair.
Well anyway, if you need a pocket camera, look somewhere else -- the G10 is a fantastic full-featured camera and much smaller, but "only" 5x zoom. If you like carrying more lenses than camera and turn your nose up at low ISO noisy consumer cameras, go buy an SLR and excellent luck to you -- your chiropractor is doubtless getting rich off you. If you can carry a camera this huge and you need a real 20x zoom (and a real 40x with no fake digital zooming in HD video mode!) with a decent wide-angle as well, you can't go incorrect with the SX10IS. But, if you need HD video, then you want the SX1IS. The SX10IS is nearly half the price, so the only reason to get the SX1IS is for HD video, and the review sites I first mentioned will give reasons for this far better than I could. Dredge up the best thing about the SX series cameras is the dedicated Video-Record button. No matter what your dial is set to, one button starts and stops video recording. |
Best All In One Camera!
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| Review Date: November 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Thomas Hallam, Hilton Head Island, SC |
I just returned (last night) from a 12 day MIT alumni safari trip in Tanzania. I've been a honest amateur photographer for 50+ years, and had intended 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 roving with it, I chose to take only the sx1 to Tanzania. Four people in our group had feature DSLRs and huge lenses; one had an HD DVR. I am VERY pleased that I chose to take the sx1. I got many more very excellent 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 at once. I like 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 array" warning.
For me, reviews that point out that the sx1 image feature is not quite as excellent as a DSLR+lens that are 4x larger and heavier are not caring. It is right, and should be evident. The huge lenses are also better in dim light. In excellent light and mid-space scenes, I can't tell the variation in 8x10 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 lacking cases and charger. The sx1 was more than worth the image feature tradeoff, and the ability to shoot HD video was a real bonus. I'm honestly new to video, but using PowerDirector I'm integrating stills and video, all 1080 HD feature, 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 place the spare batteries, lens cleaner, etc. in a huge 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 reckon), and kept a 58mm skylight filter on the lens, with no lens cap. I could wipe the filter clean quickly lacking nerve-racking 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 taking into account a camera in this size and price range, and you want the 20x zoom and HD video, you will like the sx1. |
Fantastic Hybrid Camera for the Traveler that packs light
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| Review Date: June 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Henry J. Lee, Los Angeles, CA USA |
The Canon SX1 is a fantastic all around camera for advanced amateurs who are willing to sacrifice some feature for the convenience of having a lot of facial appearance in one (moderately) small wrap. It is fantastic for travelers who want to take some feature photographs plus rare video clips lacking having to lug a lot of uncommon gadgets plus garnishing.
Note that while it offers a excellent balance linking the convenience of a point & shoot and the image feature of a DSLR, it's not going to beat either at the things each is specifically excellent at. Jack of all trades, master of none, but does pretty well if you know its limitations. I have samples of photos and a video using this camera on my website. The address is listed at the end of this review.
As with any camera, the major factor in taking excellent photographs is you and your skills. You'll also benefit from conception the manual. This camera has a lot of advanced photography facial appearance naturally found on DSLRs that, if you make full use of them, will get you exceptional results.
What's Excellent (not in any particular order):
1. Wide angle plus 20x zoom lacking swapping lenses. I despise carrying too much stuff around, which is why I don't use a DSLR. You can shoot landscapes and close ups of flora and fauna lacking manslaughter valuable time to place on the appropriate lens. Plus the weight can really add up when you're backpacking or out on an total day hike.
2. Vari-angle show. Fantastic for taking shots at odd angles like ground level, above your head, over the cliff or self-portraits. I don't reckon I'll buy another camera lacking this feature. You will get incredible shots with ease that you can't with other cameras that don't have this feature.
3. Can add filters. With a lensmate adapter (google lensmate), you can add a wide variety of filters like a circular polarizer, UV, infrared, neutral density, etc. You can add a lot to the feature of your photographs with filters.
4. Does HD video at 1080p. You can get some pretty cool clips from this camera lacking needing to have a camcorder.
5. Has a lot of advanced facial appearance: autobracketing for high dynamic range photos, raw and raw + jpeg, exposure compensation, aperture and shutter priority, etc.
6. Has a lot of convenience facial appearance such as the scene modes for uncommon types of photography you may be doing.
7. Hot shoe for external flash. Only way to go for flash photography.
8. Can be vastly prolonged using CHDK firmware. Not approved by Canon but loading up this firmware allows this camera to do a lot more. For example, long shutter is naturally limited to 15 seconds, which doesn't allow you to take night shots very well. With CHDK you can open your shutter for minutes to get incredible night shots of the sky or the skyline. You'll also be able to do time lapse photography, go beyond the 4gb video file limit and much more.
9. Uses standard AA batteries. With custom rechargeables you are SOL when you run out of juice. With AA, you can run into any convenience store to get more batteries. On my recent trip to Yosemite I took 4 sets of rechargeables thinking it was more than enough juice for my 5 day trip. Sometimes things don't go according to plot and I was glad this thing takes AAs when I ran out of juice on the 4th day. Would have otherwise missed some very gorgeous shots on my last day.
So what are the Cons?
1. Poor low light shots. Not anything worse that most point and shoots. But don't expect it to be as excellent as DSLRs. Yes it has a CMOS sensor but it is small. Beyond 200 ISO you're going to see a lot of noise. Having excellent lighting is crucial for this camera. A tripod will also help immensely.
2. Size and weight. Yeah it would be nice if it was the size and weight of my iPhone. But hey, this hybrid is a compromise.
If you want to get an thought of what this camera can do, check out the photos and video I posted on my website. [...]
Highly recommended but not for all.
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Fantastic Upgrade from a Canon S3 IS! Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!
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| Review Date: May 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Xenos, Massachusetts |
I have loved my Canon S3 IS for the past few years and my wife will continue to delight in it for years to come. The new Canon SX1 IS continues the tradition of taking an total zoom high end point and shoot to a new level. Its best points so far are:
1) Fantastic picture feature from the CMOS sensor.
2) Converting from Cinema 16:9 size to standard size 4:3 from a separate button
3) Standard AA batteries - Get rechargeables as this camera seems to chew through batteries
4) The large swivel LCD monitor allows you to shoot holding the camera over your head or putting the camera close to or even on the ground. To get a stable camera position, I like to use the LCD monitor facing upwards with the camera body held against my body. Fantastic feature!
5) The full HD videos are impressive and can be used on a Mac Mini Core2 Duo 2.0 GHz notebook with 2 GB Memory
6) And finally, the zoom! On my S3, the digital zoom gave noticeable deterioration after the 12X optical was surpassed. I took my first SX1 pictures with the digital zoom disabled. Turn it on and test it out! I took a series of pictures in 16:9 at 1X, 20X, 40X and 80X, with a unsociable house and a couple of geese as targets. Surprisingly excellent photos at 80X even hand held! This camera is a small telescope! That goes for the full HD video too. I took some rowing struggle video and was surprised at the detail at high zoom levels on a 23" Dell HD monitor.
I have not been disappointed in this recent buy!
Canon PowerShot SX1IS 10 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch LCD |
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