canon s100 and the like type cameras

[thewanderer]

Hi,

Were are we on these 400-600 dollar units now a days,  i had a s95 and left the damn thing on a plane here a few weeks ago... and i took an 6 hour walking Yellowstoen with a ds111 over my shoulder and a medium telephoto,, just too much weight,,,

is the s100 an improvement of any sort over its predecessor, or is there a better unit in that range.  i might like that 24-120 or what ever that range is on the s100, but if there is better value to pixel out there, id like to know,,

thanks in advance

[BernardLanguillier]

Hi,

Were are we on these 400-600 dollar units now a days,  i had a s95 and left the damn thing on a plane here a few weeks ago... and i took an 6 hour walking Yellowstoen with a ds111 over my shoulder and a medium telephoto,, just too much weight,,,

is the s100 an improvement of any sort over its predecessor, or is there a better unit in that range.  i might like that 24-120 or what ever that range is on the s100, but if there is better value to pixel out there, id like to know,,

thanks in advance

It seems that the S100 is very good considering the size of the sensor.

Have you considered the 4/3 cameras, starting with the olympus OM-D?

Cheers,
Bernard

[armand]

I have a S100 (I bought it as my S90 got something in the lens) and it's acceptable particularly considering the size. I find I can get away with iso400 which I didn't with the S90. It's possible I wasn't pushing those files enough but still. Lens doesn't feel the sharpest but if you don't print big it's ok. The bad point is f 5.9 at maximum zoom, you actually have to use higher iso. As my older S90 it tends to overexpose but that's easily correctable. Movies are ok, definitely better than S90. Don't really use it outside of aperture priority or full manual so I don't know if the scenes are much good, tried only a couple of time the HDR. Macro focus works well usually, some focus hunting only.

As a negative point: I had a underwater case for the S90 but the S100 doesn't fit as it's taller by just as much as it's needed to get a new case 

Overall I don't think there is much like Canon S100, that's why I bought it; you can get only bigger cameras. The Olympus XZ1 seemed to be a nice one, but I wanted something that can shoot half-decent movies and from what's out there the XZ-1 doesn't fit the bill.
There was also the Panasonic LX-5 which was on a very nice sale on Amazon few months ago, but it's bigger and sensor seemed a little behind. Probably better lens and maybe better movies. Fuji X10 was too big, I wanted something more portable.


PS. some of my newer posts in the critique section were shot with S100

[BernardLanguillier]

I have a S100 (I bought it as my S90 got something in the lens)

That's one important caveat with those Canon.

My G10 died because of something in the lens, my S90 died out of extremely light rain exposure (a few drops of water on the lens barrel combined with high ambiant humidity), I have 2 close friends whose S95 died out of mild water expisure too...

Canon might have improved the rugdeness with the S100, but its predecessors were below average designs from that standpoint.

Cheers,
Bernard

[armand]

That's one important caveat with those Canon.

My G10 died because of something in the lens, my S90 died out of extremely light rain exposure (a few drops of water on the lens barrel combined with high ambiant humidity), I have 2 close friends whose S95 died out of mild water expisure too...

Canon might have improved the rugdeness with the S100, but its predecessors were below average designs from that standpoint.

Cheers,
Bernard

I can tell you that the USB door is wobbly already so that might be a problem down the road.

[thewanderer]

i just read a little onteh fuji x10   how would that fit in to this circle... looks like it is fairly well liked and has good image quality,,,

anyone got any idea,, MR review seemed positive as well

[stever]

i tried an X10 and was quite disappointed with both resolution and high ISO noise - resolution no better than my old S90 and odd operational quirks like no instant review and very awkward and somewhat defficient menu

to do better than the S100 you'll have to move up to Nikon J1 or micro 4/3.  unfortunately it's not clear that Panasonic has solved the resonance blur problem with the x 14-42 so there aren't any compact zoom lenses for the larger formats (the Panny kit 14-42 has good IQ and light weight, but doesn't go in any kind of pocket)

[Wayne Fox]

When the G1x was announced I  discounted it as a "what are they thinking" idea.  After playing with one, and working with images from one, it has replaced my s95 in my backpack as my "always with me" camera.  It's only marginally larger then the other G series cameras, but the sensor size does make a difference.

[Deardorff]

My son has the Canon and I have a Panasonic Lumix Lx5. Both of us prefer the images from the Lx5. He will be inheriting the Lx5 as I am getting the new Lx7 when it is available. Love the idea of f/1.4 at 24mm equivalent.

I shoot a lot of low light and even Northern Lights and night skies with the Lx5. It is shirt pocketable but the Canon is smaller and lighter yet.

If you like what you had why not get the upgraded model? In 24mm equivalents there aren't many choices with these models.

[armand]

I now also have the Sony RX100 and I'm trying to play with it. For low iso it is more detailed but for average size prints probably the two cameras are not that far apart.
I does have 1.5, maybe 2 stops advantage and it is faster focusing (it's quite fast focusing btw). Manual focusing is easier. Movies seem to be better, didn't play enough with it.
A little bigger but not by much, no difference for a front pocket of some jeans, slightly bulkier for front pocket of a shirt.

Still working on the menus, not sure if they are better or not than S100.

On S100 I kept the auto iso till 400, on RX100 I keep it till 1600.

Price difference right now is quite big though, 360s to 650 so you should know why you want the RX100 instead of the S100 as it is not twice as good (or if you have no self control as I did  )

[DaveL]

Very helpful posts here.  Beats the heck out of reading reviews of the S100 at Ken Rockwell's site. ;-)

There are a number of posts at Photography on the Net==a forum for Canon users. Many people have posted incredible images with the S95, and now the S100.

I had issues with 2 G11's (prompts for reset of the date/time).  I jumped ship and bought an LX5. That became a NEX5 as my attempt to get good image quality at high ISO. While it does that, I find I don't carry the NEX5 every day, and that was my intended purpose. I regard the NEX5N as a substantial upgrade; however, the cost of changing to a new camera body is higher than I want to spend for a second system.

I'm (seriously) considering a future NEX F5, or the RX100 and will look at both when I  can.

Thank you everyone, you have helped me. Good posts.