Functionally Perfect!
Written: Mar 01 '02 (Updated Mar 01 '02)
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Pros: Excellent_picture_quality, Functionally diverse, Compact metal case, Retracting_lens with_built-in lens-cover, light_weight and_very_small, photo-stitch, Lithium_Ion battery, Uncompressed_format
Cons: Lens cover is plastic, Software is confusing
The Bottom Line: Take anywhere camera, loaded with features. Excellent picture quality!
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| Spikey's Full Review: Canon PowerShot S30 Digital Camera |
The S30's shots are astoundingly clear and vibrant with color. It is such a wonderful camera that I couldn't stop taking pictures the week that I got it. I never knew how to use aperture and shutter priority but now that I have a digital camera that supports them I can play around with those features without wasting money on film and developing, and boy did I! The Canon Powershot S30 is my second digital camera (first being the Kodak DC260). The S30 takes pictures that are 10 times better than the DC260 and it's not only because of the 3.2 mega pixel CCD.
Here's what's in the box:
- Powershot S30 Digital Camera
- 16MB FlashCard
- 1 Lithium Ion battery pack (NB-2L, and cover)
- Battery Charger
- A/V Cable for using a TV to view pictures
- USB computer connection cable
- Wrist strap
- CDs for the software
- Many misc. books (in many languages)
I'd say the biggest plus of the S30 would have to be that it has so many functions, I know that's the reason I bought it. Looking down at the top "function wheel" there are 13 settings:
Creative Zone
- Manual (for being able to force a shutter speed and aperture without letting the camera decide what to use, good for fireworks I hear)
- Aperture Priority (for setting the size of the lens aperture, the camera meters the shot and decides on the correct shutter speed to get a good picture
- Shutter Priority (for setting the shutter speed, the camera meters for a correct aperture setting)
- Programmed AE (for specifying ISO ratings, the camera meters and selects a desirable aperture and shutter speed setting)
Point and Shoot Mode
- Auto (self-explanatory)
Image Zone
- Portrait (shooting a subject)
- Landscape (shooting a scenic view)
- Night shot (shooting a subject with a dark backdrop [both come out!])
- Fast Shutter Speed Mode (like shooting pictures of sports)
- Slow Shutter Speed Mode (cool pictures of flowing water)
- Alternate color settings
- Photo-stitch mode (for making much bigger pictures, using the packaged Photo-Stitch software)
- Movie Mode (for shooting .avi files)
If you're like me and you enjoy having control over what the picture will look like, you'll love the "Creative Zone". If you like a camera that you can just pick up and shoot a ton of pictures with, you'll love the "Image Zone".
The auto feature is good if you need to take a good number of shots in a short amount of time, like at a birthday party. It decides what to do with all the features so that your pictures come out best. Generally, it does a good job but if you have time to shoot it, do it with the other functions.
Using any of the "Creative Zone" functions gives you the ability to change the metering modes, Auto Focus area, Sharpness adj., Contrast adj., and Saturation adj. While the "Creative Zone" is on you can also turn on AE Lock (auto exposure lock), AF Lock (auto focus lock) and of course RAW image format (for the best possible picture). Using shutter priority with a tripod you can take night shots of anything that's stationary. I take my S30 downtown and shoot pictures of the city at night with just the lights and they look so clean, just like they do in real life!
Using the "Image Zone" functions lets you point and shoot for specific shots. You just set it to take a portrait and shoot away, or you set it for scenery and shoot away. Simple. The shots come out wonderfully with the correct settings already selected. I haven't had a chance to try the night scenery background shot but I'm anxious to because I have had much difficulty with those types of shots in the past.
Macro mode is excellent! The closest you can get to an object your shooting is 10cm in Macro mode, that's pretty close. The pictures come out so clear that you'll see details in the objects that you didn't know were there! Using Macro mode with aperture priority you can really get some awesome pictures. I have incredible shots of little stuffed animals, money, and other stationary items, they are truly amazing!
White Balance is a really nice feature. There are eight white balance settings. The "Auto WB" setting is good for most shots but when using the Creative "Zone settings" and "Auto WB" in tungsten lighting, I find that often my pictures come out yellowish, which is due to the wrong WB (even though Auto is selected). I just set it specifically to tungsten lighting, OR... you can use their "Custom WB", where you take a sheet of white paper and point the camera at it while pressing a button and the camera adjusts it's white balance for the exact white your looking at! It's wonderful!
Manual focus is ok. I say that because I love having the ability to use manual focus but much of the time it's hit-or-miss. When using the manual focus, a super zoomed block shows up in the middle of the screen to show you zoomed detail of what you're looking at. Unfortunately, this block is very pixilated and you can't quite tell when you've got a sharp focus. Oh well, at least it doesn't cost anything to use or develop the pictures. I just shoot a million. :)
Who can overlook the movie setting! It's always nice to be able to shoot a small (30sec or 120sec) movie so that you can capture some of the ambience of actually being somewhere. There are two resolution settings:
- 320x240 (for a 30 second movie)
- 160x120 (for a 120 second movie)
The 320x240 is actually a very nice movie size and works well for shooting short clips, it's really amazing how much audio and video you can get in 30 seconds. I don't really use the 160x120 setting because the movies come out too small and really just aren't worth the 120 seconds it gives you.
Reviewing the pictures has some nice additions. One thing that is very nice is that you can zoom into a picture twice (2x, 4x) and scroll around on it to see just how well it's focused, or what kind of faces your subjects are making, etc. Also, if you have a ton of pictures on there you can have it display them 9 at a time on the little LCD so you can pick one you want to see easily and bring it up.
The software disagrees with the rest of the package. In order to download the pictures to your PC you have to load up this large photo album utility called Zoom Browser EX. I don't want a photo album program, I just want to use my own favorite picture viewer, after I've downloaded all the files to a folder that I want. Luckily, I found that there is a solution to this. Shortly after I bought the camera I was searching online for anything that could possibly be an easier way to get the pictures off the camera, and I found one! It's called PowerLoad and it's a simple Explorer-Type interface that lets you drag and drop files off your camera and it's not only compatible with the S30 but other Canons as well. Best of all it's free! See here: http://blueaceimage.tripod.com/index.html
The battery life is very good. I compare it to the DC260s life and it seems much longer. Having the lithium-ion battery is also a plus because you don't have to worry about charge memory. It's a shame that Canon didn't supply an AC power adapter for the camera, it costs about $60. Also, it's wise to get an extra battery for the times when you need desperately to take a shot; that'll run you another $60.
All in all, I am extremely happy with the S30. All of it's features and output quality more than make up for the poor software package. I believe it was a very wise investment and it will provide many years of excellent pictures where ever I go.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 518
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Epinions.com ID:
Spikey
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Member: Greg
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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