Any Canon S95-120 Shooters here?

[Southpaw]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if there are any other shooters here that own, or have used, Canons compact "S" series (S90, S95, S100, S110, S120)?

Here is the deal; I wanted to get started learning photography, and the only camera I had was a Canon ELPH 300HS P&S. There are no manual controls on that camera, so I couldn't work on the photo triangle of Aperture/Shutter/ISO. After a little research, I thought the Canon "S" series would be a good place for me to start.

I knew I needed a camera with manual controls so I could really learn exposure. I got a copy of Brian Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure", and about halfway through it, got really frustrated with not being able to control exposure settings with my ELPH! So, I checked Craigslist for about a week or 2, and found a deal on a Canon S110. I got it new in box for $170, which at the time was a pretty good deal.

I knew eventually I'd want the ability to change lenses, but since I was already familiar with Canon from shooting quite a bit with my ELPH (and for the most part happy with the results) thought I'd stick with Canon. Also, I knew I'd want a pocket size compact camera anyway, so why not have a good one?

The things I like about the S110 are the fact that it has full manual controls, the control ring is cool, it has a fairly fast lens with an F2.0 max aperture (wide open), RAW capability, full HD video, and it is truly pocket size. It also is fairly low cost.

I thought I should really learn proper exposure, composition, and get started with post before I run out and spend a lot on camera gear. I feel like I need to do this so I can make a more informed decision gear wise a little down the road.

Anyway, any of you guys out there have one of these? How are you liking it? It's been good for me to shoot items to sell online. It also has a decent macro function. Any tips? Any photos you've taken with it you especially like?

I got a copy of "The Photographers guide to the Canon S100" and it's pretty applicable to the S110. The S120 looked really cool, because it has an F1.8 lens, and touchscreen focus, but it costs about 2.5 times as much, and I couldn't justify it, so I went with the S110.

So, what say you, CiC?

[inkista]

Well, I'm not exactly in your target range, but I have and love my little Powershot S90. I sometimes consider swapping it out for a used S100 or S110, since they're getting so inexpensive on the used market and I'd really prefer a 24mm equiv. wide end to a 28mm one, but then I look at my micro four-thirds gear, and I realize I need the money for something else.

For me, the main choice with the advanced Powershots was mostly between the S line and the G line, but the Gs are clunkier, and you get the most use out of them if you treat them a bit like system cameras and carry some accessories around with it, but then you've negated the convenience of a pocket camera. And you can't quite pocket a G without big pockets. Once I got the S90, the G9 gathered dust. The main problem with the S, though, is there's no flash sync connector--no hotshoe, no sync port, nada.

So, I Rube Goldberged this:



I have an optical slave hooked via PC port into a radio transmitter. I put it in front of the S90's pop-up flash, and I can trigger off-camera flashes connected to receivers. Yes, I can go Strobist with my S90 and RF-602s in a pinch. (Sadly, Yongnuo's removed PC input ports on its radio triggers, so today you'd probably have to get an optical slave with a hotshoe and put the transmitter on the shoe. And that Sonia green-base optical slave only works if the S90 is in M mode.) So if you were thinking having an S110 limited you from doing Strobist work, it doesn't. It's just a PITA to get there. :/ [I tend to blow the dust off the G9 for this, instead, since it has the built-in ND filter, hotshoe, and syncs up to 1/1000s. But that's another story.]

The S90 is a great "mid-way" point between a typical P&S with no manual controls and a system camera. I remember being surprised at how good the 1600 iso performance with it was, since my previous Powershots had been the S30 and the G9, both of which kind of sucked over iso 400. I went a little "available light" nuts with the S90 when I first got it, even taking it to jury duty with me.



My recommendation now would be to think about shooting RAW and doing your own post-processing. There are a lot of open source free packages out there you could get started with to see if you like it without drinking the Adobe Kool-Aid: RAWTherapee, DarkTable or Photivo and the Gimp make a pretty good setup. And consider getting a tripod if you don't have one. Even just a small plastic travel one like an ultrapod or a gorillapod.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Shawn,

I have an S100 and like it - it doesn't get a huge amount of use, especially since I started carrying an Android phone with a 'snap' camera.

The problem is, I am a Nikon shooter, and the Canon "way", controls and software, is counter to my other two DSLR cameras, so I always 'fumble' with it a bit

I can see it being a great learning opportunity for you, with manual control and RAW.

Welcome to the CiC forms from me; Dave

[jcuknz]

An S20 was my first 'good' digital camera
Then I went to Nikon and followed that with Panasonic to this day, but I still keep the s20's batteries charged up for when I want a 'pocket' camera

[Manfred M]

My first decent digital camera was the Canon S40. Strangely enough. I went to Nikon and more recently Panasonic, just like John.

Unlike John, I no longer carry it around; but the Nikons and Panasonic are definitely in use.

[inkista]

Ah, so I'm in the middle, starting out with an S30, then moving to Canon dSLRs, and now a Panasonic. All roads lead to Panasonic.

I loved that S30--all three megapixels of it.


(Used an ultrapod and a handy bench.)

I no longer have it, though--my nephew inherited it. But I still have the batteries to run my G9. I never bought a digital camera without full Manual or RAW capability.

[Panama Hat & Camera]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if there are any other shooters here that own, or have used, Canons compact "S" series (S90, S95, S100, S110, S120)?

Here is the deal; I wanted to get started learning photography, and the only camera I had was a Canon ELPH 300HS P&S. There are no manual controls on that camera, so I couldn't work on the photo triangle of Aperture/Shutter/ISO. After a little research, I thought the Canon "S" series would be a good place for me to start.

I knew I needed a camera with manual controls so I could really learn exposure. I got a copy of Brian Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure", and about halfway through it, got really frustrated with not being able to control exposure settings with my ELPH! So, I checked Craigslist for about a week or 2, and found a deal on a Canon S110. I got it new in box for $170, which at the time was a pretty good deal.

I knew eventually I'd want the ability to change lenses, but since I was already familiar with Canon from shooting quite a bit with my ELPH (and for the most part happy with the results) thought I'd stick with Canon. Also, I knew I'd want a pocket size compact camera anyway, so why not have a good one?

The things I like about the S110 are the fact that it has full manual controls, the control ring is cool, it has a fairly fast lens with an F2.0 max aperture (wide open), RAW capability, full HD video, and it is truly pocket size. It also is fairly low cost.

I thought I should really learn proper exposure, composition, and get started with post before I run out and spend a lot on camera gear. I feel like I need to do this so I can make a more informed decision gear wise a little down the road.

Anyway, any of you guys out there have one of these? How are you liking it? It's been good for me to shoot items to sell online. It also has a decent macro function. Any tips? Any photos you've taken with it you especially like?

I got a copy of "The Photographers guide to the Canon S100" and it's pretty applicable to the S110. The S120 looked really cool, because it has an F1.8 lens, and touchscreen focus, but it costs about 2.5 times as much, and I couldn't justify it, so I went with the S110.

So, what say you, CiC?

Shawn,
I have a Canon S100 and I like it very much.
The pros of Canon S100 are:
1- Very small;
2- Very easy to use;
3- It has manual settings (Av, Tv, M, ISO);
4- It shoots RAW images (RAW; RAW + JPEG; JPEG);
5- Good image quality for a compact camera (see "d" below);
6- Good wide angle (24mm FFE);
7- Good max aperture (f/2.0 at 24 mm FFE);
8- Reasonably good photos within ISO 800 - 1600 range.


The cons of Canon S100 are:
a- Some shutter lag;
b- Is very dificult to obtain a bokeh (the depth of field tends to be large);
c- Small range of apertures (f/2.0 to f/8.0 at 24 mm FFE; f/5.9 to f/8.0 at 120mm FFE);
d- Some limitations in situations with very high dynamic range
e- No viewfinder;
f- No external conection for flash.

Cheers,

Antonio.

As requested, here are some photos taken with the Canon S100.

#1 - 1/25 - f/2.0 - ISO 800 - 24mm FFE (croped) - RAW (PP)



#2 - 1/8 - f/5.9 - ISO 1600 - 120mm FFE - JPEG (SOOC)



#3 - 1/250 - f/4.0 - ISO 80 - 24mm FFE - RAW (little PP)



#4 - 1/15 - f/4.0 - ISO 1600 - 59mm FFE - RAW (little PP)

[Southpaw]

Hi! Actually, you are in range. The title was a typo. I consider the range of similar cameras to be from the S90 to the S120. While the cameras in the 90's range had a different lens, they are very similar.

The device you rigged up is pretty cool. Definitely beyond my capabilities, and needs. While the low light performance of these isn't super duper, that's to be expected. How much light can really be gathered with such small lenses? I almost never use the built in flash anyway. It is worthless at range, and blows out images at macro. I'm sure it has use- just for me so far, the way I shoot with it, not needed. I'm sure when I get more skilled I can use it for fill light, but so far, I just shoot in well lit areas.

I have started to shoot raw, and will use those photos to start practicing my post. I started another thread on that, and got a lot of good info. Feel free to peruse that thread and comment. I'm sure you'd have much to contribute, for me and for all beginning members.

[Southpaw]

Hi Dave,

I did a search in the forum for the S100, and found your posts- enjoyable and enlightening.

I guess it's silly for me to consider myself a "Canon Shooter", but technically you could say so. My other camera is a Canon as well.

Yes, the manual controls & raw were the main reasons (along with the positive reviews) was why I got the S110. The full manual is great for learning purposes, and the Aperture & Shutter priority are also good for a degree of creative control. As was mentioned, you can't do much in the way of Bokeh/shallow DOF stuff, but you can definitely control motion with shutter priority, with long exposures for light trails, and fast for freezing motion.

For my utility stuff (eBay/Craigslist sales), I tend to shoot in program mode. This is for all intents & purposes auto, but I can shift the aperture/shutter if I want.

[Southpaw]

Ah, so I'm in the middle, starting out with an S30, then moving to Canon dSLRs, and now a Panasonic. All roads lead to Panasonic.

I loved that S30--all three megapixels of it.


(Used an ultrapod and a handy bench.)

I no longer have it, though--my nephew inherited it. But I still have the batteries to run my G9. I never bought a digital camera without full Manual or RAW capability.

Cool photo! I looked up the ultrapod- I think that's pretty cool. I recently got a gorillapod knockoff, and so far it's been cool, but that ultrapod looks good too. I may consider getting one of those down the road as well.

I like the motion of the people in that photo. That juxtaposed to the warm tones of the columns are cool. Do you have the exif info for that photo? Or tell me how to view it? Thanks! :-)

[Southpaw]

I agree with your assessment of the S1XX.

Nice photos too! Esp #3&4.

[Southpaw]

Here are a few I shot recently-

Sunrise. .jpg- no post.



Shooting data:
1/1600-f6.3-ISO 200- focal length- 8.6mm

I did several shots of this sunrise, and tried different settings to see how they would look, and see how they affected exposure. This is the view from my balcony.



Shooting data:
1/1000- F7.1 - ISO 200- Focal length- 8.6mm


Shooting Data:
1/1000- F8.0- ISO 200- FL 8.6mm

I did about a dozen shots of this sunrise, experimenting with exposure. I had some limitations with regard to composition, in that I didn't have too much room to move, but, I could raise/lower the tripod, and change angles. I also can crop as well. I should have shot these in raw, but I got up early one morning, looked outside, saw the sun just beginning to come up, and thought it would make a great shot.

So, I grabbed the camera & tripod, and started shooting. I'm at the stage where I need to learn how to do a proper exposure, so I wanted to use the manual settings and see how they effect everything.

They go from overexposed, to underexposed, and back! But, I'll get it. Just need to keep studying, and keep shooting. Next time, I'll shoot them raw too. Yeah, I know they suck. I only had the camera for a few weeks at this point. What would you do to these in post? (other than deleting them!)

[inkista]

Cool photo!

Thanks! If you have a gorillapod, you probably don't need an ultrapod, too, unless you wanna go super-tiny and light.

Do you have the exif info for that photo? Or tell me how to view it? Thanks! :-)

I keep forgetting CiC wipes out the Flickr link. Here's the Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkista/73372360

The main EXIF details are:

12.3mm (e.g., 60mm film equiv.)
P mode [yeah, I know. I should've been in manual or Tv, but I dialed the iso down to 50 and that gave me the longer shutter speed]
iso 50
f/3.5
2/5s

And you say no to off-camera flash now. I'm just saying, maybe later, it'll occur to you to do selfies in your living room while hiding the household mess :


Powershot G9. @7.4mm (35mm film equiv.), iso 80, f/5, 1/160s.
Yongnuo RF-602 triggers, YN-560 flash (probably 1/8 or 1/4 power) on a stand with a small 8" softbox above camera left.

[inkista]

... I wanted to use the manual settings and see how they effect everything.

They go from overexposed, to underexposed, and back! But, I'll get it. Just need to keep studying, and keep shooting.

Main thing in M mode--watch what your meter is telling you about where you are exposure-wise. The auto systems all set you to 0 by default, so if you start out around 0, you're where the camera thinks you should be. Then adjust from there to where you want to be.

What would you do to these in post? (other than deleting them!)

Keep them as the watermark of where you started. Six months from now when you've mastered the hell out of a ton of things, you'll probably still think you suck just as badly as when you started. These will stand as proof that you don't. Ditto six years from now and sixteen years from now. You could try cropping off the black bits.

I would recommend that if Understanding Exposure worked well for you, that you also consider grabbing Bryan Peterson's Learning to See Creatively, which is his primer on composition. But when it comes time to do the flash thing, don't get his book, go look at David Hobby's Strobist blog.

One more thing. Just FYI. Peterson's UE is a great text, but his continual recommendation of using f/22 is slightly questionable already for an ASP-C dSLR user (diffraction, and pixel density making it a slight tradeoff of sharpness for the depth of field), and impossible for a P&S shooter. f/8 on your S110 gives you more DoF than f/22 on a dSLR.

[Southpaw]

Thanks for the tips/encouragement!

I did get Peterson's other book, just haven't read it yet. I actually am going over Understanding Exposure again, because the first time I read it, I couldn't really do the exercises because I only had the ELPH at the time. Now that I have full manual controls, I can do the exercises to really learn. I'll read the other one next.

Also, by any chance are you a martial artist? You remind me of a girl I met at a fight gathering a few years ago I could have sworn was named Kathy.

[inkista]

Also, by any chance are you a martial artist?

Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!!

Er, no. That would not be me.

[DollyP]

S95 user here. I had to move from my Olympus slrs as illness made it difficult for me to carry them. The S95 gives me all the control I want, yet able to be carried at all times (after all what use is a camera if you aren't carrying it).

Regards
David