Finally, a decision (S60)

Well, after much back-and-forth, I finally decided to bite the bullet and just ordered an S60. I got a couple of stackable coupons from Dell (been waiting all weekend for the $45 discount to reappear!!!) and got it for $359 before shipping and (darn it!) tax. $404 to my door, though, can't be bad (included a 256Mb card the throw in).

As some of you may recall from other threads, I'd be struggling with whether to replace my "big" camera (a G2) or my small camera (Nikon 3100). I chose the latter because the G2 / 420Ex combination still produces cracking pictures (at least to my level of satisfaction) for indoor events where I don't mind carry it around). But now I'll have a pretty compact camera (wifey said she'd be OK with it in her handbag, which is the acid test!!!) with a boat load of nice features. And I don't give up RAW, which has saved my bacon once or twice. I am looking forward to getting an appreciation of the benefits of the 28mm lens too, which will be new for me.

It's actually been quite an eye opener for me in terms of why I chose this one. Traditionally, I have always gone for "good stuff" - which would have had me going for an S70 at this time - just because!!! But I have taken a look at my picture taken habits over the past 3 years (since I got the G2) and the prints I have produced and, quite frankly, I just don't need the extra 2 megapixels. Perhaps this will give me a new lease of life in terms of taking pictures but I will still have the option to upgrade later if that turns out to be the case.

I can't wait to get the S60!!!

Thanks for everyone's advice here.

Mark

PS: I think I will miss the swivel LCD!!!

Well, my S60 finally arrived (after a day or so where neither Dell or DHL knew where it was!!!).

It's a great little camera, ain't it!!! I am really enjoying this form factor - a really nice middle ground between my flexible-but-bulky G2 and the small-but-limited Nikon 3100. So far I am impressed with the useability of the various controls (both in terms of physical layout and menus).

I haven't had a chance to get out yet so my picture taking opportunities have been somewhat limited but I intend to snap like crazy this weekend.

One potential disappointment. I am using the CompactFlash cards that came with the machine (the 32Mb card that Canon included and the 256Mb SanDisk that Dell threw in). I assume that both are "regular" speed (whatever that is) but I did expect a little more speed from the S60. There are considerable lags after taking pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards, rather than the camera itself. I don't have a high speed card available yet and will happily get one if it makes a difference but I'd be interested in other people's opinions of the speed of the S60 in terms of writing to the card. Right now, my S60 seems, if anything, slower than my G2 (three+ years old) but that's not a scientific test. In both cases I am using RAW. I'd appreciate any opinions on this aspect of the camera.

Thanks.

Mark

Mark W said:

Well, after much back-and-forth, I finally decided to bite the
bullet and just ordered an S60. I got a couple of stackable coupons
from Dell (been waiting all weekend for the $45 discount to
reappear!!!) and got it for $359 before shipping and (darn it!)
tax. $404 to my door, though, can't be bad (included a 256Mb card
the throw in).

As some of you may recall from other threads, I'd be struggling
with whether to replace my "big" camera (a G2) or my small camera
(Nikon 3100). I chose the latter because the G2 / 420Ex combination
still produces cracking pictures (at least to my level of
satisfaction) for indoor events where I don't mind carry it
around). But now I'll have a pretty compact camera (wifey said
she'd be OK with it in her handbag, which is the acid test!!!) with
a boat load of nice features. And I don't give up RAW, which has
saved my bacon once or twice. I am looking forward to getting an
appreciation of the benefits of the 28mm lens too, which will be
new for me.

It's actually been quite an eye opener for me in terms of why I
chose this one. Traditionally, I have always gone for "good stuff"

• which would have had me going for an S70 at this time - just

because!!! But I have taken a look at my picture taken habits over
the past 3 years (since I got the G2) and the prints I have
produced and, quite frankly, I just don't need the extra 2
megapixels. Perhaps this will give me a new lease of life in terms
of taking pictures but I will still have the option to upgrade
later if that turns out to be the case.

I can't wait to get the S60!!!

Thanks for everyone's advice here.

Mark

PS: I think I will miss the swivel LCD!!!

Click to expand...

Hello Mark,

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the "time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this, of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but, then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Sorry - accidentally typed into the subject line. Fixing here for the sake of the thread

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second
delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that
to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the
picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average
but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me
now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the
imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the
first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I
can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems
with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the
"time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this,
of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the
camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but,
then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems
quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card
speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it
is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really
didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

In playback mode, S60 does take longer than average to show the pic(reading data from CF). However in record mode, I don't find any delays before the image appears on the LCD(reading data from buffer). The overall speed is slightly faster than my G3 and A80.

Mark W said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second
delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that
to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the
picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average
but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me
now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the
imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the
first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I
can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems
with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the
"time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this,
of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the
camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but,
then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems
quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card
speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it
is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really
didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Thanks for the response. What type of card are you using (speed)? Do you have this experience when using the card that came with the camera (presumably a pretty slow, cheapo card). The delay is quite significant for me and I'd love to identify the cause.

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand what "I don't find any delays" means.

Thanks again.

Mark

Parn said:

Mark W said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second
delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that
to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the
picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average
but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me
now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the
imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the
first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I
can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems
with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the
"time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this,
of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the
camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but,
then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems
quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card
speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it
is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really
didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

Mine takes only a second or less to write and display. I'm using a regular old Sandisk 1G card, nothing special.

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. What type of card are you using (speed)?
Do you have this experience when using the card that came with the
camera (presumably a pretty slow, cheapo card). The delay is quite
significant for me and I'd love to identify the cause.

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Click to expand...

Thanks. To which format are you writing (RAW?). If RAW, is the size of the embedded JPG image important. I tried reducing this to the smallest size (640 wide) but still saw a delay. I'll be tinkering with the camera again this evening but I'm interested to compare like with like.

Thanks.

Mark

Luther Heggs said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. What type of card are you using (speed)?
Do you have this experience when using the card that came with the
camera (presumably a pretty slow, cheapo card). The delay is quite
significant for me and I'd love to identify the cause.

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I don't think the size of the JPEG embedded in the Raw file makes much difference in write speed or file size... but a larger embedded JPEG does allow you to review focus at higher mag/resolution. I was hoping to be able to use the JPEG w/o conversion... as far as I know, you cannot...
--
Dave Gard
http://www.pbase.com/gard

The largest jpg setting ("super-fine" I think).

Raw will take about 4 seconds to write and display (too long).

Mark W said:

Thanks.

Mark

Luther Heggs said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. What type of card are you using (speed)?
Do you have this experience when using the card that came with the
camera (presumably a pretty slow, cheapo card). The delay is quite
significant for me and I'd love to identify the cause.

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I'm using a 256MB standard Sandisk(I think it's 8x or 12x) and haven't had any experiences with the included CF. Canon claims that those CFs included are high-speed, so I assume they are at least 8x.

Yes the picture will be displayed almost instantly(ie. less than a sec) after it is taken.

Mark W said:

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Thanks again.

Mark

Parn said:

Mark W said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second
delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that
to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the
picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average
but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me
now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the
imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the
first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I
can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems
with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the
"time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this,
of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the
camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but,
then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems
quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card
speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it
is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really
didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Are you writing in JPG? I've always used RAW (including on the G2) and perhaps that's the underlying issue. Luther replied on a seperate reply that he's seeing 4 seconds or so for RAW. That's pretty much in line with what I am seeing - I did expect better from a camera that's 3 years newer even allowing for the slightly larger files sizes (4MP -> 5MP, which I can't imagine as being too big a deal).

Thanks.

Mark

Parn said:

Yes the picture will be displayed almost instantly(ie. less than a
sec) after it is taken.

Mark W said:

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Thanks again.

Mark

Parn said:

Mark W said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. No - I know what you mean by the 2 second
delay (I actually prefer a somewhat longer delay and have set that
to 3 seconds). I am specifically talking about the delay BEFORE the
picture appears on the LCD. It seems to be 2-3 seconds on average
but occasionally takes 4-5 seconds (I don't have my camera with me
now so cant check - these numbers are possibly exaggerated by the
imagination!!!). Again, this is just to SEE the picture in the
first place - I am aware that once I see the picture on the LCD I
can half press to remove it from the screen. I have no problems
with focus time, which seems quicker than my G2. It is ONLY the
"time to LCD" that is slow - everything else seems OK - but this,
of course, one of the most important delays.

I am really hoping that this is a card issue - the use of the
camera is just sluggish with this delay. I am shooting RAW but,
then again, that's what I always did with my G2 and that seems
quicker on the time-to-LCD picture (or at least very close).

In terms of cards, I have seen the references to the various card
speeds (8x, 16x, 40x, etc). Does the lack of a "speed" mean that it
is effectively "1x"? I did try an old 8x card I have but it really
didn't seem that much quicker.

Thanks again.

Mark

Brian Cerveny said:

Are you confusing lag with the delay it shows when displaying the
picture after your shot (default 2 seconds)? That delay you can
skip past by either using high speed drive mode ([h] icon) or
halfpress the shutter. Otherwise, focus lags are average in this
camera and shutter lags are actually pretty good.

Otherwise I don't find my S70 to lag too much. I can tell it is
faster than my old S30 was. I imagine that may be due to a clock
speed increase in the processor because the camera is still based
on the original DiG!C chipset, not the DiG!C II that has appeared
in the most recent DSLRs.

Incidently, while the S60 includes a standard CF card (CF-32M), the
S70 comes with a "high speed" 32 MB SanDisk CF card (FC-32MH). What
good a 32MB card is on a 7.1 MP camera though is beyond me.

Brian

Mark W said:

There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself.

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
Brian Cerveny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

While that is consistent with what I am seeing (I think - can't get to my camera till this evening), it does seem like it's worse than the G2, which didn't seem like it took so long. I was really expecting some improvement over a 3 year old camera

If this does turn out to be the issue, I think I may consider using JPG alongside an extended delay to preview picture. This would give me some time to consider whether I want to convert to RAW before writing to CompactFlash. Then again, I'd be losing what, for me, is the primary reason I have used RAW over the past few years, namely to correct the occasional mistake with white balance after the fact. If I don't know I have made the mistake with white balance I guess I won't be chosing to convert to RAW when previewing the picture.

Decisions, decisions...

Mark

Luther Heggs said:

Raw will take about 4 seconds to write and display (too long).

Mark W said:

Thanks.

Mark

Luther Heggs said:

Mark W said:

Thanks for the response. What type of card are you using (speed)?
Do you have this experience when using the card that came with the
camera (presumably a pretty slow, cheapo card). The delay is quite
significant for me and I'd love to identify the cause.

Are you saying in record mode that the picture is almost
immediatelty displayed (a second or less)? I'd like to understand
what "I don't find any delays" means.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

it's a great little camera. congrats!!

Mark W said:

It's a great little camera, ain't it!!! I am really enjoying this
form factor - a really nice middle ground between my
flexible-but-bulky G2 and the small-but-limited Nikon 3100. So far
I am impressed with the useability of the various controls (both in
terms of physical layout and menus).

I haven't had a chance to get out yet so my picture taking
opportunities have been somewhat limited but I intend to snap like
crazy this weekend.

One potential disappointment. I am using the CompactFlash cards
that came with the machine (the 32Mb card that Canon included and
the 256Mb SanDisk that Dell threw in). I assume that both are
"regular" speed (whatever that is) but I did expect a little more
speed from the S60. There are considerable lags after taking
pictures and I am HOPING that this is a factor of slow cards,
rather than the camera itself. I don't have a high speed card
available yet and will happily get one if it makes a difference but
I'd be interested in other people's opinions of the speed of the
S60 in terms of writing to the card. Right now, my S60 seems, if
anything, slower than my G2 (three+ years old) but that's not a
scientific test. In both cases I am using RAW. I'd appreciate any
opinions on this aspect of the camera.

Thanks.

Mark

Mark W said:

Well, after much back-and-forth, I finally decided to bite the
bullet and just ordered an S60. I got a couple of stackable coupons
from Dell (been waiting all weekend for the $45 discount to
reappear!!!) and got it for $359 before shipping and (darn it!)
tax. $404 to my door, though, can't be bad (included a 256Mb card
the throw in).

As some of you may recall from other threads, I'd be struggling
with whether to replace my "big" camera (a G2) or my small camera
(Nikon 3100). I chose the latter because the G2 / 420Ex combination
still produces cracking pictures (at least to my level of
satisfaction) for indoor events where I don't mind carry it
around). But now I'll have a pretty compact camera (wifey said
she'd be OK with it in her handbag, which is the acid test!!!) with
a boat load of nice features. And I don't give up RAW, which has
saved my bacon once or twice. I am looking forward to getting an
appreciation of the benefits of the 28mm lens too, which will be
new for me.

It's actually been quite an eye opener for me in terms of why I
chose this one. Traditionally, I have always gone for "good stuff"

• which would have had me going for an S70 at this time - just

because!!! But I have taken a look at my picture taken habits over
the past 3 years (since I got the G2) and the prints I have
produced and, quite frankly, I just don't need the extra 2
megapixels. Perhaps this will give me a new lease of life in terms
of taking pictures but I will still have the option to upgrade
later if that turns out to be the case.

I can't wait to get the S60!!!

Thanks for everyone's advice here.

Mark

PS: I think I will miss the swivel LCD!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
(check out http://www.jabdigital.com to see my first favorite pics)
username = powershots
password = basement

Just recorded a RAW image,with my new S70.

It took 2 seconds to display the image(JPEG ,tested in the highest res,and the lowest res).

It takes at least 4 more seconds to finish writing to the CF card(Sandisk 256MB)

ANAYV

Thanks. That is actually a little surprising to me. Although I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that writing to RAW may have a "preview delay" of a few seconds, others on this thread have indicated that a JPG image is displayed almost immediately. Certainly, when comparing the S70 over the S60 I would have expected the former to be even quicker on JPG files

That said, perhaps "2 seconds" to one person is "immediately" to another I'll be running a few more tests this evening.

Mark

ANAYV said:

Just recorded a RAW image,with my new S70.

It took 2 seconds to display the image(JPEG ,tested in the highest
res,and the lowest res).

It takes at least 4 more seconds to finish writing to the CF
card(Sandisk 256MB)

ANAYV

Click to expand...

Just tried with RAW. It took about 4 sec to write to the CF and the display time was slightly more than a sec(default JPEG thumbnail setting).

ANAYV said:

Just recorded a RAW image,with my new S70.

It took 2 seconds to display the image(JPEG ,tested in the highest
res,and the lowest res).

It takes at least 4 more seconds to finish writing to the CF
card(Sandisk 256MB)

ANAYV

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Thanks. Excuse my ignorance but what's the signal that the camera has finished writing to the card? Obviously the "preview time" is easy to assess but I am not clear on the write time and how you know.

Mark

Parn said:

ANAYV said:

Just recorded a RAW image,with my new S70.

It took 2 seconds to display the image(JPEG ,tested in the highest
res,and the lowest res).

It takes at least 4 more seconds to finish writing to the CF
card(Sandisk 256MB)

ANAYV

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

You can tell from the green light that is next to the OVF. While it is flashing, it means the camera is operating with the CF(both read and write).

Mark W said:

Mark

Parn said:

ANAYV said:

Just recorded a RAW image,with my new S70.

It took 2 seconds to display the image(JPEG ,tested in the highest
res,and the lowest res).

It takes at least 4 more seconds to finish writing to the CF
card(Sandisk 256MB)

ANAYV

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
A DP beginner.
My Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/knight_parn
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3463185093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3451245093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3446285093
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3445810093