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S100 first impressions

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maccam

maccam

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Purchased at Best Buy near Cleveland OH, returned 3 hours later because of "lens error". When returned, they tried to duplicate the problem for a few minutes but could not. With no questions asked, they gave me the only other copy they had.

These are my impressions of the 2nd copy

I have an S95 that I like so I'm comparing ergonomics of the 2 cameras ( I have not looked at 1 shot from the S100 yet).

S100 finish is like 200 grit sandpaper
S95 finish is like 500 grit sandpaper
S100 wins (very grippy) 200 is rougher than 500 so is easier to grasp

S100 needs no tether

S95 does (even though, with a wrist strap, I really like the security of the S95)
S100 wins (I guess) even though I probably will wear a wrist strap

S100 shutter button has tactile half click shutter button stop
S95 is kind of iffy in that respect
S100 wins

S100 mode wheel on the top is looser than the S95
S95 has secure detents for the top mode dial
S95 wins big time (though not a show stopper)

S100 battery compartment door is not easy to close

S95 battery compartment door is just so elegant that there is no comparison, in fact, you just want to open and close it because it is just so precisely machined.
S95 wins

Case in point: when I returned my first copy to Best Buy, I watched the woman trying to duplicate my problem trying to get the battery compartment closed. She eventually did but........

The new grip on the S100
I like it a lot. It feels secure. Your feelings may vary.

The rear click wheel on the S95 did things (when rotated), The S100 does nothing except when in manual. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I usually changed EV with it ( I normally shoot it P mode).

Take it for what it's worth; the ergonomics of the S100 are better than the S95 from my slight several hour view.
 
I agree with everything you said except for the top dial. My S95 was firm, but my S100 is almost stiff. It takes a very "purposeful" twist to move it.

David
 
Hmm... Wish mine were stiff. Not a game changer. Other than that, I cannot comment on the image quality, which is what (in part) this is all about. The Ergs compliment image quality. Image quality is king.

I will tell you a story. Once upon a time I had a girlfriend. We went out on a walk to a nature center near Cleveland. I think it was Shaker Lakes. I handed her one of my SLR's for the afternoon (this was in film days) so she could take some pictures. The first time she looked through the vue-finder she said "SH*T". I took that as a compliment, and she was not even looking at me. This was her impression of looking through the vue-finder! Ergs and image quality were really good. Now we have these wafer thin things and ergs MEAN something. I don't think Ann would have said anything had I handed her the S100, but the S100 aint bad.

my 2 euros
or in cleveland, 2 cents

JAW
 
These new "rough" finishes are interesting. Honestly, I think I prefer the smooth-metal finishes of older S model cameras. Smooth metal finishes have tackiness with bare fingers, which I prefer to roughness. I like the tactile feel of my D40 or old S70 more than the S100/S95.

One thing I hated about the (overall excellent) S95 I borrowed from a friend was the tight mode dial. It was annoyingly stiff to move, which was a regular nuisance. The S100 feels just right to me - much smoother, but not to loose to cause accidental shifts. More like an older S series dial.

Agree on the annoyingly hard-to-close battery door on the S100. It's difficult, yet feels slight enough that you don't want to force it. I expect it will be the most annoying this about using this camera for me.

Rear wheel - sometimes I wish it did things all the time, other times I'm glad it doesn't accidentally change a setting whenever it's brushed.

Overall ergonomics are good for me, and of course Canon's fantastic menu system makes the minor quibbles acceptable.
 
maccam said:
maccam wrote:

The rear click wheel on the S95 did things (when rotated), The S100 does nothing except when in manual. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I usually changed EV with it ( I normally shoot it P mode).
Click to expand...
Can the lens ring be assigned to change EV on the S100? I think it can on the S95.

Sky
 
I'm near Cleveland also and wondered which Best Buy you purchased the first one. If I decide to get one this week I don't want to get the malfunctioning one you returned. Was it Best Buy in Mentor? Thanks.
maccam said:
Purchased at Best Buy near Cleveland OH, returned 3 hours later because of "lens error". When returned, they tried to duplicate the problem for a few minutes but could not. With no questions asked, they gave me the only other copy they had.

These are my impressions of the 2nd copy

I have an S95 that I like so I'm comparing ergonomics of the 2 cameras ( I have not looked at 1 shot from the S100 yet).

S100 finish is like 200 grit sandpaper
S95 finish is like 500 grit sandpaper
S100 wins (very grippy) 200 is rougher than 500 so is easier to grasp

S100 needs no tether

S95 does (even though, with a wrist strap, I really like the security of the S95)
S100 wins (I guess) even though I probably will wear a wrist strap

S100 shutter button has tactile half click shutter button stop
S95 is kind of iffy in that respect
S100 wins

S100 mode wheel on the top is looser than the S95
S95 has secure detents for the top mode dial
S95 wins big time (though not a show stopper)

S100 battery compartment door is not easy to close

S95 battery compartment door is just so elegant that there is no comparison, in fact, you just want to open and close it because it is just so precisely machined.
S95 wins

Case in point: when I returned my first copy to Best Buy, I watched the woman trying to duplicate my problem trying to get the battery compartment closed. She eventually did but........

The new grip on the S100
I like it a lot. It feels secure. Your feelings may vary.

The rear click wheel on the S95 did things (when rotated), The S100 does nothing except when in manual. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I usually changed EV with it ( I normally shoot it P mode).

Take it for what it's worth; the ergonomics of the S100 are better than the S95 from my slight several hour view.
Click to expand...
 
maccam said:
Purchased at Best Buy near Cleveland OH, returned 3 hours later because of "lens error". When returned, they tried to duplicate the problem for a few minutes but could not.
Click to expand...
i thought the canon cameras were supposed to be irreversibly inoperable once you saw the "lens error".
 
maccam said:
I have an S95 that I like so I'm comparing ergonomics of the 2 cameras ( I have not looked at 1 shot from the S100 yet).

S100 finish is like 200 grit sandpaper
S95 finish is like 500 grit sandpaper
S100 wins (very grippy) 200 is rougher than 500 so is easier to grasp
Click to expand...
I agree with you, I like the s100 better than the s95 in that regard. Between this and the better grips the s100 feels like it's light than the s95 even though the specs say it's not.
maccam said:
S100 needs no tether

S95 does (even though, with a wrist strap, I really like the security of the S95)
S100 wins (I guess) even though I probably will wear a wrist strap
Click to expand...
ditto :-)
maccam said:
S100 shutter button has tactile half click shutter button stop
S95 is kind of iffy in that respect
S100 wins
Click to expand...
I actually had the opposite problem the other day, I kept trying to halfpress on the s100 and it would press all the way, a problem I did not have with the s95. Maybe I'll just get use to it.
maccam said:
S100 mode wheel on the top is looser than the S95
S95 has secure detents for the top mode dial
S95 wins big time (though not a show stopper)
Click to expand...
Like someone else mentioned, I to found the s95's top dial to difficult to turn and an annoyance. It often required several swipes with my thumb to switch from like P to M, or P to Video. I really like the s100 one better - I feel like it's stiff enough not to change accidentally, but not so stiff where it's annoying to turn with my thumb like it was on the s95.
maccam said:
S100 battery compartment door is not easy to close

S95 battery compartment door is just so elegant that there is no comparison, in fact, you just want to open and close it because it is just so precisely machined.
S95 wins

Case in point: when I returned my first copy to Best Buy, I watched the woman trying to duplicate my problem trying to get the battery compartment closed. She eventually did but........
Click to expand...
That's so weird - that's not the case on my s100 at all. In fact if it wasn't for the different camera coating I could not tell the difference between my s100 battery door and the s95 one. Looking at them they look nearly identical. I know someone else agreed with you that theirs was difficult to - weird.
maccam said:
The new grip on the S100
I like it a lot. It feels secure. Your feelings may vary.
Click to expand...
ditto :-)
maccam said:
The rear click wheel on the S95 did things (when rotated), The S100 does nothing except when in manual. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I usually changed EV with it ( I normally shoot it P mode).
Click to expand...
Whoa...that is true. In P mode the rear dial doesn't do anything by default. That's pretty weird as they also updated the rear ring to be harder to change accidentally - now it's nearly impossible to change...but the rear wheel also doesn't do anything by default. Actually I think that's pretty annoying, wish they would have left it as-is.

fyi - exposure compensation can be changed with the rear wheel though. But now you have to press "Up", then rotate the rear ring to change it.

Also, they increased the range - used to go from -2 to +2, now it goes from -3 to +3.
maccam said:
Take it for what it's worth; the ergonomics of the S100 are better than the S95 from my slight several hour view.
Click to expand...
Agree completely. :-)
 
Pierre67 said:
What about the autofocus-time?
Is it faster than the S95?
Click to expand...
I'm not the OP, but owning and literally shooting them side by side (pressing the shutter on both at the same time), it appears the s100 may have increased by a tiny amount (the screen comes back a tiny bit sooner) but nothing substantial. Still nowhere near a dslr or lx5.
 
PaulRivers said:
Pierre67 said:
What about the autofocus-time?
Is it faster than the S95?
Click to expand...
I'm not the OP, but owning and literally shooting them side by side (pressing the shutter on both at the same time), it appears the s100 may have increased by a tiny amount (the screen comes back a tiny bit sooner) but nothing substantial. Still nowhere near a dslr or lx5.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Paul! :)

So it's still slower than a SD700. Aaargh!

I read somewhere that the macro range has been improved? (you can focus nearer than 5 cm?)
I assume the "general behavior" is like a S95? Like :

AUTO mode going fast in higher ISO, semi-automatic macro mode (difficult to explain: on my SD700 macro-focusing makes a special "whrzzz" sound; on my S95, it sounds like "normal" focusing), and no option to "kill" the linked-face-detect mode in AiAf ? (don't want the "center" mode)

The option to modify the NR seems great, though. Which S100 NR-mode would be equal to the "S95 NR setting" ?
 
It was the best buy in Avon off of 83.

JAW
 
I was able to clear it by pulling and reinserting the battery

JAW
 
Why in the world would they create an extra step. I use the rear dial in P mode on my s90 all the time. It is the most used feature.
PaulRivers said:
Whoa...that is true. In P mode the rear dial doesn't do anything by default. That's pretty weird as they also updated the rear ring to be harder to change accidentally - now it's nearly impossible to change...but the rear wheel also doesn't do anything by default. Actually I think that's pretty annoying, wish they would have left it as-is.

fyi - exposure compensation can be changed with the rear wheel though. But now you have to press "Up", then rotate the rear ring to change it.
Click to expand...
 
Pierre67 said:
So it's still slower than a SD700. Aaargh!
Click to expand...
Yeah...
Pierre67 said:
I read somewhere that the macro range has been improved? (you can focus nearer than 5 cm?)
I assume the "general behavior" is like a S95? Like :

AUTO mode going fast in higher ISO, semi-automatic macro mode (difficult to explain: on my SD700 macro-focusing makes a special "whrzzz" sound; on my S95, it sounds like "normal" focusing), and no option to "kill" the linked-face-detect mode in AiAf ? (don't want the "center" mode)
Click to expand...
The end of your post is a little confusing to me. According to the manual the s95 could focus to 5cm. And from personal experience I can say it could focus that close whether in macro mode or not, macro mode didn't actually seem to do anything.

According to the manual, the s100 can focus to 5cm in normal mode and to 3cam in macro mode. In a quick test I just did this appears to be the case.
Pierre67 said:
The option to modify the NR seems great, though. Which S100 NR-mode would be equal to the "S95 NR setting" ?
Click to expand...
I don't know...to be honest since I shoot raw I probably won't put the time in to find out.
 
SHood said:
Why in the world would they create an extra step. I use the rear dial in P mode on my s90 all the time. It is the most used feature.
Click to expand...
For me too. Using the histogram adjust ISO on the lens ring and EC on the rear wheel w/o having to go to the menu. For me it's the best "ergonomics" of the S90.

--
Don
http://www.pbase.com/dond
 
Yeah...it's not....the end of the world, your thumb is already over the wheel to adjust it so pressing up doesn't even require moving your thumb. But I do agree it seems like a needless extra step.

I'm most annoyed that most people would never figure this out (who would?). Am a little annoyed at it because it seems unnecessary though.
 
PaulRivers said:
According to the manual, the s100 can focus to 5cm in normal mode and to 3cam in macro mode. In a quick test I just did this appears to be the case.
Click to expand...
more important: does the macro mode just work at the widest setting, or can you use macro with tele focal length as well?
 
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