Can someone tell me what to look at or test it to see if my unit is ok?
Since you can not return it and have plenty of time, the testing procedure is simple:
Step 1 - Go outside and take lots of pictures. Take different scenes using different focal lengths and ISOs, some with the camera set to AUTO, some with Program, some Tv and some Av. Come inside and download the pictures to your computer. See if you like the quality of the pictures. The technical quality, that is, since I'm assuming you'll like the pictures themselves. After all, you took them.
Step 2 - Since you're now inside, turn on the flash. Go through the same exercise as outside, this time with flash. Download, etc., etc. Maybe next, while you're inside, take the same scenes with high ISO and no flash. Download, etc., etc. Like the pictures? Yes? No? Maybe?
Step 3 - Decide whether you've seen any strange behaviors exhibited by the pictures displayed on your screen. If something looks drastically out of whack and is pretty consistant from image to image, well you have a problem. Tell us what you see and maybe we can help. If you're saying to yourself, "well, maybe I see it on this one, but not on the others" or "they're pretty good, but not quite as good as my DSLR", you most likely don't have a probem. It's a high quality camera, but because of the size of the sensor and lens, it will show some minor quirks in the images. And it certainly isn't a DSLR.
Step 4 - Nothing drastically wrong stands out for you, but you still think there may be something wrong with the pictures: a little too dark or too light, too much contrast or too little, focus not consistant. Things like that. Probaly a simple fix:
Read the manual carefully . Though this may be a trick in itself, because it is the poorest written manual I've seen in a long time. But I digress. Sorry. Although the S100 is a point and shoot, it is also quite a complicated feature packed camera. You can adjust practically every one of those features to a number of degrees to tailor it to the results you seek. And you can setup a MY Menu or the adjustment rings to easily get to those settings depending on the shooting situation. When I first got mine, I took the first hundred pictures just doing the above tests. Nothing intended to be keepers, though a handfull turned out to be. Some of the test images were too light or too noisy or too contrasty or too "something" or I blew the focus. But in most cases, it was my error with a new camera. I read the manual, said to myself "oh, is that how it works!" adjusted, and moved on. Or, for the more esoteric features, decided when I would use them. OR NOT.
Step 5 - Go out and take more pictures. Armed with all this knowledge, I found my keeper rate soared. And I'm a one shot of an image and walk away type of shooter. Well, maybe 2 shots, sometimes - vestiges of shooting 36 image roll film for a hundred years. I'll lay odds your keepers will increase as well.
Oh, Step 6 - Have fun with this great little piece of equipment (as long as you've made it OK through Step 3, of course). It ain't perfect, but it's close enough for the current field of the art. AND IT IS A FUN CAMERA TO SHOOT WITH.
Note. I must have too much time on my hands today. I should be out creating new images.
