S120 owners/users - what are your opinions so far?

[Marco Nero]

I have an opportunity to obtain an S120 to replace my aging S95 ...but I'd swear I've seen some negative comments here on the new S120.
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What are your thoughts on the S120? How do you find the image quality? How does it compare to your other subcompact cameras?

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Thanks in advance. Feel free to post samples if you have any to share.

 

[amhall]

Marco,

First, let me say that I truly respect your photographic skills, and I look forward to each of your posts and read them with great interest.

Second, a little background: I was a professional photographer for thirty-five years, and since retiring have maintained a very great interest in (now digital) photography. I have had many cameras, printers and lots of software. I currently have a Canon G15, SX50, G1X, and now an S120.

I sold my trusty S95 on a spur of the moment deal (a mistake) and then went looking for a replacement. I first tried the Sony RX100, finding the IQ to be excellent but the menus, size (depth and weight) and overall experience not to my liking.

Next, it was on to the Canon S110, since the S120 was not yet shipping. I did enjoy the S110 very much and felt it had excellent quality and, of course was very familiar. However, based on your thread stating that you felt the S120 would replace your S95 and listing the improvements of the S120 compared to the S95 and to the S110, I returned the S110 and waited for the S120 and acquired it.

Well, to make a long story short (too late, I guess), I wish I had kept my S95. Yes, the S120 is waaayyy better on paper, but I just don't really like it as well. I even prefer the S110 and bought one of the remaining in white as a Christmas gift for my wife. I have to say that I wish Richard Franiec would make one of his wonderful grips for the S110 and S120 as he did for the S95. As did Phil Wheeler, I have resorted to the Flip*Bac G2 grip. Also, I do not like the current Canon wrist strap, and have replaced it with the Olympus 202315, which was suggested by someone on this forum. Fortunately, the Tamrac 5686 case continues to work perfectly with the S120, as it did with the S95.

The S120 is truly better that the S95 in a number of ways, and I hope to grow to enjoy it as much as my wonderful S95 as my everyday carry camera. The S120 has a better screen, faster AF, better outdoor video (1080/60 vs. 720/24), less noise in low light, etc., but outdoors in good light (low ISO) or indoors with flash, the S95 holds its own or surpasses the S120, in my opinion. I felt the S95 was weakest in its low-light higher ISO performance.

Sorry for the dissertation, but I am glad to have the chance to respond to you regarding this, after learning so much from you through your posts on this forum.

I must say that of the many (personal, not pro) cameras I have used over the last 43 years, my two favorites are the S95 and G15 (excellent).

Have a GREAT weekend and take care.

Best Regards,

Alan

 

[gail]

Excellent, very helpful assessment.

I still own the S90 (given to my grandchildren) and the S100, which I use constantly. I never owned the S95 but must say I'm very happy with my S100. I also own the EOS-M, which I use primarily for low light and special shots.

 

[PC Wheeler]

I've returned two S120s. For daytime, outdoor shooting, neither matched my two-year old S100 in image quality.

#1 showed really bad purple fringing near edges when using aperture f/1.8 to f/2.8 in high contrast. I also noticed that in P mode it liked to choose f/2.8 in situations where my S100 chose f/4

#2 had some fringing but was acceptable. But sharpness, even in the center of images, was never as good as from my S100

I chose to replace my S100 because it was in the known Lens Failure S/N range. Fortunately it failed just after S120 #1 arrived and Canon has since fixed it at no cost.

The S120 had many features I liked:

• Very fast AF
• Fast, successful AF in lower light than my S100 will focus
• MP4 movies vs MOV

But in the end the IQ had to be better than in either of the two samples I had. Perhaps this was a "third time's a charm" situation. But I gave up after two

Re-reading Alan's message I agree 100%, including: My G15 is excellent and after trying a friend's RX100 II last night I had the same ergonomic issues.

Why is the S120 not as good as my S100? I don't really know, but they did "improve" the lens design marginally. Maybe "If it works don't fix it" would have been a better course.

--
Phil

 

[seabrook7039]

Are you implying that the S110 is better than the S120? If so then what are the superior attributes (other than the S110 was available in white)?

...

Next, it was on to the Canon S110, since the S120 was not yet shipping. I did enjoy the S110 very much and felt it had excellent quality and, of course was very familiar. However, based on your thread stating that you felt the S120 would replace your S95 and listing the improvements of the S120 compared to the S95 and to the S110, I returned the S110 and waited for the S120 and acquired it.

...

--
Alan

 

[Lancaster]

I've had the S120 for a few weeks now and I would recommend it heartily if not for, in my personal opinion, the terrible and confusing way Canon has implemented wireless networking and sharing.

I also have an S95 and an S100. I cannot honestly say that I find a huge difference in image quality among the three although the 120 does perform better at lower light. I am sure that I would see a difference if I printed for wall hanging but for whatever reason I have never done that with these cameras.

I bought the S120 for its ability to send photos to my Nexus 4 phone which has a very nasty camera. It works well and simply for that purpose and while I initially missed the in built GPS of the S100 I have found that synchronizing the phone's GPS data with the camera and images an acceptable trade off for the networking capability.

Another factor in my upgrade to the S120 is the fact that my S100 lies within the serial number range of the lens error phenomenon and they won't fix it before it fails which is just not something I want to gamble with while on a trip.

Unlike a lot of people I really do need geolocation data for my images. I travel for business a great deal and it is far far too easy to forget just where one took a photo.

I initially thought that the lack of a front grip of some sort, even the little ridge of the S100, would be problematic but it simply has not turned out to be a problem. My right thumb gets an acceptable grip on the rear thumb rest and that seems to be sufficient.

But as I say, I find Canon's approach to networking very confusing. I have a fair to good knowledge of wifi networking but the Canon way of doing things is complex,not explained at all in the manual, lacking in meaningful error messages, and just generally a dog's breakfast.

The user manual is straight out of 1950's technical writing; "Do this, but not before jumping ahead to page 21, while there go back to page 17, make sure you do the steps on page 87, don't forget to read all of the footnotes" and so on.

I have been able to tie the camera to the phone using the camera's self generated access point, I can send photos to Canon's on line Image Gateway although I can't see the point of that and never use it, but I cannot for the life of me connect the camera to any of my WiFi connected computers in my home/business network. It says it is connected but transfers fail with a non informative message "check your connection". Canon has been of no help on this.

But I like the camera a lot.


Rick Grant
Calgary

 

[PC Wheeler]

I've had the S120 for a few weeks now and I would recommend it heartily if not for, in my personal opinion, the terrible and confusing way Canon has implemented wireless networking and sharing.

That was not of interest to me so I didn't try it.

I also have an S95 and an S100. I cannot honestly say that I find a huge difference in image quality among the three although the 120 does perform better at lower light. I am sure that I would see a difference if I printed for wall hanging but for whatever reason I have never done that with these cameras.

Agree. I was able to get results at ISO 2000 which were surprisingly good. Plus the S120 would focus in low-light situations where my S100 would not. But as a practical matter I have cameras I'd be more likely to use in such situations -- the G15 with its f/1.8-2.8 lens, for example.

I bought the S120 for its ability to send photos to my Nexus 4 phone which has a very nasty camera. It works well and simply for that purpose and while I initially missed the in built GPS of the S100 I have found that synchronizing the phone's GPS data with the camera and images an acceptable trade off for the networking capability.

I've never turned on the GPS in my S100.

Another factor in my upgrade to the S120 is the fact that my S100 lies within the serial number range of the lens error phenomenon and they won't fix it before it fails which is just not something I want to gamble with while on a trip.

Same here: My S100 failed the day my first S120 arrived and Canon did fix it. I had it back in five days. My reason for buying the S120 was exactly not wanting to take that gamble.

Unlike a lot of people I really do need geolocation data for my images. I travel for business a great deal and it is far far too easy to forget just where one took a photo.

I initially thought that the lack of a front grip of some sort, even the little ridge of the S100, would be problematic but it simply has not turned out to be a problem. My right thumb gets an acceptable grip on the rear thumb rest and that seems to be sufficient.

I went with the FlipBac G2 because I missed the small grip on my S100.

But as I say, I find Canon's approach to networking very confusing.

You're not the first to make that observation, Rick

The user manual is straight out of 1950's technical writing; "Do this, but not before jumping ahead to page 21, while there go back to page 17, make sure you do the steps on page 87, don't forget to read all of the footnotes" and so on.

Or perhaps a bad translation?

Anyway you concluded with "But I like the camera a lot." and that's the important part. I wish I had!

 

[Sergei N]

in P mode it liked to choose f/2.8 in situations where my S100 chose f/4

At the same shutter speed?

 

[Catalin Stavaru]

Excellent, very helpful assessment.

I still own the S90 (given to my grandchildren) and the S100, which I use constantly. I never owned the S95 but must say I'm very happy with my S100. I also own the EOS-M, which I use primarily for low light and special shots.

--
My Pbase Galleries ~ http://www.pbase.com/gailb/
My Canon EOS-M gallery: http://www.pbase.com/gailb/eos_m

I had the S120 and returned it. The low light performance is not up to an "enthusiast" standard, or at least does not match its price, and also the lens lacks some sharpness it could have.

I think that all inexpensive compacts should come with 1/1.7" sensor, and the "enthusiast" compacts should have larger sensors. The 1/2.3" cameras should not exist anymore (at least until the sensor technology is good enough to provide acceptable image quality in small sensor sizes).

 

[PC Wheeler]

in P mode it liked to choose f/2.8 in situations where my S100 chose f/4

At the same shutter speed?

No.

 

[Marco Nero]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.
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After considerable reflection, I purchased the Canon PowerShot s120 as it was part of a large sale here at JB HiFi for just $425 (the usual price here in Australia is $550).
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The camera is too new for me to offer a fair opinion of so soon, but I am amazed at the options, capabilities and settings on this new camera. It's certainly a long way forward from the s95.
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I need to see how the camera performs in daylight.
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Two things that I didn't like so far....

Noise Reduction: My first observation is that it has a peculiar texture to the Noise Reduction when it is engaged in "Standard" mode. I don't like it but that's something I haven't had to deal with before. I don't see a way of disengaging the NR entirely either.

Button Placement: Canon decided to place the Video Record button right where the Playback button used to be. The result = plenty of unwanted videos.




It was too dark in the room for my other cameras to catch this shot. It seems soft but it's still not possible for the old s95 to capture this same image. Auto settings give me plenty of ability in low light. When I tried to shoot at ISO 80, the screen was virtually black.




The Chromatic Aberration is from the Magnifier I was using, not the s120. But to shoot this handheld with just the glow from my computer monitor was interesting.




I forgot to account for the wider lens - and the distortion that comes with such wider lenses. But the detail is reasonable in a dark room. There's blue and red colors reflected from my computer monitor.







But two things that I really do like...

Shutter Lag is stunning. It doesn't exist. And the Burst mode (aka Continuous Drive) is almost frightening. I accidentally pressed the shutter release button and took 9 shots before my finger came away.

New Features and simple additions enable amazing capability.

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But it's very impressive in low light so far and it captures scenes that other compacts would certainly struggle with. I always feel that it's the things that a camera doesn't do very well that demonstrate how limited its use will be. The s120 looks pretty good so far and it does accept the old s95 battery... to my surprise. I'll need to spend a couple of days with it before I can give a fair opinion but it does feel very good.
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It's kind of sad that the groundbreaking (and award winning) s-series has now all but been ignored by DPreview. This camera is the legacy of an excellent series and deserves to have been reviewed long before the device entered the marketplace. I think we would all have appreciated a bit of coverage on the s120 so we could evaluate the opinions of the DPreview reviews before actually purchasing. This camera was announced in August and it is now November. Why the hate?

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Thanks for your observations and suggestions.

--
Regards,
Marco Nero.
www.pbase.com/nero_design

 

[Jamon47]

I'll need to spend a couple of days with it before I can give a fair opinion but it does feel very good...

Looking forward to reading your opinion.

If you have time, please try and provide feedback on the new S120 MP4 1080p60 and p30...

 

[boogisha]

Thanks for the feedback, Marco!

Button Placement: Canon decided to place the Video Record button right where the Playback button used to be. The result = plenty of unwanted videos.

I just checked, as I`ll be coming from an IXUS 220, this won`t be a problem for me, because the button placement is almost the same - but I see how this can be a real hassle being already accustomed to something else. Luckily, I guess it`s just a matter of some time playing with it and that you`ll soon get used to it, shooting videos only when really needed

It was too dark in the room for my other cameras to catch this shot. It seems soft but it's still not possible for the old s95 to capture this same image. Auto settings give me plenty of ability in low light. When I tried to shoot at ISO 80, the screen was virtually black.

Ah, from the looks in the cat`s eyes one can easily see how amazed/amused by your new toy the cat is... Great shot

It's kind of sad that the groundbreaking (and award winning) s-series has now all but been ignored by DPreview. This camera is the legacy of an excellent series and deserves to have been reviewed long before the device entered the marketplace. I think we would all have appreciated a bit of coverage on the s120 so we could evaluate the opinions of the DPreview reviews before actually purchasing. This camera was announced in August and it is now November. Why the hate?

I think (and hope) that they`re still testing it... If I`m right, they got the camera on October 4, at least according to one of Barney Britton`s comments on the S120 "real world samples" page. I`m not sure what`s the usual time needed for finishing all the tests and writing the full review itself, but I know that I might probably be getting my S120 in a week, and that I`d (have) appreciate(d) if I have/had a chance to read DPR`s in-depth review before that. For example, Camera Labs S120 full review came out almost 4 weeks ago

Because of this, every new S120 user feedback is very valuable, no matter if it`s good or bad, it just helps a bit to see what`s the camera capable of, before actually getting one yourself.

That said, actually, as people are more prone to comment on the negatives (which is quite normal), it`s good to read some positive experience now and then

For example, if you`re willing to follow that path, you may do us a favor and try testing the S120 lens decentering... Otherwise, enjoy your new camera and keep us updated on your findings!

 

[Marco Nero]

...Because of this, every new S120 user feedback is very valuable, no matter if it`s good or bad, it just helps a bit to see what`s the camera capable of, before actually getting one yourself.

That said, actually, as people are more prone to comment on the negatives (which is quite normal), it`s good to read some positive experience now and then

For example, if you`re willing to follow that path, you may do us a favor and try testing the S120 lens decentering... Otherwise, enjoy your new camera and keep us updated on your findings!

I had no problems with lens decentering on my S120 but I was concerned that this might happen after reading about it here. This was not a problem.
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I LIKE the camera so far. It's terribly overcast right now and it's been raining non stop for days. Here I am trying to photograph Comet ISON in the morning skies and there's nothing but lightning and hail and biblical downpour.
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But in this low light and overcast conditions, the s95 can't perform. The s95 produces grainy shots in such light and the images are soft and very unappealing to the eye. Plenty of noise if using the s95 in such low light. Most shots are blurred when handheld with that camera in this light. However, I just took a walk across the road to buy a burger and took some shots with the s120 and was pleasantly surprised that the camera produced sharp shots that were not overly processed (at least that's how it appears on the LCD so far). I took indoor shots in locations where the s95 only produces blurred shots with long exposures and massive shutter delay plus teribly slow AF delays. But the s120 just ignored all these things and gave me a useful shot. It's so dark right now that all the cars have their headlights on but that's not a problem for the s120. If I were a photojournalist that needed a fast, tiny pocketable camera for general use, this is it. Construction is first class. Feels tough. Optical range and quality appears good so far.
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Still, some users claim they had mixed results in bright sunlight/daylight so I'll need to see this for myself.
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I'll be testing this new camera more extensively over the next few days. So far I like it a lot. It's very cool for different reasons. The only thing that leaves me wondering is why some people have reported a dissatisfaction with this camera. In some cases I can see that they were expecting G1X quality in a smaller sensor-package and that's a bit unrealistic in my opinion. Compared to the s95, I need to shoot this s120 camera in brighter lit environments to make a fair comparison. The s95 was also prone to blooming or strange over-exposures when indoors under artificial light. It also produced some minor Purple Fringing. By giving the s120 an aperture of f/1.8, the chances of CA are increased for indoor lighting (especially neon). If it's not worse than the s95, there will be nothing to complain about when even the best camera lenses can repeat this.

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You are right to say that people tend to talk about the "negatives" more than the positives. But I like to know what the flaws are in a product because in my opinion: it's the negatives that limit the user's experiences, not the benefits. If I get the chance, I'll try to post a thread with samples here in a day or two. I didn't intend to do this but there's a few people asking for people's thoughts... and I won't varnish my opinions.

 

[Marco Nero]

I'll need to spend a couple of days with it before I can give a fair opinion but it does feel very good...

Looking forward to reading your opinion.

If you have time, please try and provide feedback on the new S120 MP4 1080p60 and p30...

Movie mode is sharp and smooth at maximum resolution and 60 fps framerate. I think that by lowering the video resolution to say 720p equiv., that the camera will be interpolating the data to reduce it in-camera. It would be better to shoot at maximum settings and then reduce the scale in a computer where greater control could be utilised.

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The video quality is very "eye-wateringly" smooth. It certainly rivals the Hero GoPro camera results that I was given to edit recently. This camera is certainly going to be mounted to my metal detector tomorrow!

 

[ANAYV]

I used to love the S series.
I still have my s30....and it still works,.as.does.the batteries..(although not for long, before.running out of power

Also owned and used the s50, s60, s70 and S80.

S 70 had lens failure.....twice

Last few years I have been using panasonic cameras.
They seem more durable, less.prone.to any lens failures.....and well, the speed has been faster for years now....fast AF, fast burst speed, even faster glass, and sharp at the edges, too !

I keep wanting to buy another. S series camera, but.they seem behind , instead of ahead.
Sounds like this is the first S model , in years, that can shoot as fast as the competition.
Sad thing is Canon has always been a camera company, and others are .new to the game, and bearing them, at times.
Battery life seems an issue, but not sure why

Maybe one day, I will.be back to owning a s series camera.

ANAYV

 

[ijm5012]

I'll chime in and offer my thoughts after playing with both the S120 and the S110 this past weekend.



The short version is that the S120 is going back. While it's a nice camera, I don't think it's worth the asking price at this time (I paid $450+tax on Amazon, bringing my total to $476). There are some great features present on the S120 that weren't there on earlier versions of the camera, like:

• Hi-res screen (this looks great)
• Buttons on the rear are easier to use due to them being "domed" or convex compared to the flat buttons on the S110
• Front ring is of higher quality than past versions
• Other "software" features that weren't present on previous versions
• Touch screen focusing during video recording

However, despite these advantages I found that I liked the S110 more. It feels substantially lighter in the hand, which makes a surprising difference during use. The texture on the camera makes it easier to hold. But it really comes down to the fact that that S110 delivers 99% of the image quality (and say 90% of the features) that the S120 does, but at a fraction of the cost (in my case, 53% of the price I paid for the S120). When considering the price/feature ratio, it really makes no sense to keep the S120. Mine is on a return truck to Amazon today, and I'm happy with my S110.

If the S120 was $350, it would make a more compelling argument. However at only $50 cheaper than Fuji's XQ1 (and you can even scoop up an open-box RX100 for $500 at certain big box retailers in the US), Canon may be pricing themselves out of being competitive. For the next generation S-series, they had better come down in price or up the sensor size, the $450 for a 1/1.7" sensor just isn't cutting it in today's marketplace.

 

[Marco Nero]

I'll chime in and offer my thoughts after playing with both the S120 and the S110 this past weekend.

The short version is that the S120 is going back. While it's a nice camera, I don't think it's worth the asking price at this time ...

I agree!

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I bought the s120 just three days ago brand new for only $425. I returned it just 10 minutes ago. I miss it. I liked it. I wanted to like it but it's like a bad ex that slept around and you don't really want to keep her in your life because you can't trust her any more. Why set yourself up for disappointment? Likewise: I can't trust the s120 to capture the shots I want and need. Even in IDEAL LIGHTING CONDITIONS.

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In my opinion, the s120 is a much more advanced camera (technologically) than the s95/s100/s110. But its image quality was vastly inferior in almost all instances....and there are a number of reasons for this. Most noticeably the staggeringly aggressive noise reduction that the camera allows only minor control over.
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I'll write a separate thread on the subject shortly because I'd like others to know why so many have chosen to return this camera...but suffice to say, I have NEVER returned a Canon camera before. I also don't suffer from "Buyer's Remorse" because I research my cameras fairly well before a purchase. Normally, I'd bit the bullet but this was not just a disappointment, the camera is actually useless for the purposes of general use. I can only imagine how poorly it would fare in the hands of the inexperienced (ie a newbie Canon adoptee) and how disappointed they would be to find how many shots were ruined simply because the Camera is incapable of doing its job... and not the user. I took 500 shots with this camera over two days and got just ONE useable image for my needs.
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Last night I drove over 600km to use this camera in the ONLY place devoid of cloud at 4am: Our capital city of Canberra. I intended to use this camera to shoot images on the night sky WIDE. I was especially keep to photograph Comet ISON which is in the morning sky right now. Night Sky capability is something the s120 was marketed as being particularly suitable for... it even has 3 different star modes and a night-screen mode. Fantastic (on paper). But the JPEG images were so hideous that even shots taken through a telescope eyepiece (with the s120 clamped to the glass) were destroyed by noise artifacts even at low ISO settings.

I found the camera superb in overcast conditions but prone to blowing out highlights in bright sunlight. Even in low sunlight! That makes this thing pretty pointless. I could shoot in RAW but then again, I have plenty of other cameras that shoot RAW ... PLUS many of the special features on the s120 ONLY work in JPEG mode to allow the camera full reign (of terror!) with it's savage Noise Reduction processing.
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But the moire-like pattern in the noise reduction even occurred in base-shadows in daylight which was just unforgivable. I lost important details. I lost shots. I lost my tolerance for Canon's foot dragging and slow response to the competition.

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For those who have never handled an S-series camera, the s120 is a superb camera. As long as you don't care much for the DiGiC 6 or the processing engine within. If image quality is important to you, this is one DUD that Canon should have avoided. I suspect that the only reason it was released was to take the cheap road to competing with Sony. What a shame.

Canon s120: The sun is actually to the East (right of frame) and has JUST crested the horizon. But in this photograph, I am facing North to take this picture. The sun isn't even in frame! Can you believe that this was taken at ISO 80 with the Metering region and the AF reticule aimed straight at the bright areas ahead? What happened to the high voltage tower details? Washed out? WHY? And why did the s120 choose a shutter speed of just 1/25 sec? The only reason this picture was clear was because the scene was bright... But where's my missing details ??? Canon: what were you thinking?

--
Regards,
Marco Nero.
www.pbase.com/nero_design

 

[Mitch From Heathrow]

Returned mine too. Check out the crop of the left corner of an outdoor shot. We don't have curved houses in my neighborhood.

 

[Richard Franiec]

Marco,

Thank you for sharing your findings.

This coming from experienced photographer and avid Canon product user is quite revealing.

RF