Some opinions please

[anut4disney]

DH is getting me a camera. I am looking at the Canon PowerShot 5.0- s2 IS and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1.

Pros and cons please. How do you like them? thanks

 

[Melrosgirl]

I asked the same question here a few days ago. Basically they are the same camera. I've read tons of reviews on both and most of them say they are about the same. One review will give a slightly higher rating to the Canon and another will say the Sony. They do have different memory cards though (stick or the SD card). Sony has a slightly bigger viewing screen. Canon's can swivel. I think I'll be happy with either one. I am leaning towards the Canon though.

 

[anut4disney]

I asked the same question here a few days ago. Basically they are the same camera. I've read tons of reviews on both and most of them say they are about the same. One review will give a slightly higher rating to the Canon and another will say the Sony. They do have different memory cards though (stick or the SD card). Sony has a slightly bigger viewing screen. Canon's can swivel. I think I'll be happy with either one. I am leaning towards the Canon though.

What swayed you for the Canon? I think the more I read the more confused I get. I liked the Sony because it is not all plastic (I know silly reason) and has a 2.5 LCD (I'm not sure why because I don't use that to take the picture just look at the picures). Everything else seems to be so close. I do like how the screen swivels on the Canon so it won't get scratched. Pictures that I have seen look great on both.

 

[ndelaware]

From www.CNet.com :

Canon S2 IS

Editors' rating: Very good 7.7 out of 10
Average user rating: 8.4

The good: Excellent feature set; one-touch high-quality movie mode; decent performance and image quality.

The bad: Average burst-shooting performance; some image artifacts.

The bottom line: An excellent feature set and improved performance make the Canon PowerShot S2 IS megazoom camera even more attractive than its predecessor.

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H1

Editors' rating: Very good 7.2 out of 10
Average user rating: 7.8

The good: 12X image-stabilized zoom; 2.5-inch LCD; speedy performance; full feature set; nice selection of accessories.

The bad: Slightly soft images; lack of fine detail; larger and heavier than the competition.

The bottom line: This is a capable megazoom camera that can hold its own against much of the competition.

The link to this is here http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/4521-6530_7-5021301-2.html?tag=subnav

 

[anut4disney]

From www.CNet.com :

Canon S2 IS

Editors' rating: Very good 7.7 out of 10
Average user rating: 8.4

The good: Excellent feature set; one-touch high-quality movie mode; decent performance and image quality.

The bad: Average burst-shooting performance; some image artifacts.

The bottom line: An excellent feature set and improved performance make the Canon PowerShot S2 IS megazoom camera even more attractive than its predecessor.


Thanks, after reading one of the sites listed and reading this I believe I will be going with the Canon.

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H1

Editors' rating: Very good 7.2 out of 10
Average user rating: 7.8

The good: 12X image-stabilized zoom; 2.5-inch LCD; speedy performance; full feature set; nice selection of accessories.

The bad: Slightly soft images; lack of fine detail; larger and heavier than the competition.

The bottom line: This is a capable megazoom camera that can hold its own against much of the competition.

The link to this is here http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/4521-6530_7-5021301-2.html?tag=subnav

Thanks. I believe I will be going with the Canon. After reading one of the recommended sites and this I believe the Canon is the best.

 

[ndelaware]

I too think the Canon is a better camera, but they are very, very, very, close. I don't think you could go wrong with either one.

 

[babynursedawn]

Got the S2IS a month or so before our trip and I LOVE it. Very lightweight as I carried it around my neck at the parks. You will really have to read the instruction manual and play around with it a bit before any events though. It does great daylight, birds, closeups. Not great for action shots but you can play around with it and get some decent shots. Does not take night shots at high school football games well but can get some useable ones.
Can say that it did well taking shots inside of darker rides (pooh,HM,SE) it's got a quick startup and fairly easy operation. The swivel screen is also great for taking pix behind you or of yourself.

 

[ndelaware]

Not great for action shots but you can play around with it and get some decent shots. Does not take night shots at high school football games well but can get some useable ones.

Not to talk down to you, but do you know the S2's IS has several modes, one which is specifically for moving objects? IS takes some getting used to. And night shots often mean bumping up the ISO speed to 400.

 

[babynursedawn]

Not to talk down to you, but do you know the S2's IS has several modes, one which is specifically for moving objects? IS takes some getting used to. And night shots often mean bumping up the ISO speed to 400.

Thats okay. Just wanted to make a point that reading the manual and lots of practice is important. I know the S1 IS has an action mode on the dial but that was removed for the S2. Any hints? The shots I was trying for were pretty difficult anyway so I was pleased with what I got. (DD's flag team at night, low lights,black uniforms)

 

[ndelaware]

Yikes, nightime and black uniforms on kids running! You're not kidding tough. LOL.

They have expanded the "sports" mode to include 6 "scene" modes. It is not clear to me, since I haven't owned the S1 or S2, which of the scene modes is equal to the old sports mode. I would try "night snapshot" or "indoor" from your scene mode and see how they work. I would also suggest trying a couple of different things. Form what I have heard, I would set the IS to mode 3. Mode 2 is supposed to be the best all around setup, but 3 is for moving (laterally) objects and it controls vertical shake. One thing that will help is to not zoom in too much, when you do it is harder to hold the camera steady and the lens lets in less light as you zoom. You can try to blow up your picture on your computer later. I hear the S2 produces alot of noise at higher ISO speeds but I would try to set the camera to ISO 400 and see if you like the pictures. I have taken pictures at a high ISO on my camera and they are not cover of a magazine quality but they captured the essence of the moment and I like alot of them. Try to get as close to the game as you can, the closer you are the brighter the pictures will be and the more effective your flash will be. All built in flashes are not too good past 10 feet or so. And if some of your pictures are kind of dark try to brighten them in your picture software. You might try using the manual option. Set the aperature to the lowest number which opens up the lens to let in more light. Pick a slower shutter speed. Your IS feature is made to help you with this. Start at around 1/25 or so and go from there, too dark go slower, too blurry go faster. And use the flash, if you can, it will help freeze your subject.

The greatest thing about digital cameras is the ability to take lots of pictures and being able to see the result immediatly. So take lots and lots of pictures of your daughter and experiment with the settings. Just delete the bad ones and maybe you will get more keepers than before.