Canon S100: Final Thoughts

Often it is hard for me to judge a camera based on a first impression.  I don't like to give a cheerful/empty endorsement to a product I haven't used.  To me reading a paragraph bit on a camera in a magazine (paid off by manufacturers) tells me nothing about it.  Reading a spec sheet doesn't do anything either.  Typically all of this is extraneous information anyway and tells you very little about how the camera actually functions in its desired role.  So after having the Canon Powershot S100 for a month, how do I really feel about it?  I have tried many pocket cameras, mirrorless cameras, and DSLRs, but none have proven sufficient enough to be my perfect "walk around camera".  So apparently I have been cast the role of a bear looking for his porridge over the past few years.  After checking out the specs on the Powershot S100 and experimenting a little with our demo model, I decided that I may have found the perfect truly pocket sized camera.  Let's take a look at some of the pros, and yes cons, of the S100.  As I learned, no camera is ever going to be "perfect."

Pros

1. Size - DSLRs and yes even Mirrorless cameras are not pocket cameras.  The Canon Powershot S100 is truly a pocket camera.  If a camera cannot slide easily into a shirt or inner jacket pocket, it is only small or smaller, but not a pocket camera.  While I was on my trip, the S100 was the only digital camera I had with me.  The Haselblad 500 C/M I lugged around was more than enough bulk to walk around with all day.  Anything bigger than the S100 would have been a burden.  With the advancement of cell phone cameras, a point and shoot camera has to really be small enough and produce high enough quality images to be "worth" bringing along.

2. Quality - For a point and shoot camera the S100 has superb image quality.  As I mentioned earlier, some will argue "Hey! Who needs a point and shoot camera anymore? I have my iPhone!"  Sure the iPhone takes a decent picture for most people, but if you really care about quality at all, phone images aren't sufficient for print.  It isn't about the megapixels either as some android phones boast 8MP cameras now.  The sensor size and optics just aren't there.  Cell phones with decent sized sensors and collapsible lenses are coming soon and one day they may very well replace point and shoot cameras, but not quite yet.  The S100 even beats out some MILCs and older DSLRs in terms of dynamic range.  This is quite remarkable considering the small sensor size.  Canon has truly worked wonders with the CMOS sensor and processor inside the S100.

[caption id="attachment_7014" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="While some noise reduction and loss of image quality can be seen, the S100 sets the bar high for pocket cameras in low-light. (Nashville, TN)"][/caption]

3. Video -  The Powershot S100 pumps out is very impressive videos.  Of course any video is going to look good on the back of the S100's 3" high resolution LCD screen, but when played back on a 27" iMac, the videos still hold up nicely.  Even in low light, the S100 records video without much noise.  One draw back would be the AF lagging slightly behind where you point the camera, but for a P&S digital camera, the S100 is superb.  There is also a super slow motion video mode that records VGA resolution videos as 120 fps.  Here is a sample of the video quality and the 120fps slow motion mode:

4. Features - The S100 is packed with various special effect and scene modes.  Unlike the Panasonic LX5 I had previously owned, the S100 is much easier to set to these various scene and "creative" modes.  In my opinion Canon has a superior menu structure/layout on all of their cameras. There is a dial on top of the S100 with two intersecting circles.  When selected this allows you to choose one of several settings including HDR, Nostalgic, Fisheye, Miniature, etc...   The control ring on the front of the camera allows you to vary the strength of the creative filter you pick.  From my perspective the whole purpose of owning a high-end compact is to take great photos without having to do any post production work on the computer.  The feature rich S100 allows me to do just that and while I don't use these features often myself (personal preference), I took plenty of samples for this post.

5. Ergonomics - The S90 and S95 were certainly awesome cameras in their own right, but Canon never got the ergonomics and form factor down.  In fact there was a third party accessory to attach to the S95 to improve the grip on the camera.  The S100 addresses this issue by adding a thin rubber bar to the front of the camera and a small rubber thumb rest on the back.  This makes the S100 very easy to use with one hand, something that couldn't be said about the S90/95.  The S100 also looks really sharp in either Black or Silver.  The Silver color isn't your typical shiny camera silver, but titanium.

Cons

1. Lens - While the lens on the S100 is certainly sharp, it gets extremely slow as you zoom it out, having a maximum aperture of f/5.9 at the longest focal length of 26mm (120mm equivalent)  This is a real killer.  I rarely use the zoom fully extended at 5x and would prefer a 3x zoom with a faster aperture.  I know this doesn't matter to a lot of people, but using the zoom indoors is almost useless unless you have some sort of stabilization.

2. Battery Life - I previously mentioned that I thought others online were bashing the S100's battery life solely based on the way the GPS function drains the battery quickly.  Sadly I was mistaken as the battery life on the S100 is well, just very average.  It is rated to about 200 shots and I would say that is fairly accurate to how many you will get.  It could be a few more or a few less depending on what else you do with the camera.  An extra battery is essential if you plan on using the camera a lot!

3. GPS - Originally I was somewhat excited about this feature as my roadtrip through the South was a major reason I purchased this camera.  However the feature turns the battery life of the S100 from bellow average to abysmal.  If there is a specific shot you really need to GPS tag, I suppose this is useful, but never leave the GPS tracking on while the camera is off.  Chances are next time you go to turn on your camera for a quick snap, you will be greeted with the dreaded "Change Battery Pack" message.  Again for someone like me who was on a trip, this was the last thing I wanted to see and it did indeed happen once when I left the setting "on" by accident after messing with the camera.

4. Price - The price of the camera is quite high and I should know after buying one for myself.  Granted I understand Canon has to do this to separate the S100 from the rest of its point and shoot line, but $429 seems a bit high.  Eventually cameras like the S100 are going to cost quite a bit less as cell phone cameras continue to cannibalize the market.  I imagine I will be keeping my S100 for a few years, but it seemed like a high price to pay right now.  Really not a big complaint, more commentary on the future of the digital camera market.

Bottom Line

In terms of image quality, the Canon Powershot S100 is the best pocket camera on the market today.  Some will make a case for the Fuji X10 and I am planning to do a comparison between the two.  That being said, the X10 is not a pocket camera by any stretch, so they are not entirely equivalent.  As far as I am concerned, a true pocket camera has to be small enough to really fit in my pocket and not notice throughout the entirety of my day/night/whenever.  Some of the time I am content with snapping a picture with my iPhone, but the S100 is certainly small enough that it isn't a burden to bring with me wherever I go.  In fact I have found myself leaving my S100 in my inner jacket pocket almost all of the time.  To me the premium price (although a tad high) was totally worth the purchase.  If you are looking for a pocketable camera that can produce high-quality images and stellar video in low-lighting situations, look no further than the Canon Powershot S100.

Note: To see more pictures I took with the S100, check out these two galleries:

Louisville

Nashville/Chattanooga