Atom FeedCanon S1 IS
8/7/08And here we are one month shy of four years of using this camera…and I'm here to report that it died this past weekend. It's not completely dead, but certainly unusable. It appears that the sensor is shot as it's massively overexposing any picture you attempt to take. Of course I discovered this out of town, outdoors and at a family reunion this past weekend. :( So new camera is definitely on the horizon. Likely a Canon S5 IS which it the updated 8MP, 12x zoom version of the S1 IS which I've very much have enjoyed. Another option would be a Canon A650 IS which is a 12MP, 6x zoom. From doing some research the A650 has a little better picture quality, but I'm having a hard time giving up the zoom range of the S series. We will see.
A most exciting treat arrived on my doorstep yesterday as my parents bought me a Canon PowerShot S1 IS digital camera for my birthday. Or as I told them when I called to thank them, my "birthmas" as this should easily cover Christmas as well as my birthday for me. I've been longing for a digital camera for a good 3 years now, but simply haven't had the cash available for such luxuries. And a few months ago I found this gem and have been lusting after it ever since. My best hope was that a new higher mega-pixel version would come out and force the price down.
The reason I desired this camera was the 10x optical zoom. Most digital cameras are only 3x because you can't take handheld photos beyond that because of image blurring due to camera shake. But with this one you can because its got this really cool image stabilization feature. And based on some of the reviews I read (here and here), all of them give this camera very high marks. So here it is:
And the backside…
That's all the good happy news. Now the bad stuff…
I had a very busy evening yesterday as Colin was with me yesterday so I had to run him back and forth to his mothers. Beyond the usual hectic post-diner cleanup, Mary Lou had gone to workout at the aquatic center, so I also needed to get the Olivia and Claire ready for bed. Thus I didn't get to play until about 1/2 hour before I needed to go to bed.
So it's to the "Quick Start Guide" we go! Insert batteries, insert memory card, set time and date, time to take a test picture. Hmmm…it says to do this, then this…hmmm. Black. Nothing. No view whatsoever! I tried reformatting the memory card out of desperation, all the while knowing that it wasn't going to fix this problem. Damn. My guess would be that the CCD is bad. Without it you've got nothing. So now it needs to go out to the Canon Service Center while I wait a few weeks to get it back. Just my luck.
9/21/04
Being I though I'd have to return the camera to Canon to be repaired, my parents mailed the reciept to me. Being they bought it at Best Buy I took it there last night to exchange it. I have to admit, I was fully expecting a hassle about returning. Either because it's a manufacturer warranty issue or because it was purchased on someone else's credit card. You, know the drill…any excuse to not deal with it. Plus I've heard of other horror stories of dealing with them. Well, I have to say I'm very happy with the painless, no questions asked (beyond "Is is broke") and relatively quick exchange process. Thus I am now a very happy digital camera owner who has one very exciting picture of his living room at night! Let the playing begin. September 16, 2004 @ 12:48 pm | Category: Brainwork
