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AUG 04
07

Canon Powershot S60

Canon Powershot S60 My Ricoh GR1s has served me well as a backup & carry everywhere camera. If I had to choose a film camera to take around every day that would be it.

However, I have switched to digital and so it makes sense for me to get a digital backup & carry everywhere. The key feature for me was a 28mm lens. Also it had to be small and light. That narrowed it down pretty fast. Things I've discovered about the S60:

  • The lens blocks the flash at 28mm.
  • Exposure lock is lost if you change focal length.
  • Press "set" while in jump review mode to jump to first and last.
  • Av mode's slowest shutter speed is 1 second, even if this underexposes.
  • JPEG to RAW when pressing FUNC can only work on single shot or the last shot of an AEB series.
  • Review time can be set to a maximum of 10 seconds. No hold option. However, you can press the "set" button while reviewing to stay in review mode.
  • RAW format doesn't work with Canon File Viewer or Adobe Photoshop. Apparently, the next ACR will support. Adobe have released ACR 2.3 which supports the S60
  • ISO Auto doesn't tell you which ISO it selected.
  • ISOs are only 50-400. ISO 200 & 400 have unacceptable noise levels. Maybe the 10D has spoiled me!
  • Macro focusing (why do I have to press a button?) and manual focusing are mutually exclusive.
  • You can record an audio memo against each photo.
  • Portrait and fast shutter modes don't set continuous shooting as default.
  • A helpful mode for creating panaromics shows you part of the previous photo to aid your shooting. However, like the other "Image Zone" modes you cannot set your aperture.
  • Interval shooting is remarkably easy to setup.
  • Battery cover has a hole, so you can identify your fully charged batteries in the camera bag.
  • No battery indicator, only a warning when it's about to die.

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xpow wrote over 4 years ago

Vignetting is very high at F2.8 It is possible to correct this by software but Canon's software don't do that ( I use my own algorithms :) ) Lateral chromatic aberration is high in corners. Distortion is acceptable at 28mm, good with others focals.