Finally ordered my S100

[just eric]

Well after debating for weeks over the S100 and the X10, I finally ordered the S100. It came down to price and portability not to mention the review in the summer edition of Overland Journal

I just missed the sale at Crutchfield that literally ended minutes before I hit the purchase button. Needless to say I was a little bummed but I still got a reasonable deal on Amazon... Can't wait to see how it performs.

[ssssnake529]

You will like it. I have one. It's a great camera, and there's absolutely no reason not to have it with you because it's so small.

[just eric]

Wow, this thing has a lot of features. 230+ page User Guide... Can't wait to get 'er figured out.

[just eric]

So its been a couple weeks now and I have to say I'm quite disappointed in the S100. All of my photographs look soft. All of them. Is this normal for the S100 or is it possible I got a crappy unit?

[Tucson T4R]

Post up some high res examples and we'll try to help you figure it out.

I have a ton of great equipment but if I miss any one of the many aspects of taking a great shot, I end up with a soft image that only deserves the delete key.

[just eric]

The more I think about it the more I think the camera may just be too advanced for my needs. All of the photos I've taken have been in the Auto mode. I just don't have the time to learn the manual settings at this point with the baby on the way. I realize I can adjust the photos with software but I really need a camera that I can point at the baby and take a great photo. I was hoping the S100 would produce great IQ without much user input, so far that has not been the case.

Here are a few hi-res crops to show you what I mean:

ISO 800, f2.8, shutter 1/25
IMG_0010_2.JPG

ISO 800, f2.8, shutter 1/30
IMG_0011_2.JPG

ISO 150, f4.5, shutter 1/160
IMG_0011_2.JPG

Your input is appreciated.

[LR Max]

Good camera. I've been running the S95IS for over a year now. Its a good P&S camera.

[Tucson T4R]

Hi Eric, These still look like motion blur to me.

The first two shots are at 1/25 and 1/30 of second shutter speeds. At that slow a shutter even the tiniest amount of movement will cause blur (or soft focus). Shooting sports with the constant movement of the players requires both the camera to be motionless as well as a fast enough shutter to stop the sports motion. When I shoot sports I try to keep the shutter speed up to at least 1/500 and 1/1000 of a second is even better at stopping motion.

Try a simple test to take the camera motion out of the equation. Find a scene you want to shoot that has nothing moving in it. Set the camera on something solid, a tripod, a wall, a table, anything solid. Then use the camera's timer feature that will delay the camera's shutter for a few seconds after you push the shutter. A slow shutter shot can be ruined by just pushing the shutter release too forcefully, inducing camera movement. Take a few shots.

I'll bet the images you capture will be crisp and sharply focused. Then you can shift your attention to how you are holding the camera and how smoothly you are pressing the shutter release.

Don't get frustrated. It takes practice.

[bajasurf]

Eric, I have a friend that also has the 100 . He also was frustrated with the results. I happened on Ken Rockwell´s site and . many do not like Ken, I found his instructions for setting up the 100. I am attaching the link to his review. Once at that review scroll down until you see the header "Shooting instructions" I followed his advise and when finished the settings the cameras performance had improved dramatically. You will need patience to get through his instructions but keep at it. Good luck. George

Link: http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s100.htm

[just eric]

Eric, I have a friend that also has the 100 . He also was frustrated with the results. I happened on Ken Rockwell´s site and . many do not like Ken, I found his instructions for setting up the 100. I am attaching the link to his review. Once at that review scroll down until you see the header "Shooting instructions" I followed his advise and when finished the settings the cameras performance had improved dramatically. You will need patience to get through his instructions but keep at it. Good luck. George

Link: http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s100.htm

Thanks for the link. I put the settings into my camera and the first few photos I snapped look better. I'm hoping that the new settings combined combined with the suggestions made by Tucson T4R will do the trick. Here's hoping for the best.