Canon S1 or Minolta A1?

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

I have a Kodak 4800 that I've had for several years. It was my fist digital
camera and I've learned a lot from it. Overall I've been pretty happy with
it, but I'm looking to upgrade to something that works better for my needs.

Some of the features I'm looking to improve are: Battery life, more zoom,
and available light indoor pictures. The last one is an issue for me; I do
a lot of photography for school and church functions where a flash is not
useful (or allowed). I can't set the shutter too slow without excessive
blurring, and I'm wanting to improve my ability to get non-flash pictures
that are not too dark and/or noisy. I also do some nature photography, so a
big zoom without add on lenses would be desirable.

Last December, I was getting close to going with the Panasonic FZ10, 4MP
with the 12x stabilized zoom. I saw the minolta A1, but it was a little out
of my price range, and I liked the 12x zoom of the Panasonic. Then I saw
the Canon S1 being announced. Only 3MP, but standard AA batteries and the
swivel LCD were big plusses, as well as being able to use my existing 256M
CF cards. I also liked the idea of a wireless remote available and the
640x480 30fps move mode sounded interesting.

However, now that the A2 is out, the A1 price is going down, I'm taking
another look at the A1. It's around the $650 range; about $200 more than
the Canon, but it has 5MP and a lower noise/higher ISO, larger CCD, better
constructed lens, and built in lens threads. The A1 has a smaller zoom than
the Canon, but I figure that would be offset somewhat by the 20% higher
pixel count. However, a couple of concerns I have with the A1 is that
DPReview only rated it's image quality as "average or below average". Also
I'm concerned about the age of the camera; it's been out 9 months
(a long time for digital cameras), and I wonder how much support, firmware
tweaks, etc. will be available (especially with the A2 out).

I've read the various reviews on DPReview (no S1 review yet), and Steve's
Digicams, as well as the various forums. I've also had a chance to take
some sample pictures with the S1 (a local store has one). The picture
quality looks fine, but in a bright, well lit store that's not too
suprising; I would expect the same results with my Kodak.. I haven't found
an A1 locally (yet), so I haven't been able to compare them first hand.

Any comments would be appreciated.

(note, this was also posted in rec.photo.digital)
Mike O.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

Mike O. typed:

> I have a Kodak 4800 that I've had for several years. It was my fist
> digital camera and I've learned a lot from it. Overall I've been
> pretty happy with it, but I'm looking to upgrade to something that
> works better for my needs.
>
> Some of the features I'm looking to improve are: Battery life, more
> zoom, and available light indoor pictures. The last one is an issue
> for me; I do a lot of photography for school and church functions
> where a flash is not useful (or allowed). I can't set the shutter
> too slow without excessive blurring, and I'm wanting to improve my
> ability to get non-flash pictures that are not too dark and/or noisy.
> I also do some nature photography, so a big zoom without add on
> lenses would be desirable.
>
> Last December, I was getting close to going with the Panasonic FZ10,
> 4MP with the 12x stabilized zoom. I saw the minolta A1, but it was a
> little out of my price range, and I liked the 12x zoom of the
> Panasonic. Then I saw the Canon S1 being announced. Only 3MP, but
> standard AA batteries and the swivel LCD were big plusses, as well as
> being able to use my existing 256M CF cards. I also liked the idea
> of a wireless remote available and the 640x480 30fps move mode
> sounded interesting.
>
> However, now that the A2 is out, the A1 price is going down, I'm
> taking another look at the A1. It's around the $650 range; about
> $200 more than the Canon, but it has 5MP and a lower noise/higher
> ISO, larger CCD, better constructed lens, and built in lens threads.
> The A1 has a smaller zoom than the Canon, but I figure that would be
> offset somewhat by the 20% higher pixel count. However, a couple of
> concerns I have with the A1 is that DPReview only rated it's image
> quality as "average or below average". Also I'm concerned about the
> age of the camera; it's been out 9 months (a long time for digital
> cameras), and I wonder how much support, firmware tweaks, etc. will
> be available (especially with the A2 out).
>
> I've read the various reviews on DPReview (no S1 review yet), and
> Steve's Digicams, as well as the various forums. I've also had a
> chance to take some sample pictures with the S1 (a local store has
> one). The picture quality looks fine, but in a bright, well lit
> store that's not too suprising; I would expect the same results with
> my Kodak.. I haven't found an A1 locally (yet), so I haven't been
> able to compare them first hand.
>
> Any comments would be appreciated.
>
> (note, this was also posted in rec.photo.digital)
> Mike O.

Canon has little problems focusing in dimmed light. And it has no AF assist
lamp. So, if this is your big concern, test it before buy. However, on some
Minolta model i saw review said that night shots are totally useless, so,
check out reviews to see.

FOr Canon here's one:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s1-review/index.shtml