Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

"David J Taylor" <david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk>
wrote in news:j5nae.17953$G8.1486@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp

Sounds like a worthy upgrade to the S1; the jump from 3 MP to 5 MP is a
good one. Pity that the S2 IS has switched to using SD memory cards instead
of sticking with Compact Flash. Hopefully the strong chromatic aberrations
of the S1 have been largely tamed, making it a closer competitor to the
Panasonic FZ20 in the image quality department. The old S1 IS and the new
S2 IS cameras even got more than a passing mention at www.robgalbraith.com,
which was a pleasant surprise. It will be interesting to see what shape a
Canon Pro 1 update will take, whether or not it will include IS and a
proper f/2.8 lens to get it somewhere near competitive in features with the
FZ20.

--
Witold.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

David J Taylor wrote:
> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp

Interestingly long zoom range but I remember with great
affection real wide angle lenses (24-28mm) and I wonder what are
the practical difficulties in producing a real wide angle in
cameras such as this? IMHO, 36mm equivalent is not a wide angle!


--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

--


Cheers _ Hunibal _
"Witold" <not@here.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9641D1B61394Bnotherecom@211.29.133.50...
> "David J Taylor"
> <david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk>
> wrote in news:j5nae.17953$G8.1486@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:
>
>> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
>>
>> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp
>
> Sounds like a worthy upgrade to the S1; the jump from 3 MP to 5 MP is a
> good one. Pity that the S2 IS has switched to using SD memory cards
> instead
> of sticking with Compact Flash.

Is the SD memory card - not as good as - Compact Flash?

Cheers _ Hunibal _

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

Hunibal wrote:
[]
> Is the SD memory card - not as good as - Compact Flash?

Possibly better - there are fewer contacts and no very small connector
pins to break off. Speed and cost are about the same. Just a little
smaller and easier to lose! I've been using KingMax Platinum and SanDisk
Ultra II.

Cheers,
David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

James Silverton wrote:
> David J Taylor wrote:
>> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
>>
>> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp
>
> Interestingly long zoom range but I remember with great
> affection real wide angle lenses (24-28mm) and I wonder what are
> the practical difficulties in producing a real wide angle in
> cameras such as this? IMHO, 36mm equivalent is not a wide angle!

A 24mm - 288mm (the same 12X zoom ratio) would be great, wouldn't it?

Cheers,
David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

"Hunibal" <hunibal_@hotmail.com> wrote in news:JVBae.11700$9G.943920
@news20.bellglobal.com:

> "Witold" <not@here.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns9641D1B61394Bnotherecom@211.29.133.50...
>> "David J Taylor"
>> <david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk>
>> wrote in news:j5nae.17953$G8.1486@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:
>>
>>> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
>>>
>>> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp
>>
>> Sounds like a worthy upgrade to the S1; the jump from 3 MP to 5 MP is
>> a good one. Pity that the S2 IS has switched to using SD memory cards
>> instead of sticking with Compact Flash.
>
> Is the SD memory card - not as good as - Compact Flash?

Not as far as I know. As I have got a compact flash card, the use of SD
cards just means that I can't use the CF card in an S2 IS.

--
Witold.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

Witold wrote:
> "Hunibal" <hunibal_@hotmail.com> wrote in news:JVBae.11700$9G.943920
> @news20.bellglobal.com:
[]
>> Is the SD memory card - not as good as - Compact Flash?
>
> Not as far as I know. As I have got a compact flash card, the use of
> SD cards just means that I can't use the CF card in an S2 IS.

Yes, that's why I said it's a pity as CF cards from an S1 can't be used in
the S2. However, with the cost of cards as it is, perhaps buying some
more amy not be sucha bad idea. After all, you can then use them in the
Nikon D50 should you want to go the DSLR route!

<G>

David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton@erols.com> wrote in message news:WpydnfwvTawMXPffRVn-2w@comcast.com...
> David J Taylor wrote:
> > Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
> >
> > http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp
>
> Interestingly long zoom range but I remember with great
> affection real wide angle lenses (24-28mm) and I wonder what are
> the practical difficulties in producing a real wide angle in
> cameras such as this? IMHO, 36mm equivalent is not a wide angle!

I've got the Panasonic FZ20 and with a suitable WA converter on the front it gets acceptable
wide angle shots. Here are three shots taken with a WA TC = 28mm equivelent-
http://ken.smugmug.com/gallery/431818

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

In article <TbIae.18495$G8.12416@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
"David J Taylor"
<david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk> wrote:

> James Silverton wrote:
> > David J Taylor wrote:
> >> Canon PowerShot S2 IS announced, please see:
> >>
> >> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042201canons2is.asp
> >
> > Interestingly long zoom range but I remember with great
> > affection real wide angle lenses (24-28mm) and I wonder what are
> > the practical difficulties in producing a real wide angle in
> > cameras such as this? IMHO, 36mm equivalent is not a wide angle!
>
> A 24mm - 288mm (the same 12X zoom ratio) would be great, wouldn't it?
>
> Cheers,
> David

The problem isn't necessarily the 12x zoom, it's the shortest focal
length. At the shortest focal length the lens has its widest angular
field of view, and as that parameter goes up, the optical designer's
challenges increase at a rapid rate. The lens must always produce a
flat focal plane, be achromatic and sharp to the edges (you hope), and
have minimal distortion. As the angular field of view increases,
satisfying all four of these requirements becomes much harder,
especially if you want a reasonably fast lens. It wouldn't be too hard
at f/8 or so, but who wants that for their maximum speed. Trying to put
a truly wide angle focal length at the end of a 12X zoom on a fast lens
must be either extraordinarily difficult (and expensive) or impossible
with today's glasses if you want good performance. Fixed focal length
wide angle lenses themselves aren't so cheap if they are good.

One of my colleagues designs state-of-the-art lenses for his research.
I'll run this by him for a more definitive answer.

Joe

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

Joe Miller wrote:
> In article <TbIae.18495$G8.12416@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
> "David J Taylor"
[]
>> A 24mm - 288mm (the same 12X zoom ratio) would be great, wouldn't it?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> David
>
> The problem isn't necessarily the 12x zoom, it's the shortest focal
> length.
[]
> One of my colleagues designs state-of-the-art lenses for his research.
> I'll run this by him for a more definitive answer.
>
> Joe

Oh, I do appreciate the design difficulties - I was thinking how
operationally useful a 24 - 288mm lens would be! You need to aim for
f/2.8 or better to provide some depth-of-field limitation, and for reasons
of diffraction f/8 is like to be the smallest aperture you would want.
I'll be interested to hear what your colleague says.

Cheers,
David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

"David J Taylor"
<david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk> wrote
in message
news d0ce.21057$G8.17688@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Joe Miller wrote:
>> In article <TbIae.18495$G8.12416@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
>> "David J Taylor"
> []
>>> A 24mm - 288mm (the same 12X zoom ratio) would be great,
>>> wouldn't it?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> David
>>
>> The problem isn't necessarily the 12x zoom, it's the shortest
>> focal
>> length.
> []
>> One of my colleagues designs state-of-the-art lenses for his
>> research.
>> I'll run this by him for a more definitive answer.
>>
>> Joe
>
> Oh, I do appreciate the design difficulties - I was thinking
> how operationally useful a 24 - 288mm lens would be! You need
> to aim for f/2.8 or better to provide some depth-of-field
> limitation, and for reasons of diffraction f/8 is like to be
> the smallest aperture you would want. I'll be interested to
> hear what your colleague says.

I appreciate and I now have a better idea of the difficulties in
designing a wide angle zoom. Just to add a personal note, I'd
much rather have a 28mm (or better 24) equivalent than even a
200mm.


--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

James Silverton wrote:
[]
> I appreciate and I now have a better idea of the difficulties in
> designing a wide angle zoom. Just to add a personal note, I'd
> much rather have a 28mm (or better 24) equivalent than even a
> 200mm.

I've ended up with 24 - 432mm :-)

but in two cameras :-(

David