Canon PowerShot S1 IS Digital Camera Review

Connectivity
Software (6.0)
The Canon PowerShot S1 is packaged with Canon’s Digital Camera Solution Software and the ArcSoft Camera Suite.

Jacks, ports, plugs (5.5)
The following are available to the user of the Canon PowerShot S1: battery port, memory card slot, DC IN terminal, digital terminal, and A/V-Out terminal.

Direct Print Options (6.0)
It is possible to engage in Direct Printing with the Canon PowerShot S1, through either a CP Direct Compatible or Direct Print Compatible Bubble Jet Printers.

Memory (6.0)
The camera comes with a Compact Flash (CF) memory card, and can record both still and video images. Larger card sizes than the one included are available for larger storage capacity and memory options.

Other features (8.0)
Image Stabilization – The essence of this camera’s performance lies in its inclusion of an image stabilization feature, designed to compliment the extended zoom and work to create smoother, crisp shots in telephoto mode. The feature is designed for shooting at slow shutter speeds, to avoid blurring caused by camera shake. The image stabilization function is also necessary when you're using full telephoto zoom capacity, which is generally is quite susceptible to blurring or shaking. The function itself does work well on the Canon PowerShot S1, actively reducing motion blur. With the image stabilization feature turned on, an image or movie clip that will normally appear jumbled and shaky is significantly smoother. It's like faking a tripod. The problem with the Canon PowerShot S1’s utilization of this feature is that it is significantly impaired by the Camera’s glaring performance flaw: poor automatic focusing. With all extreme telephoto lenses, it is quite difficult to get objects close to the lens to appear in focus; as they are designed to magnify and capture objects at substantial distances. The problem with this is that the automatic focusing problems on the Canon PowerShot S1 offset the effectiveness of the image stabilizer. When the auto focus is not quick enough and the camera prohibits a shot to be taken before the automatic focus is locked, often images will appear blurred and slightly skewed; quite similar to the effect of a shutter speed that is set too slow or the effect of a moving or shaken camera. Therefore, while I admire Canon’s attempt to bring a higher level of performance and shooting flexibility to compact cameras with enhanced zoom capabilities, the results do not match the idea. The promise is there but the outcome will often let the user down. If ultra zoom in a compact camera is what you’re after, I would recommend waiting a bit until these compact ultra zoom cameras are slightly more developed. The fixed ultra zoom portion of the compact camera market seems to be developing rapidly and receiving increasing attention, therefore, if you can suppress the desire for immediacy, more effective versions of this feature should be released soon.

Stitch Assist - This feature helps users seeking to create panoramic scenes by allowing for layout and overlay to appear on the LCD monitor to expedite the process.

30 Frames Per Second - For a compact camera such as the PowerShot S1, it is surprising to see the ability to capture video at a rate of 30 fps, allowing for a higher quality motion footage to be garnered.

Vari-Angle LCD Screen - Although tiny and toy-like, this LCD screen does have the possibility of being flipped out from its recessed location, turned, and stored back in the camera body, facing either out or, during storage or times when the viewfinder is in use, inward.