I want more sharpness.

The PowerShot S90 and S95 weren’t contenders due to, in my opinion, stupid limitations in their use. The S95, for example can’t zoom while shooting video. That would drive me crazy. That’s part of the reason I got the SX230 to begin with.

Now Canon has this new flagship PowerShot, the S100. On paper it seems to have everything I want: RAW, fast lens, zoom with video, small size, RAW, etc. The camera was announced to ship in “November” and I actually found one in stock at a local Best Buy (ironically the same store where I got my 7D) so I grabbed it to play with.

Unboxing the camera was no surprise – the S100 is very similar to the S90 and S95 that came before. It is a small camera with a great feel. The body feels metal, but I’m not sure that it is. I can say, however, that I can see why there is an aftermarket grip. I’ve seen one on an S95 and it makes this small camera feel more substantial in the hands. The popup flash is fully automatic, you can’t pull it open yourself as you can on the SX230.

At this time, the only app that can handle the S100′s RAW files is the included Canon Digital Photo Professional. I don’t like DPP, but I’m stuck with it for today. For testing I plan to shoot RAW+JPEG so that I can import into Aperture and be able to work with the JPEGs for now.

My initial (and very informal) test shots show the S100′s flash to be way too powerful at times. I’ve never shot with a camera that would fairly consistently run the flash at least 2 stops too bright in full-auto mode. I did a reset of all camera settings and it is still doing it. There don’t seem to be enough S100s in the wild for many other reports to come in yet but I’m going to be watching for others who report this.

Today I’m hoping to do some shooting.

Oh, and this may be my first post to make it across to Facebook.

I guess I don’t get to play with the lens focus microadjustments in my camera. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the autofocus is on, but it might have been fun to fine tune things.

Sometimes getting out stupid early can be rewarding

Today, walking the Gang of Twelve Legs I saw a very nice dewey spider web. I saw some clover with a great sheen of wetness in perfect light. You will have to take my word for this because I didn’t have a camera with me. The problem is that 3 dogs (even with 1 off leash) and a single camera is a real pain. If I try to crouch down I have 3 wet noses wondering what excellent (and hopefully rank) smell I found.

I need to work out a better system because I don’t want to give up my photowalks and I can’t neglect the dog walking.

Maybe I need a dog walker…

Technorati Tags: iPhoto, Photography, puppy

With the 70-200 f/2.8L IS (what a fun name to type) I’m really enjoying working the indoor shot without a flash and being at 200mm and f/2.8 is really cool since before I would have been at f/5.6 or so. That is a lot of difference in best shutter speed. Take into account the 40D’s higher ISO capability (no, it isn’t a 5DII…) and I’m looking forward to seeing what these shots look like in Aperture.

I’ll post some shots soonish…

BTW- the 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS is a truly amazing lens. Sharp is almost an understatement…

Technorati Tags: Canon, Photography

I should try shooting with an external flash to see if the number is different.

Technorati Tags: Aperture, Photography