Try Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review - Dphoto

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Category: Testing Cameras tests Cameras

Gianni Viviani

Try Canon S5 IS
SLR economic competition is fierce, but the super zoom compact digital still claiming consensus. Since they have the ease of use (no need to change lenses, you re not likely the problem of dust on the sensor), a saving in terms of weight and dimensions, and a competitive price, because it includes the equivalent of a kit zoom for the camera.
Canon dominates in the field of SLR and do not want to miss even the rich business of compact super zoom. That’s why he padded the Canon PowerShot S5 IS CIA with everything good that its designers have churned out in the last period: image stabilization, Digic III processor, display 2 5-inch high-contrast and a CCD sensor size 1/2.5, 8 megapixel.
A kit sufficient to justify the purchase? A significant step forward compared to the popular PowerShot S3 IS? Let ‘s go check …

What’s in the box:
– PowerShot S5
– 32MB SD memory
– 4 AA batteries
–
shoulder strap – USB cable
– A / V output cable
– CD-ROM Canon
– 3 manuals, printed, for the machine and the software

With the 32 MB card do almost anything. It should focus on a fast sheda at least 1 GB (memory slot supports SD, SDHC, and MMC). Who is delighted with the video (the Canon S5 gets along great) is not wrong to choose a card’s capacity.

{title = mospagebreak_scroll 2. Design Zoom Commands}

Canon PowerShot S5 IS – Design
On an aesthetic level no revolution than the previous model. Only small but significant improvements. Canon has added to the slide for extra flash and placed on the back of a car display 2.5-inch LCD, removable and adjustable to suit (270 degrees) with 207 000 dots (almost twice the display of the S3 IS, which is 2.0 inches). The electronic viewfinder, decent quality, has 115,000 pixels. It ‘very similar to the one mounted on the Canon S3.

They grew slightly, the size of the machine (now 117.0×80.0×77.7 mm) and weight, which touches 550 grams once housed the 4 AA batteries to power the compact.
So not a compact, super light. Indeed, in terms of weight the S5 is close to the smallest of the reflex, although here we have to consider the 12x zoom.
The machine has looked solid: metal chassis and hard plastic on the outside .

Canon PowerShot S5 IS – The Zoom
There is 28 mm, this other super zoom competitors. Someone will complain, but, after all, is a matter of taste. The zoom mounted on the S5 features a 12x optical zoom and is equivalent, on a 35 mm camera, a 36-432 mm. The opening is very interesting: f / 2.7 to 3.5. To signal the presence of motor USM, fast and absolutely silent.
Distortion on the wide angle and telephoto, especially considering the excursion, are more than acceptable.

Handle – Controls
The ergonomics are excellent, with adequate space for the thumb and a firm grip for the right hand. There are, it is true, a number of buttons, but serve to speed up common tasks and, once you get the hang of the layout, you control a treat.
You can not speak well, instead of ‘ accommodation in which live the memory card and batteries (it was not on the S3): When handling the memory must be careful not to jump out of the batteries. Once you have mounted the PowerShot S5 IS on a tripod you can not access the memory slots.

{title = mospagebreak_scroll 3. Performance Functions}

Performance
It ‘s fast the PowerShot S5? Yes, really fast for a compact digital camera. And ‘ready to shoot in 1 second, or so, on and off just as quickly.
In the “single-shot” travels at the speed of 1 photo every second and a half in the “continuous shooting” down to 0.6 seconds Snap and continues so until the memory card is full.

Very fast autofocus even that, moreover, it is very accurate. The presence of the illuminator (AF assist lamp) allows the system to operate well even when there is little light in the environment.

Functions
The S5 has no problem to work fully automatic, but you can enjoy a full “playing” with the setting of the shutter speed (shutter priority) – with the shutter ranging from 15 seconds to 1/3200 of a second – or on the diaphragm (aperture priority) – increments of 1/3 EV steps up to f / 8.

The sensitivity setting allows you to get to ISO 1600, a purely theoretical value, because in practice the photos taken at ISO 1600 and even ISO 800, can only be used for micro prints or to take home the shot anyway.

On the front stabilizer ‘s Canon image has already accumulated great experience. The system mounted on the S5 works very well and allows you to manage zoom in difficult light conditions, even at maximum focal length, without any problem.

We are not the fanatics Face Detection (recognizes faces in the frame and optimizes focus and exposure), however there is also this on the Canon S5.

Of note, the automatic correction of “red eye” in playback mode, and bracketing exposure .

In addition to the photo S5 also records video , with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second. A pair of microphones ensures stereo sound . You can use the zoom in the video .

title = {mospagebreak_scroll 4. Image Quality}

Canon PowerShot S5 IS – Image Quality
How are the photos taken with the S5? I would say passable. This is not the strong point of the machine. The dynamic range is good and so is the color reproduction. But by Admiral PowerShot super zoom series one expects the best …
Even at ISO 200 is the presence of “noise” and the intervention, which rises with the sensitivity up to be heavy at 800 and 1600 ISO . The problem lies in the fact that handle well in a 8-megapixel sensor so small a company is, today, almost impossible.

When a photographer got his hands on a digital SLR camera, even an “entry level”, reluctantly agrees noise and loss of detail even at low ISO values. It ‘true that the “time of the film” was captured mainly with 100 ASA film, but given that digital technology allows us to go much higher and shoot without the flash of light even when there is very little, why give it up? The cpmpatte cameras are extremely practical, but to keep their charm will quickly evolve also in terms of high ISO, maybe taking larger sensors (we will see them at the PMA in January?).

zoom? So-so: a bit ‘of chromatic aberrations and a noticeable loss of detail in the corners of the image. The photo of the basilica shows the low level of barrel distortion. The photo of Madonna, taken with the maximum focal length of the zoom, show a low level of distortion but also a fall in the corners of the image.

{title = mospagebreak_scroll 5. Findings}

Canon PowerShot S5 IS – Findings
The greatest strength of the Canon PowerShot S5 IS? The versatility. It can be used for indoor pictures without a flash, thanks to the presence of the stabilizer, which works fine. The photos you can use the sports and nature and, once again, the stabilizer proves useful with long lenses. The S5 is fine for landscapes and portraits.

The machine is holding well, is fast both during shooting and recording both offers full manual control.
photos taken with the sensitivity at low ISO values ??show the richness of colors and dettaglii faithful. When you go up the ISO, however,
All in all, one of the best super zoom compact on the market, with a price at the time of going “in the car” just under 400 € (online deals).

Pro
– Ergonomics
– Image quality at ISO 100 (see below )
– 12X zoom with a low level of distortion
– Image stabilizer effective
– Good speed (auto focus and shutter release)

Cons
– Disorder evident already at 200 ISO
– Loss of detail at ISO 200
– Missing 28 mm
– Not practical accommodation combined memory- batteries