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Rabu, 16 Februari 2011

Canon S90 vs Nokia N8 follow-up

So that Canon S90 vs Nokia N8 thing was a huge hit. Nice to see plenty of misinformed Nokia fans trolling the post when they have NO clue. Just like a lot of them have no clue about Windows Phone, but I will leave that to Nokia blogs to take the brunt of the misinformed assault on the partnership.

Now, let me clear up some stuff. The N8 has a good camera, for a phone. But comparing it to a high-end compact? Don't make me laugh. I say this as a person who actually bought (and still use) the N8 for his birthday back in October 2010, purely because it was supposed to have this so-called fantastic camera module that apparently has even entry level DSLR beaten. I was wrong.

Another thing, a camera doesn't make great images. The person behind the camera does. Give someone like Ken Rockwell a disposable camera, and he can make much greater pictures than I can with a Leica M9, Nikon D3 or whatever. A good camera is supposed to only make it easier for the photographer. The N8 does not make things easier.

In fact the camera application is a frickin' disaster. A photographer's main job is to capture picture, not battle with a UI that crashes and generally throws a hissy fit. I was at an event this evening with my friend who writes for dailymobile.se. She also happens to own a N8. Like me she bought it for the supposed brilliant camera. She had so many problems with her N8, that by the time she got her N8 restarted, I have already finished taking 50 images.

The point of the post wasn't about making good images, it was all about image quality, and to debunk the stupid myth that the Nokia N8 is a digital camera killer. It is laughable to read that people think it is comparable to a good compact camera with fast lens and large sensor, much less a DSLR! The idea is so stupid it isn't even worth entertaining a rebuttal.

There were some complains that I didn't post comparison pictures. Well I did, the one - but even then some of you didn't actually notice. Should have gone to SpecSavers eh?. Well I went to the liberty of making some additional comparison pictures, which I shouldn't even bother. But I did.

All set to auto, with no flash, handheld shot:

And you know what? I will keep updating this post with even more comparison shots. Just wait.

Canon S90 vs Nokia N8 follow-up

And you know what? I will keep updating this post with even more comparison shots. Just wait.

Selasa, 15 Februari 2011

Canon S90 vs Nokia N8

Here it is, the Canon S90, arguably one of the best digital compact ever released. Forget what Nokia told you about how phones (like their flagship imaging phone N8) has surpassed digital compacts. The S90 not only spanks the N8 but does so in such a manner than one should laugh at anyone who ever treated the N8 as more than it is - yet another camera phone.

Where to begin. Well the S90 is easier to use. The N8 is a touchscreen smartphone with an awful camera application, that does not even bother to remember the settings you last used. There are no manual controls on the N8, where as the S90 has full manual controls and features that makes even some entry level DSLR blush with envy. More importantly, the S90 has buttons, and buttons always beat touchscreen. Always.

The S90 has two rings of control.The control ring allows you to easily control whichever function you want. Simply spin it and that's it. I've set the S90 onto Aperture Priority mode, and use the ring to select the aperture, and the back ring to exposure. The Canon is such a genius this almost always works. It is easier to use than my Nikon D90!

I hate writing about specs, but the S90 has the specs where it matters most. It has a very fast lens - in fact faster than Canon's flagship G12 prosumer digital compact. The lens on the S90 allows twice as much light as the G12, Nokia N8 and even my £500 Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8 lens.

The Canon has the same sensor as the S95, G11 and G12 - a 10MP 1/1.7" CCD sensor, far bigger than those found on most none-EVIL compacts. The N8 on the other hand contains a smaller1/1.83" and packs more megapixels. Because of the S90's superior lens and sensor, the S90 can capture more detail on its 10MP sensor than the N8 could, and to do so with very little noise.

So what's missing. Well the S90 does not do HD videos, which will be a bummer to YouTubers - but a blessing to me. I like it that my D90 is shit at doing HD videos, and the same applies with the S90. I am glad that it doesn't, because digital cameras should shoot images and video cameras should shoot videos. Convergences means having to apply trade-offs. What next? MP3 playback in cameras?

The S90 isn't equipped with a hot shoe. This irked me at first, but then I thought why bother with a hot shoe on such a small compact. Besides the S90 is so brilliant at low light photography that I don't even bother with its xenon flash most of the time.

So what is this 'review' really about? Well, it is about busting the myth that smartphones are close to even succeeding good compact cameras. Yes, a N8 is convenient in that it allows me to only carry one device. But if you value memories, then you wouldn't mind carrying an extra photographic device. Sure the S90 isn't cheap, but you can easily augment the purchase by getting a cheaper phone.

All in all, if you are in the market for a pocket camera you can do a lot worse than the S90. While the S90 has since been surpassed by the S95 - it is still pretty much 99% the same camera, one that has retained plenty of value and sought after by photographers.

The Canon S90 vs Nokia N8 macro sample below is a real eye opener. The differences between the two cameras are astounding:

Auto, no flash, f/2

Auto, no flash, f/2.8

More Canon S90 samples:

AV mode, f/5.6, ISO500, 1/500sec

auto, flash, f/2, ISO800, 1/30sec

Manual, no flash, f/2, ISO400, 1/30sec

Manual, tripod, f/2, ISO400, 1sec

Canon S90 vs Nokia N8

Auto, no flash, f/2

Auto, no flash, f/2.8

More Canon S90 samples:

AV mode, f/5.6, ISO500, 1/500sec

auto, flash, f/2, ISO800, 1/30sec

Manual, no flash, f/2, ISO400, 1/30sec

Manual, tripod, f/2, ISO400, 1sec

Selasa, 18 Mei 2010

Canon PowerShot SX200 IS impressions

With summer fast approaching I decided I needed a new compact camera for bringing into gigs. My previous G9 was a disappointment in that regards (400 is generally unusable, and it had a huge problem with dusts - not that this would be any different I suspect). I got this SX200 IS a couple of days ago and it is a lovely camera to use. It looks huge compared to the new generation of ultra slim digital compacts, but it is slimmer than my G9 and thus more pocketable, though it is rather heavy (thanks to the use of metal materials). The best thing about this is its ease of use.

With the G9 I had loads to do before I can make it work, but with this all I do is set to auto or tinker with the manual settings a bit and it more or less works (well most of the time anyway). I've decided that since now I have a proper DSLR, all I want from a point & shoot is just that. The ISO performance is great, for a compact and certainly far ahead the G9 (goes to show that anything newer, even if it is a lower-end model, is generally better).

I won't go into all the silly technical details that most photography review sites love to go into, but just as a summary, the SX200 IS has a 12x optical zoom (28-338mm equivalent), 720p30 video recording capability, manual control, scene detection and Canon's proprietary anti-blur processing engine (Image Stabilizer) which seems to work great even in full telephoto mode. The body is mainly made of metal (likely aluminium) and a bit of plastic and chromes. It features a conservative and yet stylish design.

The controls are sparsely laid out and the only way of doing all the manual bits and selecting ISO settings is through the menu system, which isn't the most intuitive way of doing something but at least it keeps the camera clean, and I guess, as well as the cost. I dislike the dial on the directional pad. The lens do suffer at full telephoto with a aperture of f/5.3 at 336mm (12x). Not surprising but something to think about. On the other hand, as I mentioned earlier, the anti-blue technology works really well even when the zoom is maxed. There is also a macro and super macro setting for shots from 1cm away.

I haven't tested the 720p video mode yet, but I am sure some will love this. I personally doubt I would use it much as I just am not that interested in making videos. That said I am sure I'll do the odd gig video if the bouncers are kind enough. The biggest issue with this camera is the flash. It would always pop up even if you do not wish for the flash to fire. I can imagine future issues with the pop-up mechanism. There is also no viewfinder, but to be honest who would want to see through a pinhole?

The used SX200 IS cost me just under £150, which I think is a good deal for what is still a pretty good and almost unused camera (silly former owner). So a decent enough point and shoot for the price I paid. However the cost of a new SX200 IS is just slightly below that of a new SX210 IS (with faster lens as well), so maybe it would be better to consider that instead.

Image samples (resized, but untouched):