Camera Size
For a camera of 12X zoom it fits
in a single hand and is quiet handy in that regard. Even
though a 10X camera by Kodak using prism technology is available
that is just the size of the standard pocket camera. But
still for all other features and image quality this is far
more superior for the size.
Image Stabilization
Now chances of image getting spoiled due to hand shake
is reduced by a margin, especially as high zoom levels where
the shakes are also multiplied.
Use of Standard Battery
Uses 4 standard AA battery. Now you have best of both
the worlds. Get the best possible rechargeable battery and
charger for the camera. And if nothing else you can always
get this standard battery of any corner of any remote place
if you are running low on it.
High Shutter Speed
For capturing fast action you have the maximum shutter
speed of 1/3200 second. Use it for high speed sports or
very bright light capturing.
Fast start-up, Focus and Write time
Just twist right and you are up and running for action.
Twist left for viewing the captures.
Easy and Convenient User Interface
All common settings have dedicated buttons, without cluttering
the camera with buttons. Menus are for less frequently used
functions. Greatness lies in simplicity.
Made in Japan
Its not Made in China!
Optical Zoom of 12X
If your image object is 100 pixels wide in no zoom shot,
with full zoom of 12X it will be 1200pixels wide, with crystal
clear resolution and details. Get the picture 12 times bigger,
without compromising on the image quality.
Twin Zooms Speeds
Press lightly and the zoom will glide slowly. Press it hard
and it will zap to the zoom level.
Ultrasonic Zooming
The motor emits ultrasonic sound that is inaudible to humans
(but your dog will detect it!) while the camera is zoomed.
It is for reducing the humming motor noise while zooming
at the time of taking movies.
Great Video Functions
S2 Video is 640 x 480 @ 30fps
Frame Rate Comparison
NTSC - 30fps
PAL - 25fps
Resolution Comparison
| Resolution |
NTSC |
PAL |
| TV |
720 × 480 |
720 × 576 |
| VCD |
352 × 240 |
352 × 288 |
| SVCD |
480x480 |
480x576 |
| DVD |
720 × 480 |
720 × 576 |
So as Compared to these standards the
S2 video is slightly lesser quality than the regular TV
broadcast and DVD output, but is better than VCD and SVCD
formats.
Zoom Works in Video Mode
You can zoom up and down while taking pictures.
Image Stabilization works in Video Mode
No more of shaky pictures that look amateurish.
5 Mega Pixels Resolution
Meaning the image size will be
2592 x 1944 Pixels (5.04 Mega Pixels).
The optimal recommended resolution (measured
in pixels per inch, or ppi) for printing quality photos
is 240 ppi. Minimum is 92 ppi, below which the printed image
will be not at all nice.
|
Image Resolution
|
Size
|
Optimal Print Size
(inches)
|
Average Image Size
(at Fine Compression)
|
| 2592 x 1944 |
L |
10.8 x 8.1 |
1.6 MB |
| 2048 x 1536 |
M1 |
8.5 x 6.4 |
1.0 MB |
| 1600 x 1200 |
M2 |
6.6 x 5 |
0.6 MB |
| 640 x 480 |
S |
2.6 x 2 |
0.2 MB |
Refer to the following table for estimating
the optimal print sizes
Print Size - Quality Table
|
|
Print Size
|
|
Resolution
|
2x3"
|
6x4"
|
5x7"
|
6x8"
|
8x12"
|
10x15"
|
|
2592 x 1944
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2048 x 1536
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1600 x 1200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
640 x 480
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Color Legends
|
Color
|
Meaning
|
|
|
Best Quality Image
|
|
|
Good Quality Image
|
|
|
Low Quality Image
|
|
|
Bad Quality Image
|
Panorama Assistance
Creating panoramic image is very
easy using this camera. There is a Panorama Assistance Mode
in which you need to take overlapped snaps of your panorama.
Then Auto Stitching Software on your computer will automatically
create a panoramic image out of it. The software can also
create Quick Time Panorama movie file.
Image taken and Stitched using the camera and provided
software
Remote Controlling from your Computer
Camera can work in remote control
mode from computer using the provided USB cable connection.
Using USB cable extenders you can have your camera upto
45m (150ft) away from the computer and then remote control
it. Can be useful in studios with limited mobility and quick
processing requirement.
Power Adapter
Allows an adapter (sold separately) to be connected,
eliminating battery need. Can be good for Studios, while
connecting to the computer for long duration, or for watching
long slide shows on your TV directly using the camera.
Swirl LCD
A very big plus for this camera. All Axis Rotation is
a bliss. Very convenient for taking snaps at any angle of
your convenience. It can even rotate towards the subject
making self timer shots much more convenient. I find it
most useful for taking Macro snaps, Self Snaps and Timer
Snaps.
High Storage Capacity
Supports 4GB SD card, as users have reported. Most reported
working 4GB card is Transcend 4GB Secure Digital Card
(TS4GSD150).
Audio Recording
Camera also supports Audio Only recording. Can come
in handy at times.
Wind Noise Filter for Movies
Taking movie on mountains or hills where high speed
wind flows can introduce unnecessary noise in the recording.
Use this feature while recording audio or movie at such
times to have that noise filtered out.
Microphone Sensitivity Level
There are 5 levels of sensitivity that can be set for movie
and sound recording. By default 3 is set. If you are to
use level 4 and 5 then zooming can cause some unwanted noise
in the recorded movie.
High JPEG Quality / Low Compression
Mode
Super Fine JPEG mode supported by this camera produces JPEG
images almost as good as the RAW picture format (as reported
in reviews).
Filters for this Camera
3rd party attachment for this camera is available that
will allow standard filters to be mounted and used by this
camera. After attaching it you can use most of the standard
filters available.
http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/S2.html
IR Filter Support
This camera supports IR photography. Check out the snap
of the TV remote's IR beam taken by this camera.
The bright purple LED is actually the IR beam from the
remote as seen on S2
USB 2 Support
USB 2 support for communication with the computer. This
allows a reasonable speed for image transfers. For movies
it may be slow as internal camera's SD card reading/writing
speed is limited. If speed is a issue then using a high
speed SD Card reader will be a better option than using
the camera's USB port. You will also drain less battery
that way!
Timer Shots
Allows customizable timer upto 30 seconds and upto 10
continuous shots with flash. Also you can set pre recorded
sound while taking timer shots which will be played two
seconds before the picture is taken.
Now you camera can call out Say Cheese before firing
the snap! Make sure to put the volume level at max.
Full Manual Control
You can control the all the factors to get the desired
image.
User Configured Custom Mode with Shortcut
Button
One user assigned custom mode can be defined where you
can specify all the parameters. Assign is to a shortcut
button and its simply a button away!
Direct View on TV
Use a standard PAL or NTSC TV and connect the supplied
cable to its Audio/Video In. Now you can watch all the photographs
and movies directly on the TV. Camera has a customizable
Slide Show feature that can be used to show all or selected
images Directly on the TV. Since this camera has inbuilt
orientation detector it even rotates it correctly if the
snap is taken vertically. So no more rotating of head to
watch the snap!
Zero Distance Photography
Its called the Super Macro mode. It allows your subject
to be present at 0 cm from the lens of the camera. Happy
photographing the Micro World around you. Just be
careful not to touch your lens with the subject while taking
the snap.
Separate Date Battery
Date battery is separate and so the camera will retain the
Date, Owner Name and other Settings even if the main batteries
are removed from the camera.
TWAIN Driver support
For directly accessing the image to any PC application
a TWAIN driver is provided that will let you specify the
file a card from the file that will be imported by that
application. Not in particular very useful, but may have
use for specific applications.
Full Mac and PC support
Fully supports Mac OS X as well as Windows. Same feature
set is present for both Mac and PC bundled software.
Customizable Items
You can customize the following images and sounds in
the camera. These are optional but can add fun to the photography.
Start-up Image on the LCD
Start-up Sound
Operation Sound
Self-Timer Sound
Shutter Sound
These can be set to your custom selection
using your computer
Automatic Orientation Detection
Orientation of the camera is detected and marked in the
EXIF of the image file. Camera has setting for viewing that
will auto rotate to the correct orientation for viewing
purpose. While downloading to the computer it is upto the
software setting whether to rotate it or not.
Sound Memos for Shot Image
Shoot and image, and then add comment to it. This is
saved as a Sound Memo and is associated with the image.
Now you know what to do with the guide's narration of the
castle you plan to visit next.
LCD Monitor for Judging the Snap
LCD monitor matches the brightness based on the current
settings of Aperture, Shutter Speed etc. So that you approximately
know how well the photo will come.
Manual Control of Flash Fire
The flash of Canon S2 is needed to be manually lifted in
order to be used. This is at times used as a con in few
reviews. But I think it is a very good feature. Since the
display gives the warning about the flash so accidentally
missing it is quiet low. The feature that I am talking about
is the manual control of flash. When you dont want the flash
to fire then just drop it down, camera will take that into
consideration and change its internal parameters. So no
extra button or menu item is needed for this operation.
On a different note,
the camera also supports the firing of the flash curtain.
This control is from the menu and controls whether the flash
fires at the time of opening of the shutter or at the close
of the shutter. This can be used in night photography for
some interesting results.
Histogram
Histogram of the taken image can be seen for judging the
brightness or darkness of the image. Though the histogram
is not available for the image not yet taken (this feature
is added in S3), but you can view the histogram immediately
after the snap is taken. A customizable delay is present
that shows the taken snap for that duration. If you press
DISPLAY button at that time then it will land into a view
that will show the histogram and other parameters for the
taken image. Also if you do not want to have that delay
(as you cannot take another snap during that duration) then
also you can view the taken snap by keeping the fire button
depressed. Till the time you leave it the taken image is
visible. While pressing this button you can also change
the view by pressing the DISPLAY button.
EXIF version 2.2
All the camera setting and information is stored in
the EXIF part of the JPEG file. This can be accessed by
the provided software, or any suitable software like IrfanView.
See the table below to see all the information provided
in the EXIF of the image.
