Canon Powershot S2 IS Review

The Canon Powershot S2 IS is a five megapixel digital camera with a twelve times optical zoom lens. It has a range of advanced features that mark the Powershot S2 IS down as a camera for someone who sees photography as a hobby rather than someone who is looking for a simple point and shoot model.

A lens of this length is especially useful for sports and wildlife photography. Camera shake can be an issue when you are using long lenses. This model has image stabilisation built in to help combat the problem.

It was with slight trepidation that I looked through the photos that I had taken with the Powershot S2 IS. For some reason I had struggled with its predecessor the Powershot S1 IS. The results though were extremely pleasing and all in all the camera managed to produce an impressive set of images.

The stand out photo was the indoor portrait. I cannot remember saying this about a camera before as this is an area where digital cameras routinely struggle. Not only is the photo sharp and bright there is not even a hint of red eye to be seen. No doubt the pop up flash helps here as it takes the flash unit far enough away from the lens to help eliminate the problem.

I was also pleased with my second indoor test shot. This is a shot taken of some bottles in almost complete darkness. If anything the flash is too powerful and you have to be careful not to over expose indoor shots. To help you with this the flash level can be reduced through the menu system so that less light is produced. You also have an option to increase the power of the flash where necessary.

Outdoors I would describe the quality of the shots as standard. As with almost every digital camera with this length of zoom lens purple fringing clearly shows around light objects when the zoom is fully extended. Purple fringing is basically a purple line that shows up in the photo. The Powershot S2 IS was very successful at showing detail in dark areas of the photo. This is particularly noticeable in shady areas under trees. Again this is an area where digital cameras often have difficulties. It should be noted that there was a loss of detail in the very brightest areas.

The outdoor portrait works well with a warm feel to the shot.

The dedicated tests for colour and macro were impressive too. The macro shot in particular stands up well when compared to the result managed by other cameras.

The Powershot S2 IS managed to take a single shot in 0.33 seconds. That is an average time It took 7.43 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo more or less every 1.49 seconds. This is a fast time when compared to other digital cameras and suggests that you should not have much of a problem if you are planning to fire off two or three shots in quick succession.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 12x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent of 36-432mm in 35mm format. It has a maximum f/ number of f/2.7 - f/3.5. It is a USM (ultrasonic motor) lens and it is certainly the fastest lens I have tested in terms of the amount of time it takes to zoom in or out and focus on the subject. As mentioned above the camera has image stabilisation. In addition to the optical zoom there is also a 4x digital zoom feature. For macro shooting the camera's specification says that it can focus from 0cms. In my own tests I found I needed to be around 6cms away to be able to take a sharp macro shot.

For composing images you can choose between a viewfinder and the LCD screen. The viewfinder is electronic rather than optical. It gives full coverage of a scene. It also offers Dioptre Correction. This lets you focus the viewfinder to suit your eyesight.

The LCD screen is 1.8" and can flip and twist out. This means that you can vary the position of the screen. This is especially useful on bright sunny days as it allows you to keep the screen out of direct sunlight. It also gives you the ability to change the position of the camera easily in difficult shooting positions. You can also adjust the level of brightness.

The pop up flash unit has a maximum range of 5.2m. When the zoom lens is fully extended this drops down to 4m. The flash can be set to always on, always off or automatic. Red eye reduction is available too, as is slow sync speed. A couple of additional flash features are flash exposure compensation and flash exposure lock. You can also adjust the power of the flash. To increase the flash capabilities of the camera an external High Power Flash unit is available.

As well as automatic shooting mode there are a number of preset scene modes. These help the camera to take the best possible shot for a variety of different types of photograph. All you need to do is select the most appropriate scene. The preset scenes are: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Stitch Assist, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Indoor and Night Snapshot.

A question I get asked from time to time is can I name a digital camera that can also double up as a camcorder. The Powershot S2 IS comes closer than any other camera I have reviewed. A single movie clip can be recorded for up to sixty minutes or 1GB in size. The maximum resolution is 640x480 with a top speed of thirty frames per second. There are a number of additional features that help to differentiate this camera from the competition. For a start you can zoom in while taking a movie. If you are used to using a camcorder you probably feel this is pretty standard stuff, but not many digital cameras offer this facility. You can also focus manually and add photo effects.

On top of this there is a movie snap feature that allows you to take a still photo while shooting a movie. You do not have to stop the movie, take the photo and then restart the movie. You take the photo while the movie is still recording. There is an editor so that you can cut off unwanted footage at the start and end of a movie. Finally there is a slow motion playback setting.

A series of photo effects can be used. These are Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White, Custom and My Colors. Continuous shooting is another worthwhile feature. This lets you shoot as many shots as you would like until the memory card is full. The top speed achievable is 2.4 frames per second. There is also an Intervalometer. You can set this to take up to 100 shots with a delay you can set between one minute and an hour.

Sound memos of up to 60 seconds per photo can be added to images. These help you to preserve the memory of each shot. A histogram can be shown on the LCD screen to aid you when taking a picture.

For when you would like to appear in the picture a self timer is available. This can be set to a delay or either two or ten seconds. A custom delay is available as well. This lets you set a delay time of up to thirty seconds. You can also select a number of photos to be taken at the end of the delay period. You can choose any number between one and ten.

For advanced photographers manual exposure settings are available including shutter aperture priority.

Among the more advanced controls three types of metering (Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre or linked to focusing frame)), exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments), auto exposure bracketing (1/3 - 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments), ISO settings of (AUTO, 50, 100, 200, 400) and shutter speeds between fifteen seconds and 1/3200 seconds.

White balance can be set to Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H and Flash. There is also a Custom white balance setting.

Canon supplies all the necessary leads and software to connect the Powershot S2 IS to a television set, computer and PictBridge compatible printer.

Although the biggest attraction of this camera is likely to be its optical zoom lens you can opt to further increase the capacity of the lens. This is achieved by buying a 1.5x conversion lens. A wide angle conversion lens and a close up lens are also available.

Any digital camera with this number of features is not going to be the most straightforward and easiest to use. I have to say that I think Canon have a tendency to overcomplicate their digital cameras, but don't let that put you off. It is well worth spending the time and trouble to get to grips with this camera.

You can pick up a Canon Powershot S2 IS for around £335. This compares to around £285 for a Sony DSC H1, £265 for a Konica Minolta Dimage Z5 and £345 for a Panasonic DMC F20. This makes it £50 more expensive than the Sony DSC H1. Although I do not think the Powershot S2 IS is over priced you will need to think very hard before deciding whether or not to pay the extra money.

The Powershot S2 IS looks a lot like a traditional 35mm SLR camera. It has a good sized grip on the front of the camera and the pop up flash unit sits on top. As you would expect it is a heavy camera. It weighs in at 405g. A lot of the weight comes from the lens. It has dimensions of 113.0 x 78.0 x 75.5mm and ideally you would have a case to carry it around in. It is a two tone silver camera with a plastic body.

Four AA batteries are required to run the camera. Anyone who is looking to use this camera on a regular basis can keep the running costs down by picking up a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger. Canon estimates that around 130 shots can be taken with the supplied batteries. This figure can only be achieved if the LCD screen is off when photos are being taken.

Images are recorded on SD cards. Canon supplies a 16mb card with the Powershot S2 IS. This only gave me enough room to record six images before the card was full. This is an area where I feel Canon could have been more generous. You will need to buy a high capacity card to go with the camera. Click here to save money on SD cards.

Indoor photos
Movie mode
Features

Canon have been mean with the memory card

All in all the Canon Powershot S2 IS is an impressive camera. As well as its 12x optical zoom it comes packed with features. In fact as far as features go it is not that different to the most advanced digital compact cameras. You do pay a premium for the features though and it could be a tough call as to whether you go for this camera or one of its cheaper competitors. You will need to make the most of all the features this camera offers to get the full value for money. Canon Powershot S2 IS Front View

Canon Powershot S2 IS Back View

Canon Powershot S2 IS Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Canon Powershot S2 IS