by saintmat » Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:45 am
I am currently in Afghanistan, and have been using a Canon S1IS. Nice little camera, I did not bring the more expensive Dig SLR (nikon) I have for fear of trashing it while traipsing through the Afghan countryside, and to be quite honest the added weight is not appealing with everything else I carry on my back.
But this little Canon is fast, light, and pretty durable (so far it has stood up to the same abuse I give to my Army gear), 10x optical zoom, 32X digital zoom, and image stabilization (for pics on the move). The price WAS $669CAD when I bought it last spring. Since buying it in April 04, I travelled through the Mid East with it, here in Afghanistan, East Africa, and climbed to the summit of Kilimanjaro, and it has worked flawlessly in all weather and occasions.
I have snapped some 7000 pics with it (it has a file number memory) and all have been crisp clear images. You have the option to go FULLY MANUAL, or completley automatic. It runs on 4 AA batteries, (upwards of 600 pics with Energizer E2 Lithiums, and 400-500 pics on rechargables). It uses a CF card and also takes great video and sound.
The dust is relentless here but so far nothing noticebale on my images, but it will be in need of a severe cleaning and maintenance when I return home in the new year. In my opinion a fantastic little camera, it also has a very cool feature, the LCD screen is a multi-directional fold-away style, so it protects that screen when it is not in use. I have seen so many LCDs with scratched of broken screens. This is a great little feature for those that like to use the screen to shoot with. I don't but sometimes it is nice to be able to shoot overhead and tilt the screen down so you can see it while your camera is three feet above you.
You can purchase a tele and wide angle lens for it (sorry don't know the specs), as well you can apparently get an underwater kit for it too if you want to snorkel with it (I would be hesitant about this due to the lack of actual proper light underwater, and the fact that it is not specifically meant for underwater photography...might just be a neat gimmick by canon)
Hope I didn't bore you, but I just thought I would throw in my two cents.
Mat
Ex Coelis