Canon S2 IS- Worth the money?

[Star Alliance]

Hey everyone,
I am on the camera market, and one that I've had my eye on for some time now is the Canon S2 IS. After the advent of the S3 IS, it has dropped in price drastically. After shooting with the Panasonic DMC-LZ2 for the better part of a year, I feel that I am ready to move on to a SLR-like camera like the S2. It seems as though it meets the criterium that I have set: It's a 5.1mp with exposure compensation, a wide range of ISO settings, manual aperature+shutter settings, and an eyepiece (a very important feature that would generally be a 'duh' feature. The LZ2 doesn't have it (d'oh!)). I really don't want to spring the next $100 for the S3 IS.
So my question to you all: Would it be good for me, or do you have other suggestions?

[Electric-Jet]

Hey,

I would suggest the Fuji S5200 even though people dont really think their good for aviation photography. I use the earlier model, the S5100 and think that its doing me just fine. The S5200 can do every thing the S2 IS can do and even more. Also it is cheaper. The S5200 has the same megapixels, higher ISO and can shoot in raw. The fuji is also black and looks more like a DSLR. The only thing the S2 IS can do is it has a shutter speed of 1/3200 vs the fuji with 1/2000, and has 12x zoom instead of 10x the fuji has but thats not really that big of a difference.

[Star Alliance]

I see...
Amazon has it for about $40 less, which would be a nice little saving. Although, It doesn't have the image stabilization, as much zoom, or fast shutter speed of the S2, but it does look in close competition. It also doesn't have the swivel LCD screen which would be good for over-the-head shots to get people out of the frame at airshows and such...
Does anyone have experience with both for comparison purposes?

[Tanner_J]

One of my friends dad took me camera shopping with him on XMAS Eve, he wanted to spend $200. I made him get the S2 IS and he's never looked back or regretted the extra money.

[mohamedmomtaz]

I don't have the Canon however i have the Fuji and if you have questions ask.
However:
You won't need the faster shutter speed unless you are going to shoot right into the sun.
As fas as the lack of IS, the body will grant oy atleast an extra stop, it is very high quality buil, SLR-Like and you can carry it quite steady. I have a very shaky hand and managed clystar sharp 1/30 shots.
The Fuji is also the fastest in it's class. It doesn't have any noticble shutter lag, turns on in less then a sec and turns off nearly constant.
It also achieves ISO 1600, with a quality as bad as the Canon at 400. The Fuji's 400 is quite usable indeed and buys you as much stops as the IS. ISO 200 is similiar to most cameras minimum ISO.

The Super CCD als increases the Dynamic range over regular CCD. As both are 1/2,5 and 5 MP i guess the Fuji's sensor is better.
The Body and handlig is what you buy the camera for. It is very good, many people mistake it for an SLR and it is very nice to carry. However it doesn't fit into your Pocket.
For RAW you need Photoshop, the supplied software is useless.

The Canon on the other side, which i haven't tested, should only be better if you want it to be compact, have IS (no noise), use cheaper and more widley used SD cards and at last simply be a Canon. It also should offer better video because the Fuji's is with mono sound.

I would recommend you to get the Fuji and save the 60 $ for a tripod, card or even a converter (be it tele or wide end). However try to check them both in reality in a store and see which one feels better.

Have fun

[Star Alliance]

Thanks a bunch, Mohamed. Your post really helped...even though it just made me that much less decisive.

[kukkudrill]

Have you seen the reviews at www.dpreview.com ?

[andrew_c]

I got my dad the S2 IS and its a very fun camera. Quality of photos is almost comparable to my 300D (Digital Rebel).

Biggest drawback IMHO is that it takes SD Cards and not flash.

[Star Alliance]

Charles: Yes, but peer opinions are always useful in consumer situations IMHO.

I am impressed at the image quality as stated by Andrew; how does the S5200 compare with these results?

[kukkudrill]

Charles: Yes, but peer opinions are always useful in consumer situations IMHO.

Oh I agree. The only point of caution I would make is in judging image quality ... nothing beats looking at sample images (as on dpreview) for yourself. I would look for photos taken in natural light (not flash or studio lighting) and check for two things mainly: the ability to render fine detail, and the extent of noise, especially in areas of shadow or in blue sky.

Charles

[Star Alliance]

Charles,
After taking a look at the photos and reviews on both DPReview and Amazon, it looks like the S5200 takes often blown out images, where as the S2 IS has much less loss of detail and more natural looking photos.
I think for the extra quality.,the $30 more is well worth it.
Cheers,
A.M.

[Star Alliance]

After reading as much documentation as I could get on the both of them and going through countless reviews, I believe I have decided on the S2 IS. I plan on purchasing it tommorow, so if anyone has a reason that I shouldn't go through with it, please tell me soon.
Thanks for all of the info and Merry Christmas!
A.M.

[kukkudrill]

Happy shooting ... and merry Xmas!

[Star Alliance]

Well, turns out that my parents bought me the S3 IS for Christmas, and the quality is stunning! I am very happy with it so far, after testing it a few hundred times on family members at the house...I'll take it for some indepth testing in the field as soon as I can manage.

Happy shooting ... and merry Xmas!

Thanks Charles, you too (albeit belated )!
A.M.

[Sam at MAN]

Haha nice too see you got a new cam I hope to see your photo count raise from 6

And when i got my 350D, i took about 1000 pictures of my family, even tho i had no CF