Canon Powershot S1 IS Review

The AUTO mode allows anyone, regardless of expertise, to use the S1is like a simple point-n-shoot camera. The camera automatically selects the shutter speed and aperture allowing you to concentrate on framing your subject, not changing camera settings.

The menu options in AUTO mode are limited to what you see animated here. Pressing the FUNCtion buttons lets you change the image size and/or quality, no other settings are possible.

In Program AE mode the camera selects both the shutter speed and aperture but now you have access to all of the exposure and image adjustment settings. The screen here shows white balance set to fluorescent, ISO speed of 50, color is set to Vivid, evaluative metering, single frame advance, auto red-eye flash, flash exposure compensation, large image size, Superfine quality and memory card space for another 531 pictures. The "hand" icon indicates the Image Stabilization is enabled. The LCD or EVF display can be cleared of all of this information by pressing the INFO button.

In Tv (Shutter-speed priority) mode the user selects the desired shutter speed and the camera automatically selects the aperture value. If the shutter speed is too fast (or slow), the aperture value will be displayed in red (when the shutter is half-pressed) which tells you to select a different speed. Slow shutter speeds allow for moving objects to "motion blur" and fast shutter speeds will "freeze" fast moving objects.

In Av (Aperture priority) mode the user selects the desired aperture value and the camera automatically selects the appropriate shutter speed. Small apertures (large F-stop number) increase the depth of field (range of focus) whereas large apertures (small F-stop numbers) decreases the depth of field.

In Manual mode the proper exposure value is determined by changing both the shutter speed and the aperture values manually. You can visually see the screen lighten or darken as you change settings and when you half-press the shutter, the EV (exposure value) will be indicated in the upper left corner. The camera provides no automatic exposure control in this mode.

When in MF (manual focus) mode, the AF point area can be magnified to aid in proper focusing. A sliding distance scale is shown on the right side.

You can manually select the AF (auto focus) point by pressing the SET button and using the arrow keys to move AF target mark on the screen.

Record MENU (except AUTO mode).

Flash Sync - 1st-curtain (leading) or 2nd-curtain (trailing) flash sync
Slow Synchro - Enable or disable slow sync flash mode
Red-eye - Enable or disable red-eye reduction flash mode
Flash Pop-up - Enable or disable auto popup for flash
Self-timer - 2 or 10 seconds
Wireless Delay - 0, 2 or 10 seconds
Spot AE Point - Center or follow the AF Point
MF-Point Zoom - Magnify focus area during manual focus
AF Mode - Continuous or Single auto focus
Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom
Review - Post-capture review time, settable for 2 - 10 seconds
Reverse Display - Flip display output upside down
Intervalometer - Enable timelapse recording mode
Set Shortcut button - Resolution, ISO, WB, Effect, AEL, AFL, Display Off
Save Settings - Memorize camera settings

FUNCtion menu (except AUTO mode).

Exposure Compensation - Metering override +/- 2.0EV in 0.3 steps
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash or Custom
ISO - Auto or 50, 100, 200 or 400 equivalents
Image Effects - Off, Vivid color, Neutral color, Low Sharpening, Sepia, B&W, Custom (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation)
Bracketing - Enable and set options for Exposure or Focus Bracketing modes
Flash Compensation - Adjust the output level of the flash +/- 2.0
Image Quality - Superfine, Fine or Normal JPEG compression
Image Size - Large 2048x1536, Medium1 1600x1200,
Medium2 1024x768, Small 640x480

Movie mode lets you record high-quality motion video with audio at 15fps or 30fps. The image size can be 640x480 Fine, 640x480 or 320x240. The maximum length of capture in any mode is limited to 1GB which in our testing produced:

640 x 480 pixels Fine (max. 9:09 at 30fps)
640 x 480 pixels (max. 12:23 at 30fps)
320 x 240 pixels (max. 26:41 at 30fps)

The optical zoom can be used during recording thanks to the virtually silent ultrasonic motor used in the zoom mechanism.

MOVIE mode options.

Image Size - 640x480 Fine, 640x480, 320x240
Framerate - 30fps or 15fps
Self-timer - 10 or 2 seconds
Wireless Delay - 0, 2 or 10 seconds
Tally Lamp - On, Off
Reverse Display - Flip display output upside down
Set Shortcut button - Resolution, ISO, WB, Effect, AEL, AFL, Display Off

SETUP menu options.

Mute - Off, On: Mutes the speaker
Volume - Speaker level for Start-up, Operation, Selftimer, Shutter and Playback
LCD Brightness - Adjust LCD backlight intensity
Power Saving - Auto Power Down (On, Off) and Display Off (20s, 30s, 1,2,3,10m)
Format - Format the CF device or display space remaining
File No. Reset - Off=sequential, On=start at 0
Auto Rotate - Orientation sensor (On, Off)
Distance Units - Focus distance in feet or meters
Language - Set the menu language
Video System - NTSC or PAL video output