Whereby the ‘x’ in ‘Sx IS’ is a placeholder for whatever generation they actually implement these wishes of mine in. Probably never.

The Canon PowerShot S1 IS is a great camera today, and was an even more amazing one at its time – it was introduced in Feb ‘04. I got to use it for a few months, and in almost every aspect, it was exactly what I had hoped (and what the reviews and user comments had suggested) it would be. It is sometimes described as an “almost-SLR”; it’s technically a point-and-shoot camera (though ‘compact’, let alone ‘ultra-compact’, sure doesn’t fit given the size and weight), but it bears an amount of flexibility otherwise unusual for non-SLRs. It is also placed in the “superzoom” category, obviously for its 10x zoom. An average consumer camera gives you 3x, perhaps 4x.

But while the zoom was indeed one of the strengths I had bought it for, there are two other strengths. One, the flip-and-twirl display, was already on my previous camera, the PowerShot A80, but is apparently no longer an option on the A series of PowerShot cameras (at least, the 710 IS doesn’t have it, and apparently, there are no A8xx or A9xx ones). This feature sounds like a dumb gimmick and time-waster until you’ve used it, after which you’ll never want a camera without it again. It especially makes for some great outdoor shots, particularly if you’re afraid of heights: while the camera lens looks down, the display doesn’t have to, so neither do you.

Another is the movie mode. This has become more common on consumer cameras, but the limitations on average cameras are often, in my opinion, prohibitive. The S1 IS, on the other hand, was rather generous.

Now, it has since been replaced by the S2 IS in April 2005, and the S3 IS in February 2006. Presumably, there will be another upgrade this following spring, possibly at PMA 2007 (the S1 and S3 were both announced at PMA expos; the S2 was not). This would mean for me to wait until early March for the successor, and I’m not sure if I can or even should.

The S3 was a minor upgrade; the equivalent of what you would likely call a “speedbump” in computer terms. Says dpreview.com:

[..] the S3 IS is in reality a minor upgrade, and with good reason; there was a lot less that needed improvement. Aside from the newer sensor, the welcome addition of a direct ISO button, sports mode and marginally bigger screen, the biggest change is the paint job, which has produced a camera that looks a lot less toy-like than the S2 IS.There is a slight improvement in image quality[..], but to be honest I think you’d struggle to see any real difference in a normal sized print.

A nudge in the right direction, but nothing spectacular. Conversely, for the S2:

[..] Canon had to make the successor to the S1 IS something more than a mere upgrade, and no one can deny they did just that, bringing improvements to virtually every aspect of the camera’s performance. The DIGIC II processor makes everything zip along at high speed, the AF illuminator gets rid of some of the low light focus problems and the beefed-up macro mode [..] is a real improvement. Image quality is very good – certainly on a par with most of its competitors – but still suffers from a slight softness and a slightly ‘over-processed’ appearance, though experimenting with the in-camera parameters and a little sympathetic post-processing means that in the right hands the S2 IS can produce images every bit as good as anything else in its class.

It’s funny that they mention macro mode, as I’ve found it to be hugely lacking, especially when compared to the A80 I had before that. Indeed, macro mode was clearly the one thing I disliked the most. The S2 adds (and the S3 retains) a “super macro mode”, which allows you to focus as close as zero millimeters, i.e. to hold the lens directly against an object, though this introduces considerable distortion (fisheye effect), but still can make for rather interesting results. I can’t wait to try this out one day.

Aside from macro mode, I was also still troubled by the movie mode. While they did improve that as well, I haven’t found any good reference on how well it works in low light conditions compared to the S1. It also seems that, even with the S3, Canon still uses the OpenDML M-JPEG codec. Moreover, there is still a 1 GB file size limit. Now, I realize I’m not buying a digital video camera, and that this will always be a minor feature, rather than the main area of concern. I also understand that the increased efficiency of newer codecs also calls for more powerful processors. But still, M-JPEG is rather ancient, and other digital camera manufacturers have moved to MPEG-4 quite a while ago, so it seems laziness on Canon’s part.

So my first wish for the Sx IS: a movie mode with a more modern codec (and/or a better file size limit, or none at all), better light compensation and, assuming they have yet to fix that, more flexibility during recording.

My second is a little more obscure, and perhaps downright silly: a simple GPS sensor for geotagging. I know, I know. But while Flickr’s map-based interface lets you do this, you don’t always know afterwards exactly where you made a photo (or might at least not be able to find it on a map). Perhaps they could make this an accessory. Perhaps there is such an accessory and I just don’t know. (I believe there is for various SLRs, but that doesn’t help me much.) It goes without saying that this data should naturally be encoded into the image’s EXIF/IPTC tags, so iPhoto/whatever or at least Flickr can sort it out.

Then there’s iSAPS, a technology that predicts based on statistical data what kind of scene you’re trying to shoot, and which settings would be most suitable. It doesn’t seem too outlandish to hope that this, too, will one day make it into a successor of this series of cameras.

Another highly appreciated but unlikely desire would be an uncompressed format. Seriously, how hard could it be? It doesn’t have to be RAW; TIFF (or heck, PNG) will do fine. Just give me something to work with that doesn’t deteriorate the taken image right from the start. It’s not too big of a deal, but it’s not too sensible either to leave it out. SLRs aren’t the reason either; the G6 even supported RAW (yet the G7 no longer does).

Chances are the S4 won’t deliver even a fraction of what I’m hoping for, so I’ll probably just wait for the S3 to become cheaper, and get that. It’s a shame, though; the S3 is a formidable camera, but some of the areas it is lacking in are for no particular technical reason, and purely the feeble attempt of nudging the customer towards an SLR. Oh well.