Alert: Don't buy early production S100

[TonyY]

Dpreview can't complete S100 review: "we've used three S100s, and the delay has been caused by concerns over optical issues displayed by the cameras that we've seen.", "...third sample that I have looked at, and the third with what appears to be a slightly decentered lens. Quality control issues can affect cameras from early production batches"

full link: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8370332082/first-impressions-using-the-canon-powershot-s100

 

[5L1M]

I think im right in saying that ALL the early production models have been sold, there are only a couple of stockists in the UK that have the S100, the rest are taking pre orders with no date on the arrival of their stock.. brilliant.

Was going to make the move to a Fujifilm X10 and I am still tempted but I will need a waterproof case and manual zooms not ideal for this.

 

[dstppy]

Been sort of waiting for an update here; can anyone confirm we're on a 'new batch' yet?

Thanks

 

[Loswr]

Been sort of waiting for an update here; can anyone confirm we're on a 'new batch' yet?

I can't confirm that a 'new batch' is available, but given the time elapsed, I'd think so.

What I can confirm that the decentering issue found by DPR was not a universal problem. My S100 was an early pre-order from Amazon (minutes after orders were possible), and arrived in late October, so I presume that was an early batch. I tested mine pretty thoroughly and found no decentering - there is some corner softness, especially at f/2 on the wide end, but it's symmetrical.

I did...ummm...'enjoy' reading the comments on the DPR forums about the issue (I don't post there, CR is far more civil). They seemed to boil down to 'DPR is awesome so the S100 must suck' vs. 'my S100 is fine and takes great pics' vs. 'anyone who says their S100 is fine wouldn't know a sharp picture if they cut their finger on it.' Nevertheless, I feel pretty comfortable saying 'my S100 is fine and takes great pics' (within reasonable expectations). FWIW, my testing setup includes, among other things, an Applied Image QA-77-3 resolution chart (an ISO 12233 chart with extra features) that costs half again what the S100 costs.

 

[briansquibb]

I did...ummm...'enjoy' reading the comments on the DPR forums about the issue (I don't post there, CR is far more civil). They seemed to boil down to 'DPR is awesome so the S100 must suck' vs. 'my S100 is fine and takes great pics' vs. 'anyone who says their S100 is fine wouldn't know a sharp picture if they cut their finger on it.' Nevertheless, I feel pretty comfortable saying 'my S100 is fine and takes great pics' (within reasonable expectations).

It is interesting reading comments from P&S people ;D ;D ;D ;D

I bought my wife a G12 for Christmas (the discounted price made it very attractive) as a replacement for her old Powershot A550. I found it illuminating to hear her list of requirements. IQ didn't come as a priority - just ease of use, long battery life, easy to hold (that ruled out the S100 as she likes a chunkier camera), good focus, optical viewfinder. She says the G12 is really nice to use and the pics are good (she tends to only print up to 7x5, although my test print at A4 gave decent results) - she only wants the take jpeg and do no significant pp. She was much more concerned that my 430EXII fits on the hotshoe as she wants to take indoors pics of the family (so that ruled out most P&S) - although I expect that is something she has learnt from me as I am a frequent flash user 8) 8) 8)

 

[iTasneem]

How we know a camera is early production?