PowerShot Zoom on the way

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I just received a shipping notice from B&H. Its free but slow shipping, so it will take until Dec 10 to get here. I am curious about it but don't have very high expectations as a camera. It might be better than my old binoculars though I'll just have to try it.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Did anyone actually get one of these?

Mine is still circling around in a Fedex truck. It was due last week but Fedex Home seems almost totally jammed up. It was on the delivery truck today, but did not make it. Now, the delivery is changed to Monday. The camera was shipped December 3.

I won't knowingly order anything via Fedex Home for Christmas. It won't make it. USPS is managing, and so far, UPS makes their schedules but forget Fedex Home. I had pre-ordered the camera quite a while back, it was supposed to ship in November but did nor make that.

I have until Feburary 2 or some such date to return it if I don't like it.

 

[HeavyPiper]

I understand your frustration with Fedex. Every time we ship boxes off to our sons family it always takes longer then what we are told.
I think we shall drive down the street to UPS next time.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

It did not get here yesterday either, just rode around in the delivery truck all day. They sent a email about 8pm saying it could not be delivered due to weather. We do have 1/4 inch of snow, and roads can be icy. I think their issue was just too many deliveries for the driver to handle combined with having to drive more slowly.

I'm not sure I expect it on Monday, that's the busiest day of the week. I am also wondering about the condition of the camera after the beating its taking. There were likely hundreds of pounds of parcels jammed on top of it.

USPS is making a delivery today of a Amazon package. It started at the Amazon warehouse in Spokane, then to Seattle then back to Spokane. The USPS Main Processing Facility in Spokane is close to the Amazon Warehouse, a couple of miles away.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I had a email saying it was delivered a little after 7PM tonight (Sunday) but no one had heard a truck. I checked the front porch, wee have about 2 inches of fresh snow and no package and no tire tracks. I mentioned it to my wife and she suggested that I try the old Mobile Home that has been converted to a photo studio and warehouse for my business. It has a auto porch light and looks like someone might live inside. Its 200 or 300 feet away from our house towards the main road. So, I bundled up and sure enough, the truck had unloaded there at the loading dock by the front door. Fortunately, it is covered. Suprisingly, the outer box was in good condition and the camera box inside looked good.

I brought the camera back to the house and opened it. The first thing you see is a Australia / New Zealand Warranty?? Looking closer, its actually a multi area one that covers USA and Canada as well as what may be China.

I plugged it in to the USB PD charger cord on my desktop and it started charging away while I found a Micro SD card and installed it.

Then, even though it had a partial charge, I turned it on, adjusted the diopter and found the display clear and easy to read. The time setting came up and there were enough hints and a little trial and error let me set up time, date, display format. I played with the zoom button. Noise was definitely a issue at 400mm, even in my very brightly lit office. At 200 mm, it seemed fine. I took a couple photos and a video, but then formatted the card without checking them. I then checked the menu, its laid out similar to my R5 except only a few settings. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on, I did not try to do anything with them, but I'll definitely want to download photos either via USB or Wi-Fi. Firmware 1.0.0.

There is no "Print" button, a Canon first


I have it charging again. My first negative observation is how difficult it is to set up. This is a camera that needs a C1-C3 set of memories and it doesn't have them. I can't feel or locate the buttons so I have to look. That turns the EVF off but it goes on when held to my eye. Its a slow painful process and I had to go back and correct the settings a few times because I pushed the wrong button, or more likely, the speed at which it moves thru options caused my to be on the wrong one. In a second, it can move thru a dozen or even 30 or 40. You need just a quick tap of the button you can't feel. I find that the buttons are easier to operate in portrait mode.

I just plugged it in to my PC, it was found but Canon Utility did not see it, I'll need to find out if and how its supported. I'd like to download a test image but am resisting pulling the micro SD card out and putting it in a adapter to read it. I'm going to download the user manual rather than use the printed one with small print on a large page full of folds.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

What a hassle to get photos into my PC. You can only transfer to a phone via Wi-Fi. My phone is broken and I am using my old iPhone. I used the Bluetooth method to set it up and transferred images fine. Then, I used my Lightroom app to sync with the adobe cloud and then to my PC.

Even in what I considered bright light, the shot of my little dog sitting next to me was at 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. That's a slow shutter speed for 200mm equivalent but I don't see a lot of motion blur in the photo. There is very little if any fine detail in the photo, it looks like a lot of NR. With a tiny sensor at a high ISO like that, I guess its to be expected.

Just to give you a idea of what it looks like, I've attached the image. I'll try tomorrow in daylight but this time of the year, its pretty gray. The first photo is definitely not impressive. The main function is to use as a monocular so I'll evaluate that as well.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I went out in the snow today and played with it. While I could get it to use lower ISO's and higher shutter speeds, the images were still lacking in fine detail. Its not a matter of the 12 MP, but apparently heavy NR.

I did find it difficult to hand hold at 800mm but 400mm worked ok. I don't think such a small sensor is capable of doing any better, but the lens may be lacking.

My large hands were a issue in holding it, and my large fingers with little feeling were also a issue. My thought is that the unit will be a paper weight, its just too hard for me to use and the battery will run down if its not kept charged so it won't be ready for the once a month use.

I'm inclined to return it.

The good is that it will slip into a reasonably sized pocket but no lens cover might be a problem, it does not include a pouch.

Video's are pretty much the same story.

 

[Jethro]

Hmm - a little disappointing but I guess not entirely unexpected. So: good idea not particularly well executed?

 

[Joules]

Hmm - a little disappointing but I guess not entirely unexpected. So: good idea not particularly well executed?

It should beat a smartphone for subjects more than a couple meters away - And that's really all that can be expected from such a tiny device. Don't think the execution is the problem here - It's physics.