Canon S95 vs Canon S120 Image Quality

[archiebald]

Hi All,
For the last couple of years I have been building my U/W rig up based on;

• Canon S95
• Canon WP-DC38
• Inon 28LD Mount
• Inon arm system & Strobes
• Inon UCL-165LD close up lens
• Inon UWL-H100 wide angle lens (recent purchase)

Because this is all based on the Inon LD bayonet mount, should I need to replace the S95, my choice is limited. I have been very happy with the S95 and would likely stay with Canon.

So, my question is - does anyone have any comparable underwater experience with both the S95 and S120 and can report practical improvements in image quality or ease of shooting. I can of course read the specs of both, but I am more interested in any real-world gains that would make the upgrade worthwhile since I would need to replace camera + case + Inon 28LD mount for the new case.

 

[Interceptor121]

I have been checking every single new S model as we have one S95 since years now and not upgraded yet.
In terms of ease of shooting there is no practical difference. In terms of image quality there is an improvement the S120 has more resolution (am not talking about pixels but real lines you can see) and also a smaller capture area and zoom (things will look bigger with the same UCL165LD)
With the UWL-H100 28LD you will get very wide images as there is no vignetting if you perform lens correction at 24mm
One drawback is that there is more distortion at the corners as the lens is very wide when you put the wide angle

Will you be able to see any difference? At wide very little in macro yes

Good luck

 

[archiebald]

Thanks for the feedback.

On the specs at least, the S120 is a major step up with faster and more accurate low light focusing, up to 12fps, and an improved sensor and full HD video. I know the fast frame rate is not going to help when waiting for flashes to re-charge but at least it suggests very responsive handling.

 

[TropicalSnorkeler]

Having used the S90 for many years, I did not upgrade to the S100 or S110 because with the Canon housing the corners in pictures were very soft, which was not true of the S90/S95.

Are the corners sharper with the Canon housing on the S120? What about with the Ikelite housing? I would love to see some sample pictures.

 

[Interceptor121]

Having used the S90 for many years, I did not upgrade to the S100 or S110 because with the Canon housing the corners in pictures were very soft, which was not true of the S90/S95.

Are the corners sharper with the Canon housing on the S120? What about with the Ikelite housing? I would love to see some sample pictures.

I think you are making some confusion here. The S100/S110/S120 are equally sharp than the S90/S95 in fact maybe more

However from the S100 onwards the camera have a 24mm lens. Any picture at focal length below 35mm suffers from what is called pincushion distortion, this gets worse the wider the lens. If you zoom an S100 at 28mm you have the same effect and if you zoom the S95 and the S120 to 35mm both will have better image quality, this is the whole reason why you need a wet lens in water to have decent picture quality

Examples
Camera at 24mm




Camera at 28mm


Camera at 35mm


You can see how the 35mm picture looks better but the camera is the same is only the focal length changing

 

[Kalab]

Interceptor121, do you have an Adobe Lightroom lens profile (perhaps a custom one) that you apply to correct the pincushion distortion? With and without a UWL-H100 28LD for the s95? I'd be really interested in that and willing to part with some cash for a good lens profile.

 

[Interceptor121]

You only get pincushion distortion at 24-32 mm and to be honest shooting at those focal lengths is useless. With the inon lens you get fairly rectilinear image with no need for correction. So I don't use lens profiles

 

[Kalab]

You only get pincushion distortion at 24-32 mm and to be honest shooting at those focal lengths is useless. With the inon lens you get fairly rectilinear image with no need for correction. So I don't use lens profiles

With the Inon UWL-H100 wide angle lens do you zoom the camera's own lens fully out or in? Do you mean that zoomed out with the wet lens there is negligible distortion?

 

[Interceptor121]

Wet lenses are designed for a given focal length in this case 28mm. Sometimes it can work at 24mm and other times at 35mm.
Pincushion distortion only applies to flat ports not to wide angle lenses (that correct the problem)