Opinions of Canon S80 and A710

[ejg62]

I have several questions on these camera's:

1. What are peoples opinion of the Canon S80? How long have you had it? and would you recommend this camera.

2. Has anyone heard when the Canon A710 should be released? I spoke with a camera store and their reply is now even though they do not have it in stock.

thanks

Jim

 

[shellbackdiver1]

I have had a Canon S80 for 6 months. The S80 took good pictures under the water right out of the box. Now that I am getting better and starting to use the full manual features my pics are starting to look DSLRish....IMO. Also the video quality is good.

I still think its one of the few point and shoot cameras that have full manual control, wide angle lens, 8 mega pixels and UW housing makers make a case for it. These were items that I wanted when choosing a camera. You can check (compare shooping requirements) at www.dpreview.com

I would buy the camera again.

 

[yinghaw]

I bought my S80 last december. Was quite happy with it. But the Macro shots were not excellent. I was expecting sharper and more detailed results. But it's still acceptable.

The Manual mode, let you set your own shutter speed, aperature, and lighting strength for different environment. yeah it's kind of like a stepping stone for the next level of photography --> DSLR. I'm still learning in this part.

If you use flash too often, the camera will fog up quite easily. I'd suggest to turn the camera on only when you found something to shoot, and leave it in 'off' mode while diving.

White balance or lights??
white balance if the ambient light is enough, you can still afford to use faster shutter speed. But if the surrounding is dim, aperature set to the lowest, and shutter speed will still be to low for a decent shot. S80 don't have image stabliser. Especially macro shots. I'd normally use white balance for wide angle and the result is quite pleasing.
There's a few strength setting for the internal flash. I'd normally, set the middle strength and F5.4-F6.3 for macro shots. But using the internal flash will leave a shadow of the housing at the lower right corner.

S80, to me generally a good camera, but I think it'll work better with an external strobe and a close-up lens. I'm saving money for that. I'm quite happy with the 28mm wide angle this camera can produce.

 

[spankey]

S80, had it for about 2 months now. havent had a chance to get it wet yet but the features, settings and image quality is awsome. and you can control all the features with the standard canon housing.

 

[CompuDude]

S80, had it since April, I think. Love it. Wish macro was a little closer, but the fact that I can add an Inon maco lens makes up for that. The WA lens is nice to have... not as wide as hardcore WA lens, but an improvement over other cameras nonetheless. Pics are beautiful, sharp, and detailed.

I've only used an A540 from the A series, but I hated using it after the S series cameras. The A series are MUCH less responsive.

Ed_dman uses an S80 in a stock housing and no strobe, if I recall correctly (I may be wrong about the strobe, but I do think he uses the stock housing... regardless, the housing doesn't take the pictures). If you want to see how good it can get, take a look at his pix. He has a thread in the main photo forum right now that's just incredible.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=158041

Bad news: Ebay is about the only place you can get these right now. Canon discontinued them for some unknown reason so every large online site on the planet is out of them.

 

[29South]

i have just purchased a a710 and it is a good camera (for a point and shoot).. i was after a S80 but it seems to be discontinued. So if its a new camera you are after, get the a710is.

Dont wish to start or participate in a flame war but dont start to imagine the S80 can produce "DSLRish" picture quality...i like the S80 a lot, but a DSLR it aint. Nothing to do with the sensor, or camera image processing... its the lens. My normal everyday lens, a 24-85mm lens cost the same as an S80.

I have a Canon EOS D30 and cannot get a housing, and since i know i will need to spend >$1.5k on flash equipment i chose to get a decent P&S like the A710 and the canon housing.

In truth, the limitation of a good photographer is rarely his camera. Get decent, basic equipment and spend the $$$ on strobes as soon as you can... lighting is more important than pixels.

 

[Scuba-dooby-doo]

i have just purchased a a710 and it is a good camera (for a point and shoot).. i was after a S80 but it seems to be discontinued. So if its a new camera you are after, get the a710is.

I too was after an S80, but the one store that I found that said they had one turned out to be backordered. Unfortunately, I already had all of the accessories, but not enough time before my Cancun/Cozumel vacation last week to order something else. Luckily, I was able to borrow a friend's Sony CyberShot P93 for the trip so that we at least had something.

That was my first time taking underwater pics, and I definitely agree with the comment about spending the bucks on a strobe. Unless you can get really close to the subject for the built-in flash to hit it, you get a blue/bland image that doesn't come close to justifying the actual color of what you saw.

Now that I have received a refund for the imaginary S80 that I ordered, I'm looking to get something that I can grow into. I was originally impressed by the A640, but lack of image stabilization seems to be a big concern for many users. The A710 would seem like the logical other option, but the lower megapixels is where it sounds like it is falling short. If the G7 is where I need to be, then I'll save the extra cash and buy that on in a while, but is it really going to make that much of a difference over the 640 or 710? The price difference is significant, so I'm wondering if the quality of the u/w pics would also reflect the additional cost.

 

[alcina]

The quality of the photos will be determined by the photographer, not really the cameras when you start talking about the models you are looking at. Could there be differences? Of course, but they are going to be, in general, so insignificant that I wouldn't worry.

Nothing wrong with the 640. You likely won't use IS underwater, but it might be a feature you desire on land.

So many options! If you haven't already, have a look at the pink link in my sig...I've tried to add new links to various models as they come up.

 

[CompuDude]

I too was after an S80, but the one store that I found that said they had one turned out to be backordered. Unfortunately, I already had all of the accessories, but not enough time before my Cancun/Cozumel vacation last week to order something else. Luckily, I was able to borrow a friend's Sony CyberShot P93 for the trip so that we at least had something.

That was my first time taking underwater pics, and I definitely agree with the comment about spending the bucks on a strobe. Unless you can get really close to the subject for the built-in flash to hit it, you get a blue/bland image that doesn't come close to justifying the actual color of what you saw.

Now that I have received a refund for the imaginary S80 that I ordered, I'm looking to get something that I can grow into. I was originally impressed by the A640, but lack of image stabilization seems to be a big concern for many users. The A710 would seem like the logical other option, but the lower megapixels is where it sounds like it is falling short. If the G7 is where I need to be, then I'll save the extra cash and buy that on in a while, but is it really going to make that much of a difference over the 640 or 710? The price difference is significant, so I'm wondering if the quality of the u/w pics would also reflect the additional cost.

I love my S80, so I'm biased, but I still think it's your best bet. You'll just need to go to eBay to find one. They have both new and used available.

I think IS is something that could be used underwater, but for taking available light shots in darker areas without blur, moreso than freezing football shots like on land. The S80 doesn't have it. But there is a rumored replacement in the works. No reliable release date info, however, so it could be a long wait. Me, I'd go for the S80 off eBay and start shooting!

 

[29South]

I was originally impressed by the A640, but lack of image stabilization seems to be a big concern for many users. The A710 would seem like the logical other option, but the lower megapixels is where it sounds like it is falling short. If the G7 is where I need to be, then I'll save the extra cash and buy that on in a while, but is it really going to make that much of a difference over the 640 or 710? The price difference is significant, so I'm wondering if the quality of the u/w pics would also reflect the additional cost.

unless you are expecting to make monster size prints a 5-7m pixel camera is more than adequate. Remember it takes a 4x increase in resolution for an apparent doubling. I produce 11*17 from my (gasp) 3.1MP EOS D30 and it is only at the extreme magnification i see differences between this and the 20D.

Save the extra cash and put it into strobes..

Another reason is the seemingly inevitable flooding of a camera...mebbe this is why i am loathe to sacrifice my DSLR?..lol