I'm sure both of them are popular, I am having an old S50 and is looking for something new. How about after and before adding macro lens to both, and after, does it make the comparison different? I only noticed that S80 has built in wide-angle, but A640 is using regular AA batteries.
S80 vs. A620
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The Canon macro lens is for use on land only, unless I am mistaken.
The wide angle lens on the S80 is wider than most, but it barely qualifies as truly "wide angle", IMO. For real wide angle photos you'll want a true WAL.
That said, I love my S80.
They're getting hard to find in stock, however.
The wide angle lens on the S80 is wider than most, but it barely qualifies as truly "wide angle", IMO. For real wide angle photos you'll want a true WAL.
That said, I love my S80.
They're getting hard to find in stock, however.
Dragon2115
Guest
I'm trying to make the same decision alo100. On one hand the S80's lens has a better range for UW use, but on the other the A620 uses AA batteries which can be much more convenient when travelling in foreign countries, which happens to be important to me. The other difference I've found is that the Canon housing for the S80 accomodates a WAL whereas the housing for the A620 does not. I do like the 2.5" lcd on the S80 vs. the 2.0" one on the A620. Then there's the cost. I'd feel marginally better if I flooded a $200 camera instead of a $450 camera. If the S80 still supported RAW I'd go with it but where Canon dropped that the dicision isn't as easy now.
Dragon2115
Guest
My vote would be for the A620 first. It seems like the best all around compromise from my point of view.
I lowered my opinion of the S80 because it's powered up by sliding the cover open. That means I would have to open the case and turn it on while on the boat or at the beach before the dive. I prefer a power switch so that I can seal the case in a safe environment and check it for leaks before I leave for the boat or beach.
The F30 started to really get my interest until I saw this, "The only things missing are manual focus and the ability to set the shutter speed and aperture at the same time." I don't care about the manual focus so much as the inability to manually set shutter and aperture simultaneously. The manual focus is important too so don't get me wrong, but I think I could get around that easier than the shutter/aperture. For me that's a show stopper with this one.
P.S. I hope I'm wrong and there is a way to turn the S80 on and off while inside the UW case. Then I would be back to the main issue being cost and the battery type.
I lowered my opinion of the S80 because it's powered up by sliding the cover open. That means I would have to open the case and turn it on while on the boat or at the beach before the dive. I prefer a power switch so that I can seal the case in a safe environment and check it for leaks before I leave for the boat or beach.
The F30 started to really get my interest until I saw this, "The only things missing are manual focus and the ability to set the shutter speed and aperture at the same time." I don't care about the manual focus so much as the inability to manually set shutter and aperture simultaneously. The manual focus is important too so don't get me wrong, but I think I could get around that easier than the shutter/aperture. For me that's a show stopper with this one.
P.S. I hope I'm wrong and there is a way to turn the S80 on and off while inside the UW case. Then I would be back to the main issue being cost and the battery type.
The Ikelight case allows you to turn the camera on and off. It has a little windshield wiper arm that flicks the front panel open and closed. Not sure about the Canon one, but it would surprise me if they did not have some mechanism in place.
That said, I always open mine anyway after two dives to change the battery, whether it needs it or not. Rotate in a freshly charged one and stick the other in the charger.
I believe the Canon charger works on 120 or 240, which, with a regular universal adapter set that you should carry anywhen travelling abroad, should allow you to charge in non-U.S. power situations. I'd want to verify that, but that is my belief. Also, I know for a fact that third parties make chargers for Canon batteries that should work on alternate voltages, should the Canon one not for whatever reason. You can also consider the fact that Canon sells all of their cameras overseas, as well, which use the same batteries but have different chargers, so it is very possible that you can get a true Canon charger that will work in your destination of choice.
AAs are handy, but I prefer Lithiums for compact size and long life. The small price difference (over time) doesn't bother me.
That said, I always open mine anyway after two dives to change the battery, whether it needs it or not. Rotate in a freshly charged one and stick the other in the charger.
I believe the Canon charger works on 120 or 240, which, with a regular universal adapter set that you should carry anywhen travelling abroad, should allow you to charge in non-U.S. power situations. I'd want to verify that, but that is my belief. Also, I know for a fact that third parties make chargers for Canon batteries that should work on alternate voltages, should the Canon one not for whatever reason. You can also consider the fact that Canon sells all of their cameras overseas, as well, which use the same batteries but have different chargers, so it is very possible that you can get a true Canon charger that will work in your destination of choice.
AAs are handy, but I prefer Lithiums for compact size and long life. The small price difference (over time) doesn't bother me.
dtech
Registered
the s80 can be shut off while in the uw cannon case by pressing the func/set button for several seconds. To turn it back on again press the shutter button half way.
Dragon2115
Guest
I was thinking that it would be pretty dumb to not be able to turn it on and off inside the housing. But I've seen some really dumb engineering in the past so I wasn't going to put anything beyond the realm of possibility here.
On the battery charging it's not the wall voltage that's the problem as most modern chargers can handle anywhere between 85 and 230 volts. It's the frequency that can cause problems, even with universal input voltage chargers. Typically what happens when you use one of these chargers on 50 Hz power rather than 60 Hz is you end up with an undercharged battery because it messes with the peak detection curcuitry, plus additional heat in the charger circuitry which may kill it prematurely. I agree that another charger could be perchased but imo that's kind of a waste of money unless you're someone that travels a lot. And that won't save you if the battery actually fails. If that happens you better already have a spare or you may be sol depending on where you are at the time. Basically you have no options at that point. With the AA option you can get high-capacity NiMh batteries and a charger. The batteries will cost less. In fact it would be likely that with a little shopping you could get two sets of NiMh batteries and a charger for less than the cost of one camera specific lithium. Plus, the charger will not be battery specific. Any manufacturers AA NiMh cell can be charged. And if they fail you have the option to switch to regular alkaline AA's to get through the trip.
The more I think about it the more the A620 seems to be the better choice for my particular situation.
On the battery charging it's not the wall voltage that's the problem as most modern chargers can handle anywhere between 85 and 230 volts. It's the frequency that can cause problems, even with universal input voltage chargers. Typically what happens when you use one of these chargers on 50 Hz power rather than 60 Hz is you end up with an undercharged battery because it messes with the peak detection curcuitry, plus additional heat in the charger circuitry which may kill it prematurely. I agree that another charger could be perchased but imo that's kind of a waste of money unless you're someone that travels a lot. And that won't save you if the battery actually fails. If that happens you better already have a spare or you may be sol depending on where you are at the time. Basically you have no options at that point. With the AA option you can get high-capacity NiMh batteries and a charger. The batteries will cost less. In fact it would be likely that with a little shopping you could get two sets of NiMh batteries and a charger for less than the cost of one camera specific lithium. Plus, the charger will not be battery specific. Any manufacturers AA NiMh cell can be charged. And if they fail you have the option to switch to regular alkaline AA's to get through the trip.
The more I think about it the more the A620 seems to be the better choice for my particular situation.
Both you and the review are correct, the so called manual mode doesn't allow you to choose both Aperature and shutter speed, and that's a big limitation; however, it still allow you to do some special cases.
I checked the ISO. It's funny how ISO was used for the films and how they are being used for digital cameras. For the filmed cameras, we got an idea how the speed/granularity is like with we choose between 100, 400, and 1000. Different cameras but the granularity of the same ISO gives you v. close results. Nowadays your ISO 400 is not the same as my ISO 400, maybe the senors can sense the in comming light at the same speed but the singal to noise ratio are different from camera to camera.
F30 claimed the availability of ISO 3200 but many would commented the resulted image is having the quality of a water color painting. Yes, it is. However, the real question is, does the corresponding low ISO offering better images. e.g. ISO 100 to 400. I used the point-and-shot F30, set it to ISO 400 and shot a picture with tele, then another camera with the same setting, tele mode as well. The image at the far side was a document with large font characters. After taking those pictures, I zoomed in too see how well the characters was formed. The F30 does have a more clear defined boundaries for the characters => lower noise to signal ratio.
Of course, I can still see the difference between ISO 100 and ISO 400, or even between ISO 100 and ISO 200, with a slight magification. So enough lighting is still the key for the picture, from strobe or natural light. Plus, of course, the amount of light getting into a DC lens is going to be different from the amount of light getting into a DSLR.
However, provided that there are plenty of light, many mini DC can perform well already. I searched around and found this picture, what do you think?
This is pretty crazy... f30 mouted to a Swarovski telescope:
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/212-1/2006_0115tri0025.jpg
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/206-1/2006_0115tri0016.jpg
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/218-1/2006_0107tri0130_filtered.jpg
I checked the ISO. It's funny how ISO was used for the films and how they are being used for digital cameras. For the filmed cameras, we got an idea how the speed/granularity is like with we choose between 100, 400, and 1000. Different cameras but the granularity of the same ISO gives you v. close results. Nowadays your ISO 400 is not the same as my ISO 400, maybe the senors can sense the in comming light at the same speed but the singal to noise ratio are different from camera to camera.
F30 claimed the availability of ISO 3200 but many would commented the resulted image is having the quality of a water color painting. Yes, it is. However, the real question is, does the corresponding low ISO offering better images. e.g. ISO 100 to 400. I used the point-and-shot F30, set it to ISO 400 and shot a picture with tele, then another camera with the same setting, tele mode as well. The image at the far side was a document with large font characters. After taking those pictures, I zoomed in too see how well the characters was formed. The F30 does have a more clear defined boundaries for the characters => lower noise to signal ratio.
Of course, I can still see the difference between ISO 100 and ISO 400, or even between ISO 100 and ISO 200, with a slight magification. So enough lighting is still the key for the picture, from strobe or natural light. Plus, of course, the amount of light getting into a DC lens is going to be different from the amount of light getting into a DSLR.
However, provided that there are plenty of light, many mini DC can perform well already. I searched around and found this picture, what do you think?
This is pretty crazy... f30 mouted to a Swarovski telescope:
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/212-1/2006_0115tri0025.jpg
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/206-1/2006_0115tri0016.jpg
http://333.fotoc.com/wealthy/d/218-1/2006_0107tri0130_filtered.jpg
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