Canon S5 IS

I started searching for a new camera from November 2007. My cousin owns a Sony Cybershot DSC-H2, about two years old. He suggested me to check out their new model, Sony Cybershot DSC-H7. The price was about Rs.16500/- in a grey market and around Rs. 19000/- inclusive of 1 GB Memory stick in the authorised showroom.

I started reading the user reviews on dpreview.com and found out as follows
Pros : 8 megapixel , 15x Zoom ie 31 - 465mm (35mm eq.), zoom feature while movie recording. Lithum Ion Batterry, Image ascpect ratio 4:3, 3:2, 16:9., Video out : Normal and HD
Cons : Screen resolution is only 115,000, Design, No horse shoe for external Flash, Difficult menu system. Memory Stick as a memory storage.

I decided not to buy this one because of reviews that the screen resolution is horrible and it is difficult to see when you are in open. The other point is this camera uses the memory stick to store images which is Sony's Proprietary Memory. I would not have been able to use my SD memory cards, of all sizes, which I have collected all these years.

Then I moved to Paasonic Lumix FZ18. This was available for Rs.18500/-

Pros : 8 megapixel , Image aspect ratio 4:3, 3:2, 16: , Screen resolution 207,000 Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery, Everything like Sony H7 but the Zoom range is out of this world 18x i.e 28-504mm (35mm eq.), Excellent Image Stabilization.

Cons : No zoom in Movie Mode, No horse shoe for external Flash

This camera had excellent user reviews on www.dpreview.com. There are several video review available on Youtube as well. Also a review at www.cameralabs.com was very informative. But as I use movie mode quite often, not having a zooming facility while filming was a deal breaker.

While searching for a a camera with good screen resolution , zoom facility in Movie mode I came across a video on youtube.com for CANON S5 IS, which was posted from Cameralabs.com. This was as detailed video review as you can do. The presenter discussed about the camera features at length and then the camera was taken to locations and the movie was taken of Paragliding adventure. We were shown how the image stabilizer works. How silent is the zoom in movie mode etc. This sealed the deal for me. Why?, you may wonder...

Last year i.e December 2007 I went to Panchgani (Maharashtra, India), where I experienced this Paragliding adventure. That time my husband-not a camera enthusiast- shot a movie of my jump, with the old Nikon coolpix 3700. It was heartbreaking to come back from such adventure to find that its nothing but huge camera shakes. When I saw the movie about the paragliding less camera shakes I did not wait a second to take my decision to buy CANON S5 IS. I have just started learning about different features, I haven't got a chance to take it out. But whatever little I have used it I think I like it.

This camera was available for Rs.15,000/- in a grey market and for Rs. 20,000/- in the canon authorised shop including Batteries, Charger and a camera Bag.

Pros : 8 megapixel , 12x Zoom ie 36 - 432mm (35mm eq.), zoom feature while movie recording. Best feature is the Tilt screen which can be rotated any way, Stereo sound through 2 microphones placed on either side of the lense, Horse Shoe for external flash, SD Memory card.

Cons : As per several user reviews on www.dpreview.com the lense cap does not stay on the lense. I don't find that much of a problem. For me AAA batteries was a major put off. I somehow loved the Lithium Ion Flat Battery of Nikon Coolpix 3700.

I will write about the features more in other posts.

So. Keep in touch.