I’ve been looking for a companion for my old 7.1-megapixel Canon PowerShot G6 camera and when Canon announced the production of the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS about three months ago, I decided there and then that this would be the camera that could fit nicely into my plan.
Basically, I want three things – things that the G6 has none – namely a long zoom, a wide-angle lens and fast continuous shot.
I was thinking then that if the SX1 IS was any good, I might put the G6 to rest, shelve it away somewhere safe – or give it away – and stick to the SX1 IS for all my phototaking activities.
I realise now that while that is possible, I’m going to miss some of G6′s superior capabilities, notwithstanding its age (I bought the trusted little machine in 2004), namely its superb, sometimes DSLR-like, image quality; super-duper macro performance and RAW capture.
I’ve been looking for a companion for the G6 and it looks like I have found one in the SX1 IS.
But that is all there is – a companion. It has all three things that I want – a long zoom, a wide-angle lens and fast continuous shot – and more, like the HD movie and the nice 16:9 aspect ratio capability.
I took the SX1 IS for a photohunt today and very pleased with its overall performance. It performs exceptionally well in outdoor environment.
The CMOS sensor in the SX1 IS – a first in any Canon compact camera – is really that: a first. And as in any first, there are bound to be things that can be improved on.
It looks like I will still be flogging old the G6 to perform special tasks even though I already have the shiny new SX1 IS.
I particularly like the macro mode in the G6 as you can zoom in on the subject even in super macro mode, something which the SX1 IS is unable to do despite its zero cm macro capability.
I now wonder how does the SX10 IS perform considering Canon’s success in CCD-based compact camera.
NOTE: All photos here are taken casually and sometimes in a hurry. So they are not the results of careful phototaking. Furthermore, I know nuts about serious photography. I’ve seen some sample pictures of the SX1 IS taken by others that left me wishing I could take as good a picture.
