Canon S100

[TheYellowSubmarine]

I was forced to go to Best Buy the other day for a present for my niece. So, I took my S90 back to the camera section and compared it to the S100. I hate to tell y'all this but the S100 lens does IN FACT rack in and out further than the S90/95. That is not a good thing for wide angle lens use. The port will have to be longer and the distance the camera lens is at from the port glass at the 28mm and 35mm settings (as required for various wet lenses) is noticeably greater.

N

Thanks Nemrod,
Means I don't have to think about getting a S100 to upgrade the S90 and I can save up for my DSLR / four thirds

 

[Nemrod]

Thanks Nemrod,
Means I don't have to think about getting a S100 to upgrade the S90 and I can save up for my DSLR / four thirds

Well, I was disappointed but it is what it is. The lens seems to rack further and most important, the lens moves rearward from the 24mm position to the 28mm and 35mm positions which is where the lens needs to be with all existing wet lenses. There is no way around that and that is bad for use with wide angle lenses. I am not completely ready to rule it out all the way but this does not look good.

Well, yeah, as much as I hate to say it, as much as I do not want to go back to dragging an SLR around it could be a retirement present. But, we will see, not like I cannot take "nice" pictures with what I got.

N

 

[gee13]

If this theory is indeed correct...Why would a company whos elite R&D and marketing entourage who are aware of their large presence in uw photography produce a camera with such limitations - coming after a string of successful compact class cameras in S90 / S95 and G series??? It doesnt stack up.

 

[surf4life]

The Fisheye Fix S100 housing is listed at Reef Photo and offers additional 52mm or 67mm add on adapters. Not sure if it's in stock, but looks to be the final version. Also, looks like housing went up in price by $100 and not sure how much those adapters will be costing. I'd imagine they'll be testing some lenses and offer a hands on opinion about what lenses will work best.

 

[Nemrod]

If this theory is indeed correct...Why would a company whos elite R&D and marketing entourage who are aware of their large presence in uw photography produce a camera with such limitations - coming after a string of successful compact class cameras in S90 / S95 and G series??? It doesnt stack up.

If you mean Canon? Then truthfully, I seriously doubt if Canon gives a flying flip if their cameras, including the S100, work with the Inon or Fisheye lenses or any other third party housing. They sell quite a few of the leaky, plasti-cases and beyond that, no, they do not care. Not on their radar screen. The long zoom lenses have never been good for use with wet lenses, not on the G series or any other brand of long zoom compact. The wet lenses are by design intended for use with either a 35mm native lens or a 28mm native lens and Inon states that a zoom ratio much beyond 3X is problematic. The S100 is well beyond 3X and worse, it is native 24mm, that means the lens will need to back up (it backs up through about 24mm to 50mm before racking forward to full zoom) quite a bit more than the S90/S95 which do not have to zoom at all with the Fisheye UWL-04 and only marginal 32mm to 35mm zoom for the Inon UFL165AD which I use and many others use quite happily on their S90/S95.

I went to Best Buy for a gift for my niece and while there compared the new S100 directly to my S90, it darn sure looks like it has a longer zoom to me and the zoom rack distance is greater and it is DEFINITELY going to retreat further to be at either 28mm or 35mm which means, can you say VIGNETTING.

If I am wrong, great, but don't count on it until somebody actually sticks the lenses on the housing and says different and show the photos to prove it.

At this point in time, now, what three years past the wonderful S90, not sure the S series would be my go to in the S100 flavor, there are now several other interesting choices available in a similar TOTAL PACKAGE price.

N, ever the skeptic

 

[Gujustud]

Whats the chances that a S95 recsea housing can be 'converted' to use with the S100?

Why? Because I currently have the S95 + Recsea and I don't see myself selling the Recsea housing to upgrade to the S100. If the only difference here is the lens on the S100 (hoping that all the buttons line up with the S95) then I'll look into making a upgraded lens port for the S95 Recsea housing.

My dad has his own small CNC machine shop (where I worked for 7 years) so I have access to making another lens port for the current recsea housing. From what I can see it just requires unbolting the lens port from the inside and remaking a new one to the same specs to keep it sealed.

 

[NautilusCairns]

The new Recsea 1000 housing (not a typo) looks interesting with a full surround front dial and a larger dial at the rear. Certainly not a simply modified S90/95 housing.

 

[Ryan]

Fisheye has published a very nice comparison. To summarize, many lenses work well, but FIX UWL-30M52 seems to be the best value.

 

[flareside]

Ryan:

Can you provide us a link to image where we enlarge it to see how good the focus is? I'm not near as worried about the vignetting as I am the focus.

Thanks.

 

[Ryan]

I don't have the individual files, just the image posted. There are prototypes in the field, so you'll see some real world samples soon.

Sharpness of a given wet mate conversion lens is pretty consistent from camera to camera, and these all have good reputations.