Canon S series

[JacknJill]

Hi all,

I have a Canon S30. I realise the battery pack can only last me for a dive < 1 hr. Also, I am irrate by the auto power saving feature. Instead of going standby mode, it goes off. So everytime, you have to start it up again when you spot something to shoot. By the time it starts up, the subject has happily swam away.

Is the S50 any better. And can people with Canon S30, S40, S45, S50 share their underwater experiences.

 

[davehicks]

I never had a much of a problem with battery on my S40. I just set the power down time out to a few minutes, and turned it on when needed. The start up time is just a few seconds, so no big delays.

I could usually get two full dives off of one battery. I'd load the camera just before the dive, and leave it in the housing between dives. (Assuming a 50 - 60 minute dive then a 1 hour interval.)

If you a really worried about the battery life you can turn off the LCD when you are not using it. This saves a lot of juice. Then just touch the controls every minute to prevent power down. Hit the LCD button again when you are ready to shoot.

All this being true, you should definately invest in a spare battery. Just swap out after each dive, and no problems.

Dave

 

[JacknJill]

Yes I do have a spare battery but grew increasingly fustrated when one of my friends on a particular dive trip, using a Sony P5 or something only needed to recharge his cells after a day out. While I am changing the batteries and regreasing in between dives, he is comfy getting a tan and chatting up girls.

Do you think getting an external strobe would help extend the usefulness of the battery. ....hmm....unlikely as it'll still relies on your built-in flash to activates it......

Also, anyone here have experience using this camera with macro and WA lens. I just got the Sea n Sea Macro but am having difficulty focusing.....

 

[annie]

Hi I have a Canon s30 too. . .I know what you mean about the battery and the lack of standby mode.

Mine tends to last a bit longer than that though, sometimes I can get it to last two dives . . .all I can advise is leave it switched off between dives, try to spot photos in advance so you have more time to turn it on again if it's gone off . .

 

[Eli]

Yeah, I also have an S40, and get frustrated with the occasional missed shot when the camera is in power saver mode. But then I miss even more shots when something unexpected swims by and I have to change from macro to regular mode, and manually adjust my strobe output on my Sea & Sea YS90DX. Thats why I like photographing things that dont move!


There are longer lasting aftermarket batteries than the ones that Canon sells. You can judge by the mAH rating, the higher the better. I bought a couple off ebay for $10 each, and they do last 25% longer. I can get two dives out of them if I turn off the display between shots.

I believe you can also set the time interval befor the camera powers off, although I dont have the camera with me so Im not certain.

 

[ddub23]

So far, I have also not had any problems with my S40. I fully charged battery pack lasts me easily two dives (~90 pics, two 50min dives w/ 1hr+ surface interval). I also have a spare battery just in case but I have never needed to use it.

The power saving feature can be annoying but i haven't found it to have caused many "missed" shots. As I am starting out in UW photography, I am probably pushing my batteries anyway due to trying to capture everything I can see. The batteries are new. As they get more use out of them, I will let you know if I lose power capacity.

 

[JacknJill]

Thanks for contributing......

Do you think it is the Canon S series that sucks? I look at the Sony UW housing and found it to be ralatively clean, with minimal buttons maybe just sufficient for taking photos. then I look at the Olympus housing and found that it has flash diffuser (though I have reservation that that would eliminate the need for a strobe) and best of all, it has a LCD "cover" so that the LCD can be easily seen.

I just find that the S series coupled with the DC300 isn't really ideal in terms of design and usability. Do any of you reckons the other brands to be the same?

 

[davehicks]

Although I just replaced my S40 with an Olympus, I maintain that it's a great little system. Very easy to use. Better that just about anything I have seen. Much simpler than the olympus. The LCD cover on the Olympus hit the can after the first dive. It just blocks you field of view and bumps stuff. I suppose if you were diving in a wading pool on the equator it might help shade the screen, but it's not helpful for underwater use.

The difuser on the Olympus does not eliminate the need for a strobe. It's primary use is actually to Block the internal flash if you are using a strobe. (black tape it...)

Fully charge your battery before diving. Don't open the lens cover (turn it on) until you are ready to gear up for the dive. Even though it will power down in a few minutes, standby still uses up juice. I made this mistake the first time I dove the system and it was running low on power 10 minutes into the dive. Never had a problem after that.

The Canon S series is a great, compact, simple system to learn UW Photography, or if you just want to casually take pictures. For me it was a great way to learn the basics and give me confidence and context to learn the more technical aspects of photography.

Dave

 

[SimonJ]

Am really happy with my S400 and housing. The battery life has not really been an issue for me. I keep the screen switched to low brightness, switch it off when not in use, keep the sounds off and as a result can normally get 2 dives out of one battery. Always take a charged spare with me though, just in case.

The biggest issue I find is focusing. On my last trip to Grenada I ended up switching from the assisted AiAF mode to the normal one. These seems to have made a difference, but is still not as good as I would like. I guess with some of the dives the drift was the issue, but even then the focus was sometimes a bit hit and miss. Anyone know a solution to this or is it just experience ?

Simon

 

[pdoege]

Hello -

You can purchase larger batteries via the web. See
http://after5pm.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CTNB2L
for info.

On the later Canons, you can turn the unit off by holding the function button for 5 seconds. I disable the shutdown timer and then manually turn the power on/off depending.

I never use the internal flash. I also turn the display off when I am not using the camera.

I get a couple of dives out of each battery this way.

Peter