Pixels and performance

I chap I know had been told by a magazine editor that his photographs weren't good enough for be used in print. He was asking on a fishing forum for recommendations for a better camera to improve his shots. As the camera he is currently using is one I used for four years, after seeing some of his results, I thought I'd see how bad it really is. Now, I have come to appreciate the finer points of image processing since I bought that camera, and learned a bit about setting cameras up to get the best results, so it would also be interesting to see what I could squeeze out of it intelligently instead of sticking it on Auto everything.

Camera years are like dog years these days, and six real years has seen a lot of progress in sensor technology. I wasn't expecting much from the small 6mp sensor. But it wasn't too bad.

Anything above ISO 100 was very grainy, but judicious tweaks in Lightroom to noise reduction and sharpness sliders saved some shots. Low light did see the camera struggle compared to the latest technology. But given reasonable light it performed well.

Canon S3IS ISO 800

Nikon D700 ISO 900

Focussing was less sure than I have become used to. I think because the focussing area is large and can't be adjusted. When the camera got it right it was fine.

Given the age of the camera and its limitations it did okay. So long as the ISO is kept to 100 or lower. A similar camera with an up to the minute sensor should perform far better and be well up to publication standards if the X10 is anything to go by. Something that did surprise me was how little difference in actual area there is between a 6mp image and a 12mp image.

However, what stopped me entertaining any thoughts of using a camera like the Canon S3IS as even a fishing camera was using it. Apart from the design fault that makes it too easy to alter ISO and file size (no raw) accidentally, I really missed the dials and levers to adjust things that are part and parcel of a DSLR. I also missed the top screen to check settings. Having to use the screen for that was a pain - particularly as either the shutter speed or aperture is displayed when in one mode, the other setting only appearing when the release is half pressed. Still, it was an interesting exercise. Where is that small, light, cheap, camera that handles like an SLR?

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