you got mail . . . from Bavaria

Hi Joe,
thanks for your reply. I evidently was not too precise putting in my question only in terms of the outcome I´m aiming at:
“Get high-resolution photos which allow enlargements up to about 60 cm x 100 cm“

In terms of “technical” prerequisites I´m looking for answers to questions like:
* “what are the adequate requirements with respect to resolution of the sensor [without getting lost in
“pixel- peeper-nonsense”]
* “to what extent can post-processing help to minimize deficiencies concerning the resolution of large
print-outs ; what brand of [preferably free-/lowcost-] software is recommendable ?

Up to now I used PP mainly for:
* overlaying photos + radiographs [ pictures of which were taken using a light-box]
* editing of “just-for-fun-greeting-cards” and other “nonsense-collages”

In contrast to this kind of PP I´m a complete new-bee in the field of improving the resolution of large print-outs by means of – just an example - [horizontal and vertical] stitching.
Finally it boils down to the following question:
* will the SX10 be the appropriate camera for a photographer who spends most of his time on outdoor-
tours [in the Bavarian mountains] aiming at impressive landscape-/wildlife-shots.
Due to this mission-description and my age [70] the cameras size and weight [every gram counts!]
are important criteria.

After having read sooooh many reviews [including those cited at http://sx10-is.blogspot.com/]
I suspect, that it will be a combination of the SX10 and a software [which is not sophisticated] at last.

---

Klaus the SX10 will be the right camera for you.
- the swivel screen is big enough and of high enough resolution to even manual focus. Same for SX1   the Panasonic FZ28 is of no use for you because in the moment the camera is below you head the screen is not  usable any more. The screen is optimized for over head shooting and the worst screen I ever encountered for below the head shots.  
- the viewfinder is very big and of high enough resolution to even manual focus. Sadly not with the SX1   the Panasonic FZ28 has a tiny viewfinder what is not working with my glasses and its hard plastic at all.
- I made a A3 t-shirt print with a 1.3 MP camera and it turned out gorgeous. So the 10 MP will do nicely for big prints. If you plan for big prints stay with ISO 80 or 100 and the picture will be fine. If you are in high contrast situations and you want big prints, use the exposure bracketing and take 3 shots -2, 0 and +2 and put them together with a hdr software. Canons  i-Contrast makes the dark areas a bit grainy when activated.
- Canon has the panorama mode so you can stitch several photos together to greatly increase the resolution.
- The Camera is a bit heavy but a joy to hold in full telefoto because the long lens just begs for it and lies beautiful in the hand.
-the much talked about slow lens in 15x-20x is really not a big problem because Canon has a very good ImageStabilisation. See my handheld 20x moon shot.

-the pictures are a bit soft and could use a bit more color for the area I will shoot in (mostly bright sunlight) but setting the exposure compensation to -0.3 to -1 the sharpness to +2 and the color to +1 did the trick for my SX10 shots to come out pleasing.

A camera is a tool and with every new tool you have to familiarize yourself with it. It takes the first 1000 shots to try out the camera and fine tune the tool to your needs.
Read the manual from front to back and try out everything several times in different shooting situations.

As for post processing I work with my panorama shots with Autopano 1.3
The free software will be http://hugin.sourceforge.net/ what works very well and is much better as the Canon provided stitcher.

hope this helped and merry x-mas to Bavaria from the sunny Canary Islands.

the decision

My main concern with the SX1 were the screens (see postings below). I made up my mind, if I get the SX1 I will shoot mostly in wide screen so I have the full size of the displays to view. The 10 MP 4/3 mode will be used for panoramas. I view my fotos on a wide screen notebook and a full HD tv for pictures and video clips. Since the test and review of the SX1 swivel screen has a very positive outcome I will live with the crappy viewfinder. The picture quality is ok since it is similar to the SX10 I tested.

The clips from users of the SX1 in full HD mode were good and compared to my VGA clips form the S2IS a huge improvement.

One of my dreams were always to make a static video from a beach with the waves coming in for some time and then have it looped in life size on a huge screen (I am talking wall size via a projector) to have the impression that the beach is in your living room.
Viewing this in VGA resolution on a SVGA projector 2 meters high is a start but the quality was not what I wanted. So with full HD video and a big full HD TV I will at least have a window to the beach on the wall and since prices for full HD projectors starting to fall below 1000€ it is just a matter of time until my dream comes true.

But I am not sure I buy now, I might wait because from March 3-5 2009 is the PMA in Las Vegas and
Sony should bring out a replacement for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10,
Panasonic should bring out the replacement for the Panasonic DMC-TZ5,
Olympus should bring out the replacement for the Olympus SP-570 Ultra-Zoom,
Kodak should bring out the replacement for the Kodak Z1012 IS,
Fuji should bring out the replacement for the FujiFilm Finepix S8100fd
and the FujiFilm Finepix S100FS
It will be interesting to see how the competition reacts to the SX1

If there is nothing better than the SX1 then she will be my next camera because a full HD video mode with a 20x optical zoom and IS for just 200€ on top of a good camera is a price I am willing to pay.

confirmations and corrections

The Sensor is not a 10MP as stated on some Canon Websites but a 11.6MP
"It's a 1/2.3-inch type unit with a total photosite count of 11.60 million."
So if you shoot in wide screen you get just 8.3MP.

The viewfinder is bad as I suspected
photoreview.com.au states:
"Unlike the LCD monitor, the EVF has 148,000-dot resolution and looks quite granular. It also has a greenish-blue colour cast. However, if asked to choose between the LCD and EVF for framing shots, you'd definitely choose the former for accuracy and clarity."
Chasseur d'images: "The only serious complaint concerns the poor quality of the viewfinder."

The quality of the swivel screen from my test SX10 was fine with me. Sharp and clear enough to see the details needed for manual focus and bright enough to be good visible when the sun shines direct on the display.

In 2 reviews I read so far that the swivel screen from the SX1 should be bright and crisp

"It's also one of the clearest, brightest monitors we've seen on a compact digicam to date - despite having a resolution of only 230,000 dots."

"But the similar specifications (SX10 vs SX1) and the same resolution, the truth is that the quality displayed by the LCD of the SX1 IS in the preview and review of the images is quite superior."

Yes there is a filter thred

you can put 52mm add ons on the SX1/SX10
just found these on a forum.

First Comparison SX1 vs SX10

The website quesabesde.com did the first comparison.

Here what I could understand from the translation:
The image quality is nearly par, with the SX1 a bit worse in the purple fringing.
"Without major differences
Leaving aside certain details (the same zoom, their screens and uneven connectivity HDMI making the SX1 IS), the great hope is that the CMOS latter is able at last to address the traditional limitations of those who suffer compact models with high sensitivities
However, having these first samples before a still life with fairly low lighting, obvious that there are no major differences between the two models when it comes to noise control."

The SX1 seems to have a better auto white balance.
"Anyway, apart from the various responses in terms of color, white balance, with artificial lights is more than that of the IS-SX1 and contrast, we have to look very closely at the results of these two compact to find traits that mark a boundary between them."

The SX10 seems a bit sharper to me in the lower ISO.
"From ISO 200, noise is already visible in the images taken by both models, while not becoming a serious problem up to 800 ISO. At these levels, in fact, it IS the SX10 which suffers less from the ravages of processing and noise reduction system."

The SX10 looses more detail in high ISO due to smearing.
"It is with the lowest sensitivities when it imposed the SX1 IS slightly, proving to be capable of offering little more detail and sharpness in the images."

The display from the SX1 seems to be clearer for the testers.
"The size of the brand since the early differences between the two. Thus, the SX10 IS presents a display of 2.5 inches and 230,000 points, while the SX1 IS raises the diagonal up 2.8 inches and puts on a 16:9 widescreen format, very useful for recording videos (though not so much for catching photo).
But the similar specifications and the same resolution, the truth is that the quality displayed by the LCD of the SX1 IS in the preview and review of the images is quite superior."

 The video mode is what sets these 2 cameras apart, If you do not need the HD video, the SX10 is your camera. If you wants it the precious Full HD then the SX1 is your choice. Be aware of the limitations:
"While overall performance is pretty decent, the main problem is that it IS the SX1, to be equipped with a shutter-type "rolling shutter" in the fast movements of panoramic shots or more volatile straight lines appear visibly leaning. An effect that also suffer from the Nikon D90 or some video cameras equipped with CMOS sensor. 
In this sense, the above-mentioned Casio EX-F1 shows superior performance in the sequences in high definition, we assume that thanks to the increased speed of response and its CMOS processor."
Also if you want to watch or convert Full HD on your computer, it better be a fast one.

Here are 2 screen captures to compare actual footage

(click image for original size)

compare via picture in picture

and be aware the SX1 or SX10 are heavy