SX10 / SX1 best superzoom

Well it took dpreview just 2 months to finally get the SX10 on the table of the test lab but they confirmed most what I mentioned 2 months ago. They even noticed the very big and nice viewfinder and also found the wheel crappy. Since there is now a  comparison between the 
Canon Powershot SX10 IS
Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD
Fujifilm FinePix S8100fd
Nikon Coolpix P80
Olympus SP-565UZ
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
Sony Cybershot DSC-H50
it should be easy to pick the right superzoom.

The last weeks I downloaded all the SX1 clips the internet could spit out, some even in real resolution. After fiddling a bit to find the right program to recompress I ended up with SUPER what does a nice job to actually use the SX1 video on a computer.

So the SX10 is the best superzoom and the SX1 adds the 4fps and the full HD video.
The new cameras from Olympus and Kodak are no match for the SX1 that leaves just 1.5 months more to wait for the  PMA 2009, March 3rd -5th , 2009 to see if Sony wants to take Canon on.
But comparing the last 5 years and the Canon S series against the Sony H series I doubt that they will be able to best the SX1.

---

... and for all the people who think the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 is better than the SX10, please compare side by side the:

Viewfinder tiny screen and hard eye piece against big screen and soft eye piece
Display unusable below eye level against full swivel and twist
Camera feels like a toy against feels and looks like a DSLR (subjective but I had them both in the hand and compared side by side)
The Raw and the 720p video mode with bad mono audio are nothing to me when I can not use the viewfinder to manual focus or shoot below the line of sight.
BUT your priorities might vary.

Batteries are not included

The from Canon supplied batteries are just for putting in a clock or remote or testing the camera.
Get any kind of pre charged battery what tells you they hold the charge for a long time. 
Use any charger but best is if you charge slow.
The best charger is one which can test the battery capacity.

I use the La Crosse charger since several years and it is worth the money.

Why, you ask? Because even new batteries can be already partially defect. Like my new VARTA Ready2Use.

The 2100mAh Ready2Use I got from VARTA had one dud cell. While 3 were having around 1900mAh one had only 1400mAh.
After 3 test cycles (takes about one day per cycle to test)  they read 2000mAh and 1500mAh.
So I changed one package (they come in 2) and now the batteries stay in the camera for a long time while I shoot hundreds of fotos. Works like the Lithium-ion batteries, but cheaper and more easy to replace.

But also sometimes they just lie to you with the high capacity cells.

This crap went straight away back to the dealer.

BEAUTY and BEAST at CES

So Kodak comes out with the Z980 with 24x zoom and Olympus announces the SP-590UZ with 26X zoom.
The Kodak with a 1280x720 video mode and the Olympus with a 640x480 video mode (are they kidding???).
But they have at least one unique invention, a BEAUTY and a BEAST mode.


Beauty Mode lets you soften shadows and smooth wrinkles or blemishes on your subject’s face – all in the camera and as you capture the image! Additionally, subtle edits can be made post-capture using the Beauty Fix mode. Choose “Clear Skin” to smooth a person’s complexion, “Dramatic Eye” to slightly emphasize the eyes, and “Sparkle Eye” to brighten and enhance the contrast of the iris and pupils. You can also apply all three edits at once. Have fun customizing your brilliant images without a PC and costly image editing software.
With the Beast mode you get crows feet, spotty skin, droopy eyes and can choose between 3 types of warts.

So the new Kodak or Olympus are no match for the SX1.

Now lets see what Sony does to replace the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50. With just 15x zoom she looks pretty dated by now. Hopefully the drop the flip display and convert to a variangle display.

The next big Photography Show is PMA 2009, March 3rd -5th , 2009

Make the SX1 video work for you

My goal was to find an easy to use free software what converts the Canon SX1 monster files into a good quality format what works with low power hardware.
That is a 1,6 MHz notebook with a Centrino Duo 2 GB and a Nvidia GO 7300 XP SP2 and a 1,6 MHz notebook with an AMD Turion X2 1 GB with an ATI XPress 1100  XP SP2
 
I liked best so far SUPER it is free, simple and powerful.
Get it here.

Drag the video file into the program, choose:
AVI - MPEG-4 - MP3
video setting: No change, 16:9, 30pfs, bitrate 4000
audio setting 44100, 2, 128
CTRL+T to set the path where you want to have your file
hit encode
now you have an AVI file 8% of the original size in full HD with mostly acceptable compression artifacts.
Want to have it in better quality, try 5000-6000 or 8000 if you want it really good.

I put a couple sample pictures below so you can see for yourself how the compression/quality ratio is.

Test results
The Centrino Duo 2 GB and a Nvidia GO 7300 XP SP2 had no problem after the conversion with any file to play.
The AMD Turion X2 1 GB with an ATI XPress 1100  XP SP2 had problems with even the 4000 kbps files and required a down sampling to 1280x720 to play the video files smoothly.










Look at the concentric rings in the left circle, you will notice the compression artifacts here the most. As usual click on the pictures for full size. The pictures show only 1280 from the 1920 pixel since they are done via screen capture from my 1280x800 screen.

encoding 4000 kbps


encoding 6000 kbps


encoding 8000 kbps

want to know more? look here

some new SX1 Reviews

Added some new reviews and interesting pricing in the UK.
Since the British Pound is now nearly equal with the Euro the price for the Canon SX1 is now under 400€ in the UK.