I bought this camera when it first came out. I bought it for work and used it daily for atleast 8 years. I found it in a drawer the other day, dusted it off and it works like it was brand new. I appreciate your video. I had to refresh my knowledge. Thanks.
When I graduated from the S100 to an SLR I was thrilled by the rich color and detail and the ability to blur backgrounds, and never used the S100 again. Recently I reviewed my travel photos from those years and found many wonderful ones. You just carry that little camera around whether you intend to use it or not, and it is never intimidating to subjects or bystanders, so you get more natural photos of people. I wish I had been shooting raw in those days; I might have gotten more out of the images.
I have the Powershot S95. Have gotten decent photos with it over the years. Totally agree that these are better to carry around vs. the higher end bricks, which I have several.
I did get mine at launch and still use and love it. ideal for the times when you don't want to cary your DSLR (yes I did not go mirrorless yet) and want something better than you phone. I always shoot RAW and post process in Lightroom, which does a great job in lens correction. Results - even if todays phone with computational photography and higher pixel counts, to me are still much better due to the sensor and its performance.
After I saw how good DXO DeepPRIME did on sample files I bought an S90 and an S100 (with case!) for cheap. I think the S100 is the better of the two, just because Auto ISO let's you go to 1600 instead of 800. The only things I wish it did differently were to have a DOF overlay when you are in manual focus mode, and I wish when you have the custom shortcut button set for back button focus, if you hit it again it would cancel it. As of now, it doesn't cancel out and you have to push another button to cancel it. But with DeepPRIME, I can shoot ISO 1600 in color with no issues, and ISO 3200 still looks great in BW. I am usually shooting it in Shutter priority, Auto ISO with the lens ring doing snap zoom (and it remembers your zoom when you turn it off!) and the shortcut button doing focus and it's doing a great job at capturing street moments and life around my ranch. I do wonder what CHKDK would do for it...I put it on one of my old PowerShots back in the day so I could shoot Raw, but didn't find much else I liked better than stock. Would love for you to try it on the S100 so I don't have to. ;)
A relative of mine handed me down a s100. Still works. Not sure how it compares to budget smartphones from 2020s like a redmi 8 or Vivo Y17. What do you think ?
miss my canon s95.. great point and shoot camera.. but the sensor got dirty often.. I had to open it and clean it.. the display flex cable finally break.. I could buy new display but not sure it will fix..
Yeah so I’m at home sick and bored and started your vid review. I’ve already seen a couple reviews on this camera but thought I’d give yours a listen. After 3-4 mins I’d heard all I cared to hear…about the camera. You were entertaining and captivating enough to keep me on there for the entirety of the review. 😲 That’s saying something I think. Then again I was delirious and sickly so maybe it doesn’t mean anything much. 🤔🤧 Regardless, and in an attempt to match your dry and witty humor, thank you for this wonderfully somewhat entertaining review of an extremely unflattering but useful point and shoot camera. ✌🏻👊🏻😁
I just picked up another. It was $120 but it came with 4 batteries and with the shipping included and we all know how $ that is these days, I thought it well worth it. I’ve not been happy with what I’m seeing lately for compacts. The one I got in 2012 has been great. But I think it dropped and there’s a separation on one side of it. The video quality is great, but you cannot use the zoom feature because of the lens noise which is a shame. So for family get togethers, and I don’t want to lug my Canon Mark 5D III or my Canon R5, this with my iPhone is the perfect solution.
I have this camera. While I would say it was feature-rich for the time... I can't recommend it for any price today. Realistically with the software processing features of any recent phone you'll have better picture quality. Also, OIS is common now, but not in this camera. That makes a big difference for sharpness. Maybe I could get comparatively better performance with a tripod, the RAW files and HDR stacking, but that's investment on the user side. Also, if my memory serves, Adobe processed the greens in the RAW files noticeably different then the outputted S100 JPEGs. So if you wanted to compare the S100 JPEG to the RAW accurately, then you need to use the Canon RAW editor.
Thank you! Hrmm what kinds of capabilities do you need? Do you need to be able to get a RAW file from it, does it need to be something that produces sharper images with a larger sensor, or just something cheap to play around with to challenge yourself? And what kind of budget?
good video , One question, how do you connect the camera, see what the lens sees on television, I can only see what is on my memory card. I connect my camera through the hdmi cable.
5x optical zoom and 12 MP is like 2010 level of technology. Definitely not ideal for current year. Today you can get something like Canon SX740 at the same size (but more expensive) with a 20 MP sensor, 40x optical zoom, and 4k recording.
😂😂 it’s like 3-5 times the price. And not everyone wants the “newest and best” gear. 12mp and 1080 is more than enough. The best camera is the one you can afford
Great review. My work tasked me to find a camera for "around 100 bucks" to shoot pics and videos. The setting will be in warehouse, and the subject will be things that glow... think glow in the dark paint. Can you steer me in the right direction?
Thank you. Glow-in-the-dark stuff is really tricky and doesn't generally show up well on camera unless it is REALLY bright. In addition to the camera, you'll also need a tripod and preferably a remote, although most cameras include a two-second timer to alleviate camera shake when taking a long exposure, which you will probably need to do. Will you be using a blacklight as well, or do they expect you to just photo/video phosphorescent stuff in the dark? Also, what kind of resolution are they needing, and have you tried photo/video-ing any of it with a modern smartphone?
@@forgottencameras Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, we will sometimes use a black light. Some shots will be under regular florescent shop lights (glow off) and we'll dim the lights when products are illuminated. I usually end up making gifs that animate the glow on an off. The guys in the shop don't want to use their personal phones because of A, the paint environment, and B, they are technologically inept and just want to take the card out and plug it into the computer. No wifi or bluetooth. Resolution? Thats a tricky one... something that can probably do 10-20mp and at least 720p video?
@@moehio Woah that's badass! This is going to depend on a couple of things: your boss's standards and whether or not the images will be customer facing. The big hurdle is dynamic range. It would be worthwhile for your company to invest in a camera that can handle the pretty massive brightness difference between the illuminated surfaces and everything else. That generally means a larger sensor with a lower pixel count. Older Fujifilm and Sony mirrorless cameras do this well, but the total investment for something like that would be in the $450 range and, to get the kinds of results you need would be beyond the ability of the shop techs. Are you able to work the RAW files to get the most DR out of the images? If the photos aren't customer facing, or you just need something for social media, for that budget, I'd go with a very late model smartphone. If the shop techs are that inept and refuse to be trained on it, if they were my people, I'd be looking for different shop techs. I've dealt with that before on the management side, and it is annoying as hell. But I know that isn't an option. So, for a compact, see if you can find a camera called the Sony Cybershot DSC-WX10. It shouldn't be that expensive, and it is probably the best compact camera I can think of for under $100 if you need the dynamic range. It has a special mode where you put it on a tripod, it takes three shots, and melds them together to get an HDR image. A lot of cameras do this, but this would be one of the better ones in your price range. The S100 would probably beat it out, possibly by quite a bit, since the sensor is so much larger, so if you can get them to stretch the budget a bit, see if you can get a hold of a Canon S120, the newer version. That with new batteries and an SD card will probably run you about $150. That would produce images that are probably appropriate to be customer facing as well. The S120 will also have that HDR mode thing, so you shouldn't need to post-process. Things to look for: *Larger CMOS Sensor (Not CCD) *Manual Shooting Mode (since auto modes will probably get confused) *HDR mode (will need a tripod)
@@forgottencameras Some great info, my friend. Thank you for taking the time to help me out. I could prob get them to go a little higher for sure. So would the S120 be the best bet in your opinion in say the sub 200 range? BTW, yes I am a graphic designer and can use RAW images on my Mac if necessary. But that would require them sending it to me, then me sending back (I work remotely). The guys need the camera to capture pics/vids to send clients for work in progress, etc. I would like it to be capable enough to shoot content for client facing stuff - the same props and items, but with a little more artful eye. I go in after hours and shoot videos and photos when necessary for our store or for clients. Whatever im called upon to do. I wish we had more money in our budget for a nice DSLR, but we don't. Covid has been really rough on us. (BTW - do you have a suggested place to get an S120 for that price? Amazon is $219.00.)
@@moehio No problem at all. That's going to be eBay, all day. Amazon is going to be significantly more expensive. The element of risk is the same; it's all used. I actually found a really good deal; search KEH.com for a camera called the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX30V; they have one in excellent condition within budget. It's going to be better for your people than the Canon. Newer tech, more reliable, possibly better image quality but I'd lean toward the S120 for IQ due to the bigger sensor and lower resolution. There is one up on eBay right now for $135. Either one would be good.
Depends on who you are and what you are going for. The S100 has a larger sensor and lower resolution, meaning better low-light performance. It is geared toward manual control, and has a built-in ND filter. Basically for when you can't be bothered to bring an ILC, but want better image quality than a phone (at the time) and RAW support. If you don't know/don't care about any of that, get the Elph. I think if you are shooting video, the Elph is a better choice. Problem with the Elph is that it is too expensive for what it is. Better play is to save up for something more modern and more advanced, or look for an older used RX100 (mk II or III). Should be about the same price, but far superior.
I don't know if it is better to get one that just has an error or is so misaligned that it is unusable. I got really lucky with mine, I guess that is part of buying used, where you can ask for samples.
This camera is junk. I bought an s110 recently and could not believe how bad the pictures were against my Fuji xq1 and nikon p340. Both similar spec basically 8mmx6mm sensors
The whole range is really inconsistent, and there are issues with lens alignment. I got pretty lucky with mine, but a lot of people, not so much. The XQ1 has a much larger sensor that is also X-Trans, so that will beat it out every time; hell I would use that over a lot of old DSLRs. The P340 has a backlit sensor (BSI), so it is also going to destroy the S100/110/120 in noise performance and probably dynamic range.
@@forgottencameras I have an s110, and a 11x17 blown up from my trip to Tokyo. Although I have a hard time finding the perfect use case anymore (I would probably opt for my GRII), I think it's brilliant. I want to figure out the time/place to use it.
@Joe Blow i had a few of these s110 canons. The last one really was crap.i dont see apples to oranges. All cmos cameraswith 8x6mm sensors and 12 mpixels. So which is the apple and which is the orange
@@forgottencameras sorry for dropping in this old discussion, I like the Fuji X20 when it comes to jpg for camera of this type, I only look at the S100 because of CMDK firmware and this have raw capability. This have CCD sensor but the images you got here and I saw others having didn't have the same kind of warm look that the Canon G10 has. Is this S100 still a worthy buy for the raw feature? JPG is usable in person?
I bought this camera when it first came out. I bought it for work and used it daily for atleast 8 years. I found it in a drawer the other day, dusted it off and it works like it was brand new. I appreciate your video. I had to refresh my knowledge. Thanks.
im in the same boat as you! still a great lil camera to have
When I graduated from the S100 to an SLR I was thrilled by the rich color and detail and the ability to blur backgrounds, and never used the S100 again. Recently I reviewed my travel photos from those years and found many wonderful ones. You just carry that little camera around whether you intend to use it or not, and it is never intimidating to subjects or bystanders, so you get more natural photos of people. I wish I had been shooting raw in those days; I might have gotten more out of the images.
I just pulled mine out of the drawer. It’s spotless. I’m stoked to see how this rolls with my Fujifilm x100v. Will report back on old battery life.
Very accurate review. I had one and mine worked great. I spent 20 and used it for at least a year. My mom has it and loves it.
I have the Powershot S95. Have gotten decent photos with it over the years. Totally agree that these are better to carry around vs. the higher end bricks, which I have several.
“feat. cats”
aight you got me there im in
Very good overview. I'll have to put my S100 to use again, especially in RAW mode.
I did get mine at launch and still use and love it. ideal for the times when you don't want to cary your DSLR (yes I did not go mirrorless yet) and want something better than you phone. I always shoot RAW and post process in Lightroom, which does a great job in lens correction. Results - even if todays phone with computational photography and higher pixel counts, to me are still much better due to the sensor and its performance.
I bought it for 350$ in 2011 and you got it for 10$ . Insane
After I saw how good DXO DeepPRIME did on sample files I bought an S90 and an S100 (with case!) for cheap. I think the S100 is the better of the two, just because Auto ISO let's you go to 1600 instead of 800. The only things I wish it did differently were to have a DOF overlay when you are in manual focus mode, and I wish when you have the custom shortcut button set for back button focus, if you hit it again it would cancel it. As of now, it doesn't cancel out and you have to push another button to cancel it. But with DeepPRIME, I can shoot ISO 1600 in color with no issues, and ISO 3200 still looks great in BW.
I am usually shooting it in Shutter priority, Auto ISO with the lens ring doing snap zoom (and it remembers your zoom when you turn it off!) and the shortcut button doing focus and it's doing a great job at capturing street moments and life around my ranch.
I do wonder what CHKDK would do for it...I put it on one of my old PowerShots back in the day so I could shoot Raw, but didn't find much else I liked better than stock. Would love for you to try it on the S100 so I don't have to. ;)
Will make a great alternative to the Ricoh
Picked up a Canon s95 from eBay. Very similar to this camera but with a CCD sensor
A relative of mine handed me down a s100. Still works. Not sure how it compares to budget smartphones from 2020s like a redmi 8 or Vivo Y17. What do you think ?
the thing I hated most about this camera is with video-recording, the autofocus noise from the motors makes footage unusable
Yeah this!
Good review. Thanks. I sometimes use a Canon s110. Raw & jpg.
I just buy this camera at second hand market place with price $24 usd , and now still learn to use like a pro hahaha
Looks amazing to me. I just one today
miss my canon s95..
great point and shoot camera.. but the sensor got dirty often.. I had to open it and clean it.. the display flex cable finally break.. I could buy new display but not sure it will fix..
Great review, very helpful.
Yeah so I’m at home sick and bored and started your vid review.
I’ve already seen a couple reviews on this camera but thought I’d give yours a listen. After 3-4 mins I’d heard all I cared to hear…about the camera.
You were entertaining and captivating enough to keep me on there for the entirety of the review. 😲
That’s saying something I think.
Then again I was delirious and sickly so maybe it doesn’t mean anything much. 🤔🤧
Regardless, and in an attempt to match your dry and witty humor, thank you for this wonderfully somewhat entertaining review of an extremely unflattering but useful point and shoot camera.
✌🏻👊🏻😁
Will you be doing a video with the CHDK?
I just picked up another. It was $120 but it came with 4 batteries and with the shipping included and we all know how $ that is these days, I thought it well worth it. I’ve not been happy with what I’m seeing lately for compacts. The one I got in 2012 has been great. But I think it dropped and there’s a separation on one side of it. The video quality is great, but you cannot use the zoom feature because of the lens noise which is a shame. So for family get togethers, and I don’t want to lug my Canon Mark 5D III or my Canon R5, this with my iPhone is the perfect solution.
I see one on eBay for the same price. Should I buy
Feat cats?
Alright count me in :D
as long as its a CMOS sensor, then its better.
I have this camera. While I would say it was feature-rich for the time... I can't recommend it for any price today. Realistically with the software processing features of any recent phone you'll have better picture quality. Also, OIS is common now, but not in this camera. That makes a big difference for sharpness.
Maybe I could get comparatively better performance with a tripod, the RAW files and HDR stacking, but that's investment on the user side.
Also, if my memory serves, Adobe processed the greens in the RAW files noticeably different then the outputted S100 JPEGs. So if you wanted to compare the S100 JPEG to the RAW accurately, then you need to use the Canon RAW editor.
canon ixus 185 or canon s100? what's the best?
Maybe you can help me find a cheap digital p&s I can enjoy this summer because I broke my arm and now can't use DSLR. Plus points if it's water proof.
Thank you!
Hrmm what kinds of capabilities do you need? Do you need to be able to get a RAW file from it, does it need to be something that produces sharper images with a larger sensor, or just something cheap to play around with to challenge yourself? And what kind of budget?
good video , One question, how do you connect the camera, see what the lens sees on television, I can only see what is on my memory card. I connect my camera through the hdmi cable.
Awesome video 👍🏻👍🏻
Informative and useful review. Appreciate it.
why such high score for the 24mm distortion and misalignment??
5x optical zoom and 12 MP is like 2010 level of technology. Definitely not ideal for current year. Today you can get something like Canon SX740 at the same size (but more expensive) with a 20 MP sensor, 40x optical zoom, and 4k recording.
Not for 80 bucks 😉
😂😂 it’s like 3-5 times the price. And not everyone wants the “newest and best” gear. 12mp and 1080 is more than enough.
The best camera is the one you can afford
how do i transfer the pictures to my computer?
Once again a great video
I still use Canon power shot s 120
beautiful pics it takes NGL
Great review. My work tasked me to find a camera for "around 100 bucks" to shoot pics and videos. The setting will be in warehouse, and the subject will be things that glow... think glow in the dark paint. Can you steer me in the right direction?
Thank you. Glow-in-the-dark stuff is really tricky and doesn't generally show up well on camera unless it is REALLY bright. In addition to the camera, you'll also need a tripod and preferably a remote, although most cameras include a two-second timer to alleviate camera shake when taking a long exposure, which you will probably need to do.
Will you be using a blacklight as well, or do they expect you to just photo/video phosphorescent stuff in the dark? Also, what kind of resolution are they needing, and have you tried photo/video-ing any of it with a modern smartphone?
@@forgottencameras Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, we will sometimes use a black light. Some shots will be under regular florescent shop lights (glow off) and we'll dim the lights when products are illuminated. I usually end up making gifs that animate the glow on an off. The guys in the shop don't want to use their personal phones because of A, the paint environment, and B, they are technologically inept and just want to take the card out and plug it into the computer. No wifi or bluetooth. Resolution? Thats a tricky one... something that can probably do 10-20mp and at least 720p video?
@@moehio Woah that's badass!
This is going to depend on a couple of things: your boss's standards and whether or not the images will be customer facing.
The big hurdle is dynamic range. It would be worthwhile for your company to invest in a camera that can handle the pretty massive brightness difference between the illuminated surfaces and everything else. That generally means a larger sensor with a lower pixel count. Older Fujifilm and Sony mirrorless cameras do this well, but the total investment for something like that would be in the $450 range and, to get the kinds of results you need would be beyond the ability of the shop techs. Are you able to work the RAW files to get the most DR out of the images?
If the photos aren't customer facing, or you just need something for social media, for that budget, I'd go with a very late model smartphone. If the shop techs are that inept and refuse to be trained on it, if they were my people, I'd be looking for different shop techs. I've dealt with that before on the management side, and it is annoying as hell. But I know that isn't an option. So, for a compact, see if you can find a camera called the Sony Cybershot DSC-WX10. It shouldn't be that expensive, and it is probably the best compact camera I can think of for under $100 if you need the dynamic range. It has a special mode where you put it on a tripod, it takes three shots, and melds them together to get an HDR image. A lot of cameras do this, but this would be one of the better ones in your price range.
The S100 would probably beat it out, possibly by quite a bit, since the sensor is so much larger, so if you can get them to stretch the budget a bit, see if you can get a hold of a Canon S120, the newer version. That with new batteries and an SD card will probably run you about $150.
That would produce images that are probably appropriate to be customer facing as well. The S120 will also have that HDR mode thing, so you shouldn't need to post-process.
Things to look for:
*Larger CMOS Sensor (Not CCD)
*Manual Shooting Mode (since auto modes will probably get confused)
*HDR mode (will need a tripod)
@@forgottencameras Some great info, my friend. Thank you for taking the time to help me out. I could prob get them to go a little higher for sure. So would the S120 be the best bet in your opinion in say the sub 200 range? BTW, yes I am a graphic designer and can use RAW images on my Mac if necessary. But that would require them sending it to me, then me sending back (I work remotely). The guys need the camera to capture pics/vids to send clients for work in progress, etc. I would like it to be capable enough to shoot content for client facing stuff - the same props and items, but with a little more artful eye. I go in after hours and shoot videos and photos when necessary for our store or for clients. Whatever im called upon to do. I wish we had more money in our budget for a nice DSLR, but we don't. Covid has been really rough on us. (BTW - do you have a suggested place to get an S120 for that price? Amazon is $219.00.)
@@moehio No problem at all. That's going to be eBay, all day. Amazon is going to be significantly more expensive. The element of risk is the same; it's all used. I actually found a really good deal; search KEH.com for a camera called the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX30V; they have one in excellent condition within budget. It's going to be better for your people than the Canon. Newer tech, more reliable, possibly better image quality but I'd lean toward the S120 for IQ due to the bigger sensor and lower resolution. There is one up on eBay right now for $135. Either one would be good.
Regarding the battery, this camera drains batteries.
U need to carry a bunch of batteries
@@Meritumas yup!! I have about 6 batteries.
canon ixus 185 or canon s100? what's the best 😢
Is this one better than elph 360?
Depends on who you are and what you are going for. The S100 has a larger sensor and lower resolution, meaning better low-light performance. It is geared toward manual control, and has a built-in ND filter. Basically for when you can't be bothered to bring an ILC, but want better image quality than a phone (at the time) and RAW support.
If you don't know/don't care about any of that, get the Elph. I think if you are shooting video, the Elph is a better choice. Problem with the Elph is that it is too expensive for what it is.
Better play is to save up for something more modern and more advanced, or look for an older used RX100 (mk II or III). Should be about the same price, but far superior.
Canon "Lens Error" S100
I don't know if it is better to get one that just has an error or is so misaligned that it is unusable. I got really lucky with mine, I guess that is part of buying used, where you can ask for samples.
wow big future in small body
Ruined by the distracting muzak.
This camera is junk. I bought an s110 recently and could not believe how bad the pictures were against my Fuji xq1 and nikon p340. Both similar spec basically 8mmx6mm sensors
The whole range is really inconsistent, and there are issues with lens alignment. I got pretty lucky with mine, but a lot of people, not so much. The XQ1 has a much larger sensor that is also X-Trans, so that will beat it out every time; hell I would use that over a lot of old DSLRs. The P340 has a backlit sensor (BSI), so it is also going to destroy the S100/110/120 in noise performance and probably dynamic range.
@@forgottencameras I have an s110, and a 11x17 blown up from my trip to Tokyo. Although I have a hard time finding the perfect use case anymore (I would probably opt for my GRII), I think it's brilliant. I want to figure out the time/place to use it.
@Joe Blow i had a few of these s110 canons. The last one really was crap.i dont see apples to oranges. All cmos cameraswith 8x6mm sensors and 12 mpixels. So which is the apple and which is the orange
@@forgottencameras sorry for dropping in this old discussion, I like the Fuji X20 when it comes to jpg for camera of this type, I only look at the S100 because of CMDK firmware and this have raw capability.
This have CCD sensor but the images you got here and I saw others having didn't have the same kind of warm look that the Canon G10 has.
Is this S100 still a worthy buy for the raw feature? JPG is usable in person?