COMPARISON: Canon Powershot and Rebel Xsi

If there's one thing we do before buying anything or going anywhere, it's RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. This is one of the main reasons we started our company, our guidebook series, and why we blog. Why reinvent the wheel each time? Why not share our hard work with our readers?

When we got our Canon Powershot S2 over 3 years ago, we spent several weeks combing over the options within our budget for a top-of-the-line "point-and-shoot" digital camera. Our 4 year old Nikon Coolpix had finally taken its last shot, and we were in need of something with professional quality at an amateur price. We found it all in the Powershot; which since 2005 has seen some great upgrades in megapixels (from 5 to 8 now), stability, and quality. Although larger in body, this little genius has some wonderful settings, a useful swiveling LCD, a super zoom, and high quality results that made most of our magazine editors happy.

We reviewed this product on February 22 last year; the results from that review:
Pros:
Extending lens with 12x zoom
Settings galore: panoramic, indoor, unlimited speed shutter to name a few!
Battery life
Video quality
Swivel viewfinder
Good flash, popup

Cons:
Heavier weight - 14.3 oz - and larger body
Complex settings require instructional reading
Off button is sometimes mistaken for the shutter button

Our research was so detailed and valuable, that several friends took our advice last to purchase this wonderful little camera!


All that said however, the Powershot's image quality is not quite professional-grade, and as our company grew and our editorial needs expanded, we began the search for an upgrade.

We found everything and more in the Canon Rebel XSi. Remember, our needs might be different from yours, so let us spell out what narrowed our search:

1. We needed a professional camera without the professional weight:
In testing a few Nikons out (that brand just happened to be what friends own), we noticed that the weight of a professional camera isn't that big of a deal when shooting non-sporting or off-snow events, but the bulk of our shooting IS on snow or on the run, and having something lightweight, manageable, and small enough to zip into our coats while skiing was a MUST.

2. We needed a Canon so our 35mm lenses could be used:
Since long before Access Anything began, Andy shot film on either a Pentax or Canon body when "professional" images were needed. We had two excellent lenses, tons of filters, and several other attachments for the Rebel 35mm's body that we didn't want to go to waste. Despite what the market projects, it isn't about megapixels, it's ALL about lenses! You have a good zoom and wide angle lens in your bag and you don't NEED more than 8 or 10 mps.

3. We wanted to spend less than $1000:
Even though there are professional camera bodies that range from $700 to $4000, we compared all of them. The major differences between the 3 professional grades of camera bodies in the Canon family are megapixels, ISO ("film" speed), and weight. When asked, our photographer friends said "you just can't explain the differences" between the Mark series and the Rebel. Our logic was for $2000, if it's unexplainable, perhaps we can do without it? So far, we think we were right.

After one month with the XSi, we're still in shock at the quality of photo, the shutter speed, and the manageable size of the body even with the large 80-300 lens. What we're missing out on (2500 vs 1600 ISO, 10 extra megapixels, and 10-15 extra oz of weight) is excusable; the photo quality has so far been high enough for stock and magazine agencies- the largest file we've taken is over 5mb!

We hope if you're looking for a camera, you'll consider our research valuable. Good luck!

Canon PowerShot S2IS

An improvement on its S1IS predecessor, the S2 increased to a 12x zoom 5.0 mega pixel powerhouse that is unparalleled by other cameras of its size.

We purchased this camera in 2006 and although we are in the constant market for new equipment and have had a digital SLR on our list for years, we are still so content with this camera that it's the only one we use.

It has done so well since it's release in 2005, in fact, that it's price range is $50-75 higher than it was when we bought it in 2006.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Pros:
Extending lens with 12x zoom
Additional equipment available (waterproof casing, lens protector)
Battery life
Video recorder is better than our $750 Sony Video Camera
Settings, settings, settings
Movable viewfinder
Pop up flash

Cons:
Heavy weight - 14.3 oz
For some people the settings could be overwhelming
Off button is sometimes mistaken for the shutter button


Review:
Still after 18 months I can't say enough about this amazing piece of machinery. I took my time researching for this purchase, and am very glad I did. The features on this camera are endless, but I'll run through my favorites to save the lengthy read this could easily become.

The Auto Mode takes a fool-proof darn good picture, but if you know anything about cameras and various modes, this model provides them all. Indoor, Mountain, Portrait, Macro, Sports, and Panoramic modes, especially the latter, are better than any other camera I've owned. The Macro has to be about 2' away, but the pictures come out like an SLR. As the occasional sports-photographer, a major selling point of this camera was the unlimited speed-shutter setting that takes as many pictures as it can while I hold down the shutter.

You could get by with these modes and come off like a professional, but the S2 offers more. Color changing, four manual modes, and multiple scene modes including fireworks make for a list so long that if you haven't read the instructions, this camera wasn't worth your money. Change the length of the auto-timer. Change the noise of the shutter or the appearance of your menus. Change the LCD brightness or the auto-focus to save batteries. You can even change the color of the car you just snapped, make your subjects tanner, and make that sunset brighter without any help from photoshop! They pulled out all stops on this one.

The programs it comes with are easy to use, the download of images is quick, and the neck strap is comfortable, all worth mention as well.

The video mode was the most pleasantly surprising for us. We had bought a Sony Video Camera the Christmas before, and this Canon takes better video, hands down. Having two video cameras is great during our ski camp, so no regrets, but I make most of our professional post-camp videos with this little helper. Hint: Get a 2 or 5mb high res SD card for this if you're going to take a lot of videos.

Next, the viewfinder. Seriously a component worthy of its own article, this viewfinder bends, twists, flips, and reverses itself to make self-photos, timer-photos, spy-photos, and protect the viewfinder when you're not using it. Magnificent. Nothing worse than a scratched viewfinder.

The few downfalls to this genius are hardly worth mention, but the camera IS heavy, and why wouldn't it be when it has the entirety of Mary Poppins bag of tricks in it? If you're not an instructions-reader, honestly, don't bother with this camera; but it's worth it's weight in gold if you are. And last, the "off" button is where some camera's shutter is, so when we hand this camera to a passerby to snap one rare one of US, it's often turned off and we have to pose again. I never make the mistake personally, but it's ruined the split second missed-shots of our first Hawaii sunset, so I felt it worth mention.