Camera Labs

Hi everybody
I put a blog together about the SX10/SX1 where I compare them with the S2IS since this is my Canon still in use.
http://sx10-is.blogspot.com/

When I read about the SX1 viewfinder resolution yesterday something bogled my mind.


Normal resolution with the SX1 or SX10 3.648 x 2.736 = 10 mp.
Wide resolution with the SX1 3.640 x 2.160 = 7.8 mp so just a crop of the 10mp

Now if you shoot normal 10mp with the SX1 widescreen, the picture will be resized for the screen and you have a black bar on either side that leaves 110k effective viewing pixel for the viewfinder and 172k pixel for the display if I did my calculation right.

SX10 screen 2.5" 230k ca 552x416 - 4:3 10mp
viewfinder 0.44" 235k ca. ca. 560x420 - 4:3 10mp

SX1 screen 2.8" 230k ca. 639x360 - 16:9 7.8mp
(172k ca. 478x360 in 4x3 10mp)
viewfinder 0.40" 148k ca. 513x289 -16:9 7.9mp
(110k ca. 383x289 in 4x3 10mp)


So manual focus will be almost impossible with the viewfinder and not so good with the display.

If this is right then the viewfinder from the SX1 in 10mp is even worse than the one in the Canon S2 (115k) and will be a deal breaker for me.

Somebody please proof me wrong

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http://hx9v.blogspot.com/

Hi Gran Canaria, that's a vrey good point.

The trouble with widescreen displays and 4:3 sensors is there's always going to be a compromise somewhere - if the image fills the screen, then it's being cropped or stretched. If the whole 4:3 image is displayed, then there'll be black bars down the sides and it'll appear very small. This is the same as on models like Sony's T77 and Panasonic's LX3 (although that has a 3:2 display).

I knew the SX1 IS's screen was 16:9, but I hadn't yet checked on the EVF - to be honest I'm quite surprised to hear you say it's also 16:9. It'll be an interesting one to test.

Gordon, what other sense would it make to put a smaller size screen with only 0.4" instead of 0.44" and a much lower resolution of 147k pixel instead of 235k pixel viewfinder in the new flagship of the Powershot series if it had the same apect ration from 4:3 as the SX10 viewfinder?
The only explanation can be the 16:9 wide screen viewfinder.
If you have the time slip over to my blog I put some original Canon website pictures there and animated it to better see the difference.
</ shameless selfpromotion of my blog>

oh and @ Bob Andersson who locked my post in user reviews:
It is ok with me to have it locked because the main discussion will be here in the Canon section. I just thought I mentioned it there since you have an extra section for user reviews.
And the reason I was temporarly banned at dpreview was the mentioning of Cameralabs more than once. I am a real person who is passionate about cameras and like to share insights which extend far what a review can do. I did that with the Ricoh R6 when she came out and there were virtually no revies on the net and I did the same with my blog about the Canon SX10 and hopefully SX1, since when I started Gordons review was not online.
I do not make any money out my blog and I do not care how many hits I get, but I do belive in spreadding the word especially on a big forum like this where a single post in maybe the wrong section can easily be overlooked.

Joe from Gran Canaria

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http://hx9v.blogspot.com/

Gordon I just found the confirmation on the Canon Europe website:

Viewfinder EVF (0.40" type), aspect ratio 16:9, approx. 148,000 dots

So that leaves 110,000 dots for to use the 10mp resoultion


If you shoot 10mp with the SX1 you have a 2.17" screen (something between the 2" from the S3IS and the 2.5" from the S5IS) with a 172.000 pixel resolution and your viewfinder will have a 110.000 pixel resolution.


Don´t believe me? Here is a 1:1 pixelcount chart I made to believe it myself.


By costablanca

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http://hx9v.blogspot.com/

Yep the EVF does seem to be a 16:9 shape - I look forward to testing this model and seeing how it compares. Maybe the SX10 IS would be ultimately preferrable for many people...

Gordon, I think so too. If they had the same screens as on the SX10 it would be the better choice.
Somebody did not think this through.
Since the viewfinder of the S2IS is even a bit better than the one from the SX1 in 10mp mode I made a side by side comparison so you will get an idea. Please concentrate only on the sharp parts of the image the unsharp is distortion of the picture taking camera not the actual clarity of the viewfinder.



Ok, so why am I so obsessed with the low resolution viewfinder you might ask.
When I brought my brand spanking new Canon S2 I wanted a camera with manual focus but with that low resolution viewfinder and the low resolution display what was too small (1.8") also I was not able to use successful the manual focus. It did frustrate me so much that most of the time I did not use the S2. Now 3 and a half year later I will not make the same mistake.

_________________
http://hx9v.blogspot.com/