A Class Apart!. Review on Canon 115 HS

The Canon 115 HS!! Finally in my hands!! what a pleasure of taking pictures with this small little light weight pocket friendly super shutter Camera! This is a marvel created by Canon. The HS system really works at low light as promised by canon.

I purchased this canon camera because of its capabilities, looks, feel, reliability, large screen, HS System with CMOS, pocket friendly and fits my budget perfectly.

Why Canon? (the story) (you can skip to 'The Good' if you want...)

• You cant go wrong on choosing the best in its class while being top of the range with top class performance and quality output. Before buying this camera I had spent time R&D on Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung.  Sony was out of the list when one day after trusting 'SONY' I had  visited a shop at ShopersStop where I was excited to hold a Sony in my  hand the good shopkeeper expert showed me a simple comparison btwn Sony  and Canon. He clicked a shot at a white background with Flash using both  the cams.

The end result- Sony showed me bright white and Canon showed  me true white, which was in actual not white but off whit even after  taking the shot with flash. From that day onwards I started loving  Canon. It was Canon's SX130 IS. The SX130 is really good but fails  poorly at user friendliness- its bulky, needs 2 AA Lithium Batteries and  the worst part is after you take a shot with flash it will take nearly 6  secs between shots to recycle flash and allow you to take the next  shot. I skipped that after few evident reviews and after a month I heard about the wonderful Canon 115HS.

I had shortlisted the 115Hs and 220HS before this I was Super Crazy for  the SX210 IS. This is one super compact mega zoom camera. Since it is a  made in Japan the price never really depreciated from 17K(initially  21K). I waited for nearly 3 months for the price to drop but canon said  this a top class camera and we aint giving this to you very cheap. By  the time I was waiting and waiting I realized that the cam would be out  of stock soon and I was  scared to lose this. I was getting this camera  for 14K from the grey market but without the free accessories and the  warranty, so never looked back at that option.

Finally after reviewing Nikon's  latest coolpix ranges (too much cons.)and few of panasonic and samsung  (which I dint find anything of that great) I got down to 115HS and  220HS. The 220HS is pricey ofcourse made is Japan that is, has 5X  optical Zoom(very very frustratingly slow while recording a movie), less  than 3" screen, the rest all the features are absolutely same with the  115HS and this 115Hs is having the better zoom time than 220HS and much  cheaper which made me just go grab one before stocks run out!!

The Good :

This camera would fit into any body's pocket without a hassle. The grip and feel is sturdy and good. The camera starts up and is ready to shoot within 1.3 Secs.  Pictures come out great and clear and crisp as you would expect it to  be while shooting.(images in the camera lcd and computer lcd would  differ) The Large 3 inch LCD Screen at the back is all where the action takes place and the art of photography lies. Pictures are taken at excellent 12.1 MP CMOS sensor. At 4:3 size you can shoot wonderful images at 4000x3000 res. It can take from ISO 80 to ISO 3200 in P mode and can also shoot straight to ISO 6400 in Auto mode and this is really amazing once you know the art of shooting without shooting. The camera can zoom upto 4X optical which gives the up-to best shots and can stretch to 16X Digital Zoom  where the pixels start appearing, Hey! but this little camera handles  them really well and with little distortion still manages to give you  the best shot possible after auto correction.

Switching between Program Mode and Auto mode is really very easy.  Zoom Lever is a little ring round the shutter button beside the power  button. The speakers are on the top and is good not loud enough but  that's not a concern cuz this aint a cell phone. The mono microphone  captures a little more wind noise than expected which could be noisy  sometimes. The camera has a dedicated record button  and this is really really very great option as you don't have to waste  time searching for the option when you want to capture some real quick  moments. With the push of the tiny red spot button you start shooting  movies at full HD and viewing them through the large LCD which is a Pure Color 2 Wide Viewing Angle screen  with only 230, 000 dots to display and still shows clear live images and  is really great to watch and edit with the in-cam features.

The camera has load of interesting fun features. I esp like the High speed burst mode! Wooaahh!! Switching over to this mode can let you shoot images at 8.2 shots/sec at 3MP. and the Super Slow motion movie mode! another marvel feature. This mode will let you take movies at a staggering 240fps and lets you view fast moving subjects at a slow-mo which will give you a never before shooting experience. Color Swap and Color Accent are some of the other great features. Editing is great esp with this large 3" size. You can connect the camera directly to the TV through the standard cables or connect it using the HDMI port.

The Not so Good :

This camera is capable of zooming while movie recording but this is only a digital zoom and I personally suggest you not to zoom in more than 2X as your movie will pixelate too  much thereafter. This is really not great. The camera should have had  an optical zoom to capture in full HD. The Navigation menu buttons are  really a pain to operate. You really need a tiny finger to operate is  smoothly. I some how manage to do it with finger point pressure and nail  pressure. It gets painful while a big operation. Accidental pushes are very likely. I did it many times and still do it sometimes now and is annoying sometimes. The Flash is very power full for long range shots which is good but when you shoot close images esp macro (3 cm max)  with flash, the image washes out white at some areas of your focus. You  can control it in the P mode using the ISO settings.And yeah as always  with most of the P&S cameras this one also shows you a black shadow  at corners after taking close range shots (esp trying macros) with flash, this one shows it on the right hand corner, otherwise macro is great. The camera can only shoot 20 shots at quick succession with flash  in the continuous shoot mode, thereafter if you continue shooting the  flash shooting will slow down making you wait for the flash to recharge  for the next shot. This camera needs an external storage card to save  your images. The 760mAh battery is a little on the lesser side to shoot with this great camera. It should have had at least 1000mAh.

Conclusion :

All in all the camera is a great all rounder with very cool unique outstanding features for the great shooting and video capturing experience. With its light weight and tiny sturdy body the camera is pocket friendly  to carry around. At a price range of around only 11K (which has been  dropped down from 12k aprox.)(i got it for 10, 665 with 4Gb mem and pouch  from Ezone) I would Recommend this camera to any one who is looking for a budgeted top class point and shooter.