Canon PowerShot S100 Review

November 24, 2011 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Canon PowerShot S100 is a pocket-sized camera that offers a lot of professional features. Aimed at the serious photographer looking for a capable compact, the new Canon S100 features a high-sensitivity 12.1 megapixel 1/1.7-type CMOS sensor, 5x zoom lens with a focal range of 24-140mm and fast maximum aperture of f/2.0, DIGIC 5 processor, and a 3.0 inch LCD display with a resolution of 461K dots, The S100 also offers a maximum ISO of 6400 at full resolution, built-in GPS, 1080p movie recording at 24fps, full range of manual shooting modes, RAW format support and 9.6fps burst shooting. Also present are the innovative lens Control Ring, which enables users to adjust the settings of various functions by twisting the selector at the base of the lens barrel to the left or right, and an anti-shake system which incorporates seven modes of stabilisation. Available in black or silver, the Canon Powershot S100 officially retails for £439.00 / €509.00 / $429.99.

Ease of Use

The new Canon PowerShot S100 is outwardly very similar to the S95 model that it replaces, so some of the comments that we made in that review apply equally to the S100, but there's also a lot of changes that have taken place internally, with a brand new Canon-made image sensor, Digic 5 processor and 5x zoom lens.

The S100 is an understated yet handsome camera that looks a lot simpler than its extensive feature list might suggest. It feels solid at a body-only weight of 198g when gripped in the palm, and measuring 98.9 x 59.8 x 26.7mm it's actually slightly slimmer than its S95 predecessor, impressive given the increase in zoom range, slipping readily into a trouser pocket or handbag. The S100 is completely covered in the same tactile coating as the EOS 7D DSLR, which helps to improve handling, aided by the new small and slim but still useful hand-grip on the front and the rubberised thumb-rest on the rear, two very welcome additions.

Unlike the S95, the S100 increases the megapixel count slightly to a new 12-megapixel sensor, and also changes the sensro type from CCD to CMOS. The S100 now offers the ability to shoot at a maximum ISO speed of 6400 at full stills resolution, with, more unusually still, a plethora of incremental 1/3 stop adjustments available between the lowest ISO 80 setting and this top option.

The S100 also sports a new lens, increasing the zoom range from the S95's 3.8x to a more versatile and wider-angle 5x zoom which offers a focal range of 24-120mm. Canon suggests that its f/2.0 lens has been fitted to allow in twice as much light as a more standard issue f/2.8 aperture optic, allowing for faster shutter speeds and shallower depth of field, although note that it's only f/2.0 at full wide-angle and that the maximum aperture at the 120mm telephoto end is a much slower f/5.9. The optically stabilized 5x zoom provides a four stop advantage and works for both still images and movies, and there's no less than seven different modes of stabilisation (Normal, Panning, Macro, Dynamic, Powered, Dynamic Macro, and Tripod mode) that are automatically detected and applied by the camera.

There's a 3-inch, 461-dot resolution LCD screen, an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) port for easy hookup to a HDTV set, plus the new Digic 5 processor and exposure adjusting iContrast function now a standard feature across the Canon family. More surprisingly for a compact with a width not a great deal broader than your credit card, both RAW and JPEG capture are also offered.

Perhaps more predictably, point-and-shoot user friendliness on the S100 comes in the form of the fully automatic face detection, motion detection and Smart Auto scene detection technologies regularly found on Canon's snapshot compacts. Something that was missing from the S95 - Full HD video capture - has now been rectified on the S100, with full 1080p movies at 1920x10800 pixels resolution available at 24fps complete with stereo sound. There's also full use of the optical zoom and thankfully continuous auto-focusing too, plus super slow-motion options (640x480 pixels at 120fps or 320x 240 pixels at 240fps), all adding up to a marked improvement on the S95's rather poor video capabilities.

Canon PowerShot S100 Canon PowerShot S100
Front Rear

Pared down to the essentials, which includes a quick start guide in the box and full manual on provided CD only, there's nothing initially about the S100 that feels extraneous or gimmicky. The most prominent feature of the S100's clean and rather serious looking faceplate is firstly the lens itself, and secondly the lens control ring that encircles it and turns with a series of satisfyingly audible clicks. Functions are attributed to a twist of the ring in conjunction with a press of the Ring Function button on camera's rear, with 8 available presets and a Custom option too.

In this way, to take one example, users can elect to adjust focus manually, a distance slider appearing on the right hand side of the LCD screen and the central portion of the image enlarged as a further aid to accuracy. Other options for the ring function include changing the aperture, selecting the ISO speed, tweaking of exposure (+/- 2EV), manual adjustment of white balance, as a stepped zoom providing the equivalent of 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm and 120mm steps, changing the i-Contrast, or choosing one of the aspect ratios.

Apart from the enticingly tactile draw of the lens ring, the front plate of the S100 houses a stereo microphone within two holes the size of a pinprick to the left of the lens, plus an AF assist/self timer lamp window top left of the lens. The clever flash is housed within the top plate so that when it's raised it is at least a centimeter away from the lens in a cursory attempt to avoid the blight of red eye. Instead of a dedicated button for activating the pop up flash, this is done automatically via selection of the settings offered via the rear command pad/scroll wheel. Select the forced flash option and, technically, rather than popping up, the bulb instead rises majestically from the body with a low mechanical accompaniment… very cool.

Moving to the top plate, we find at its foremost edge a silver shutter release button, which is bigger than the S95's, encircled by a zoom rocker switch with front lip that has been squared off to fall into line with the width of the body and avoid distracting from the clean lines. There's just enough of it to achieve purchase with a fingertip, the lens traveling steadily and surely from maximum wide-angle setting to extreme telephoto in just under three seconds sound-tracked by a low operational whirr.

Also set into the top plate is a small round on/off button. Press this with a fingernail and the S100 powers up for action in just under a second, rear LCD bursting into life soundtracked by a musical 'sting' and the lens barrel extending from its stacked hiding place within the camera's innards to its maximum wide angle setting.

Completing the top of the S100 is the GPS logo, which replaces the S95's Ring Function button (now relocated to the rear). The GPS is set to off as a default and to enable it, you have to go into the main menu, go to Settings and scroll down to the GPS sub menu. It's worth noting that GPS can't be used in every country and if you're travelling abroad, you should check with that country's regulations to make sure you're ok doing it. In practice the GPS system does have a little trouble indoors or under cover, but we found that it worked perfectly outside even with cloud cover, embedding your co-ordinates within the EXIF data. Also the GPS Logger function can record your position at set time intervals so that you can review your journey on the supplied Map Utility software.

Canon PowerShot S100 Canon PowerShot S100
Front

Pop-up Flash

Software for uploading the pictures to Google Maps is included along with the manual disc in the box. It's relatively easy to find out how to view your pictures on the map, the main problem we had was how to navigate away from the My Pictures folder that the software defaults to, so that we could get to our dedicated folder storing the Canon pictures. The ones that have GPS information will have a small satellite icon in the top corner. The readings are extremely accurate – we would say to within a few metres.

A half press of the nearby shutter button and the camera chooses a point of focus within a quarter of a second, AF point or points flashing in green accompanied by an affirmative 'beep'. Go on to take the shot and there's little if any discernible shutter delay, while full resolution JPEGS are written to inserted (optional) SD or SDHC card (there's no internal memory provided to fall back on) in just over a second, with RAW files - selectable in Program or one of the other four creative shooting modes - taking a mere fraction longer.

With the integral flash housed and hidden to the far left of the top plate (if gazing down on the camera), to the far right is a slightly raised shooting mode dial that's operated by the thumb. Rigid to the touch, it clicks into place at each of its nine mode settings with a definite clicking action. These comprise the creative grouping of Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual and a single Custom mode, plus separate Smart Auto, Scene, Creative Filters and Movie modes. The new High-speed Burst HQ scene mode allows you to shoot at 9.6fps in an 8-frame burst, although it's JPEG only and there's no manual control. The normal continuous shooting mode offers a still quite impressive shooting rate of 2.3fps. The new Creative Filters shooting mode contains 10 different options, including High Dynamic Range, Miniature and Toy Camera. In the High Dynamic Range mode the S100 combines three separate images to greatly expand the dynamic range.

The S100's Smart Auto functionality goes further than some rivals in comparing common scenes or subjects with not just five or six options, but 32 variables to deliver - in theory - the most appropriate and optimal results. Click the mode wheel around to each subsequent setting and the name and icons of said mode appears on the camera's LCD with, in some cases, a brief text description of the best application for the particular mode. This suggests that the S100 can be used as readily by beginners as more seasoned digital camera users, the variety of shooting options to be found on the mode dial allowing first timers to move beyond their initial comfort zone as familiarity with the camera's workings grows over time. More experienced users can turn this Hints & Tips feature off.

With the back of the Canon S100 largely swallowed up by the high-resolution 3 inch LCD screen, the visibility of which proves more than adequate both indoors and out, a familiar array of controls is found shunted to the right hand side. Familiar, in that they ape those found on the G-series camera's to a fair extent, including the love it or loathe it scroll wheel surrounding the thumb operated four-way control pad.

From the top then is the new rubberised thumb-rest, below we find a pairing of buttons for changing the lens control ring function and a new dedicated one-touch movie record button respectively. The Ring Control button can be more usefully assigned a different function, with no less than 20 different options to choose from. In conjunction with the customisable lens control ring, this makes it easy to tailor the S100 to your own specific way of shooting.

Canon PowerShot S100 Canon PowerShot S100
Battery Compartment Memory Card Slot

Beneath this is the control pad and scroll wheel combination. At points north, east, south and west we get options, in capture modes, for adjusting exposure compensation, flash settings, display options, and macro or manual focus, if not already using the front lens ring for the latter. The Tracking AF mode focuses on the subject in the centre of the frame and tracks them if they move, useful for keeping up with fast-moving or unpredictable subjects like children. If the camera is in playback mode, points north and south allow a series of captured images to be leapfrogged if hunting down a particular shot saved to card in a hurry, or alternatively deleting a duff capture.

In the centre of the control pad is the Function/Set button. Press this, and as we're used to from recent Canon compacts a toolbar appears down the left hand side of the screen, options highlighted or de-selected dependant on whether the user is in auto capture or one of the more fully featured creative capture modes. In Program mode, for example, selecting the ISO icon provides a slide rule across the bottom of the screen with ISO speeds set out incrementall and the user simply utilizes the scroll wheel or tabs between them to select the desired setting.

The other selectable options on the tool bar comprise white balance (which can now detect scenes with two different light sources and apply area-specific correction in the Smart Auto shooting mode), Canon's familiar 'My Colours' effects modes, an exposure or focus bracketing option - whereby three successive shots are taken - single or continuous shooting modes, self-timer options, switch between evaluative, centre weighted average or spot metering, turn the new neutral density filter on or off to allow for larger apertures in bright conditions, select one of the five aspect ratios, choose the various image capture formats including RAW and/or JPEG, and set the movie size. Finally, the DR Correction option allows you to manually select the DR strength - off, auto, 200% or 400% - and if you want to turn Shadow Correction on.

Returning to the camera back, and below the control pad we find a final pairing of buttons for the self-explanatory Playback and Menu. A press of Menu brings up a trio of folders, for Camera, Setup and My Menu settings, in that order. It's via the first folder that the user can enable such settings as noise reduction, wind filter and auto red eye reduction/removal, as well as blink detection and adjusting the image stabilization mode to come into effect only when taking a shot, when panning the camera, or have it on continuously.

While the left hand flank of the S100, viewed from the rear, is devoid of controls, the right hand side features a hard plastic covered port for both an HDMI cable (not supplied in the box) plus the more regular combined AV out/USB out port (for which two separate cables are provided).

The base of the camera features a metal screw thread for a tripod attachment just left of centre and a sliding door with catch protecting slots for the provided lithium ion rechargeable battery and optional SD/SDHC card, both of which slot relatively easily into place. A battery life lasting 200 shots without flash or 300 minutes of video isn't particular generous however, and any less would be downright alarming at this price point. As it was, after one days' extensive use our battery was back in the provided charger, so you'll want to take this or a spare battery away with you on any extended trip or visit.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 3.5Mb.

The Canon PowerShot S100 produces images of excellent quality. It recorded noise-free images at ISO 80-800, with some noise and slight colour desaturation at ISO 1600. ISO 3200 shows more obvious noise and loss of colour but still remains perfectly usable, and even the fastest setting of ISO 6400 doesn't suffer too badly. The RAW files were also very clean from ISO 80-800, with a slight drop in sharpness but also slightly less noise at ISO 1600-6400 than the corresponding JPEGs.

The Canon PowerShot S100 handled chromatic aberrations well, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and generally at the edges of the frame. The lens exhibits some degree of barrel distortion at the 24mm wide-angle setting, along with softening of detail towards the corners. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure, although there's noticeable vignetting at 24mm. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds being long enough for most after-dark shots.

The image stabilisation system works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Canon PowerShot S100 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Canon PowerShot S100. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

JPEG RAW

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

Focal Range

The Canon Powershot S100's 5x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-120mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm

120mm

Chromatic Aberrations

The Canon PowerShot S100 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Canon PowerShot S100 allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Canon Powershot S100 are Auto, On, Auto Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (120mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (120mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Canon Powershot S100's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 80. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Canon PowerShot S100 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)

1/4 sec / 24mm
     
1/2 sec / 120mm

Dynamic Range Correction

The S100 allows you to manually set the amount of dynamic range correction, with four options available - Off, Auto, 2005 and 400%.

Off

200%

   

400%

 
 

My Colors

The My Colors function menu option contains the now familiar range of colour options for tweaking the look of your images before shooting.

Off

Vivid

   

Neutral

Sepia

   

B/W

Positive Film

   

Lighter Skin Tone

Darker Skin Tone

   

Vivid Blue

Vivid Green

   

Vivid Red

 
 

Creative Filters

The new Creative Filters shooting mode contains 10 different options, including High Dynamic Range, Miniature and Toy Camera. In the High Dynamic Range mode the S100 combines three separate images to greatly expand the dynamic range.

Off

High Dynamic Range

   

Nostalgic

Fish-eye Effect

   

Miniature Effect

Toy Camera Effect

   

Monochrome

Super Vivid

   

Poster Efect

Color Accent

   

Color Swap

 
 

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot S100 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Canon PowerShot S100 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Canon RAW (CR2) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 15 second movie is 64.7Mb in size.

Product Images

Canon PowerShot S100

Front of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Front of the Camera / Turned On

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Rear of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 

Canon PowerShot S100

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Canon PowerShot S100

Rear of the Camera / Function Menu

 
Canon PowerShot S100
Rear of the Camera / Main Menu
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Rear of the Camera / Ring Function Menu
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Top of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Bottom of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Side of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Side of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Memory Card Slot
 
Canon PowerShot S100
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Canon PowerShot S100 may look a lot like its popular predecessor, but a brand new sensor, processor and lens combine to produce a more versatile, faster, better specified and more capable pocket camera that makes an ideal everyday shooter for DSLR and CSC owners. Only a significant price increase, lack of control over the flash and poor battery life prevents us from giving the S100 our coveted Essential award.

The S100 addresses virtually all of the issues that detracted from its predecessor - most notably the poor video mode and lack of a hand-grip - whilst further improving the handling, array of features and image quality. There's more than enough on offer to tempt even current S95 owners to upgrade, and it all adds up to make the S100 an even more attractive proposition as a serious compact for serious users.

Image quality is excellent, with a perfectly usable ISO range of 80-1600 and fast f/2.0 maximum aperture, albeit only at the wide-angle lens setting, making the S100 very well-suited to low-light, hand-held photography. It's also possible to capture the blurred backgrounds and sharp subject that most compacts struggle to achieve, while the 5x zoom offers a longer reach than the S95, albeit with a somewhat inevitable increase in the maximum aperture to a rather slow f/5.9 at 120mm. Full 1080p video with continuous auto-focusing, stereo sound and full use of the zoom is the icing on the imaging cake.

We suspect that all of the new hardware, particularly the GPS unit, has pushed up the price to an eye-watering £439.00 / €509.00 / $429.99, which is a lot of money in anyone's currency. While some will question such a price-tag for what is after all a mere compact camera, for many the S100 will make perfect sense both economically and logically - it's still the smallest camera on the market to offer such a wide array of DSLR-like features and excellent image quality to match, topped off by a refined user interface that is a pleasure to use. Price aside, the Canon PowerShot S100 is a worthy winner of our Highly Recommended award.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 5
Features 5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 4.5
Value for money 4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Canon PowerShot S100 from around the web.

techradar.com »

Compared to its predecessor, the S100 has undergone some radical changes, sporting a completely revamped feature set. The camera's sensor is the same size as the one in the S95, but the CCD has been swapped for a CMOS, and the resolution has been ramped up to 12.1Mp (maximum image size is 4,000x3,000 pixels), compared to the S95's 10Mp (3,648x2,756).
Read the full review »

whatdigitalcamera.com »

High-end compact cameras have got a lot of competition these days. What with the rise of the Compact System Camera there's ever more demand for a pocketable yet capable camera. Which is exactly what Canon's PowerShot S100, the follow up to the S95, claims to be. It's also one of the first Canon compacts with the company's latest DIGIC 5 processor, so just how well does this latest PowerShot perform?
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

The Canon Powershot S100 is the latest "serious compact" from Canon and includes a slightly larger than normal 12 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, 10fps shooting, a new wide angle 5x optical zoom lens and built in GPS.
Read the full review »

Specifications

IMAGE SENSOR
Type 1/1.7 type Canon high-sensitivity CMOS
Effective Pixels Approx. 12.1M
Colour Filter Type Primary Colour
IMAGE PROCESSOR
Type DIGIC 5 with iSAPS technology
LENS
Focal Length 5.2 – 26.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 24 – 120 mm)
Zoom Optical 5x. Digital Approx. 4x (with Digital Tele-Converter Approx. 1.5x or 2.0x and Safety Zoom¹). Combined Approx. 20x
Maximum f/number f/2.0-f/5.9
Construction 7 elements in 6 groups (1 double-sided aspherical lens, 1 double-sided aspherical UA lens and 1 single-sided aspherical lens)
Image Stabilisation Yes (lens shift-type), 4-stop. Intelligent IS
FOCUSING
Type TTL
AF System/ Points AiAF (Face Detection / 9-point), 1-point AF (Any position is available, fixed centre or Face Select and Track)
AF Modes Single, Continuous (only available in Smart Auto mode), Servo AF/AE¹, Tracking AF
AF Point Selection Manual selection using FlexiZone AF/AE, Size (Normal, Small)
AF Lock On/Off Selectable
AF Assist Beam Yes
Manual Focus Yes
Focus Bracketing Yes
Closest Focusing Distance 3 cm (W) from front of lens in macro
EXPOSURE CONTROL
Metering modes Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre or linked to Face Detection AF or FlexiZone AF frame)
AE Lock Yes
Exposure Compensation +/- 3 EV in 1/3 stop increments
Enhanced i-Contrast for automatic dynamic range correction
ND Filter (3 stop)
AEB 1/3 – 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
ISO sensitivity* AUTO, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400
SHUTTER
Speed 1 – 1/2000 sec. (factory default)
15 – 1/2000 sec. (total range – varies by shooting mode)
WHITE BALANCE
Type TTL
Settings Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, Custom. Multi-area WB correction available in Smart Auto
COLOUR MATRIX
Type sRGB
LCD MONITOR
Monitor 7.5 cm (3.0”) PureColor II G (TFT), Approx. 461,000 dots
Coverage Approx. 100%
Brightness Adjustable to one of five levels. Quick-bright LCD
FLASH
Modes Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow Synchro
Slow Sync Speed Yes. Fastest speed 1/2000 sec.
Red-Eye Reduction Yes
Flash Exposure Compensation +/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments. Face Detection FE. Safety FE.
Flash Exposure Lock Yes
Manual Power Adjustment 3 levels with internal flash
Second Curtain Synchronisation Yes
Built-in Flash Range 50 cm – 7.0 m (W) / 2.3 m (T)
External Flash Canon High Power Flash HF-DC2
SHOOTING
Modes Smart Auto (32 scenes detected), Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom, SCN (Movie Digest, Portrait, Landscape, Kids & Pets, Smart Shutter(Smile, Wink Self-Timer, FaceSelf-Timer), High-speed Burst HQ, Handheld Night Scene, Beach, Underwater, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist, High Dynamic Range, Nostalgic, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap), Movie
Modes in Movie Smart Auto (21 scenes detected), Standard, Program AE, Portrait, Landscape, Miniature Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap, Beach, Underwater, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Nostalgic, iFrame Movie, Super Slow Motion Movie
Photo Effects My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color)
Drive modes Single, Continuous, Continuous with AF, Self-Timer
Continuous Shooting Approx. 2.3 shots/sec., AF: Approx. 0.8 shots/sec., LV: Approx. 0.8 shots/sec., High-speed Burst HQ: Approx. 9.6 shots/sec., up to 8 shots¹²
RECORDING PIXELS / COMPRESSION
Image Size 4:3 - (L) 4000 x 3000, (M1) 2816 x 2112, (M2) 1600 x 1200, (S) 640 x 480
16:9 - (L) 4000 x 2248, (M1) 2816 x 1584, (M2) 1920 x 1080, (S) 640 x 360
3:2 - (L) 4000 x 2664, (M1) 2816 x 1880, (M2) 1600 x 1064, (S) 640 x 424
1:1 - (L) 2992 x 2992, (M1) 2112 x 2112, (M2) 1200 x 1200, (S) 480 x 480
4:5 - (L) 2400 x 3000, (M1) 1696 x 2112, (M2) 960 x 1200, (S) 384 x 480
Resize in playback (M2, S, XS)
*XS is half the length and width of S
Compression Fine, Normal
Movies (Full HD) 1920 x 1080, 24 fps, (HD) 1280 x 720, 30 fps, (L) 640 x 480, 30 fps
Super Slow Motion Movie (L) 640 x 480, 120fps, (M) 320 x 240, 240fps
Miniature Effect (HD, L) 6fps, 3fps, 1.5 fps
iFrame Movie (HD)
Movie Length (Full HD & HD) Up to 4 GB or 29 min. 59 sec.¹
(L and M) Up to 4 GB or 1 hour ²
(Super Slow Motion Movie) 30 sec.
FILE TYPES
Still Image Type JPEG compression, (Exif 2.3 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system, RAW, Digital Print Order Format [DPOF] Version 1.1 compliant
Movies MOV [H.264 + Linear PCM (stereo)]
iFrame
GPS Log LOG [NMEA 0183 message format compliant¹]
DIRECT PRINT
Canon Printers Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printers and Canon Inkjet Printers supporting PictBridge (ID Photo Print, Fixed Size Print and Movie Print supported on SELPHY CP & ES printers only)
PictBridge Yes
OTHER FEATURES
GPS Yes, GPS tagging, GPS Logger¹
Red-Eye Correction Yes, during shooting and playback
My Camera / My Menu Start-up image and camera sounds customisation. Menu customisation
My Category Image tagging feature
Intelligent Orientation Sensor Yes
Histogram Yes, live histogram
Playback zoom Approx. 2x – 10x
Self Timer Approx. 2 or 10 sec., Custom
Menu Languages English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian, Farsi, Hindi
INTERFACE
Computer Hi-Speed USB (MTP, PTP) dedicated connector (Mini-B compatible)
Other HDMI Mini Connector (HDMI-CEC compatible) A/V output (PAL/NTSC)
MEMORY CARD
Type SD, SDHC, SDXC
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM
PC & Macintosh Windows 7 / 7 SP1 / Vista SP2 / XP SP3
Mac OS X v10.5 – 10.6
SOFTWARE
Browsing & Printing ZoomBrowser EX / ImageBrowser
Other PhotoStitch, Map Utility
Image Manipulation Digital Photo Professional for RAW development
POWER SOURCE
Batteries Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-5L (NB-5L battery and charger supplied)
Battery life Approx. 200 shots¹
Approx. 240 min. playback
A/C Power Supply Optional, AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC30
ACCESSORIES
Cases / Straps Soft Case DCC-1450
Waterproof / Weatherproof Case Waterproof Case (40m) WP-DC43, Waterproof Case Weight WW-DC1
Flash Canon High Power Flash HF-DC2
Power Supply & Battery Chargers AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC30,
Battery Charger CB-2LXE
Other Canon HDMI Cable HTC-100
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Operating Environment 0 – 40 °C, 10 – 90% humidity
Dimensions (WxHxD) 98.9 x 59.8 x 26.7 mm
Weight Approx. 198 g (including battery/batteries and memory card)

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