1. Introduction 2. Specifications 3. Body & Design 4. Body & Design 5. Operation & Controls 6. Displays 7. Menus 8. Timings & Sizes 9. Features 10. Photographic tests 11. Photographic tests 12. Compared to... 13. Compared to... 14. Conclusion 15. Samples

Canon DIGITAL IXUS 330 (PowerShot S330) Review

Review based on a production Canon DIGITAL IXUS 330

The DIGITAL IXUS 330 (known as the PowerShot S330 in US/Canada) is Canon's updated to the popular IXUS 300 (PowerShot S300). The IXUS 330 is a steel cased, two megapixel, three times optical zoom ultra-compact "carry everywhere" digital camera. The DIGITAL IXUS 330 was announced at CeBIT 2002 along with the updated DIGITAL IXUS v² (two megapixel, two times optical zoom). The IXUS 330 has various new features and improvements over last years model (see below) but best still is that the street price of this camera appears to have settled some $200 less than its predecessor ($400 street price in the US).

DIGITAL IXUS 330 compared to the DIGITAL IXUS 300

	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 330 (PowerShot S330)	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 300 (PowerShot S300)
Auto focus	AiAF 3-point (focus areas displayed in LCD monitor), Center-point AF	AiAF 3-point
AF-Lock (multi shot)	Yes, (half-press + left arrow)	No
AE-Lock (multi shot)	Yes, (half-press + meter)	No
FE-Lock (multi shot)	Yes, (half-press + meter) - flash on	No
Metering	Evaluative, Spot	Evaluative
ISO sensitivity	Auto (ISO 50 - 150), Manual: ISO 50, 100, 200, 400	Auto (ISO 100 -150)
White balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluoresecent, Fluorescent High, Manual Preset	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluoresecent
Photo effects	Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White	Black & White
"Long shutter"	Manual: 1 - 15 sec	None
Self timer	2 or 10 sec	10 sec
Orientation sensor	Yes (auto rotate for playback)	No
Histogram display	Playback and record review	None
Playback magnify	Up to 10x	Up to 2x
"My camera"	Yes	No
EXIF format	EXIF 2.2 (ExifPrint)	EXIF 1.1
Direct print support	Canon CP-10, CP-100, S820D	Canon CP-10

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This review is Copyright 2002 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.

1. Introduction 2. Specifications 3. Body & Design 4. Body & Design 5. Operation & Controls 6. Displays 7. Menus 8. Timings & Sizes 9. Features 10. Photographic tests 11. Photographic tests 12. Compared to... 13. Compared to... 14. Conclusion 15. Samples