Review based on a production PowerShot S60
On May 19th of this year Canon announced the PowerShot S60, the replacement to the fifteen month old PowerShot S50. Despite the '60' in its name the S60 has the same five megapixel CCD as the S50, this will no doubt be the cause of some confusion for buyers who will assume that it is a six megapixel compact. There are a wide range of differences and improvements with the S60 compared to the older 'S' cameras, here's a summary of changes since the S50:
Canon are keen to point out that the S60 has a lens which utilizes 'UA lens technology'. This has lens elements which have 'ultra high refraction index glass' which allows the entire lens system to be thinner (yet maintaining the same image quality).
| Street price | • US: $499 • UK: £399 |
|---|---|
| Body Material | Magnesium alloy |
| Sensor | • 1/1.8" CCD, 5.2 million total pixels • 5.0 million effective pixels |
| Image sizes | • 2592 x 1944 • 2048 x 1536 • 1600 x 1200 • 1024 x 768 • 640 x 480 |
| Movie clips | • 640 x 480, 10 fps, up to 30 sec • 320 x 240, 15 fps, up to 3 mins • 160 x 120, 15 fps, up to 3 mins |
| Lens | • 28 - 100 mm equiv. (3.6x optical zoom) • F2.8 - F5.3 |
| Focus | • 9-point AiAF • Manual focus • AF assist beam • Minimum focus: 50 cm (Normal), 4 cm (Macro) |
| Shooting mode | • Auto • Program AE • Shutter priority AE • Aperture priority AE • Manual • Custom • Portrait • Landscape • Night Scene • Fast Shutter • Slow Shutter • Stitch Assist • Movie (with sound) |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO 50 - 400 |
| White Balance | • Auto • 7 presets • Manual |
| Image parameters | • Contrast (3 levels) • Sharpness (3 levels) • Saturation (3 levels) |
| Continuous | • High: 2.0 fps, up to 8 frames • Normal: 1.5 fps, up to 8 frames |
| Flash | • Modes: Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Manual (3 levels) • Slow Sync: On, Off (1st or 2nd curtain selectable) • Red-Eye Reduction: On, Off • Range, Wide: 4.2 m, Tele: 2.0 m |
| Storage | • Compact Flash Type I or Type II • FAT32 supported (cards >2 GB) • 32 MB CF card supplied |
| Viewfinder | Optical |
| LCD monitor | • 1.8" TFT LCD • 118,000 pixels |
| Connectivity | • USB 1.1 (inc PTP) • A/V out |
| Power | • Lithium-Ion NB-2LH rechargeable battery (supplied & charger) *n • Optional AC adapter |
| Other features | • Orientation sensor • Wireless remote • Interval shooting • Histogram in playback • Movie editting • Sound memo • Direct print (Canon & PictBridge) |
| Weight (no batt) | 230 g (8.1 oz) |
| Dimensions | 114 x 57 x 39 mm (4.4 x 2.2 x 1.5 in) |
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. 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 (typically VGA) 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. |
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This article is Copyright 2004 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom | $299.00 |
Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom | $299.00 |
Canon PowerShot S120 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 1080p Full-HD Video | Too low to display |
Canon PowerShot SX510 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 30x Optical Zoom and 1080p Full-HD Video | $249.00 |
Canon PowerShot SX280 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full-HD Video (Red) | Too low to display |
Canon PowerShot G16 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 1080p Full-HD Video | Too low to display |
Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | $535.00 |
Canon PowerShot SX280 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full-HD Video (Black) | Too low to display |
Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom | $65.00 |
Canon PowerShot S500 5MP Digital Elph with 3x Optical Zoom | $799.95 |
Canon PowerShot Pro Series S3 IS 6MP with 12x Image Stabilized Zoom | $799.95 |
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