Canon Powershot S20 Review
Image Quality
Big expectations for the S20. That's what everyone has
for the new batch of 3.3 megapixel digicams. I was lucky to get my hands
on the S20 very early in the year when the S20 was the only 3.3 megapixel
around. I was slightly nervous that Canon had simply dropped a larger
imager in the S10 engine which wouldn't perform as we'd hope. I was wrong.
The S20 brings not only higher resolution with obviously
higher definition and detail (just check the cropped examples below) but
Canon have also sorted it's colour and white balance algorithms so that
those images are very natural. There is certainly a coolness to the S20
images (compared to the 950) this appears to produce whiter whites but
may not suit all people. The detail and balance the S20 produced is the
best I've seen so far on this site.. but don't just take my word for it,
compare the shots below and examine the samples gallery in detail...
Compared to the Powershot S10 & Nikon Coolpix 950
The following scene was shot with each camera from the
same tripod, same lighting within minutes of each other. Cameras were
set to incandescent white balance, JPEG compression set to the medium
setting (Fine on the S10 & S20, Normal on the 950).
| Canon Powershot S20 |
Canon Powershot S10 |
Nikon Coolpix 950 |
|
1,058 KB
|
592 KB
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689 KB
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| Canon Powershot S20 |
Canon Powershot S10 |
Nikon Coolpix 950 |
|
Cropped 100%
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Cropped 100%
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Cropped 100%
|
| Canon Powershot S20 |
Canon Powershot S10 |
Nikon Coolpix 950 |
|
Cropped 100%
|
Cropped 100%
|
Cropped 100%
|
| Canon Powershot S20 |
Canon Powershot S10 |
Nikon Coolpix 950 |
|
Cropped 100%
|
Cropped 100%
|
Cropped 100%
|
I think the crops above speak for themselves. Simply
the extra pixels have produced much better definition, further than that
the images are better colour and white balanced, slightly sharper and
handling the full range of light (highlights & shadows) much better.
Overall the S20 simply produces some of the best images I've seen out
of a consumer digicam.
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Feb 6, 2003
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Jan 16, 2003
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Feb 19, 2000
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Apr 17, 2000
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Jeff
over at DCResource has finished his Canon PowerShot S20 review, here's what
he says "One of my favorite cameras of 1999 was the Canon PowerShot
S10. Why? Well, it was light, easy to use, fast, and took great photos too!
When the S20 was announced, I was excited -- it took everything that made
the S10 so great, and added a 3.3 megapixel CCD!" Steve
posts a review of Canon's Champagne S20, he says "Like the PowerShot
S10, the S20 is a super-compact, all-metal bodied camera that is ready to
easily take on life's little bumps and knocks. For a palm-sized camera the
3-megapixel images are simply gigantic and guarantee photo-quality prints
to 8x10" and beyond. Canon has got another mini-sized winner here. "
Say
hello to the Canon Powershot S20, a 3.34 Megapixel version of the S10, it's
almost identical (except for its new golden skin) in specification to the
S10, the big difference is the 40% increase in image area (2048 x 1536 vs.
1600 x 1200) due to the new big CCD. The Canon BeBit site have just posted
specifications and four sample images.
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