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:
- New body design, smaller and lighter (with a much improved sliding cover mechanism)
- New wide angle lens: 28 - 100 mm equiv. (3.6x), F2.8 - F5.3
- New image size option: 2048 x 1536
- New movie clip size: 640 x 480, 10 fps, up to 30 sec
- Max shutter speed up to 1/2000 sec from 1/1500 sec
- PictBridge support
- Higher capacity NB-L2H battery
UA lens technology
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).
Key specifications
| 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) |
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