Canon PowerShot S100 GPS compact camera
The pocket professional
Review As the latest incarnation of Canon’s highly-regarded PowerShot S range of enthusiast-grade compact cameras, the new PowerShot S100 has a lot to live up to.
More than point and shoot: Canon's PowerShot S100
Where the S95 was a relatively minor upgrade to the very popular S90 reviewed previously, the S100 is a more significant upgrade, bringing with it a (mostly) improved lens specification, faster processing, GPS functionality and an all-new 12Mp CMOS sensor, replacing the 10Mp CCD of the previous versions. More on these features later.
First, a quick recap for those of you who aren’t familiar with the PowerShot S concept. With the release of the PowerShot S90 in 2009, Canon re-introduced its highly-regarded S series of PowerShot-branded compact cameras aimed squarely at keen enthusiasts and even professionals who want to shoot when a full-sized SLR simply isn’t practical.
Definitely a compact...
Unlike many of the vast number of non-SLR enthusiast cameras recently released to market, the PowerShot doesn’t appeal to your sense of nostalgia with retro styling that harks back to the iconic Leica rangefinders, nor does it attempt to shoehorn an interchangeable lens mount onto an inappropriately small body. No, the PowerShot S100 is a proper traditional compact, with a proper retractable lens which actually fits properly into a trouser pocket – and a skinny front trouser pocket at that.
As such, it belongs to a different class of camera – one you really can take anywhere and yet with this camera Canon is attempting to woo those with the most exacting standards of image quality, flexibility and usability – and the willingness to pay for it. This is a compact camera which will cost you more than a Canon EOS 1100D SLR kit.
The bright f2 lens certainly has enthusiast appeal
However, it’s most certainly not for the point-and-shoot brigade. It may have the same physical dimensions as a standard ultra-compact, but it’s blessed with a feature set and control layout aimed squarely at the enthusiast photographer who doesn’t see why shrinking down from an SLR should also see a reduction in functionality.
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COMMENTS
I disagree that the GPS is a gimmick
Especially after a trip, I find that being able to tie down where a shot was taken really makes reviewing them more pleasurable.
Especially when visiting destinations that change substantially with the seasons, being able to locate and view other people's photos taken at the same place and a different time of year adds an interesting extra dimension to the place you've visited.
90%
Sounds such a good review that it should be rated at 90% which bring it down from 100% with some minor issues like the min aperature and speed in raw mode.
How often does a RegHard review go below 60% and above 90%. The scores on the doors are not good enough to give a realistic view of the review. At the moment you have to take 60% as crap and 90% as effing brilliant. It should be more like 10% for crap and 100% as effing brilliant.
Re: I disagree that the GPS is a gimmick
Agreed!
If you're serious about photography you often go out on a walkabout and shoot a series of recce shots to scout a location, you'll often do this without your full bag of kit. Having a camera with GPS means you know to within a few feet exactly where you took the viewpoint you really favoured. Nothing worse than scouting a location then coming back a week or two later and wandering about in the dark trying to find the exact spot you wanted to shoot from again.
Great review for a great camera, corroborates with other views, discussion on DSLR vs Compact
e.g. at kenrockwell.com and on amazon.co.uk
Also, for an informative discussion on DSLR vs Compact look at:
http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/14510/is-there-at-least-one-reason-why-i-should-buy-an-entry-level-prosumer-aps-c-dslr
Failures
A friend has had really bad experience with one of these, having to keep send it back for repairs.
