G3's little brother? Hardly! The Powershot S45 has its own direction!
Written: Dec 31 '02 (Updated Mar 12 '03)
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Pros: Great combination of features from Canon Powershot S230 and G3
Cons: 3x zoom lens, battery life, price
The Bottom Line: Not shirtpocketable but easy to carry, the S45 combined many of the best features of the G3 and the S230 to make this camera nearly indispensible!
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Canon PowerShot S45 Digital Camera |
What is it with Canon digital cameras and me... I seem to be a sucker every time Canon releases a consumer or prosumer level digital camera. After purchasing the S230 and G3 in the last few months, I see the S45 released to the general US public. Plucking down just under $500 for the S45 at OneCall.com (after 6% discount and $20 coupon), I received this marvelous piece of digital photographic equipment! Now I am waiting for my American Express Best Value Guarantee pricematch to come through to get the $429 price I saw elsewhere!
Now after a month (update 1/21/2003), the S45 is without a doubt my favorite camera out of all the ones that I have bought or tried. That FUNC button tweak by Canon really improved the usability of this camera by a great deal. So that means I have to pair down the rest of my digital cameras to areas they'll get used. The CoolPix 4500 goes to the main medical office since my parents wanted something smaller... so they took the S230. That leaves me a CoolPix 995, PowerShot S330, the S45, and the G3. The S40 was sold to help pay for the S45... it's amazing how much value the S40 retained when kept in near mint condition (sold for $400 with additional battery).
The Short Take
How to describe the S45... well, in looks, it look about the same as the older Canon PowerShot S30 and S40 cameras. On a simple glance, the S45 seems like a simple update to the S40. A better description would be a cross between the PowerShot S230 and G3 models. The S45 is a consumer friendly camera... allowing high quality photos with a minimum of effort without sacrificing portability or power!
Although more expensive than other 4 MegaPixel cameras currently available, the amount of features and the quality of the camera make it worth every penny. However, if you don't plan on using the more advanced features of this camera, there are cheaper alternatives that get picture quality as close as the S45. 4 MegaPixels is also a bit of overkill if you print photos primarily of 4x6 size.
On a more somber look, the competition prices many of their decent 4 MegaPixel camera in the $300-400 range these days. Around $400 will get you a good 4 MegaPixel Point-and-shoot digital camera with less professional level features. The S45 is going against high quality cameras like the Minolta F100, the Nikon CoolPix 4300 (an excellent camera as well!), and even their older models like the G2 and the S40!
For myself, the S45 had shared time with the S230 as my most carried around cameras. However, as the month went on, the S45 took sole possession as the digital camera that I carried around the most! That plus I promised my parents a digital camera from my collection and they took the S230... sigh...
Pros:
1) 4 MegaPixel Camera
2) 3x Optical Zoom
3) Excellent user interface
4) Multiple Manual Exposure Settings
5) Compact Flash Media support
6) Limited Accessories
7) Extensive feature set
8) 1.8 inch color LCD
9) Canon quality
10) DIGIC processor
11) Multilevel focus system (300 selectable points)
12) 9 point AiAF like the S230!
13) iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) for improved camera focus and white balancing
14) Improved Movie Mode recording
15) DPOF direct printing
16) Fairly small size
Cons:
1) Price (at least $100 more than the competition)
2) Unable to utilize other battery types other than Lithium-Ion battery
3) Small included CompactFlash card included (32MB)
4) Weak built-in flash
5) Only 3x optical zoom
6) No hot shoe or external flash capability that I can see
Is it an S40?!
Well, yes, the S45 looks almost the same as the S45 except for some functional changes in the control/button scheme. The S45 is a 4 MegaPixel camera (accurately a 3.8 megapixel camera... but all the manufacturers fudge the numbers a bit) like the G2, S40, and G3. The camera's dimensions are 4.4 x 2.3 x 1.7 inches just like the S40. The weight of the S45 is 11.1 oz... just a bit lighter than the S40 (11.4 oz.). The sliding lens cover of the S45 acts as the on/off switch and the S45 needs a second or two for the lens to extend before you can start taking photos. I'm not sure what classification the S45 falls in but it seems to me to be a "prosumer" camera that is heavily slanted to the regular shopper/consumer. The camera has an operating feel more similar to the Canon PowerShot S230 that it does towards the G3.
Design
The camera as I said looks like the older S30/S40 Powershot.
The LCD is on the left side of the back of the camera with the optical viewfinder right over it. There are two lights next to the viewfinder indicating option/activities such as AutoFocus Lock, accessing the CF Card, Macro focus, AutoFocus problems, and a few other problems. as well. These two lights flash green, yellow, or orange to indicate those options and activities... however, in the S45, the LCD also shows the same color in the focus brackets. The LCD is the now standard 1.8 inch color LCD but Canon didn't add the anti-reflective coating on top... the same way they didn't add it to the S30/40 models. The LCD displays 118,000 pixel so you'll get an idea of what your image looks like but don't count on figuring out how detailed your shot is until after you've viewed it on a computer with a decent monitor on it.
The bottom right (from the rear of the camera) houses both the battery and the Compact Flash card. You get the battery with the camera though as well as the battery charger. The battery from the S30/40 is kept... so you are still using the NB-2L battery. Most of the S30/40 accessories are usable with the S45. Another interesting thing to note is the tripod mount is about centered on the lens... making it easier to make those continuous panoramic shots! Hey, that's something the G3 and the S230 doesn't have!
On the left side of the camera (back of the camera facing you), you have a rubber cover protecting the A/V port and USB 1.1 port. The USB 1.1 port also provides a direct connection to the Canon portable CP-10/CP-100 printers and also Canon's newer S820D/S825D inkjet printer. However, I would have liked to see a USB 2.0 port on the camera instead... especially with the file sizes of multiple 4 megapixel shots being what they are (averaging 2-3 MB each!). On the right side, nothing to really note... just the little spring loaded door if you use the optional AC adapter and dummy battery unit (I think it costs about $60-70 now...).
The front of the camera also houses the thin flash, the AutoFocus assist lamp, and not much else. Since the lens retracts fully into the body of the camera when it is turned off (and the lens cover closes over it, you cannot use any add-on lens with the S45 (juke like the S30/40). The S30/40/45 weren't built with that in mind. The flash is decent for photos up to 6 feet. Pictures looked good on the LCD screen in near pitch black conditions with the flash at close range (subject within 5-6 feet).
The top of the camera houses the speaker (on the far left), the microphone, shutter button, mode dial, the zoom controls, and the multi-controller (4 way pad that can be depressed for the SET button). All of the top panel controls are on the right side of the camera.
The back of the camera also has 7 buttons around the LCD... the most notable is the new FUNC button (one of the old buttons was reassigned to become the FUNC button). There is the same recessed instant playback switch like the S30/40.
Taking Photos...
In auto mode, taking shots couldn't be simpler. The 9 point AiAF system helps take beautiful shots with little effort from you. The details are crisp and colors seemed to be better than with the S40... and on par with the G3. Color reproduction was excellent especially flesh tones and low light shots. Like the S230 and G3, primary colors were toned down a bit from the S40, S200, and S330 models but the improvement in flesh tones and contrasting were well worth it. The flash is still fairly weak but it seemed a little beefed up compared to the S30/40. I still was able to take decent night shots from subjects 8 to 10 feet away. It's a little better than the 6-7 feet the S40 allowed me. Unfortunately without a hot shoe or any other obivious method of adding an external flash to the S45, this is one area where the G2 and G3 crush the S45.
When printing the photos, details were well preserved and were close to the same photos taken with a G3. 8 x 10 prints looked fantastic!
Movies can be recorded only in 320x240 and 160x120 resolution. Like the G3, you still do not get the 640x480 mode found on the Canon PowerShot S230! Movies can be up to 180 secs in length at 15 fps. The DIGIC image processor delivers much cleaner looking movies than previous Canon cameras. Some people may find the movie mode useful... 3 minutes isn't a whole lot of time and the quality of the movie is decent but wouldn't beat a decent digital camcorder.
The S45 seemed to be slightly slower in taking shots than the G3... at least in automatic mode. I guess the 9 point AiAF had something to do with that... but the time it takes to capture a shot after depressing the shutter is fairly short compared to the older Canon digital cameras (the speed difference may be from the new DIGIC processor in this camera and the S230 and G3). Utilizing a single point AF gave a shot speed similar to the G3.
Continuous shot mode was still affected by whether the LCD was on or off when taking the shots. With the LCD off, the continuous shot speed came closer to Canon's rated numbers. With the LCD on, the camera was considerably slower! Also turning off the 9 point AiAF system sped up the continuous shoot mode.
Improving the Ease of Use
The addition of the FUNC button has greatly improved the functionality of the camera. Now you can access many of the photo settings in auto or manual mode! No more fiddling with menu and submenu and subsubmenus... the FUNC button gives you quick access to features like Exposure compensation, White balance, Drive mode, Sensitivity, Photo effect, Bracketing, Flash output, and Image size and quality! I can tell you enough of how this one little button has made the camera so much easier and fun to use!
Photo File Sizes and Options
With the same 4 MP limit as the S40, G2, and G3, there is no change to the compression and resolution choices. The same four compression modes are still available... Normal (best compression but worst picture), Fine, SuperFine (worse compression), and RAW (no compression but best picture). There are still 4 resolution choices... Small (640x480), Medium 1 (1024x768), Medium 2 (1600x1200 S200 maximum), and Large (2048x1536). Using Large and SuperFine settings obtains gorgeous photos but at a file size of 2 MB up to 3.5 MB per shot! RAW setting eat up more MB per shot... sometimes it isn't surprising to have a complicated photo in RAW mode take 4 or more MB of file space! This is why I would have liked to see USB 2.0 on this camera. Transferring several RAW captures can be nightmarish!
Batteries
The S45 accepts the NB-2L rechargable lithium ion battery pack from Canon. This is the same battery pack used in the S30/40 and it is still a rather weak battery! I still got about 200 or so shots with the LCD on... which is a little better than what I would get with the S40. With the LCD off, the camera achieved over 500 shots before the low battery indicator starting flashing. Note that Canon's low battery indictors usually tend to go off when you have power enough for 10 or less shots!
What's in the package
Canon has always included excellent manuals and documentation for the camera and software included in all their camera packages. The S45 continues this tradition. A good sized camera and software manual is included detailing basic and advanced functions for the camera. A wrist strap is included in the package as well as a Lithium-Ion battery (same one used in the S30/40). The NB-2L carries 540 mAh at 7.4 V. The battery charger is also included in the package. You get a 32 MB High Speed CF card (hey better than the old 16 MB)... so you need to purchase a bigger one, at least 256MB in my opinion. Two CDs are included with the software for the camera.
I would definitely recommend buying a larger CF card, an additional battery, and a small camera carry case. The AC adapter kit might be helpful too although not necessary (but if you plan on printing directly from the camera to the supported Canon printers (CP-10, CP-100, S820D, S830D, and S530D are currently supported) I would get the AC adapter!). I would highly consider at least a seperate CF reader so you don't have to drain the batteries on the camera transferring images to the computer.
Against the G3?
Well, I actually put down the G3 in favor of the S45... there are quite a few significant differences between the two. For the most part, the manual settings are about the same between the S45 and G3... minor differences like only one custom manual setting on the S45 versus 2 on the G3. Major differences include:
3x optical zoom on the S45 versus 4x on the G3
No hot shoe for flash unit on the S45
No ability to add lenses to the S45
The S45 is actually pocketable versus the G3
The S45 has the 9 point AiAF and the flexible 300 point AF selection system. The G3 only has the flexible 300 point AF selection system.
The FUNC button on the S45 makes it much easier to use! If the S45 didn't have this, I would be using the G3 more frequently.
The LCD has an anti-reflective coating on the G3 but not on the S45.
Final Thoughts
Who would have figured... the S45 has surplanted the G3 in being my favorite camera... the difference of the ease of use being the key. If you just want an easy to use point and shoot camera with 4 MP capabilities, this is it. That FUNC button allows you to apply many of the creative effects and change many of the camera settings on the fly. If you have the money to burn, this camera must be on your short list. Easy to carry, easy to use, and maintains excellent photo quality, the S45 is my king of the digital camera hill! Other competitors you may want to check out are the Nikon CoolPix 4300, CoolPix 4500, Canon's older G2 and S40 models as well as the Minolta F100. I cannot remark on any other 4MP cameras since I don't have experience with them. In my use, the S230 and S45 share duties since the S230's size is one advantage few digicams can beat.
Don't forget to add the cost of a bigger Compact Flash card to the total price of the camera! You should get at least a 128 MB card... better yet, try to get a 256 MB or even a 512 MB for a decent price.
If you need more camera reviews, check out my profile page (mostly Nikons and Canons) and Howard_Creech here at epinions or the following sites:
www.dpreview.com
www.imaging-resource.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 439!
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
yusakugo
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Member: Rich Go
Location: Somewhere in the NorthEast
Reviews written: 399
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About Me:
Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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