dkozin's Full Review: Canon PowerShot S60 Digital Camera
Although the Canon PowerShot S60 currently sells for $260+, I was able to get it for $218. And I am very glad I did get it. The S60 has many features and performance aspects that I want in a compact and sturdy body.
One of the features I always like is a lens that starts as wide as 28 mm. Most compact cameras (film or digital) start at 35-38 mm. What does it mean for you? Imagine going on vacation to Europe or anywhere else where the streets are narrow or there is not much space for you to step back to be able to fit everything you want in the frame. If your camera has a wider-angle lens (e.g. 28 mm), you will be able to fit more in the frame without moving back as much as you would have to with a 35-38 mm lens.
The S60 has a lens that starts at 28 mm equivalent focal length and goes to 100 mm at the telephoto end. Other cool features include RAW mode, full manual control, available manual focus, tough, well built body and a rechargeable battery.
Pictures
The sample photos I took with my Canon S60 as well as photos of the camera are available at
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About Canon PowerShot S60
The Canon PowerShot S60 is a 5-Megapixel digital camera with a 3.6x optical zoom (28-100 mm equivalent), 1.8-inch LCD screen and an optical zooming viewfinder, 9-point or 1-point autofocus, powered by a supplied Li-Ion rechargeable battery.
The camera stores pictures on CompactFlash (CF) Type 1 and Type 2 cards. The camera has aperture ranges of f/2.8-8.0 at wide angle, f/5.3-8.0 at telephoto. The shutter speed range is 15-1/2,000 sec.
Controls
The camera has mode selection wheel on the top deck next to the shutter release button. The mode wheel has positions for full auto mode, scene modes, program mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Custom, Video and Stitch Assist.
The rear panel has a 1.8-inch LCD screen, an optical viewfinder and a bunch of buttons as well as the zoom switch.
The camera has a metal tripod mount on the bottom and an A/V and USB outs under a rubberized lid on the side.
Build Quality/Durability
The camera is very well built and seems to be very durable. The S60 is rather heavy and its body is partially made of metal. The controls have excellent tactile feel and require well-calibrated amounts of effort.
The only element that could be improved is the battery/CF card compartment door, which is made of plastic. I would prefer if it was made of metal. But it is sturdy enough.
In Operation
I have used the camera for several weeks and might keep it. Once the camera arrived, I used the supplied charger to charge the included proprietary Li-Ion battery pack, inserted the battery and the 512-MB CF memory card that I bought separately and was ready to shoot. The camera comes with a 32-MB CF card, but it cannot hold many photos, so I don't use it.
The camera is powered on by sliding the lid that protects the lens out. The lens extends and you are ready to shoot. The process takes about 3 seconds. The shutdown is about 2 seconds and is initiated by sliding the lid back. It stops halfway and the lens retracts, then you can slide the lid all the way.
The camera is rather easy to use for anyone who dealt with Canon cameras before. The menus are not the most efficient, but usable. The camera gives you a lot of control in manual modes, but you can select the full auto mode for point-and-shoot simplicity or scene modes for simplicity and versatility.
The camera has a dedicated button that lets you switch from shooting to review and back. I like this idea. You can also turn the camera on in review mode without sliding the lens' protective cover by pushing and holding this button.
The LCD increases its brightness in the dark (gains-up) and is fluid. It is not the largest on the market, but works well.
Histogram
The camera can display a histogram in review mode. It is not superimposed on the image, but rather the image is displayed as a small thumbnail with the areas of overexposure blinking and the histogram is shown next to it.
White Balance
The camera has a good automatic white balance system and also has useful presets for several situation, including daylight, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent and even underwater.
Aperture Control
The camera has a "real" aperture, unlike some cheaper models with eitehr fixed or two-step apertures. The aperture of the S60 goes down to f/8.0.
Macro
The camera has macro capability that is engaged by a designated button on the back panel, but I have not used it.
Flash
The camera has a built-in flash, which has good coverage and its output can be adjusted if needed. There is a red-eye reduction mode that uses the same red lamp as the focus assist.
Manual Focusing
The camera lets you focus manually by pushing and holding the MF button while adjusting the focus using arrow buttons. The center of the image can be magnified to help you confirm focus. A bit awkward, but it works.
The camera also has focus bracketing (takes 3 photos with different focal distances) as well as exposure bracketing.
Performance
The camera is fast in operation. It focuses in under a second, even in dim lighting and the shutter lag (when pre-focused) is virtually nonexistent. The pictures can be taken at about once per 2 seconds, which is not bad.
When shooting RAW images, the camera can take a picture about once in 3 seconds for two frames, then slows down to one frame per 7 seconds (RAW files are large).
Amazingly, I was able to shoot at an interval of about 3 seconds per frame with flash! Usually, the flash recycle time for compact digital cameras is in 5-10 second range, but the S60 could recycle its flash under 3 seconds!
Image Formats
The camera can take pictures in compressed JPEG format at 2592x1944, 2048x1536, 1600x1200 or 640x480 resolution. Each resolution can be combined with one of three compression levels: Normal, Fine and SuperFine.
There is also a RAW format, which lets you record information directly from the CCD sensor without the JPEG processing. This way you can open the RAW file in your image editing software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop CS2) and adjust some things that cannot be adjusted (or adjusted well) if you shot JPEG: white balance, contrast, color space, noise reduction, sharpening, etc.
The S60 is one of the few compact cameras that have RAW mode.
Picture Quality
Since the S60 has RAW mode, I mostly use it. Although the 512-MB CF card only fits 93 RAW images, I prefer it since I can adjust the white balance, sharpening and contrast in Photoshop later on.
The camera has a sharp lens that goes as wide as 28 mm (equivalent). The lens is sharp from corner to corner and at all focal distances. The images have excellent sharpness. But the lens exhibits some chromatic aberration (purple fringing) at wide angle. The areas of high contrast at the peripheral areas of the frame have purple fringes around them. It is not very noticeable and is probably a byproduct of having such a compact wide-angle optics.
The chromatic aberration disappears if you zoom in a little, so you should know: if you can, zoom in a little to avoid purple fringing. And if you need the full wide angle, just use it: the aberration is not so bad as to cause unusable prints.
In addition to being sharp, the pictures have pleasing colors and smooth tonal transitions. I have not noticed any vignetting or loss of sharpness in the corners.
Noise
The camera features pretty average image noise levels. The noise at ISO 50-100 is pretty much invisible, gets slightly visible at ISO 200 and gets pronounced at ISO 400 to a point where I would only consider making 4x6-inch prints with.
Battery Life
I have taken about 200 pictures and the battery has not been depleted yet. I estimate it will last for about 250-350 photos, depending on usage.
The Canon PowerShot S60 is an excellent camera with wide range of features and flexibility. Its wide-angle capability and available RAW mode make it stand out among similarly-priced competition. Although not the fastest, it produces excellent pictures. I highly recommend it.
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