Canon PowerShot S100 review

Expert Reviews is proud to bring you this Canon PowerShot S100 review from Short Sharp Reviews – click through to YouTube for a 1080p HD version

The compact camera market has never been so vibrant, with compact system cameras (CSCs) from all the big manufacturers battling it out for pole position. All, that is, except Canon. It has yet to reveal its intentions in the CSC market, but judging by the PowerShot S100, it might not be in any hurry.

The S100 is part of an older school of premium compact camera design. There’s no big SLR-style sensor, and no interchangeable lenses. Its 1/1.7in sensor is a little bigger than those in most compact cameras, though. We’ve often seen this type of sensor give a significant boost to image quality over cameras with 1/2.3in sensors.

Unlike CSCs, the S100 is genuinely pocket-sized, weighing 198g and measuring 26mm deep. It’s also significantly smaller than the Nikon P7100, which uses the same sized sensor but weighs 395g and is 48mm deep.

The S100 can’t match the P7100 for the sheer number of controls, but with its mode dial and two rings – one encircling the lens and the other around the navigation pad – adjusting exposure settings is quicker than on most CSCs. A button cycles the lens ring’s function through various options including ISO speed, exposure compensation and zoom, and its default assignment changes depending on the selected exposure mode. A Function menu gives convenient access to various other photographic settings, while less commonly used options are in a separate menu. Manual focus and exposure are well implemented, but the option to move the spot-focus point could be quicker to access.

We’d have liked general performance to be quicker, too. It took 2.4 seconds to switch on and shoot. Subsequent shots were 2.5 seconds apart, rising to 2.7 seconds in raw mode and 7.6 seconds with the flash at full power. These aren’t terrible results but they fall well short of the fastest compact cameras and even the slowest CSCs. Continuous mode was better, with a dedicated scene preset that captured eight shots at 9.1fps. The screen was blank during capture, though, and there’s limited control over other settings in this mode. Alternative continuous modes ran at 1.9fps with full control over the camera, or 0.8fps with continuous autofocus.

The Canon S95‘s slim, smooth body wasn’t the easiest thing to hold, so it’s good to see a plastic ridge to grip onto this time around. It couldn’t be much smaller, though – a more substantial design would have made the camera much more comfortable to hold without compromising portability.

A GPS radio is built in, but tagging accuracy was a little erratic and the majority of our photos weren’t tagged at all. We’d be tempted to leave the GPS function off, especially as it diminishes battery life. Even with GPS switched off, it’ll only last for 200 shots between charges. Recording videos really taxes the battery, too – the battery indicator often starting flashing during video recording, even though it was only recently charged up. On one occasion it ran out while recording, but we were still able to take two further minutes of videos and dozens more photos on the same charge.

Videos are recorded at 1080p at 24fps in AVC format, using an unusually high 34Mbit/s bit rate. This means big files – about 250MB per minute – but barely any compression artefacts in fast-moving scenes. The 16-minute clip length limit is frustrating, though, and so too is the lack of control for videos. Exposure and focus settings are ignored as soon as the record button is pressed. Picture quality was excellent but the lens’s focus and zoom motors were picked up by the microphone in quiet scenes.

Slow-motion video capture is available, either at 640×480 at 120fps or 320×240 at 240fps, playing back at 30fps for quarter- or eighth-speed playback. Panorama stitch-assist and automatic HDR photography are also included but they’re not as sophisticated as similar functions in recent Sony cameras. The HDR scene preset takes three photos at varying exposures and combines them, but it only works with a tripod because it doesn’t bother to align the shots.

The ability to preserve subtle skin textures in low light is a fantastic achievement – click to enlarge

Image quality is where the S100 really excels. By bringing together the larger sensor size of the S95 with the back-illuminated CMOS technology of other recent Canon cameras, it produced the lowest noise levels we’ve ever seen from a conventional compact camera. There was a slight loss of subtle details at ISO 1600 but shots still looked smooth and sharp. The top ISO 6400 setting was pretty grainy but still good enough for Facebook-sized snaps.

The lens excelled too, with sharp focus, barely any chromatic aberrations and a bright f/2 aperture. This aperture captures over three times more light than CSCs’ kit zoom lenses with their f/3.5 apertures. As such, it’s reasonable to compare the S100 at ISO 1000 with CSCs at ISO 3200. When we did so, the S100 fared extremely well, matching most CSCs for noise and beaten only by Sony’s NEX range. However, while this comparison is fair for wide-angle photography, it’s increasingly less so towards the telephoto end of the zoom. Its f/5.6 maximum aperture at the 120mm (equivalent) focal length is nothing special.

There’s a little blooming around the highlight of the bird’s wing, but there’s plenty of detail – and flattering colours – in this shot

As usual for a Canon camera, automatic exposures were expertly judged, and we’re happy to see an option to vary the maximum ISO speed in Auto mode, from 400 to 1600. Colours were rich and flattering, with natural skin tones, lush vegetation and vibrant skies.

We’re torn between giving the S100 four or five stars. It takes the best low-light photos we’ve ever seen from a conventional compact camera, and comes very close to CSCs for image quality while being far slimmer and lighter. It’s no cheaper, though, and it can’t keep up with CSCs for performance. Battery life is a big disappointment, and the video mode has its foibles. On balance, full marks seems too generous, but this is still the best camera of its type. If portability comes top of your priorities, and image quality, a close second, it’s an excellent choice.