Canon PowerShot S45 Canon PowerShot S45 ReviewPhil Askey, November 2002

Review based on a production PowerShot S45, firmware v1.00 A year after I reviewed the PowerShot S40 Im here reviewing a camera which to all intents and purposes looks identical to that camera. The PowerShot S45 has the same case, lens, CCD sensor, LCD, control layout etc. as the S40. However what has changed significantly are the internals of the camera. This is immediately noticeable upon first using the camera with its modified menu layout and new FUNC button for quick control of photographic settings such as exposure compensation, white balance, ISO sensitivity, drive mode etc. Other less noticeable changes include the use of Canons new DiGiC processor technology which promises better image quality, improved auto focus and auto exposure, better automatic white balance, lower noise, faster image processing and extended camera features. Another new addition is an orientation sensor which allows the camera to automatically orientate the image correctly (portrait / landscape) at playback. Summary of new features / improvements available on the S45 DiGiC processor - CCD control, AE/AF/AWB, signal processing,JPEG compression, memory card control, LCD monitor display).   Orientation sensor - tags images as portrait or landscape dependingon the orientation of the camera at the time the shot was taken).   Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space (iSAPS)- Camera uses variables such as focus distance, exposure brightnessand cross references these against a table of known scene types, usesthis information to optimize image processing.   Custom exposure mode - A new mode dial position for quick recallof pre-programmed settings saved from any exposure mode (P, TV, Av,or M).   Focus bracketing - Enables the camera to take three shots inquick succession at positions before, at and after the current focuspoint. Only available with flash disabled.   Two manual white balance presets - You can now store manualwhite balance in either Custom1 or Custom2 white balance presets.   Manual flash output - Manually select flash output of 1/3,2/3 or FULL. Available in Manual exposure, Aperture Priority (option)and Shutter Priority (option).   Flash sync selection - Select between 1st-curtain and 2nd-curtainsync.   9 point AiAF / Flexible AF point selection - In AiAF mode thecamera utilizes a grid of nine AF areas. When manually selecting anAF area you can now select from any one of about 300 positions aroundthe image frame.   Modified Photo Effects - Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening,Sepia, B&W, Custom. Photo effects have also been moved to the FUNCbutton and are available in all exposure modes.   FUNC button control - All major settings can be changed fromthe improved FUNC mode.   Improved control - Expanded range of settings allow you toenable or disable: Manual Focus zoom, AF assist beam, Auto Rotate, FileNo. Reset. And also change: Distance Units, USB mode   Intervalometer - A time lapse shooting feature, intervals of1 - 60 mins, 2 - 100 shots   Movie clip length - Movie clips can now be recorded non-stopfor up to 3 minutes   EXIF 2.2 - JPEG file header now includes full EXIF 2.2 information(ExifPrint standard)Review Notes

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are basedon the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE reviewbefore coming to your own conclusions.Images which can be viewedat a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottomright corner of the image, clicking on the image will display alarger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a newwindow.To navigate the review simplyuse the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular sectioneither pick the section from the drop down or select it from thenavigation bar at the top.DPReview calibrate theirmonitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted)PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can makeout the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscaleblocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you shouldbe able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideallyA,B and C.

This review is Copyright 2002 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.

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