ON NEW CANON DIGITAL CAMERA

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My current "carry-around-everyday-in-case-I-need-to-take-a-quick-picture" camera is the latest in the excellent and long-running Canon Elph series, the  Powershot SD500 (known as the IXUS 700 in Europe).  With 7.4 megapixels, compact size and weight (3.52 x 2.24 x 1.04in and 6.8 oz), and 3x optical zoom, it's terrific for everyday use, and barely feels like you're carrying it around.  My favorite digital photography site, DPreview, has a good, comprehensive review of it here.

Like most digital cameras, it can also take short digital video clips up to 640x480 at 30 frames per second, with adequate sound (as much as your SD storage card can hold).  That's good enough to share with friends and family on a PC screen, but it could be better. 

And lately, I've gotten fond of taking short video clips at a moments notice on family trips.  It's much more convenient to use something on hand, than carry around the camcorder and related stuff.

That's why this new Canon Powershot announced this week, the 8.0 megapixel S80, caught my eye.  The reason is it's apparent ability to deliver much better video on the go...according to the press release, the camera delivers:

"Extended movie shooting functions feature in the S80, including a first for the market : a high resolution (1024 x 768, 15 fps) XGA movie mode, made possible by DIGIC II’s processing speed.

Movies in this mode can be up to 1GB in size and are ideal for viewing full screen on a PC or TV. High quality VGA (30/15 fps) movies with sound or QVGA movies (30/15 fps) are also possible, and a compact mode allows short clip capture at 160 x 120 for easy emailing."

In addition, the camera offers additional manual control features (in addition to the automated programming), and the ability to extend the focal length of the 3.6x optical zoom with attachment lenses.  All this in a package slightly bigger and heavier than the SD 500 Elph (4.1 x 2.2 x 1.5 in and 7.9 oz).

It's a tempting package.  I'll wait for the official reviews to roll in, but it's one to keep an eye on.  It's not as exotic as the wide-angle 16:9 format Panasonic I talked about last month, but a practical, everyday solution at a reasonable price point (expected around $ 550 msrp). 

And it'll be available just in time for fall colors in central park.

Comments

[Scott]

You know, I've owned and used a number of compact digital cameras over the years. Among these are names like Kodak, Casio, Panasonic, Sony, Fuji and Canon. I'll have to say that the Canon offerings have long been my favorites. The combination of nice form factor, ease of use, battery life, and excellent image quality have made me quite a Canon fan.

Thanks for the write up!