Canon PowerShot S100 Pro Reviews

The PowerShot S100 is an excellent camera delivering image quality which exceeded my expectations. This, combined with superb handing, control and features justifies the S100 as a serious shooter, despite its size. It’s certainly expensive, but in the right hands it’s money well spent.

The Canon PowerShot S100 is an excellent pocket camera for photographers. It didn't jazz me as much as the first and second iterations of the line, but I eventually grew to rely on it for quality photos and video when I needed to travel light. It's a certain Dave's Pick, and an excellent take-everywhere camera.

There are now two cameras at the top of the point-and-shoot market, and Canon makes both of them. The S95 gets a slight edge in terms of image quality, but the S100’s wider lens, faster performance, and video recording are all solid tweaks on top of the S95. The S95 is still on sale for $399.99, and can probably be found for much less now that the S100 is available; unless the S100’s improvements are particularly compelling, I’d recommend sticking with the S95. Both are excellent on every level, though, and the S100 is far better in most respects than just about every other compact camera out there. Of course, for $70 more you can get the Olympus E-PM1 Micro Four Thirds shooter, with interchangeable lenses and a larger sensor, but it’s not nearly as comfy in your pocket.

While the S100 supersedes the S95 in Canon's high-end digital compact lineup and bears a strong family resemblance to the earlier camera, it represents a fairly substantial upgrade rather than a more measured progression. Continuous shooting rates are faster and full 1080 HD video is on board, along with the latest generation sensor and processor. The zoom range of the lens has been expanded, as has the native ISO sensitivity range. A GPS tagging capability has been added. The S100 powers up fairly quickly and focus acquisition in good conditions is relatively prompt; the camera predictably takes a bit longer to acquire focus in dim conditions. Shutter lag (or rather lack thereof) is good. The camera can be perfectly happy plugging along in full auto mode but also offers enthusiasts manual controls and the option to shoot RAW if they so desire. Still image and video quality is good. Battery capacity in the S100 is a modest 200 shots and the 180 dpi output of images is not optimal for either printing or e-mail. Whether you're in the market for a shirt pocket portable compact digital that offers a RAW shooting capability and manual controls with which to express your creativity or simply a shirt pocket portable compact digital that offers ease of still and video image capture, the S100 just may be the answer in either event.

The Canon PowerShot S100 may look a lot like its popular predecessor, but a brand new sensor, processor and lens combine to produce a more versatile, faster, better specified and more capable pocket camera that makes an ideal everyday shooter for DSLR and CSC owners. Only a significant price increase, lack of control over the flash and poor battery life prevents us from giving the S100 our coveted Essential award. The S100 addresses virtually all of the issues that detracted from its predecessor - most notably the poor video mode and lack of a hand-grip - whilst further improving the handling, array of features and image quality. There's more than enough on offer to tempt even current S95 owners to upgrade, and it all adds up to make the S100 an even more attractive proposition as a serious compact for serious users.

So like its predecessor, the S100 is all about size. If you want a pocket camera with loads of control and features, but prioritise ultimate portability over focal ratio and accessories, then the S100 is hard to beat. Last year the conclusion was the same for the S95, but with the numerous upgrades, the S100 has decisively leap-frogged the competition in all aspects which didn't involve compromising the dimensions. An easy model to Highly Recommend.

An elegant compact camera with plenty of high-end features for enthusiasts and high-quality optics, producing consistently excellent photos

Canon did an excellent job updating its S-series line with the S100, bringing additional features, improved high-ISO/low-noise performance, and very good image quality. As a result, this camera is the perfect companion for anyone interested in manual shooting, as well as people who would rather let the automated settings do the work. However, at $430, it’s certainly pricier than your average camera. You might want to check prices on the Canon PowerShot S95 before it disappears from retailer shelves, especially if you don’t need the S100’s wider-angle lens, GPS, or 1080p video capabilities.

The Canon PowerShot S100 is just about the most capable compact camera we've seen, and it's packed with features that will please both novices and advanced shooters.

The Canon S100 is particularly well-suited to two types of photographers: compact camera shooters looking to upgrade to a similarly small camera with more control, raw mode and better image quality, and ILC photographers looking for a truly compact 'take anywhere' pocket camera with much of the same manual control as their larger cameras. The addition of GPS and full HD video recording make the S100 feel more complete than the S95, which was a very capable camera but in some respects lagged slightly behind on its feature set when compared to the competition. The additional lens range, too, is very welcome, and makes the S100 just that little bit more versatile than its predecessors.

Stunning image quality for a conventional compact camera, but shot-to-shot performance and battery life just keep it from top marks

The S100 is the next step in Canon’s PowerShot lineup — and this is a good thing and a bad thing. All the necessary tweaks and upgrades are there: faster processor, bigger sensor, reduced noise, and fun features like GPS to boot. Don’t get us wrong, these are all great improvements, but they mean this is sort of an in-between the S95 and whatever comes next. Its price point makes it a similarly hard sell, given that there are a few MFT cameras as well as some superzooms out there for not much more money. $430 is a lot to spend on a point and shoot. But even though the price and in-between-feel put it in something of an awkward place, no one can say the S100 isn’t a high-quality device. The picture and video quality speak for themselves, and it remains a fun, easy, and versatile camera to shoot with. Pocket shooters looking for more of a challenge or advanced photographers who want a capable point-and-shoot will be fans of its capabilities.

For someone who wants a compact camera with high image quality then the Canon Powershot S100 has both in abundance. It's one of the smallest serious compact cameras available, and has excellent image quality. The S100 features GPS, and is around £100 cheaper than the X10, so could save you some money, although some of that money will most likely need to be spent on a second battery if you plan on using GPS. The Canon Powershot S100 is most definitely pocketable, fitting even into tight jean pockets, something that can't be said for the X10. It would be nice if the S100 was a little quicker at focusing and if you could use the high speed shooting in any mode, not just in a dedicated scene mode.

Canon's PowerShot S100 may not look all too different from its S95 predecessor, but plenty has changed for the better. The latest model is small yet powerful: its body feels robust and the wide-angle 24-120mm f/2.0-5.9 lens is impressive from a camera of such a size. If there's anything to try and make a fuss about then the lack of flash control, hit-and-miss HDR and that a little too much menu digging needed for single AF-point adjustment would be our shortlist. Plus the price isn't too easy on the wallet - but if you want the best then you'll have to pay out for it. However, overall the S100 has almost everything right: It provides full manual control that high-end users demand; the front lens ring design makes for quick and easy use; fuller control of the autofocus point rectifies the S95's single biggest feature omission; pictures are decent thanks to the large (for a compact) 1/1.7in sensor; 1080p movie is great in use; and the bags of other features such as GPS don't fail to deliver. If you want a small compact that has it all then look no further than the S100.

The Canon PowerShot S100 is a generally great little camera for advanced shooters who don't mind slowing down a bit from a dSLR

The Canon Powershot S100 is the long awaited update to the original S90/S95 and with a front and rear grip the camera now addresses one of the original complaints about the camera. The addition of a 12 megapixel back lit CMOS sensor means lower noise, and 10fps shooting, however it's a shame that other aspects of the camera aren't as quick, with similar speed focus, and performance as the camera it replaces, the S95. Although the camera now has a larger battery, the inclusion of GPS means that if you use GPS, then the battery life will suffer. The price of the camera is also higher than the model it replaces. However, saying all of this, the camera provides great image quality, a longer and wider zoom than the S95, and with a slimmer body it should fit even more easily into pockets. I can see this camera, like the S95, being very popular with anyone who wants to travel light, yet still take good quality photos.

The Canon PowerShot S100 is a worthy successor to our previous Editors' Choice high-end point-and-shoot camera, the PowerShot S95. It adds a longer zoom lens and GPS, and improves on the S95's image quality and performance.

There’s not much the S95 can’t do. We love the picture quality, the small size, that front lens ring with customisable shooting modes and the GPS technology. FlexiZone AF and the new grip also right the S95’s wrongs. On the downside the S100’s autofocus isn’t always 100 per cent when subjects are closer to the camera, there’s no hotshoe (though this would bulk the camera out) and the price is, er, pricey. Perhaps too pricey. But if you want quality then you’ll just have to fork out for it: the S100 outsmarts all other similar high-end compact cameras. It’s a little joy.