Canon PowerShot N Pro Reviews

Canon fights back against the onslaught of smartphone cameras with a unique, ultra-portable social party cam geared for the young and fashionable. The Canon PowerShot N offers up a few features that you typically don't find on smartphones, such as an 8x optical zoom and a tiltable LCD screen, but ultimately the camera's success comes down to its image quality and convenience. Based on ho-hum results in these two key areas, we unfortunately don't think the PowerShot N will succeed as the life of the party.

The Canon N is a fun point-and-shoot camera that packs a lot of creativity into a small package. Going far beyond the standard creative modes and effects pallet, the N offers users a more tailored approach to their photography. Without the Creative Shot mode, the Canon N would be just one more point-and-shoot in an endless sea of cameras. But that's exactly what makes this camera special. It's innovative and creative. It's a bit like opening a surprise gift every time you take a picture--you just never know what you'll get. I had a good time using the Canon N, but restricting the Creative Shot mode to the N seems a bit sad to me. Why not offer this functionality with the Rebel cameras? I think it would be a great additional feature to the entry level DSLR. I have a feeling a lot of budding photographers would think this was a pretty neat option. Plus, no other camera company is doing a Creative Shot mode with this much gusto. It gives entry level Canon DSLRs one more feature that separates them from their competition. The Canon N sells for $299.99 and is available in both white and black.

The Canon PowerShot N is a brave attempt to try and stem the tide of the all-conquering smartphone, but ultimately it doesn't deliver on some of the key elements that smartphone users expect, namely easy connectivity and sharing, self-portrait shooting, and a wider range of creative filters. It's also too expensive at the full retail price of £269 / $299.99 - billed as a smartphone companion, we can't think of too many people who will pay that much extra for the Canon PowerShot N, despite its tiny size, good image quality and innovative design. Speaking of which, you'll either love or hate the PowerShot N's control layout, with the dual lens rings splitting opinion straight down the middle. Most people that we handed the camera to struggled to even take a picture until we explained what to do, so it's more imperative than usual that you try this camera out before buying.

While it's nice to see Canon take a chance with the PowerShot N's interesting camera design, the manufacturer seems to have missed the mark with this model. With its touch screen LCD, built-in Wi-Fi, and lack of control buttons, it needed a redesigned menu structure to make it a fun and efficient camera for the young photographers at which its aimed. That didn't happen. The tiny built-in flash and odd zoom ring control don't work well either. The N does have fast performance times and its image quality is good versus other point-n-shoots, but it has a much higher price tag than those models, too, which makes it tough to recommend this awkward camera.

The Canon PowerShot N packs a neat Creative Shot mode, but it doesn't let you select your favorite filters and its design makes it a frustrating camera with which to shoot.

Excellent image quality, but the innovative design only brings marginal benefits

Set against competition like the Nikon Coolpix S01, the Canon PowerShot N is an attractive option, but you need to consider the price, too. At £270, it's not a cheap camera, actually more than twice the price of the Nikon. That naturally impacts our final verdict, but the fact remains that of the two it's the more rounded option and, if you can afford it, the better buy.

The Canon PowerShot N acts as a nice complement to a smartphone camera. You get some optical zoom with excellent optical image stabilization, very good photo and video quality (certainly better than typical phone camera quality), and built-in Wi-Fi so you can still share your shots almost as easily as you can when you shoot with your phone. And it's all in a tiny attention-grabbing package.

The Canon Powershot N looks good and produces decent images, but it's just too expensive. You can spend much less and get more zoom and Wi-Fi, such as the Canon IXUS 255 HS. Canon have sacrificed the traditional zoom and shutter release, reduced the flash size considerably and the battery life is low. The other features, such as the touch screen and built-in Wi-Fi are good and image quality is as well, even at higher ISOs, so there's enough reasons to justify purchasing it, if you have the budget.

With smartphones taking over on the low-end point-and-shoot segment, we have always said that camera makers need to come up with something attractive or exit the business. The PowerShot N is a good attempt toward the right road, but in the wrong direction. We can’t say it’s a must-buy camera for every-day use or for travel because it’s too awkward to use for most folks, and the price is a bit high for what it is. A better option would be Canon’s PowerShot S110 or higher-end ELPH. As for the young ones, the camera is an intriguing concept and Canon had a good opportunity to create something fun that kids wouldn’t mind bringing to parties in addition to their phones, but misses the mark by a long shot. There aren’t enough creative filters to go against Instagram, Wi-Fi needs to be better, and it can’t take self-portraits – the epitome of fun youth photography. Plus, there are no color options, which young people find appealing. The PowerShot N has certain features we like, and it’s good that Canon is trying to innovate outside the box. While we think the N series has potential, it’s a half-baked idea in its current form that Canon needs to expand on further.

Overall, it's a slightly mixed bag. The unconventional body shape performs surprisingly well, and Canon's re-imagining of how a compact camera can and should work has been successful. Indeed, it's been so successful that it might have been more appropriate to make this the basis of a new Ixus line, rather than slotting it into the PowerShot line-up. Build quality is excellent, although image quality leaves a little to be desired in some areas, with a fall off in focus towards the corners of the frame and some noise in the output at higher sensitivities. If you want a truly pocketable compact this is a good choice, although at £270 it feels a little overpriced, however innovative the design.