Canon Powershot S100

$299
  • 12 MP
  • 5x f/2.0
  • 1/1.8" CMOS
  • 3" LCD
Released September, 2011
The quality of video captured with the Canon S100 is quite good.
Rated 72% by by DPReview (Dec, 2011)

Conclusion Check out the Canon Powershot S100

72%
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100%
67%
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83%
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First reviewed December, 2011

Features Key features of the Canon Powershot S100

Back view of Canon Powershot S100

12 MP

1/1.8"

The video is sharp if somewhat oversaturated (you can set it to a neutral color setting if that bothers you), and the audio sounds good.
Rated 79% by by c|net (Nov, 2011)

megapixels

0 MP
15.9 MP

12 MP
20 MP
20 MP
The quality of the photos is slightly lower than that of top-of-the-line 2.1 megapixel cameras (e.g., the PowerShot S10.
Powershot S100 by Sam-Trychin (Jun, 2000)
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 3.5Mb.
Powershot S100 by Photography Blog (Nov, 2011)

sensor size

Canon Powershot S100
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
Fujifilm Finepix X10
First off, I don't think it's fair to compare the s100 to DSLRs, APS-C, Four Thirds cameras.
Powershot S100 by Sheraz-A.-Choudhary (Nov, 2011)
You're always going to face issues with noise because of the smaller sensor size and you're always stuck with the same lens.
Powershot S100 by RJ-Strain (Feb, 2012)

wide angle lens

Canon Powershot S100
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
Fujifilm Finepix X10
* 24mm wide-angle is very useful for indoor photography.
Powershot S100 by Sheraz-A.-Choudhary (Nov, 2011)
The bottom line is that the aesthetic improvements and wide angle lens do not make up for the white balance/darkness issues when shooting in low/ambient light.
Powershot S100 by M.-rogers

aperture size

Canon Powershot S100
Nikon Coolpix P300
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
The function ring around the lens is a particularly effective control point, offering quick access to controls like shutter speed, aperture and ISO.
Powershot S100 by DPReview (Dec, 2011)
If only they had made it a little bit better with a wider aperture it would be appreciated as it's size is a great benefit over the competition.
Powershot S100 by 77muggle (Jan, 2012)

zoom range

0x
4x

3.6x
5x
5x
Now if you are someone that wants pant pocketable camera with excellent manual controls and image quality, the s100 is very hard to beat.
Powershot S100 by Sheraz-A.-Choudhary (Nov, 2011)
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.
Powershot S100 by DPReview (Dec, 2011)

body size

99 x 60 x 28 mm
117 x 70 x 57 mm
107 x 76 x 40 mm
If you're a graphics artist, you will probably want a 3megapixel camera, but for the average user, this small camera will get used more due to it's size and takes great photos.
Powershot S100 by R.-Ross--RLRJupiter
I am sure that a small camera like a Leica could take better photos, but that is out of my budget.
Powershot S100 by Lawrence-Low--cigardds (Apr, 2012)
 

Performance Real world tests of Canon Powershot S100

shutter lag

Canon Powershot S100
Pentax Q
Canon PowerShot S110
There are several things I especially like about this camera: It's fast - you can quickly browse through shots in memory, and the time between shots is very short.
Powershot S100 by Daniel-Appleman (Oct, 2000)
It can turn on and capture a photo in a little over two seconds, and only has about a quarter of a second of shutter lag.
Powershot S100 by David-Pierce (Nov, 2011)

battery life

200 photos
350 photos
330 photos
Quite simply, it is easy to use, and the battery life is better than most and it recharges fast.
Powershot S100 by K-Gill (Nov, 2000)
Battery life is another issue - you'll want to pack some extras for a full day of shooting.
Powershot S100 by RJ-Strain (Feb, 2012)

max continuous shooting

The normal continuous shooting mode offers a still quite impressive shooting rate of 2.3fps.
Powershot S100 by Photography Blog (Nov, 2011)
Previous PowerShot S cameras haven't exactly been known for their fast continuous shooting speeds.
Powershot S100 by DPReview (Dec, 2011)

DxOMark low light performance

Canon Powershot S100
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
Fujifilm Finepix X10
The Canon Powershot S100's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography.
Powershot S100 by Photography Blog (Nov, 2011)
The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds being long enough for most after-dark shots.
Powershot S100 by Photography Blog (Nov, 2011)
 

Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors

pros

  • Contrast detection focusing system
  • HD video
  • 10 fps
  • Records the location of your photos automatically
  • 24 mm
  • Create slow motion video
  • 250 ms
  • For that film look
  • Combines multiple photos together to capture both bright and dark areas
  • 198 g
  • 28 mm
  • 99 x 60 x 28 mm

cons

  • 1/1.8"
  • 10.08 fps
  • 461 k dots
  • 9
  • 200
  • 2,400 ms
  • Sep, 2011
  • The screen is fixed in place
  • 153 ISO
  • No automatic stitching
  • 78.24%
  • None
  • 1/2000 s
  • 15 s

Reviews Word on the street

Rated 72%
Read the review (Dec, 2011)
The S100's lens covers a useful range of 24-120mm (equivalent), which is far from the most versatile of any current raw-shooting compact camera, but significantly more useful than the S95's 28-105mm (equivalent) zoom.
Rated 90%
Read the review (Nov, 2011)
Image quality is excellent, with a perfectly usable ISO range of 80-1600 and fast f/2.0 maximum aperture, albeit only at the wide-angle lens setting, making the S100 very well-suited to low-light, hand-held photography.
Rated 79%
Read the review (Nov, 2011)
Given its size (and its relatively small sensor) it delivers excellent JPEG quality up to ISO 200, and photos remain quite good up through ISO 800.
Rated 67% by 109 users at amazon.com
The screen is big, bright, and gorgeous.
Rated 40% by by Andre060--Andre (Dec, 2011)
RAW - i am not a professional and RAW has little appeal to me other than post-production manipulation, but if you want, this shoots in RAW ... personally, i find that JPEGs frequently do better in avoiding colour moire in fine resolution.
Rated 100% by by J.-Libertino
I'd recommend this to anyone that wants a small quality carry around camera with video (hoping the production quality of your copy is good).
Rated 100% by by R.-J.-Benson--bjornsen (Jan, 2012)

Lens

The image stabilisation system works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Nov, 2011)
The addition of the grip inset makes a big difference in shooting comfort, and the control ring around the lens remains a nice interface convention.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 79% by by c|net (Nov, 2011)
Shots are sharp, clear, very little distortion across the range.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 100% by by RonAnnArbor (Nov, 2011)

Sensor

The S100 does a solid job of getting crisp photos without the flash in low light, and it’s clean and clear all the way up to ISO 1600 (and still usable beyond), but all the way up the S95’s photos just looked a little brighter, and a little better.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 83% by by David-Pierce (Nov, 2011)
The new CMOS sensor gives slightly better image quality than the previous-generation 10MP CCD - an improvement that is subtle but noticeable, especially at higher ISO settings.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 72% by by DPReview (Dec, 2011)
If you shoot raw you can even get quite usable quality out of ISO 1600, which is rare for a camera its size.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 79% by by c|net (Nov, 2011)

Image quality

The APS format cannot hold a candle to 35mm for overall picture quality, but the size and feel of the Elph made up for some of the lost points.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 100% by by amazon.com (Nov, 2000)
Although the photo image quality for both cameras was excellent, the video image quality was different.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 80% by by Tiger (Jan, 2012)
and the ability to choose image quality settings (hi/low is enough for me) on a per-resolution basis, for a total of six combinations.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 80% by by Sam-Trychin (Jun, 2000)

Zoom

The additional zoom range is a nice addition.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 100% by by RonAnnArbor (Nov, 2011)
"zoom" ability when previewing pictures - 2x zoom moves quickly.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 100% by by Reza-Hussein (Apr, 2001)
Unlike the S95 though, AF is possible, and the S100's lens can be zoomed during movie recording.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 72% by by DPReview (Dec, 2011)

Video

The S-100 takes great pictures, with the super fast f/2 lens opening,a 24mm wideangle lens, the 12.1 CMOS for great HQ 1080p videos,a new sports burst mode like 9.6 fps (8 frames), great for the kids at soccer.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 100% by by Tablerock (Nov, 2011)
Video looks great, clear and accurate, but at 1080p you can only shoot at 24 frames per second; if you're shooting fast-moving subjects, that doesn't really cut it.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 83% by by David-Pierce (Nov, 2011)
* Movies are great in well-lit areas but have a lot less gain than the s90 resulting in hi-res but darker movies.
Canon Powershot S100 | Rated 80% by by Sheraz-A.-Choudhary (Nov, 2011)

Discussions Get involved, ask your question about the Canon Powershot S100

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Popular Questions

May 5, 2012
General travel and snapshot photography

I'm an experienced 35mm SLR photographer This is for travel, landscapes, buildings, family I favor high image quality and ease of use  Movies not that important

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June 17, 2012
Taking quality photos at Concerts, thats also compact

I love to take shots at Concerts with great lights. I don't want to get an DSLR because my friend got has taken away at a Concert, so it has to be able to fit in my pocket, but i would still like...

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June 7, 2012
For vacation in europe, great image quality and easy to take around

I'm an amateur (or maybe below) photographer, right now I like to use the simple Canon Powershot A2100 IS to take many interesting photos : 118021270240614732621 at going to have vacation in (I'm...

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Latest Questions

April 25, 2012
Vacation and family gathering

I am a beginner... have had canon video camera with sd card for pics

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November 27, 2012
Speed between shots - daytime, indoors no flash, and nighttime flash

And what about focusing speed in these situations? Does it feel close enough to a DSLR in terms of speed?

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December 2, 2012
Vacations?

Hey there! i am going for a south america trip.beautiful beaches and underwater world..lively colors and action pics. underwater does´nt have to be a must.important to me is how practical, it...

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Unanswered Questions

December 15, 2012
Underwater photography

Which one would be best to take pictures and make video's while diving ?

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December 9, 2012
Panasonic DMC-TZ8

Hi, I am just a retired person who carries her camera with her everywhere.  I have had a few pictures in the newspaper for what that is worth - these were taken with a Canon camera I had.  Since...

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December 1, 2012
Kids and Pets - Family Camera

What is a good camera to purchase when you want clear pictures of your family - including rapidly moving children and pets??

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Community Find out what the Sortable community is saying about the Canon Powershot S100

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people have recommended the

Canon Powershot S100
Top Canon Powershot S100 experts at Sortable
Philip-Davis
Expert III
Canon Powershot S100
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NickFalacci
Beginner II
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10
  • 14 MP
  • 16x f/3.3
  • 1/2.5" CMOS
  • 3" LCD
Canon Powershot S100
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10
6 more Sortable users recommended the Canon Powershot S100 over the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10.
View all discussions | View comparison
Beginner I
5
votes

Larger sensor, fast action. good in natural light, great jpeg engine, a little wak on detail.  watch out for the low zoom, pocketable, shoots raw.  but you'll need a very steady hand to stablize...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
  • 10 MP
  • 3.8x f/2.0
  • 1/1.6" CCD
  • 3" LCD
Canon Powershot S100
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
1 more Sortable user recommendeds the Canon Powershot S100 over the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5.
View all discussions | View comparison
Intermediate III
1
vote

Hi John, you can't go wrong with either of these cameras, they are regarded as the best cameras in that size for image quality, low light shooting, and advanced features/controls. However, has a...

Beginner II
1
vote

After having the LX5 and changing to the S100 I much prefer the S100. I have to say I would far prefer to use a compact camera for macro over a M43rds camera, you can get closer and IMHO I don't...

Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
  • 20 MP
  • 3.6x f/1.8
  • Nikon CX EXMOR
  • 3" LCD
Canon Powershot S100
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
It's a tie. Cast the deciding vote!
View all discussions | View comparison
Intermediate III
2
votes

I'm a prosthodontist and I use Nikon D90 with 60mm macro lens and LED ring light for my procedure photos.  I have used point & shoot cameras in the past (Olympus C-5050) for macro work with mixed...

Beginner I
0
votes

This camera is awesome! The price difference is significant between the Sony and the Canon, and you won't be disapointed with the Canon. I Shoot with a T2i DSLR most of the time, but have the as...