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Canon PowerShot S10 Canon packs 2 megapixels and a 2x optical zoom into the smallest digicam yet! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet PowerShot S10 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on PowerShot S10 --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 12/5/1999

Viewfinder
Although the S10's optical viewfinder doesn't feature a dioptric adjustment, it has a relatively high eye point, making it comfortable for eyeglass wearers. We found the optical viewfinder to be rather "loose", showing only 77 percent of the final image area, and what it does show is biased slightly toward the top of the field of view. The good point about it though, is that the accuracy doesn't vary at all from the wide angle to the telephoto end on the zoom lens, meaning that you don't have to mentally compensate for varying accuracy as you zoom the lens. Still, we'd really like to see it a bit tighter. The optical viewfinder does feature center autofocus target brackets, helpful when composing.

Alternatively, the LCD monitor goes toward the other extreme, actually showing a bit more of the subject than what appears in the final image, at least at the wide angle end of the range (101.8 percent of final field of view shown). At the telephoto end, we found about 95 percent accuracy. This variation in accuracy figures for wide angle and telephoto is possibly due to the difficulty we experienced in seeing the extreme edges of the image in the LCD when conducting our tests. Overall though, the S10's LCD viewfinder is more accurate than most. A handy feature on the LCD monitor is the live status display option (the little menus down the sides of the LCD viewfinder, if you have the display mode set right), easily disabled when you want an unobstructed view.

In playback mode, the playback zoom works very nicely, with smooth scrolling around the image and a little position indicator in the lower right hand corner so you don't get lost. (This is one of the better implementations of playback zoom we've seen to date.)