Canon Powershot S230 Review

The screen display in the Automatic record mode. Across the top is the camera icon that indicates Auto mode. The exposure compensation is fixed at +/-0 (none), white balance is locked in auto (AWB), the image size is currently Large and quality is Superfine. Across the bottom is the flash mode, drive mode and metering mode icons and the "298" is the number of images remaining (yep, there's a 512MB CF card in there!)

When you half-press the shutter it activates the exposure metering, white balance and the autofocus system. The S230 features a nine-point AF system and when the focus is locked-in the active AF points are displayed as green rectangles. The AiAF will use one to nine of the focus points when focusing.

The menu options while in Auto:

• Image Resolution 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1024x768 or 640x480
• Image Compression Superfine, Fine, Normal
• Digital Zoom On or Off
• Selftimer 2 or 10 sec
• Review Time Off, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 sec
• AF Assist Illuminator On or Off
• File Number Reset on, off
• Auto Rotate Enable or disable the orientation sensor

Pressing the SET button enables the mode menu across the bottom with options for (left to right) Automatic, Manual, StitchAssist (clockwise), StitchAssist (counter-clockwise)

In Manual record mode the icons looks similar to Auto mode but here you can now adjust the exposure compensation +/-2EV, change the white balance or use a Photo Effect mode. The ISO is settable (Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400). On the bottom you have access to all flash modes and drive modes (single, continuous, selftimer). And you can select Spot metering, disable AiAF or select a slow shutter speed.

The menu options while in Manual:

• Image Resolution 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1024x768 or 640x480
• Image Compression Superfine, Fine, Normal
• ISO Sensitivity Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
• AiAF 9-point automatic AF point selection On or Off
• Digital Zoom On or Off
• Selftimer 2 sec or 10 sec
• Review Time Off, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 sec
• AF Assist Illuminator On or Off
• File Number Reset on, off
• Auto Rotate Enable or disable the orientation sensor
• Long Shutter Enble or disable the slow shutter speeds (1 to 15 secs.)

Pressing the Exposure Compensation / White Balance / Color Effect button cycles between these functions:

Exposure compensation: Vary the EV by +/-2 in 1/3-step increments. Pressing the "right" arrow puts you into shutter speed mode where you can select from 1 to 15 second slow shutter speeds (if enabled in the menu.)

White balance: Automatic (AWB), daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H, and Custom.

Photo Effect: Off, Vivid (high saturation), Neutral, Low Sharpening (soft focus), Sepia or B&W.

The StitchAssist mode aids you with on-screen prompts to help you capture the best possible sequence of photos for later "stitching" with the supplied PhotoStitch software. You can capture up to 26 images in either left-to-right or right-to-left orientation.

The S230 can record movie clips with audio at 20 frames per second in any of three resolution modes (maximum recording length shown is regardless of the size of the CF card): 640x480 (30 secs), 320x240 or 160x120 (3 mins). Movie clips are recorded as QuickTime AVI files.

Full audio-video playback is also possible when connected to a TV monitor or a compatible PC after downloading.

Menu options while in Movie mode are:

• Movie resolution: 640x480, 320x240 or 160x120
• Selftimer 2 or 10 secs
• AF Illuminaotr On or Off
• File Number Reset On or Off