Canon Powershot S45 Review

A typical AUTO record screen display. Icons indicate "AUTO" record mode,multi pattern metering, macro mode, red-eye flash mode, single frame drive mode (single box on left), fine Large image, and 392 pictures remaining at current image quality setting.

The white square (focus point) in the center turns green when the shutter release is half depressed indicating an autofocus lock, if the AF fails to lock it turns yellow.

Now in "P"rogram AE mode, multi pattern metering, flash is on cancel. To the left the exposure compensation is +1/3EV, white balance to daylight, sequential drive mode, ISO locked on 50, Photo Effect mode is set to Natural, 3 stop auto backeting is enabled and Flash compensation is enabled. Fine Large image mode is set with Manual Focus enabled with distance indicator now visible and 389 pictures remaining at current image quality setting.

And here the camera is in "M"anual mode, multi pattern metering and flash is on cancel. The red battery icon tells us it's time to recharge the battery. White balance is set to cloudy, single frame drive mode and ISO 50 is locked. The photo effect mode is set to Vivid, Bracketing set to focus bracket and flash compensation is engaged. Fine Large image is set and 1/5 sec shutter speed and F6.3 aperture has been manually selected as has been the Manual Focus. 390 pictures are remaining at the current image quality setting.

When the manual focus is enabled and you are actively changing the focus with the Up or Down control, the focus point area is enlarged to aid in critical focusing.

When in P, A, M and S modes you can press the SET button and then use the 4-way selector to choose the desired position for the focus point, by default it uses the center point. There are many areas available in a 22-column by 14-row matrix.

Exposure Compensation - Override the auto exposure system, +/- 2EV adjustment in 1/3EV steps.

White Balance - Auto (AWB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, FluorescentH, Flash, Custom1 or Custom2.

Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, High Speed Continuous, 10- or 2-sec selftimer.

ISO Speed - Auto or fixed at 50, 100, 200 or 400

Photo Effect - Off, Vivid, Natural, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White or Custom (weak, normal or strong for Contrast, Sharpness and Saturation)

Auto Bracketing - Camera automatically changes exposure within a set range to take three shots after you press the shutter button once. You can adjust AEB settings in 1/3EV steps within the range of -2EV to +2EV of the standard exposure setting. When set to Focus Bracketing, the camera fires three frames in a row; one a little infront of the locked AF distance, one at the locked AF point and a third focused a little behind it.

Flash exposure compensation - Vary the output of the flash +/-2EV in 1/3 steps

Image size and quality

• Resolution - Large JPEG (2272x1704), Medium1 JPEG (1600x1200), Medium2 JPEG (1024x768), Small JPEG (640x480) Canon RAW (2272x1704 uncompressed)

• Quality (compression) - Superfine, Fine or Normal

Recording options available in P, A, M and S modes:

• Flash Synch - 1st Curtain or 2nd Curtain
• Slow Synchro - On / Off
• Red Eye - On / Off
• Spot AE Point - Center or AF Point
• MF-Point Zoom - On / Off
• AF Assist Beam - On / Off
• Digital Zoom - Off or On
• Review - 2, 5, 10 seconds or Off
• Intervalometer - Interval:1-60 minutes, Number of frames: 2-100
• Save Settings - saves current settings through power down or battery change.

When in AUTO mode only the Red Eye Flash option can be enabled along with the AF-assist Beam, Digital Zoom and Review options.

The S45 can record motion video at 15fps with audio at "320" x 240 resolution for up to 3 minutes. The 999" indicates the total number of seconds that space remaining on the CF card will allow.

Total movie recording capacity for selected media