Canon Powershot S45 Review

Switching the S45 into Play mode will bring the last picture captured up in full screen mode with overlay data for folder/picture number, current picture / total number of pictures, audio notation(if applicable), image quality and size, date and time of exposure.

You can get all the picture information along with a histogram and visual highlight of over- exposed areas by pressing the DISPLAY button.  It is very complete and includes folder and image number, ISO sensitivity, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, flash compensation, white balance, focus mode, audio notation(if applicable), image size and quality, date and time.

The playback image can be magnified up to 10x by toggling the zoom control to the telephoto position. You can stop at any of ten enlargement steps and scroll around inside the image.

Toggling the zoom control to the wideangle position enables the thumbnail index mode. Here you can quickly search through the stored images and find one to playback in full screen mode. Note: the top left image is a video clip.

Toggling the zoom control to the wideangle position a second time will take you to the JUMP mode of index display and lets you move quickly forward or backward through the thumbnails a page at a time.

You can record up to a 60 second "audio note" that will linked to the current image. These audio notes are saved as standard Windows WAV audio files. When in Play mode you display the picture you want to attach the note to and then press the metering button. This brings up the audio recorder interface as shown above with the familiar record, stop, play, delete buttons and a timer.

The Play mode menu with options for Protecting images from accidental erasure, Rotate to re-orient portrait mode images for proper display on a TV screen, Erase All images. Single images can be erased by pressing the "Star" button while they're being viewed. The Slide Show option lets you select an interval time between images and start and stop a presentation. The Print Order option lets you embed DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) information on the card so any selected pictures can be easily printed by DPOF-compliant printers or services. Transfer Order lets you specify which files to be auto-moved to the host computer via USB.s

This is the SETUP menu and it is available from any menu even when in Play mode.

• Beep - On or Off
• LCD Brightness - On or Off
• Playback Volume - 5 levels
• Auto Power Down - On or Off
• Date/Time - set date and or time
• Format - format the CF card
• Language - set the menu language
• Video - output format NTSC or PAL

The 320 x 240 resolution movies playback full screen and the audio can be monitored on the built in speaker.

Additional image data can be displayed just like in still image playback mode.

The S45 also has the option to edit the video clip in-camera.