Canon Powershot S50

The PowerShot S50 is Canon's first 5 megapixel camera. The latest in a series of cameras (S30, S40, S45) that share the same body design, the S50 remains true to its heritage.

Canon S50 Specifications

• 5.0 megapixels (effective)


• 3x optical zoom/4.1x digital zoom


• auto and manual focus


• program and manual exposure


• JPEG and RAW file formats


• ISO range 50-400


• proprietary Lithium-Ion battery (NB-2L,NB-2LH)


• movie mode with sound

The top-ranked Canon PowerShot S50 offers superb image quality and easy-to-use controls. Offering almost all the advanced features and optional manual controls of the G3, yet simple enough for beginners to use, the S50 should appeal to anyone who wants high resolution in a compact package.

The included 32MB CompactFlash card is a good place to start, but you'll definitely need a larger card. The S50 works with Type I or Type II CompactFlash cards, so the IBM Microdrive is an option (and a good one at that).

The S50 uses a smaller battery than the G3. The NB-2LH battery has a respectable 4.2 Watt/hours of power. Canon estimates that you can get about 335 photos per charge with 50% LCD use, or 3 hours in playback mode.

Canon includes an external battery charger with the S50. You plug it directly into the wall -- no cords needed. I like that. Charging the battery takes about 80 minutes.

We're very pleased with the S50's images. Exposures generally came out just right, and our photos showed excellent detail and dynamic range. Canon's firmware doesn't oversharpen the pictures, so they have a very smooth -- if slightly soft -- look. Noise levels are low, and even our ISO 400 shots were less noisy than what we've seen from many 5-megapixel competitors. We recommend using the ISO 50 or 100 setting when shooting in bright light to obtain beautifully smooth, noise-free shots.

As always, I recommend a trip down to your local reseller to try out the PowerShot S50 and it's competitors before you buy!The Powershot S50 have a strong power canon NB-2LH battery and good quality image.So I think you can buy it.

Canon ZR700 digital camera review

The Canon ZR700 comes with a CCD that measures1/6th inch, with 680K gross pixels, 340K effective pixels in 4:3, and 450K effective pixels in 16:9 with the image stabilization turned off. When shooting with this imager the video results tended to be oversaturated, producing an image that while strong and vibrant was not necessarily an accurate representation of the actual color chart. This tendency towards oversaturation is common amongst the lower-priced models of nearly all manufacturers. It displayed an improvement over last year's ZR300, which struggled with both image and noise. Although noise levels didn’t show a huge improvement between 2005 and 2006, the amount of color information being produced by the ZR700 is definitely an improvement over the ZR300.

Technical Details

• Model number: ZR700


• Image sensor: 1/6-inch CCD, approximately 680,000 pixels


• Tape format: Video cassettes bearing the DV mark


• Maximum recording time (with 80-minute cassette): SP: 80 minutes; LP: 120 minutes


• Lens: f2.6 to 65 millimeters, f1.8 to 2.6, 25x power zoom


• Minimum illumination: 2 lux with night mode


• Recommended illumination: More than 100 lux


• Viewfinder: 0.3 inches, 123,000 pixels


• LCD screen: 2.7 inches, approximately 112,000 pixels


• Number of recording pixels: Approximately 340,000 pixels (tape 4:3), approximately 450,000 pixels (16:9, image stabilization off), approximately 400,000 pixels (16:9, image stabilization on), approximately 450,000 pixels (card)


• Power supply: BP-2LH battery pack (included), CA-570 power adapter (included)


• Remote control: Wireless


• Dimensions: 1.9 x 3.6 x 4.5 inches / 49 x 92 x 115 millimeters (W x H x D) excluding protrusions


• Weight: 13.4 ounces / 380 grams


• What's in the box: ZR700 camcorder, BP-2LH(nb-2lh battery replacment) battery pack, CA-570 power adapter, WL-D85 remote control, STV-250N stereo/video cable, IFC-300PCU USB cable, software CD-ROM (Digital Video Solutions for Windows and Macintosh), user's manual

Canon NB-2LH rechargeable Battery pack for Canon ZR700 Digital cameras features Lithium-Ion technology for maximum battery life power. It retains full charge capacity after multiple recharges, making it free from Memory effect. It is extremely lightweight and easy to carry.

As with other ZR models, Canon's Easy mode takes the guesswork out of shooting, while Program mode provides access to eight autoexposure modes, three white-balance options (including evaluative), nine digital image effects (including the nifty split-screen Mirror effect), six shutter-speed settings, and even a clever level marker that overlays a horizon line on the LCD to help you shoot even, centered images. That's a lot of manual controls for an entry-level camcorder. Plus, you can add a handful of lens converters and filters, another unusual bonus for this price range.

As for still photography, the ZR700 delivers about what you'd expect: low-resolution images that can't overcome the low-resolution sensor, despite the included digital camera amenities such as scene modes and nine-point autofocus. In our tests, the 0.7-megapixel snapshots exhibited relatively accurate colors but with noticeable noise and a lack of sharpness.

In a word,Canon's latest entry-level camcorder, the ZR700, is easy to use, affordable, and ideal for wide-screen moviemaking, but low-light performance remains a problem.