The Canon PowerShot S100 is our new most favorite camera. It's small, very pocketable and powerful. The camera has all the good features of its predecessor, the S95, plus a more versatile zoom range 24-120mm, GPS, and optical zoom in video mode.

 

It has all the essential shooting features, including raw. For the travellers, the built-in GPS is nice to have, it works very well. The zoom range from 24mm to 120mm and the fast 2.0 aperture at the wide end make for a versatile candid/street camera.

 

Like previous cameras in the S series, the S100 is solidly built. It feels purposeful in hand, its buttons and controls are easy to operate. In Berlin, we were out shooting with gloves in freezing cold winter weather but didn't have any operational problems; in fact, we found the camera a pleasure to use.

 

We shot the Berlin pictures entirely handheld, but we do like to shoot nightscapes on tripod with long exposures. One small thing to keep in mind: probably to control noise, Canon automatically limits the ISO to 80 when exposure speed is set to longer than 1 second.

 

Overall, this is a great camera that can be most appreciated by advanced photographers and enthusiasts.

 

>> berlin photo gallery

HIGH

• quick and easy to use
• excellent image quality
• good in low-light without flash

• full photographic controls
• very compact, solidly-built
• wide, fast 24-120mm zoom lens
• effective optical image stabilization
• raw, raw + jpeg modes
• excellent 3.0" LCD
• front control ring
• good continuous mode
• built-in GPS
• HDMI output

 

MIND

• ISO is limited to 80 when shutter speed is longer than 1 second

WISE

• great pocketable camera for the enthusiast; our current most favorite