Here are a few images that accurately reflect the abilities
of any given camera model. The images are altered only in
terms of size and sharpness after reduction and by the JPEG
compression used. Unless otherwise mentioned, assume that
any marbling or artifacts visible in the images are due to
the compression required to display them here. We feel however,
that they still faithfully represent the results we experienced.
STILL LIFE PHOTO
This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent
and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's
flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5
ft) from the camera.
With flash photos where the background is relatively close
to the lens, some light drop off from the flash can be seen
in the corners. This effect
occurs irrespective of the power setting of the flash, as it relates
to the way the flash's light is focused.
Photo
Information
Format:
RAW
Aperture:
f2.8
Exposure:
Program
Shutter Sp:
1/60 sec.
Res:
2592 x 1944
Flash:
On
File Size:
5687 KB (RAW)
ISO:
50
Converted size:
14.5 MB (8-bit TIFF)
Focal Lgth:
28 mm (35mm Eq.)
ZOOM PHOTO
Now we zoom in on a specific area. The intent is to test the
sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera
remains at the same distance as with the preceding photo.
This photo and the wide angle shot above were captured using
the S60's RAW image format. The photos were then converted
using ZoomBrowser.
Seen on a monitor at full resolution, RAW photos show an excellent
level of detail, as can be seen below. Even the serial number
of the old Yashicaflex
is clearly legible.
The PowerShot S60 allows macro focus to be engaged in all
modes with one exception: the Landscape mode.
Using macro focus the camera is able to autofocus — or be focused
manually — on a subject 4 cm (1.6 in.) from the front element
of the lens, while at the telephoto setting, that minimum distance
becomes
30 cm (1 ft.).
The narrowest field of view — the
greatest apparent magnification — occurs when the lens
is at the wide angle setting, and yields a field of view of 6.4
cm (2.5 in.) when measured horizontally from one edge of the
frame to the other.
BUILDING PHOTO
This image is our outdoor test. The architecture of the building,
in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence
of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality
of the exposure.
The default Evaluative metering pattern of the S60 produces
excellent exposures very reliably, as can be seen with this
wide angle shot: colours are natural
and well-saturated while the exposure avoids overexposure of the brightest
areas.
Photo
Information
Format:
RAW
Aperture:
f3.5
Exposure:
Program
Shutter Sp:
1/1000 sec.
Res:
2592 x 1944
Flash:
Off
File Size:
5691 KB (RAW)
ISO:
50
Converted Size:
14.5 MB (8-bit TIFF)
Focal Lgth:
28 mm (35mm Eq.)
Barrel distortion, which easily occurs
with wide angle lenses, is well-controlled and quite minimal,
and so is chromatic aberration.
ZOOM PHOTO
With the zoom set to the equivalent of 100mm, the Canon S60 captures an
exposure that is entirely consistent with the wide angle exposure, revealing
a lot of detail in the shadowed entrance area, and consistent colours.
The metering is sufficiently accurate to show detail in the
paving stones in the foreground, and the small inscription
on the door is almost legible.
Photo
Information
Format:
RAW
Aperture:
f5.3
Exposure:
Program
Shutter Sp:
1/320 sec.
Res:
2592 x 1944
Flash:
Off
File Size:
6149 KB (RAW)
ISO:
50
Converted Size:
14.5 MB (8-bit TIFF)
Focal Lgth:
100 mm (35mm Eq.)
It can also be noted that quite a
bit of detail can seen behind the green-tinted glass doors,
and that noise is very light and limited to the deepest shadow
areas.
NIGHT PHOTO
As this camera is capable of a long exposure, a photo taken
at night is included.
Aperture: f2.8; shutter
speed: 15 sec, 50 ISO,
RAW format converted in TIFF.
The S60 offers a shutter speed
range that extends to a low of 15 seconds in both the Manual
and Shutter Priority (Tv) modes.
A 15 second long exposure is sufficient — at 50 ISO which has the
least sensitivity to noise and using the widest aperture of f2.8 — to
capture a bright image of an urban setting at night such as is shown
here. In fact, with these settings, the image is considerably brighter
that what
can be seen with the naked eye.
Very effective noise reduction
is automatically applied to all images that are captured with
a shutter speed longer than 1.3 seconds but, as always, this
doubles the amount of time it takes to capture the image.
After noise processing the image shows very little noise, and still retains
a good level of sharpness, revealing quite a bit of detail.
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Test Photos
