Review: Canon's PowerShot camera supports 10X zoom

Canon's PowerShot Pro90 IS

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by Martyn Williams

(IDG) -- Canon has unveiled a long-zoom camera designed for amateur photographers who want a little more from their next digital still camera.

The new PowerShot Pro90 IS is being released in the United States, priced at $1299. It packs a 10X (ten times) optical zoom lens and an image stabilizer, according to company representatives.

Although some digital cameras offer maximum zoom functions of ten times or more, these are generally achieved through digital zoom techniques similar to blowing up a picture into a bigger print, which results in poorer image quality. An optical zoom retains more image quality, although as the zoom ratio increases, the camera becomes more susceptible to image blur caused by shaking the camera. The image stabilizer included in Canon's camera helps combat this problem.

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Canon's newest entry continues to grow the PowerShot family, which has been well received as a line of solid, high-end cameras.

Larger Size for Zooming

Inclusion of the optical zoom lens means the camera is not as compact as competing models, although serious photographers are likely to forgive the larger size in return for the superior zoom function. It measures 126-by-84-by-139 millimeters.

Canon says the camera could have been even larger were it not for an oversize digital image pickup, or CCD (charge-coupled device). The camera features a 3.3-megapixel CCD, although it is capable of a maximum resolution equivalent to a 2.6-megapixel pickup. The larger pickup means the lens can be made half as long as it would be if the camera had a 2.6-megapixel pickup, says a Canon spokesperson.

Several other features are designed to appeal to the serious amateur, including 12 picture-taking modes, wide exposure sensitivity including an ISO 50 mode, high-precision white balance, and the option to record images in raw data format so that no information is lost to compression.

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Canon Inc.

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