Camera Design
What a slim, compact camera! The PowerShot S10 is actually the smallest camera
currently on the market, as of October 1999. Although its rectangular shape makes
it look a little bigger, the S10 is very pocket friendly at 4.1 x 2.7 x 1.3 inches
(105.4 x 69.4 x 33.8 mm). Weighing in at approximately 9.5 oz. (270g) without
the battery and CompactFlash card, the S10's all metal body makes it a little
bit heavier but a good bit sturdier as well.
The very sleek front of the camera features the lens, flash, preflash (red-eye reduction/focus-assist) light and optical viewfinder, all very smooth with no protrusions when the camera is off (except the slight lip of the front grip). When the camera is turned to a capture mode, the protective shutter over the lens opens and the lens pops out from its compartment but still maintains a low profile.
Around back, the majority of the control buttons, CompactFlash slot trigger, optical viewfinder and LCD panel take up most of the space. Consistent with the styling of the front of the camera, the back has no major protrusions.
The media side (right side, viewed from the rear) of the S10 holds the CompactFlash slot, wrist strap attachment and DC coupler cable cover (a little slot to accommodate the cord of the AC adapter). The positioning of the CompactFlash card and the slot cover make it a little finicky to get the card out of the slot. It would have been much easier if the card were turned to face the other direction, exposing the little lip most CompactFlash cards have on the back side, which is perfect for hooking with a fingernail.
The opposite side of the S10 features the video and digital jacks as well as a slot for the CR2016 battery (the CR2016 powers the S10's internal clock/calendar). The video jack remains exposed while the digital I/O port has a soft rubber cover that snaps into place to protect the interface.
A small status display, the mode dial and the shutter button live on top of the S10, all maintaining a very low profile.
Finally, the very flat bottom of the camera features a metal tripod mount and
battery compartment. A big plus here, relative to some of the earlier Canon
digicams, is that the battery cover now locks automatically. In previous designs,
if you didn't slide the lock button shut after inserting a battery, the camera
would be dead. This caused us some slight consternation the first time we used
both the original A5 and the subsequent A50.
