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Canon PowerShot S60 An already sleek 5 megapixel design is updated and improved with a 28mm wide angle lens and new control and menu system. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet S60 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on S60 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & Interface Review First Posted: 05/10/2004, Updated: 06/28/2004

Image Storage and Interface

The Canon S60 uses CompactFlash memory cards for image storage, accommodating both Type I and II card sizes. This means that the camera should also be able to store images to a Hitachi MicroDrive for increased storage capacity, although I did not test the camera with one. A 32MB CompactFlash Type I memory card is supplied with the camera. Entire CompactFlash cards cannot be write-protected, however, the S60's Play menu allows you to write-protect individual image files, protecting them from accidental erasure, unless the card is formatted.

Still images can be saved at one of four resolutions (2,592 x 1,944; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,024 x 768; 640 x 480 pixels), while movie images are recorded at 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 pixels. Still images also have three JPEG compression levels available: Superfine, Fine, and Normal, plus a RAW setting that records the image straight from the CCD, with no further processing. RAW images require the Canon ZoomBrowser or ImageBrowser software for processing on a computer. The benefit of the RAW data file format is that it compresses the image file without any loss of image quality.

A full complement of interface software comes with the S60, as does a USB cable for speedy connection to a PC or Macintosh computer. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked the S60 at 508 KBytes/second. This is moderately fast for cameras with USB v1.1 interfaces, but a good bit slower than most USB v2.0-equipped models. Still, it's fast enough that you shouldn't need an external card reader. (Cameras with slow USB v1.1 interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)

Following are the approximate resolution / quality and compression ratios for a 32MB card (compression numbers are based on my own computations):

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 32MB Memory Card		RAW	Fine	Normal	Basic
Full Resolution 2,592x1,944	Images (Avg size)	6 5.1 MB	12 2,612 KB	22 1,438 KB	45 707 KB
	Approx. Compression	3:1 (Lossless)	6:1	11:1	21:1
2,048x1,536 Resolution	Images (Avg size)	-	19 1,641 KB	34 921 KB	69 462 KB
	Approx. Compression	-	6:1	10:1	20:1
1,600x1,200 Resolution	Images (Avg size)	-	31 1,020 KB	56 570 KB	110 289 KB
	Approx. Compression	-	6:1	10:1	20:1
640x480 Resolution	Images (Avg size)	-	122 261 KB	199 161 KB	346 92 KB
	Approx. Compression	-	4:1	6:1	10:1