Canon claims to be a premium brand in digital cameras. It may not be the top vendor in the point-and-shoot space, as Casio, Kodak, Olympus, Samsung and Sony and others are also popular choices among buyers of pocket camera.
However, if you look closely at the DSLR cameras hanging on the shoulders of the people around you, you are more likely to see the white Canon logo on them.
"We sold the most digital cameras last year," said Merry Harun, director of Canon division, Datascrip, at the launch last week. That claim must have encompassed both the compact cameras known as Ixus and PowerShot and the wildly popular Canon DSLR models.
We can see how relentless Canon has been in attacking the digital camera market. It was not so long ago that the Japanese company launched almost a dozen new models, and last week they did it again.
This time, Canon introduced four ultra-compact Ixus models - Ixus 990 IS, 110 IS, 100 IS and 95 IS - plus five PowerShot models - PowerShot SX200 IS, D10, A2100 IS, A1100 IS and the entry-level A480.
All of these consumer cameras are beautifully designed. They come in trendy colors such as soft pink, orange, blue and green. The Ixus 95 IS, for example, has six different colors for us to choose from.
"It is a challenge for our marketing people as they have to memorize all of them," admitted Merry. And there is no telling which will sell the best.
However, as expected, the sleek design is not the only feature of the new batch. As you must have noticed, more models now come with the IS suffix. This means that these models have the image stabilization feature, which compensates for minor shakes when we press the shutter button.
All of the new Ixuses also incorporate Canon's proprietary DIGIC 4 image processing chip, which helps produce the best photos from corner to corner. By the way, the maximum resolution is now either 10 or 12.1 megapixel.
Other features that have already become commonplace, such as face detection focus and face detection-based self-timer, are also included, of course. But it is amazing that the ultra-compact Ixus 990 IS, for example, has 5x optical zoom.
A new feature is the Blinking Detection. The camera has the capability of detecting that one or more people in the group we are shooting happen to close their eyes during the shot and will alert us with an icon. We then have the option of taking another picture of the group after telling them all to look at the camera. This feature makes sure that the photo is at its best.
Another interesting feature is scene detection, which automatically recognizes whether we are photographing scenery, a pet or some text on a page and then makes the necessary adjustments such as activating the macro mode. By the way, PowerShot SX200 IS has 12x optical zoom capability as well as a Super Macro mode that allows us to take a picture of an object as close as from zero centimeters.
But the model that really captivated me at the launch was the 12.1 megapixel PowerShot D10. This camera is built to be waterproof and can be used by divers to take pictures as deep as 10 meters underwater.
Canon claims that it is also shockproof, so if it falls from a height of up to 1.22 meters, no repairs will be required. It can also be used at temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero, where ordinary cameras will freeze. The lens is also anti-fog. Too bad the shoulder and waist straps are optional.
The Ixuses carry price tags that range between Rp 3 and 4.6 million; the top end of the PowerShot (PowerShot SX200IS) can be had for Rp 5,150,000. Here comes the peril of making the choice: For around two million rupiah more, we can get a decent DSLR camera!
Clearly, one size does not fit all, so we may need two digital cameras - if we have the money, that is: One for fail-proof snapshots and the other for more creative photography. How about that?
