Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in optical and imaging technology, today announced the PowerShot S10, a 2.1 megapixel digital camera that combines the benefits of digital imaging with features and functions traditionally found only in conventional 35mm cameras. This latest addition to Canon's line of PowerShot digital cameras enters the market as the smallest and lightest 2.1 megapixel camera with a zoom lens(1). Canon also announced a new digital printer for output of high-resolution, borderless, 4x6-inch prints.

The PowerShot S10 incorporates a host of innovative features that improve operation ease of use and image quality, including an Image Selector button; a dual interface that allows users to connect the camera directly to USB or RS-232C serial ports on their computer; newly designed GUI menu; and five picture-taking modes. In addition, the PowerShot S10 is compatible with Type I and Type II CompactFlash(TM) memory cards, including IBM's 340MB microdrive, allowing hundreds of images to be stored at high resolution and more than 1,000 images at lower resolutions.

``The PowerShot S10 and CD-300 printer each represent Canon's commitment to providing our customers with high-quality products that combine the benefits of digital imaging with conventional photography,'' said Yukiaki Hashimoto, vice president and general manager, Photographic Products Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. ``Our heritage as an optics and imaging company will continue to drive development of more Canon digital cameras that are both sophisticated and easier to use.''

PowerShot S10 Features

The PowerShot S10 features an elegant, sturdy all-metal body equipped with numerous features including a 35-70mm f/2.8-4 all-glass aspherical lens to minimize image distortion. A 2x and 4x digital teleconverter extends the zoom range of the lens to 8x when used in conjunction with its 2x optical zoom capabilities.

An Image Selection Mode button on the back of the camera helps keep the camera's control functions centralized, providing easy access to the five IMAGE modes -- slow-speed shutter, high-speed shutter, Night Scene, Landscape, and Black-and-White. Using this button, users can also manually set or adjust any number of custom camera functions, including flash modes and ISO speeds from 100-400.

Other camera features include scrollable Image Enlargement during playback to check image sharpness; contrast and sharpness adjustments that can be applied as the images are written to the CompactFlash card; spot metering; AE Lock; auto/manual white balance; and exposure compensation of plus/minus 2 EV in 1/3 increments.

The new camera also features a 1/2-inch, 2.1 megapixel CCD sensor that creates full color (and black-and-white) high resolution images up to 1600x1200 pixels when set to its Large mode. The camera also offers two additional resolution settings of 1280x960 (Medium mode), and 800x600 (Small mode), which is ideal for on-screen applications, such as Web sites and CD-ROMs and allows more images to be recorded on a single CompactFlash memory card. Obtaining the full potential of the 2.1 megapixel CCD, the PowerShot S10 is equipped with a dedicated digital signal processing integrated circuit (IC) to achieve high-speed and complete processing of image detail. All images are recorded as JPEG files, with a choice of Super-Fine, Fine or Normal compression settings. A built-in buffer memory allows continuous burst-mode shooting of up to 1.7 frames per second even when the S10 is set to its maximum resolution.