Canon PowerShot S2 IS review

Features
The 'IS' in the Canon PowerShot S2 IS's name stands for 'image stabiliser' and, in combination with the camera's 12x optical zoom (36-432mm in 35mm-equivalent terms), provides the main attraction. With a maximum aperture range of f/2.7 to f/3.5, the lens is respectably fast at the telephoto end.

A trio of image-stabilisation options include shooting only (when the shutter is pressed halfway for focus lock), continuous and panning. The latter works to prevent vertical camera shake when photographing a horizontally moving subject such as a bicyclist or racing car. We found that the shooting-only mode worked best for all but panning shots.

Equipped with a full feature set that includes manual exposure and custom modes, the S2 IS is an affordable option for enthusiasts who want the flexibility of a long lens and digital-SLR-like features without the cost. However, like its competitors, the camera does not support TIFF or raw formats, but the S2 IS does offer four resolution and three compression options.

A handful of special effects complement standard features such as exposure compensation (EV), preset and manual white balance, sensitivities ranging from ISO 50 to ISO 400, along with a handful of scene modes. In addition to special effects such as vivid colour, black and white, and sepia, there's a custom function that allows users to save and recall contrast, sharpness and saturation levels. You can also adjust flash intensity.

Part useful tool, part quirky novelty, the S2's My Colors mode has a number of colour adjustments that intensify reds, greens and blues collectively or individually, as well as two skin-tone-specific (lightening or darkening) functions. For fun, you can convert a colour image to black and white with a colour accent or replace one colour with another -- all in-camera. And you can opt to save a copy of your original along with the colour-adjusted image.

The S2's VGA movie mode, which now supports stereo audio, is quite good, with a top resolution of 640x480 at 30fps. Unlike many cameras with similar movie-capture modes, the Canon lets you use the zoom, which operates very quietly, and the IS while capturing video. The recording capacity is limited to 1GB; the actual time will vary, but the camera estimated 15 minutes, 24 seconds with a 2GB SanDisk Ultra SD card.

Shooting movies is incredibly convenient, since all you have to do is press a button, regardless of the camera mode. You can also shoot a 5-megapixel still at any point. Once the image is saved, the camera immediately starts recording video again.

A nice set of accessories are available for the S2 IS, including add-on lenses as well as an external flash that attaches via the tripod slot and is triggered by the camera's built-in flash.