PowerShot N defies expectations
FOR all their different features, compact cameras tend to look the same.
FOR all their different features, compact cameras tend to look the same.
They're shiny rectangular boxes with a shutter button on top, surrounded by a zoom slider.
The 12.1-megapixel PowerShot N is clearly the exception to the rule. It's not rectangular and there is no obvious shutter button or zoom control.
If you were handing this to a stranger, you would have to add the instruction: "just hit the big button".
The PowerShot N is surprisingly small, measuring just 7.8cm by 6cm, which means you can pop this in your jeans pocket or even wear it on a cord around your neck.
Despite its small size, there is still a 2.8-inch LCD screen that takes up the entire back of the camera. There's no room for menu buttons, and no need because the screen is touch-sensitive.
This also allows it to work as a menu and to pick a focal point, and although it won't flip to help with selfies, it will tilt up to help you compose your shot if you're holding the camera very low or very high.
On the front is a 28mm lens with an 8x optical zoom. Users can double that enlargement using digital zoom.
The question when you pick it up is how do you use it. It's not obvious, but around the lens at the front are two rings.
The inner lens is the shutter you control by pushing up or down; the outer ring twists to control the zoom.
In the crowded compact market, the PowerShot N is quite the individual.
> POWERSHOT N
Canon, $399.95
canon.com.au
Rating: 3.5/5