Canon has announced the PowerShot S2 IS, a 5 MP digital camera with a 12x optical zoom and image stabilization. The camera can also record 30fps digital video of up to 60 minutes with stereo sound.
The PowerShot S2 IS is powered by Canon's DIGIC II processor and can shoot 2.4 fps. Startup and autofocus times are almost twice as quick as its predeccessor. The camera also comes with 18 shooting modes and shutter speeds down to 1/3,200 of a second.
The optical zoom lens goes from 36-432mm with f/2.7-f3.5. Canon's optical image stabilization feature has 4 modes: off, continuous (always on), shoot only (operates with shutter release), and panning mode (up/down correction only). IS allows photographers to shoot with normal than longer exposures when a flash is not desirable. The lens' ultra-sonic motor (USM) delivers quiet enough performance to not interfere with the camera's sound recording function.
The PowerShot S2 stores pictures on an included 16 MB SD card and is PictBride compatible. Also included with the camera is ZoomBrowser EX 5.2 (for PC), ImageBrowser 5.1 (for Mac), Arcsoft PhotoStudio, PhotoStitch, and PhotoRecord software packages.
Purchase of the PowerShot S2 IS entitles customers to membership to the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, Canon's online portal that offers users 100MB of online "personal gallery" space for sharing stills and video with family and friends.
