Canon Powershot S2 IS Digital Camera Released – Preview

Canon has announced the successor to its popular S1 IS digital camera, the all-new 12x Optical Zoom, 5.0 Megapixel Canon PowerShot S2 IS. dpreview has posted a comprehensive preview, here’s a snip:

This camera is clearly aimed to compete with the other compact big-zoom club, which is currently made up of the Panasonic DMC-FZ5, Konica Minolta Z5 and Sony DSC-H1. Just like the S1 IS the S2 IS utilizes a small USM (ultrasonic motor) to drive its zoom (multi-speed and quiet for shooting movies). Changes compared to the S1 include a body redesign, five megapixel CCD, a bigger zoom lens, DIGIC II, faster continuous shooting, night display function, stereo audio recording and a larger LCD monitor.

Here’s a few paragraphs from Canon’s press release:

Family vacations. Weddings. Sporting events. Baby’s first steps. Just hanging around. Canon’s new five megapixel PowerShot S2 IS digital camera allows consumers from the novice to the photo enthusiast the ability to capture high quality still images and movie clips of life’s most significant events.

“Canon leads the photo industry. Our convergent digital imaging technologies allow consumers to enjoy both high quality photos and video in one portable imaging device,” stated Yukiaki Hashimoto, senior vice president and general manager of the consumer imaging group at Canon U.S.A., Inc, a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ). “The PowerShot S2 IS digital camera combines exceptional ease-of-use, functionality and image quality in a lightweight package.”

“Digital cameras with movie capabilities have the highest penetration and primary usage rate compared to other types of capture devices,” said Mike Wolf, Director of Digital Photography research at InfoTrends CAP Ventures. “The top reasons consumers use these digital camera hybrids are ease-of-use, compatibility and ability to share video clips through email,” said Wolf. “The PowerShot S2 IS digital camera addresses these issues and more by fulfilling the demands for both still image photography and movie recording.”

More details @ Canon