With the smartphone becoming a greater threat to the traditional compact camera by the day, the pressure on companies to come up with something new has been building. Cue the Canon Powershot N.
With 12.1 megepixels, 2.8 inch touchscreen, Creative Shot, WIFI connectivity and Canon’s usual high standards of build quality, the Powershot N certainly delivers. It’s innovative design and utterly compact build cements it’s place in an on-the-go cyber generation.
So what better way to test out an on-the-go camera? In an on-the-go restaurant! We took the Powershot N to the incredibly trendy pop-up restaurant, Forza Win to test it out.
Firstly at 78.6 x 60.2mm the compact, almost square design, was a breeze and could slip into our pocket without bulking up our outfit! The large LCD screen was great for playback and easy to use in terms of navigation, however it was very sensitive and so accidental button-pushing-without-realising was frequent!
The screen is also hinged at the top and moves 90 degrees, which is useful for lower level shots and for holding the camera above your head. Unfortunately it can’t be tilted out to the side or fully to the front for a good old selfie! A little disappointing for us.
The Powershot N lacks a conventional shutter button and zoom, it instead holds these functions in two metal rings that surround the 8x zoom lens. Zooming is achieved by twisting one ring, and pushing the other up or down captures a photo. The idea is that, like a tablet or smartphone, there’s no right or wrong way to hold this camera. Our only gripe was that they are very close together and sometimes it’s hard to find which one you want in a hurry!
The main thing that excites us about this camera however is that it’s in-camera editing is a leap forward. Specific modes that allow your creativity to blossom! Extremely exciting for the Instagram generation obviously!
The Creative Shot mode is innovative in that it actually assesses the subject and takes 6 different versions of the scene, each varying the composition, exposure, balance and contrast in order to generate incredibly creative pictures that will astound you! It captures one true image along with 5 other much more creative versions.
Another awesome little feature is the Hybrid Auto mode. This captures up to 4 seconds of real action before a still image is taken then joins all the clips up to create a time-lapse film of the day! Nifty to say the least.
So, we have to say that for a new generation of compact cameras Canon’s Powershot N is storming through. It’s funky design and creative modes will allow you to generate images you’ll be proud to post online, directly from the camera itself with it’s built-in WIFI! It’s a bold move toward the Facebook generation and should give the smartphones a run for their money.
All the images from Forza Win were taken using the Powershot N and it’s brilliant Creative Shot mode. No extra editing required!
And if you haven’t yet heard of Forza Win, it’s an incredibly funky little restaurant that pops up in random London corners during the summer months. It’s full of creative and trendy sets and the food is like little bits of heaven on a plate, all created using the bare bones of a pop-up kitchen by uber talented chefs. The guys there are super polite and will make you feel at home under the stars long into the evening. The perfect accompaniment to the funky Powershot N.
Have you tried the Canon Powershot N? Tell us what you thought @tweetjanes