The Canon PowerShot S60 continues the tradition of the popular PowerShot S series, matching an even more compact body design with a full range of advanced digital camera features.

Equipped with a newly developed 3.6x wide-angle optical zoom lens realizing a zoom range equivalent to 28-100mm in a 35mm format, Canon’s PowerShot S60 permits users the flexibility to shoot anything from sweeping landscapes to close-up portraits. In addition to enabling a wider angle of view and a higher zoom ratio than the PowerShot S50, released in March 2003, the world-first inclusion of a glass-molded Ultra-high refractive index Aspherical (UA) lens has enabled a slim, more compact lens unit and a corresponding reduction in the thickness and weight of the camera.

In addition to a high-resolution 1/1.8″ E5-megapixel CCD sensor, which realizes highly detailed images of up to 2,592 x 1,944 pixels, the PowerShot S60 incorporates Canon’s proprietary DIGIC image processor and iSAPS scene recognition technology to achieve industry leading image quality. Enabling processing performance far exceeding that of conventional processors, the renowned DIGIC processor realizes improved image quality, quicker initial start-up time, faster continuous shooting with longer bursts, and improved power consumption. Working in tandem, iSAPS technology uses Photographic Space information drawn from a massive photo database to allow the camera to pre-analyze each scene and optimize auto-focusing, auto-exposure and auto-white-balance performance.

The PowerShot S60 offers shooting performance enhancements, including macro photography as close as 4cm, a top shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second, a new “Underwater” white balance preset, VGA (640 x 480 pixels) movie-clip recording and, when shooting in the RAW format, the ability to select the resolution of the JPEG preview image that is simultaneously saved with the RAW file. Moreover, a reduced camera start-up time and a 26% increase in battery capacity ensure that no photo opportunity is lost.

Further simplifying photo printing and image file transfers, the unit includes a one-touch Print/Share button. Once the button lights blue, the camera is ready to print directly from Canon’s range of Direct Print-enabled photo printers or other PictBridge-compatible printers, or to download images directly to a Windows® PC. Other new functions include the ID Photo Print, making it easy to produce prints compatible with the major ID-photo sizes of the world, and Movie Print, which enables users to create frame-by-frame prints of movies taken with digital cameras. The camera’s functionality is further extended by a full range of optional accessories, which includes a 2x Teleconverter lens and a Waterproof Case that enables underwater photography at depths up to 40 meters.

Matching functionality with style, the PowerShot S60 features a sleek two-tone silver body constructed from durable yet chic aluminum-magnesium alloy, and a newly designed slim-line sliding lens cover. Owing to Canon’s newly developed UA lens and advanced mounting technology, the model is also more compact, sporting a body that is 3.2 mm slimmer and 30 grams lighter than the PowerShot S50. Also offering greatly enhanced operability, the S60 features such refinements as a larger zoom lever, which is now located on the rear of the camera, and a large round control pad with the “SET” button located in the center for effortless control.