Canon has announced its new PowerShot N100 camera which will feature forward and rear-facing lenses.
Canon has announced the release next May of its PowerShot N100, the manufacturer’s first compact camera to feature both front and rear-facing cameras. The camera will allow a photographer to simultaneously capture his or her expression behind the camera as the shutter is pressed. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Canon describes the new unit as “a brand new concept camera, with innovative technologies”.
The camera uses optical technologies similar to those in the high-performance PowerShot S Series. “The PowerShot N100 records your expression as you shoot, either as a movie or still image, and combines it with the scene you’ve captured,” says Rebecca Pearson, Assistant Product Manager, Consumer Capture Devices, Canon Australia. “This new feature is ideal for when your reaction is just as important as the moment itself, such as watching a child’s first steps.”
Canon says its Smart Auto technology automatically determines the best settings to capture the perfect shot from 58 different scenes – from sunsets to smiling babies. Canon’s Hybrid Auto feature captures four seconds of movie footage before you press the shutter to take a still image. The PowerShot N100 also combines Hybrid Auto and the Dual Capture to automatically record expressions behind the camera two seconds before and after image capture. At the end of the day, the clips are merged into one 720p resolution movie to tell the ‘behind-the-scenes’ story of the shooting experience.
The new Story Highlights mode automatically edits stories into one memorable video album. The camera analyses pictures to produce a ‘highlights’ video album by theme, date, or even by faces which have been registered in the camera. A ‘Favourite’ button tags videos and images to feature in a highlights album.
PowerShot N100’s Wi-Fi allows users to wirelessly upload stories to social networks, though sharing to these networks requires a Canon iMAGE GATEWAY account and home Wi-Fi network, or access to a smartphone or tablet with mobile data connectivity. Connecting to smartphones is done via the customisable Mobile Device Connect Button with NFC support, which allows users to connect and start sharing, via Canon’s CameraWindow app.
The Mobile Device Connect Button also allows easy backup to online cloud storage sites such as Google Drive, or Flickr, via Canon iMAGE GATEWAY. Using the CameraWindow app, users can even remotely control the PowerShot N100 directly from the smartphone’s screen. Canon says it’s easy to control the camera’s most common features, such as zoom, flash, shutter and even self-timer, from a phone.
The camera has a DIGIC 6 processor and a 12.1 Megapixel 1/1.7-type high-sensitivity CMOS sensor. The PowerShot N100’s lens is a 24mm ultra-wide-angle, with a 5x optical zoom. The rear-facing Story Camera features a wide 25mm lens which works simultaneously with the front-facing camera, and it’s wide-enough to capture a couple behind the camera. Canon’s industry leading Optical Image Stabilizer and Intelligent IS technology are also standard. The camera also has a 75mm (3in) tilt-up touch screen.
The PowerShot N100 will be available in retail stores from May.
Canon's N100, a concept camera released at CES in Las Vegas, capture images from the front and rear at the same time.
The Canon N100, to be released in May, is a 'concept' camera which features front and rear-facing capture options.
