Canon PowerShot S120 Digital Camera w/ 12.1 MP 1/1.7 Inch Sensor & Wi-Fi Enabled Black

Key Point:A photo is made better more so by being a better photographer than getting a better camera. That being said, I’ve gotten some pictures I really like from this camera (I will upload some here eventually), but after using it for almost a couple months, I have come to notice some limitations that are typical of point and shoot cameras.Camera Design:I like that this remains a pocket camera. It fits in my pocket and doesn’t weigh it down too much (I think my keys actually weigh a bit more). There is no need for a case and the lens gets covered automatically when you power down the camera. I like the clicky control ring on the front (that can be customized with pretty much any functionality) and I tend to use it to step zoom to standard focal lengths like 35mm, 50mm, etc. This is really useful!I rarely use flash, so the manual pop up flash isn’t a big deal to me. The on off button works fine and I like that the camera really does turn on and off quick (much quicker than the RX100 III). I have a habit of turning off my camera when I walk around and not using it. This saves the battery and I was able to take 373 shots on a single charge.The zoom lever works fine, as does the shutter release. The control dial to select your mode functions fine. The buttons and dial on the back of the camera do their job, I have no issues.The touch screen is a nice to have feature. I use it most to select my focus point, and tend to stick to physical controls for everything else.Camera Usage:I do like that while this is a point and shoot camera it does have typical DSLR features like aperture and shutter priority mode, even though sometimes you have to dig into a menu to find them. I typically take RAW + JPG pictures in aperture priority mode and this works for most situations. I like going to f/1.8 to create a shallow depth of field. I have noticed though that the smallest aperture available is f/8, whereas f/22 is standard on most DSLR lenses. Depending on what you are doing this can be an issue, if either you have a wider depth of field or are trying for a longer exposure in bright light. I also have taken a few pictures with shutter priority mode, mainly for long exposures of water. This works and the built in neutral density filter is nice to reduce the incoming light, although the 2 stops it provides won’t make much of a difference in bright light.The one other picture mode I have played with is HDR mode. As other reviewers have mentioned the “natural” HDR merge mode does not work. You have to at least use “art standard” I think it’s called to get a proper increase in dynamic range. This causes the camera to play with the colors, which you may or may not like. Also important to keep in mind is that this creates JPG only photos, no RAWs. If you want RAWs, you can however do +/-2 bracketing and then HDR merge them in post production software like Lightroom 6.I have also used the video mode, and am impressed by the small file size for the best quality video. The one drawback that I have noticed is that it really does sap battery life to take video, something other reviewers have mentioned.Image Quality:Overall, I have been quite satisfied with the image quality of this camera. The in camera processing that this camera does for JPGs is very nice and useable. From my own test shots, images up to ISO 3,200 are acceptable quality. When in focus, the images can be sharp. Furthermore, I recently downloaded Lightroom 6 (trial) and have been using it to process RAW images. With my limited ability I have been able to take some images that made great JPGs and turn them into phenomenal RAW images. I have also been able to make edits to RAWs to make the images acceptable that I would have otherwise discarded as JPGs out of the camera. Doing this really makes me feel good. That’s not to say RAW editing will make bad pictures good, but rather it gives you the leeway to tweak the image to your own personal preference (white balance, exposure, etc.) and really make it your own. I like doing this and will be doing more RAW images in the future I think. One thing to note is that I would avoid free RAW software as they typically don’t support point and shoot cameras for lens correction and your images will end up distorted. Sometimes they don’t even support the specific RAW format. I have tried a bunch like Raw Therapee and even Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional, but I have been far more satisfied with the Lightroom trial so far. It’s a true case of you get what you pay for, and Lightroom is much more accessible price wise than it has been in the past ($10 / month subscription model available).Limitations:One major limitation of this camera (and all small sensor size cameras) is that you have very limited control to create shallow depth of field (that nice blurry background effect). This is because when comparing to the standard 35 MM sensor size cameras, small sensors cameras have much shorter real focal lengths (one of 3 factors in creating depth of field). You can do a web search to find details on this, but in short, you can typically only get a shallow depth of field with this camera if you are very close to the subject and are using a decently wide aperture, say f/4.0 and larger. Now I know this camera has a portrait mode to “simulate” a shallow depth of field, but for me it doesn’t substitute for the real thing. There are other drawbacks to a small sensor size, but depth of field is most noticeable to me.Another limitation that I have touched on briefly before is that access to some settings like metering mode, ISO, continuous shooting, etc. are tucked away in menus and it can make them difficult to change quickly based on shooting conditions. This is typical of many point and shoot cameras so I deal with it, but makes me want a DSLR. =DConclusion:There are tradeoffs between a point and shoot and DSLR camera. Therefore I rate this camera 5/5 for what it is and how it does against its peers, rather than against a DSLR. However, as I am growing to like photography more and more I am starting to think I could appreciate a DSLR. The choice is yours!

Just got this camera and have less than 100 pictures through it and although every year I buy one of these and end up returning it, it looks like this "S" might be a keeper finally.Like most of its predecessors it's built very well, feels good in the hand, and most of the buttons have good feedback. It has gotten a little more rounded over the years but I like it, square camera with smooth edges that don't annoy me in the pocket.Out of the pocket this camera is probably adjustability-overkill for most people that haven't dared of taking their camera out of AUTO mode. Whether you like shooting in AUTO or you do choose to leave AUTO behind, the S120 rewards you with a very fast interface, fast response (focus/shutter), and the ability to view and share your images across other devices quickly.I am a Canon guy. That should not be missed here because I am a little biased, but I have an iphone(5) for my day to day camera. My weekend camera is a Canon 6D and a bag of L lenses. I bought the S120 to bridge the gap between the two. I am not a professional, but sometimes I want professional pics without using my phone or lugging a big DSLR kit around with me - enter the S120.With the S120 Canon FINALLY offers a simple camera that seems to do everything I want well. What do I want?- Ability to capture amazing pictures without carrying 20# of lenses with me.- Ability to hand my wife/kids a camera that they can use too.- Fast power up, fast focus, fast capture.- Great video if the situation calls for it, on the fly, no delay.- EASY way to transfer pictures to my phone (for when I do want to send them elsewhere).- Canon menus, because they make sense to me.It does all of these in my opinion, quite well.If you are looking for a camera that outshines just about anything else on the shelf under 700$ and can avoid bulking your pants pocket - this is the one.Whats in the box:- Canon S120 camera.- Canon (NB6-LH) battery.- Canon wall charger (CB-2LY).- Canon wrist cord.- Registration documents.- Warranty info.A couple other things I wanted to mention...WiFi -- It's actually useful now! This model features a new wifi setup for transferring pictures to your smartphone. I have had this on (2) other units (S110 and EOS 6D) and never use it because it's a pain. With this model I just go into "play" mode on the camera, press the wifi button (up on the D pad) , it immediately asks what I want to connect to, I select "smartphone" and it says start the phone application and point it to this hotspot. Once I do that, I am on the phone browsing pictures. Scrolling through images (large JPEG) on the camera is pretty quick, downloading is pretty quick, disconnecting and getting back to shooting is just as quick. Now you can literally turn wifi on, send a specific image over to your phone, turn wifi off, in the matter of a couple seconds and a few button clicks.I won't go into what the old way was, because if I could remember it I would actually use it!RX100 vs S120 -- Just before the S120 was announced I finally broke down and bought an RX100 (new). Not the M2 model but the original, for 600$. I loved the pictures it took, they were amazing amazing images.Compared to the S120 (in circumstances so far) they are possibly a little better comparing auto mode to auto mode. What I like about the Canon vs the Sony is the Canon seems to capture more how I see things as opposed to the Sony which wanted to make everything look like a carnival if left untouched (it liked to make all the colors exotically vibrant from my perspective). If this were just about images there would have been some tough decisions to make and hairs to split over this.The size and weight of RX100 to S120 it's no contest:S120. I can put the S120 in a pair of khaki's and go sit in meetings or walk around all day with no worries. The RX100 just felt too darn heavy, and it's larger lens tube sticking out from the front was annoying getting in and out of pockets. The S120 is still a true pocket-friendly camera is what I am getting at.Build quality-wise both feel like finely crafted machines. The S120 will remind you of other point and shoot cameras and its finish is something I would feel ok with putting in a bag with no case. The RX100 felt like some sort of surgical tool, I mean in a good way - but I felt like putting down on a desk would damage the desk or possibly the finish on the camera. Another strange thing is the S120 feels good in the hand and has some heft but nothing bad. The RX100 felt a little heftier but in a way that I felt if I dropped it, it's life was over - it was just waiting for an opportunity to spill its guts. I would expect the S120 to take a small hit or some tumbling without ending it.Cost - Although money can be irrelevant to most photographic geeks when it comes to "getting the shot" , I didn't understand why the Sony was hundreds more. The "why" of this is in other parts of the review here so I won't get into it more. I will just say I had a $1,000 budget for my perfect point and shoot, and now I have 550$ to go spend on something else.Software - I left this for last because I suspect this is where Canon bias comes in. It is also something I suspect is different in the newer model Rx-100(M2) so may not be as relevant. The S120 UI is quick and also very efficient. The RX-100 by comparison was a little slow, and (at least for me) I never felt like I could quickly get to the settings I wanted to without forcing some customization. Neither is over-glitzy or annoying to use, but the Sony one just felt like it was fighting me sometimes when I would change something and then have to re-find it.I hope you enjoyed this review and I will update it as relevantly as is feasible.If there is more you'd like to see added or something I missed please comment and let me know, and thanks for reading this!-Chris

This is an excellent camera! It takes great pictures and the settings are simple and easy to use. It takes fantastic low light photos, which was very important to me. Also very important to me are the small size, so it can fit easily in a pocket, and the very solid construction, since I am notoriously rough on cameras. So why not 5 stars? I decided on this camera, in part for its WiFi capabilities, and as it turns out, the WiFi functions are completely worthless. I'm reasonably tech savvy, and I have spent countless hours trying to make the WiFi function with my Android phone and my Windows desktop and laptop computers. Maybe it works, and I just can't figure it out, but nothing should be that difficult. Canon has made a very solid camera here, but they really dropped the ball with the WiFi functions.