Introduction

The Canon Powershot E1is a compact point-and-shoot with a modest feature set in a rounded plastic body. Its selling point is a rounded toy-like appearing which sets expectations of being fun and as easy to use as a toy.

Unlike the ultra-compact SD-series, the E1's relatively larger size with a slight handgrip makes it more stable and ergonomic. Unlike the compact A-series, the E1's limited feature set forgoes advanced controls such as manual exposure. flash-compensation and manual focus.

Suitability

The Canon Powershot E1 is a point-and-shoot digital camera with a standard 4X optical zoom in a compact plastic body. It is designed for simplicity and, as such, offers little versatility. Without much controls, the E1 can be used for simple snapshots of close-by subjects. A macro mode helps with close focusing 3cm (1.2") from the lens.

With a 10 megapixels sensor, large prints are possible when noise is low. The ISO range up 1600 makes the E1 usable for social snaps in poorly lit conditions such as at restaurants and parties. The rounded compact shape of the Canon Powershot E1 makes it easy to slide in a small bag, waist-pouch or women's purse. It is not pant-pocket size but can be easily carried.

The most notable control of the E1 is its white-balance settings, including custom white-balance to deal with difficult lighting. Also included is a standard -2 to +2 EV exposure-compensation, to help correct exposure. This digital camera also features 3 types of metering, spot-metering included, for greater exposure flexibility. The addition of an optical-tunnel viewfinder for use in very bright light and use of AA batteries round off this model.

Usability

Ergonomically, the E1 handles quite well. Its rounded design with a moderate hand-grip for a compact digital camera is comfortable to hold securely. The shutter is activate by a standard two-stage release with a distinct halfway point. There is a mode-dial which clicks well into each position. The zoom controller surrounds the shutter-release. It unfortunately moves the lens rather slowly and coarsely across its 4X range. The small power button is recessed to prevent accidental turning of the camera on or off. Too bad it also prevents turning the camera on or off while using gloves. The remaining buttons, located on the camera's rear, are relatively big and mostly responsive.

One great thing about the E1 which helps its usability is that it has more buttons than most point-and-shoots. A 4-way controller and 5 buttons around it allow direct access to many important controls. As to not waste any buttons, each direction of the 4-way controller accesses some camera feature: Up selects from Auto ISO, Auto High-ISO or ISO 80 to 1600; Right cycles through flash-modes; Down cycles through drive-modes; and Left chooses between Macro, Standard or Infinity focus. The central button accesses the Func menu, a classic on Canon fixed-lens cameras. to reach other commonly changed settings such as white-balance.

The 5 remaining buttons access playback mode, face-detection, a customizable feature, the menu and display modes. Notice the lack of direct button access to EC. It is therefore strongly recommended to set the custom button to this feature.

The camera's 2.5" LCD is composed of 115K pixels, giving it a low resolution by any standard. Even though the horizontal viewing angle is quite good, the vertical viewing angle is not. Strangely, the optimal vertical view angle is not directly facing to the camera. The biggest issue with the LCD however is the fact that it becomes blank between shots. This makes it a frustrating affair to use with moving subjects in anticipation for action.

Visibility is good under most lighting conditions. In very bright light, the E1's optical tunnel can be used instead, although coverage is far from accurate. An easy to use menu system completes the E1's intuitive interface.

Performance

Entry-level cameras such as this one invariably present a compromise in image quality. The main question is: is the compromise reasonable considering the price paid for the digital camera. The E1 does reasonably well in this regards.

Image noise, the most visible quality of digital images, increases from virtually nothing at ISO 80 and 100 to strong and highly destructive color-noise at ISO 1600. By ISO 400, noise-reduction softens details and, by ISO 800, the maximum acceptable print size is reduced. At the lower ISO settings, before much noise-reduction is applied, images are quite sharp and retain reasonable details. To help shoot at lower ISO settings, the E1 has a very effective image stabilization system which gives 2 to 3 stops of extra hand-holding ability.

Color accuracy combined with white-balance is another area where the Canon Powershot E1 does well. Colors appear quite natural with only some oversaturation of greens, most probably to enhance the look at landscape images. The white-balance system, and particularly the automatic white-balance setting, is very accurate. In fact this is the most accurate white-balance system among compact cameras we have seen after the amazing HP Photosmart R967.

Exposure is very good with this camera. Focus accuracy is great except in extremely low-light situations where it occasionally misses instead of giving up. While the lens does deliver sharp results it unfortunately shows pronounced vignetting and moderate barrel distortion near the wide-end of the zoom. On the good side of the lens though, the Canon E1 seems nearly impervious to chromatic aberrations.

Aside from the zoom, the E1 is never slow. It is not fast either though. Power on and off times are reasonably quick and so is resuming from playback mode. The E1 is shutter-priority, so a quick tap of the shutter-release brings it into shooting mode almost instantly. Shot-to-shot speed and shutter-lag are decent. Focus speed is about average but is consistent throughout the zoom range. Playback and zoom is the only aspect for which the Canon Powershot E1 is very fast.

There are 7 steps through the 4X zoom range which is too coarse for precise framing. Battery life is not great and quick short in continuous IS mode.

Conclusion

Given that the Canon Powershot E1 is a low-cost point-and-shoot camera, it is no surprise that its performance turns out to be average. Certain aspects of its image quality such as color and white-balance accuracy are rather good, while others such as vignetting are not. In terms of speed, the E1 clocks in mostly average times too.

Among point-and-shoot models, the E1 excels with its ergonomics and simplicity. Its average performance is remarkably consistent, with reliable exposure and focus under all but very low-light. Add to that an intuitive user-interface and the results are an easy to use first-time camera for beginners.

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