Canon S100 review

A sexy GPS-enabled, high-end compact

PowerShot S100
The PowerShot S100 is a quality compact camera for a premium price

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO Analyzer software.

Signal-to-noise ratio

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner, better quality image.

Canon powershot s100 signal to noise ratio

Canon powershot s100 signal to noise ratio

JPEG images from the Canon PowerShot S100 have a good signal to noise ratio, beating those produced by the Nikon Coolpix P7100, Olympus XZ-1 and the Canon PowerShot G12. This graph shows that even at the top end of the sensitivity range noise is kept under control.

Dynamic range

Canon powershot s100 dynamic range

Canon powershot s100 dynamic range

This chart indicates that the Canon PowerShot S100's JPEGs compare well against the Nikon Coolpix P7100, Olympus XZ-1 and Canon PowerShot G12 at the lowest and highest sensitivity settings. However, it isn't quite so good between ISO 200 and 800. The graph illustrates a similar jump in dynamic range at around ISO 800 to the Canon PowerShot G12 which shares the same sensor.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.