Canon's new PowerShot S2 IS digital camera provides the ability to capture still images and movie clips. The 5-megapixel camera is designed to provide high-quality resolution and color along with low noise.

The camera's f/2.7-3.5, 6.72mm 12x zoom lens (36-432mm equivalent) improves telephoto shooting. When the optical zoom is augmented with the camera's 4x digital zoom, the maximum focal length becomes equivalent to a 1,728mm lens on a 35mm camera. There are two levels of close-up shooting, macro and super macro.

The 12x zoom lens features 11 elements in nine groups, including one aspherical surface and one ultra-low-dispersion glass element. The UD element reduces chromatic aberration when the lens is at maximum telephoto range, for enhanced sharpness and color fidelity.

Direct printing is possible by connecting the S2 IS to a Canon Compact or Direct Photo printer or a PictBridge-compatible printer. The camera also features a variable-angle, 1.8-inch LCD screen. The multi-mode image stabilization functions allow users to select among continuous IS, panning IS and a new shoot-only IS mode that is active only during exposure while shooting still photos.

Because data compression rates are low, movies record with VGA resolution at 30 frames per second. Individual movie clips can last as long as 60 minutes or produce file sizes up to 1 GB on an SD media card. Other movie features include optical and digital zooming, manual focus, photo effects and my colors. The new camera is equipped with 16-bit audio recording at sampling rates adjustable up to 44 kHz. Microphone recording levels are adjustable in five steps.

The PowerShot S2 IS model incorporates DIGIC II processing for increased picture definition and vibrancy. The pace of image transfer is accelerated with a high-speed USB 2.0 port that is compatible with computers featuring standard USB 1.1 connections. The S2 IS has an estimated price of $499.