June 2012
[Japan:IXY 1, Americas:PowerShot ELPH 530 HS, Europe/Asia/Oceania:IXUS 510 HS]
New IXY loaded with a 12x zoom lens, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a cutting-edge touch panel.
Photo 1: IXY 1
This month's technical report brings you the latest on the features and characteristics of the IXY 1, which went on sale in March 2012. The new model is loaded with a high-sensitivity CMOS sensor with 10.10 camera effective megapixels and a 12x zoom lens (with a 35mm-film equivalent focal length range of 28 - 336mm) fitted with a lens-shift image stabilizer.
Development objectives
The market has embraced the IXY series of digital cameras because they embody excellent image quality and the fun of shooting photos while packing a host of features in a stylish body design.
The IXY 1 (Photo 1) was developed as the successor to the IXY 51S, which came with a 12x optical zoom lens and a touch panel. The IXY 1 adds new wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity.
Our development objective for the new model was:
To realize a premium IXY camera equipped with a 12x optical zoom lens and a touch panel complemented by wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity.
Feature 1 - High-end design
Photo 2: IXY DIGITAL
• Return to our roots
Canon first gave the IXY name to a digital camera with the IXY DIGITAL (Photo 2), which went on sale in 2000. The IXY DIGITAL inherited the design concept of the IXY film camera, and its square, almost perfectly even form and stainless-steel exterior gave the camera a luxurious feel that set it apart from the digital cameras of other makers at the time.
The IXY 1 retains the original concept of the IXY DIGITAL by also employing a square, almost perfectly even form and a stainless-steel exterior.
• Golden ratio
The golden ratio (1:1.618) was used for the body's width-to-length ratio to give the camera a beautiful, timeless sense of proportion.
• Color scheme
To accentuate the beautiful sense of proportion (Figure 1), the camera is offered in only black and white, avoiding chromatic colors.
Figure 1: Beautiful sense of proportion
Feature 2 - Superb image quality
Figure 2: DIGIC 5
Photo 3: Shot at 21x magnification
with ZoomPlus
• 12x optical zoom lens
We developed a new f/3.4 (max. wide angle) - f/5.6(max. telephoto angle) 12x zoom lens with a 35mm-film equivalent focal length range of 28 - 336mm especially for the IXY 1. The lens is constructed with 14 elements in 12 groups, with three aspherical lens elements - including one low-dispersion, double-sided aspherical lens element and one single-sided aspherical UA lens element with a thinner central portion. There are six lens groups along with a prism.
The glass materials and arrangement of each lens group have been optimized to deliver high image resolution to match the camera's high-sensitivity sensor while achieving 12x magnification.
By emulating the sliding-prism retracting lens barrel design used since the IXY 50S, we reduced the IXY 1's body thickness by 2.1 millimeters from the IXY 51S.
• HS System integrates the high-sensitivity CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 5 imaging processor
The IXY 1 features the HS System, which integrates the high-sensitivity sensor (with 10.10 camera effective megapixels) that captures light more efficiently in less time and Canon's proprietary DIGIC imaging processor that offers superb processing functionality.
The newly developed DIGIC 5 imaging processor (Figure 2) offers much better noise-canceling performance than the DIGIC 4. This improved performance allows users to take beautiful, low-noise photos even in dark locations.
• ZoomPlus
By improving the camera's image processing parameters, we have been able to increase the image clarity when the digital zoom is used (Photo 3). This means it is possible to achieve 21x equivalent magnification when the digital zoom is used in combination with the optical zoom while maintaining high resolution (ZoomPlus).
When using the digital zoom, areas with no image degradation and areas where image clarity is kept high (ZoomPlus) are displayed in yellow on the LCD monitor.
• Faster AF reduces shooting time lag
The shooting time lag must be kept as short as possible in order not to miss instantaneous photo opportunities.
For the IXY 1, we reduced the time needed to autofocus from the previous model by improving the AF algorithm and revising the processing sequence from the halfway shutter button press to the start of the shutter release.
The faster AF performance has reduced the shooting time lag from the previous model by approximately 17 percent at maximum wide angle and by approximately 25 percent at maximum telephoto angle.
• Smart Flash optimizes flash intensity and brightness for the scene
• i-Contrast adjusts images for the best exposure and tonal quality according the shooting scene
Feature 3 - Rich functionality
• Automatically detect people registered with Face ID
The IXY 1 comes with Face ID, a function that makes use of face detection technology.
By preregistering certain people, the camera can detect these people easily when shooting. It also makes finding photos in playback mode easier.
Registration
To use the Face ID function, you must first register people on the camera. To register a person, take his or her facial photo using a special shooting menu setting and then add a name (nickname) and birth date to complete the person's profile (Figure 3).
You can register up to 12 people on one camera, and to improve detection accuracy, you can register up to five facial photos per person.
Figure 3: Face ID registration sequence
Shooting
When the camera detects a registered person during shooting standby, it displays the person's name on the LCD monitor. After taking the photo, the registered person's profile information is added as a tag to the photo and saved with the photo.
In the Auto shooting mode, the camera uses the profiles of registered people to distinguish between babies under two years old and children between two and 12. The auto detection scenes Smile and Sleepy were also added (Table 1).
Table 1: Detected scenes
Playback
If a displayed photo in playback mode is tagged with a registered person's profile information, the camera can display the person's name on the LCD monitor. Up to five people's names can be displayed for one photo. It is also possible to search for photos by registered name.
Photo 4: Smooth Skin shooting mode
Photo 5: Soft Focus shooting mode
• Wide variety of scene modes
The IXY 1 comes with a multitude of shooting modes that take advantage of the CMOS sensor's performance. The following scene modes have been added to those found on the IXY 51S.
Smooth Skin captures people's skin with beautiful texture and color (Photo 4)
The Smooth Skin effect has three settings - Low, Medium, and High - and the skin tone color can be selected from Off, Lighter Skin Tone, and Darker Skin Tone.
Soft Focus applies a softening effect to subjects (Photo 5)
The Soft Focus effect has three settings - Low, Medium, and High.
• Send photos wirelessly
Because of its built-in wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity, the IXY 1 can connect wirelessly to many Wi-Fi devices (Figure 4). The IXY 1 supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz band).
By preregistering connection destinations on the camera, the camera can wirelessly access social media sites and other Web services via the Internet and upload still images and movies.
By installing the Camera Window app on a smartphone (works on iOS devices and some Android devices), it is possible to send images from the camera to the smartphone as well as browse images on the camera from the smartphone and, import photos from the camera to the smartphone by using controls on the smartphone.
Figure 4: Overview of Wi-Fi functions
• Movie Digest can record HD movies
The Movie Digest mode was previously limited to VGA quality movies (640 x 480pixels at 30fps). On the IXY 1, however, Movie Digest can record HD movies (1280 x 720pixels at 30fps) so that users can enjoy higher quality movies.
Because iFrame movie is used for the Movie Digest mode, movies are recorded frame by frame. This means the camera can record the movie right up to the instant of the still-image capture.
• Intelligent IS
• Touch Shutter
• Smart Auto with 58 auto-detection scenes
• Multi-aspect enables shooting in multiple aspect ratios
• Blink Detection displays a warning if a person with closed eyes is detected in an image immediately after shooting
• AF Continuous Shooting shoots continuously while keeping a moving subject in focus
• Super Slow Motion captures in slow motion actions too fast for the naked eye
Feature 4 - Comfortable operations
• Touch panel for full-touch operation
Compared to the IXY 51S, the quality of images displayed on the LCD monitor when flipping through images is greatly improved.
• Movie button starts recording movies immediately even when in a still-image shooting mode
• Hints and tips display for each function
Feature 5 - Enhanced printing options and digital communications
• HDMI mini connector
• Select images for printing with DPOF
• PictBridge support
Feature 6 - Rich array of system accessories
• Support for microSD cards
The IXY 1 is the first Canon camera to use microSD (SDHC, SDXC) cards as its recording media. This allowed us to create a much more compact body than the IXY 51S even while adding wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity.
• HF-DC2 high-power flash (sold separately)
This completes our look at the IXY 1 this month. Table 2 lists the camera's main specifications, and Photo 6 illustrates the kit components that come with the camera. There is no fixed suggested retail price for the IXY 1.
Photo 6: IXY 1 and its kit components
| IXY 1 | |
|---|---|
| Imaging sensor (CMOS) | ~10.10 camera effective megapixels, high-sensitivity (back-illuminated) type (~16.80 total megapixels) |
| Color filter type | RGB |
| Photographic lens (35mm-film equivalent) |
28 - 336mm, f/3.4 (max. wide angle) - f/5.6 (max. telephoto angle), 12x zoom |
| ZoomPlus / digital zoom | ~21x when combined with the optical zoom / ~4.0x (~48x max. zoom when combined with the optical zoom) |
| LCD monitor | 3.2 type (TFT color LCD, ~461,000 dots, wide viewing angle, and excellent color reproduction), touch panel, brightness adjustment |
| Autofocus (control method) | Single (Continuous in Auto mode and when Touch AF is selected) / Continuous, Servo AF / Servo AE, Face Detect AiAF / Center |
| Focusing range | Auto mode: 1cm to infinity (max. wide angle) / 1m to infinity (max. telephoto angle), Macro mode: 1 to 50cm (max. wide angle) |
| Shutter | Mechanical shutter + electronic shutter |
| Shutter speeds | 1/4000 - 1sec., 1/4000 to 15sec. (total shutter speed range from all shooting modes) |
| Light metering methods | Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot (fixed to center, linked to AF frame when Touch AF is selected) |
| Exposure compensation | ±2 stops in 1/3-stop increments |
| ISO speeds (Standard Output Sensitivity / Recommended Exposure Index) |
Auto, ISO 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 /3200 (when in P shooting mode) *To ISO 6400 in Low Light mode |
| Flash ranges | 50cm - 2.5m (max. wide angle), 1.0 - 1.5m (max. telephoto angle), (when ISO speed is set to Auto) |
| White balance | Auto, Day Light, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom |
| Shooting modes | Auto*1 / P / Movie Digest / Portrait / Smooth Skin / Smart Shutter*2 / High-speed Burst / Handheld Night Scene / Low Light / Fisheye Effect / Miniature Effect / Toy Camera Effect / Soft Focus / Monochrome / Super Vivid / Poster Effect / Color Accent / Color Swap / Snow / Fireworks / Long Shutter / iFrame Movie / Super Slow Motion Movie • Able to record movies with the Movie button while in a still-image shooting mode *1. Smart Auto available when shooting movies as well *2. Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Self-timer |
| Continuous shooting | ~2.6 fps in P mode, ~6.1 fps in High-speed Burst mode* *Speed varies depending on zoom position. Continuous shooting speed may slow down after taking a certain number of continuous shots. |
| Recording pixels (still images) (with the 4:3 aspect ratio) |
Large: 3648 x 2736, Medium 1: 2816 x 2112, Medium 2: 1600 x 1200, Small: 640 x 480 (Fixed at 1824 x 1368 in High-speed Burst and Low Light modes) |
| Compression ratios (still images) |
Superfine, Fine |
| Movies | 1920 x 1080 (24fps*1), 1280 x 720 (30fps*2), 640 x 480 (30fps*2) iFrame Movie / Digest movies: 1280 x 720 (30 fps*2), Super Slow Motion: 640 x 480 (120fps*3), 320 x 240 (240fps*3)Miniature Effect: 1280 x 720 (1.5, 3, or 6fps*3), 640 x 480 (1.5, 3, or 6fps*3) *1. Actual speed is 23.976fps *2. Actual speed is 29.97fps *3. Played back at 30fps*2 |
| Recording media | microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory card |
| Color space | Standard (sRGB) |
| File format | Compliant with Design rule for Camera File system and DPOF |
| Data types | Still images: Exif 2.3 (JPEG) Movies: MOV (video: H.264, audio: Linear PCM (two-channel stereo)) |
| Power supply | Lithium-ion battery pack: NB-9L; AC adapter kit: ACK-DC70 (sold separately) |
| Dimensions (CIPA compliant) |
85.8 x 53.5 x 19.8mm |
| Weight (CIPA compliant) | ~163grams (including battery and memory card) / ~142 grams (body only) |
Table 2: Main specifications of the IXY 1
