Shifting a little from its typical point-and-shoot cameras, Canon has been working on a golf rangefinder-like camera for people who enjoy outdoor activities like birdwatching and hiking. The company pitched the idea long ago but only recently crowdfunded it in Japan and now is bringing it to the US.
The newly announced Powershot Zoom has 100mm, 400mm, and 800mm telephoto zoom in a design that fits in the palm of your hand. According to Canon, the camera has been designed for anyone who enjoys “gazing” at nature.
Construction and Features
To meet its goal, the company went in a totally different direction for the physical construction of the camera. The monocular telephoto camera has a one-touch instant-zoom capability. It employs optical image stabilization to help reduce distortion at extreme zoom lengths. The zoom also features a scaled-back autofocus capability and offers only either 1-point AF or Face+Tracking.
This tiny device is equipped with an electronic viewfinder, a 1/3-inch 12-megapixel sensor, and two switchable equivalent focal lengths of 100mm and 400mm. Since the lens is f/5.6-6.3, it is not suitable for low-light use. In other words, Canon has not precisely focused on image quality in general.
Apart from this, the camera can capture 1080p videos at either 24 or 30 fps. All the data is stored on a microSD card and can be sent to a mobile device using the Canon Connect app.
Pricing and Availability
The monocular camera is only available in white and is scheduled to release in late November 2020 at an estimated retail price of $299.99.
