Physical Tour

The Canon PowerShot E1 has an undeniably unique look, with lot of curves and an assortment of pastel colors as opposed to the industry-standard silver or black box. Other than it's brighter, friendlier appearance, however, there isn't much about the E1 that distinguishes itself from the average point-and-shoot. The flash is located above the lens, the zoom is in a ring around the shutter button, and the back has an LCD in the bottom left with controls on the right. It seems as though the E1 puts a fresh coat of paint on a simple design.

Front

The front of the E1 we tested at the Photokina show in Germany was light pink (it also comes in baby blue and white), and doesn't present any sharp lines or edges. This is a camera we could imagine tweens and under would like, since it looks like a toy. The main feature on the front is the lens, with the flash located in the top right corner. A microphone is positioned behind the three dots near the lens. Above that is the auto focus assist lamp. The black hole right above the lens is the front side of the optical viewfinder. Interestingly, when we see a multitude of point-and-shoots that have eliminated the viewfinder in favor of LCD-only viewing, this basic model retained what we consider a useful feature.

 

This design seems very kid-friendly.

Back

The dominant feature of the back is its 2.5-inch LCD, with its low 115,000-pixel resolution. Above this is an optical viewfinder. To the right of the viewfinder are two indicator LEDs. The right half of the camera includes a 4-way controller and several button controls. The flower-like array of holes seen here is the speaker, to the right of which is the playback mode button. The 4-way controller handles (from top, clockwise) ISO settings, flash mode, continuous shooting/self-timer and focus mode. The colored control buttons surrounding the four-way controller handle (from top left, clockwise) face detect mode, print/share, menu select and display toggle.

 

A typical back-of-the-camera setup.

Sides*

*The left side of the E1 isn't particularly interesting unless you're drawn to the two screws that border the 'IMAGE STABILIZER' feature reminder.

Whenever you gaze at the left side you'll be proud that

your camera boasts optical image stabilization.

The right side is a little more interesting. This is where you'll find the wrist strap loop, along with connectors for AC power in and data connection.

*You can use the data connection and a

PictBridge printer to print images

straight from the camera.

*

Top

From left to right, the top of the camera has the on/off switch, the control dial, and the shutter button inside a zoom ring.

*Other than the gentle curves the overall layout of the E1 is very

similar to other, less pastel cameras.*

Bottom

The bottom has just two features: a tripod socket and the battery/memory door. The latter will accept two AA batteries and an SD card.

The battery compartment is latched to prevent accidental opening.