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Introduction
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01.Product Tour
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02.Color
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03.Noise
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04.Resolution
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05.Video
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06.Sample Photos
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07.Playback
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08.Hardware
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09.Controls
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10.Design & Handling
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11.Nikon P90 Comparison
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12.Olympus SP-590UZ Comparison
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13.Sony HX1 Comparison
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14.Conclusion
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15.Photo Gallery
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16.Comments
Canon PowerShot SX1 IS
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Product TourNext: Page 3
NoiseColor
Color reproduction is highly accurate, although the most accurate color mode is not the default choice.
Color (14.44)
As usual, Canon did well in our color accuracy testing, posting a higher score than any of the other cameras in our comparison group. It was interesting that the most accurate color mode overall wasn’t the default setting, but the Lighter Skin choice from the My Colors lineup of alternative settings. The default did have the most accurate color saturation results, at a near-perfect 100.10 percent, but while Lighter Skin was marginally undersaturated at 98.61%, it also produced the most accurate color values, particularly in the light skin patch (no surprise there) but also with light and dark blues and magenta. More on how we test color.
The chart below illustrates the color values produced by each of the comparison cameras in its most accurate mode. The ideal values from the X-Rite ColorChecker chart are shown in the left column. The labels here are the X-Rite patch names.
As shown in the comparison graph below, the Canon SX1 delivered significantly higher color precision than its rivals.
| Camera Color Comparisons | |||||
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| Ideal | Canon PowerShot SX1 IS | Nikon Coolpix P90 | Olympus SP-590UZ | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 | |
| Dark Skin |
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| Light Skin |
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| Blue Sky |
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| Foliage |
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| Blue Flower |
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| Bluish Green |
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| Ideal | Canon PowerShot SX1 IS | Nikon Coolpix P90 | Olympus SP-590UZ | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 | |
| Orange |
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| Purplish Blue |
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| Moderate Red |
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| Purple |
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| Yellow Green |
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| Orange Yellow |
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| Ideal | Canon PowerShot SX1 IS | Nikon Coolpix P90 | Olympus SP-590UZ | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 | |
| Blue |
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| Green |
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| Red |
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| Yellow |
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| Magenta |
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| Cyan |
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Color Modes (5.00)
The My Colors feature provides a wide range of color reproduction style options while shooting. You can choose from Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black and White, Positive Film (producing Kodacolor-style high-intensity reds, greens and blues) Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Red, Vivid Green and Vivid Blue. If none of these produces the effect you’re after, the Custom Color option lets you manually adjust contrast, saturation, sharpness, red, green, blue and skin tone levels. What makes all of this a bit more manageable is the fact that any settings changes you make to color modes are reflected live on-screen, which cuts down on nasty surprises.
Shop for the Canon SX1 IS
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