PHOTO QUALITY. This 12-megapixel Compact captured images with very good quality. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym; very good for performance under natural light without a flash, such as shooting under an overcast sky.
FLASH. The PowerShot N100 captured flash shots that were very good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has very good, even coverage.
LENS. This camera includes a 5x zoom lens, bit more zoom than a standard 3x. The lens also has very wide-angle (24mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance. The lens has a bright f/1.8 aperture (at its maximum), which gives you a shallower depth of field for producing more professional looking portraits and images.
IMAGE STABILIZER. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. In low-light settings, it almost never produced blurry photos.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Canon PowerShot N100 powers up very quickly.
VIDEO. The Canon PowerShot N100 takes very good video, at a quality like many Compacts. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 p. As for sound, it captures very good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like most point-and-shoot models, this camera does not include a viewfinder, which means you'll need to rely on the LCD to compose your photo or video. The display also swivels; this can be helpful when shooting self-portraits or hard-to-reach shots.
