I tried a $459 Canon 'pocket' camera and it's surprisingly good for its size

Introduced just a few weeks ago, the Canon PowerShot Zoom (CPZ) is something that sounds impressive on paper.

After all, it is a handheld digital monocular that doubles up as a digital camera and is capable of taking photos as well as recording videos. Kind of like an all-in-one package that fits in your palm, literally.

I wanted to see if it holds up, so what better way than to take it to one of Singapore's most popular nature haunts? Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, here I come.

Out of the box, the CRZ is compact and sturdy. There are three buttons on top and a few more down below.

You'll also quickly realise there's no display screen. Instead, you have to look through the viewfinder in order to operate it. Through the viewfinder, you'll get an electronic recreation of what you'll see with an optical monocular — with certain information (resembling those displayed on a DSLR's viewfinder) around the image.

Setting up the CRZ is very intuitive, apart from adjusting some options on the tried-and-tested Canon camera menu interface. One thing to note is that it is pretty annoying to set the camera up while having to look through the monocular, but I can overlook that since the set-up is a one-off thing.

Operating this handheld camera is also simple — just look through the viewfinder and toggle between the zoom modes with a press of a button. With the 100mm and 400mm, you get a proper magnification of your photo subject. But, the 800mm is a digital zoom which is akin to a magnified cropped image from the 400mm zoom.

Almost immediately after I started walking, I chanced upon a crocodile lounging right beside the path and it was an opportunity for me to test out the CPZ. However, it felt a little out of its element as I had to switch to my Canon EOS R6 mirrorless camera to get better shots.

Clumsy autofocus

The autofocus technology was rather clumsy as it doesn't allow you to select a subject to focus on. With the croc being obscured by plants, trying to get a clear shot amounted to waiting it out and trying my luck by half-pressing on the capture button and hoping it'll focus on the subject instead of its surroundings. That said, the autofocus response time is relatively quick, given the CPZ's size and hardware.

Considering its size, I was prepared to be underwhelmed with its image quality, but the CPZ proved me wrong. With proper lighting, the CPZ takes surprisingly sharp images. Even at 800mm, the photos came out pretty decent — just don't expect the quality of a DSLR camera.

Under insufficient lighting, though, the CPZ at 400mm struggles to get a photo that is comparable to the quality of a smartphone.

If you want to review your shots, you have to access it via the menu displayed on the viewfinder or use the Canon Camera Connect app to view and transfer photos.

The bright side is that the Wi-Fi transfer app is shared by other Canon camera products, making connection easy and seamless across the Canon ecosystem. You can view the entire gallery from your phone, as well as select which ones you'd like to download. I especially like that there's a 'reduced' mode, so you can download photos that are already 'downsized' (thus optimised) for social media use. 

At $459, the CPZ is a versatile and fun piece of novelty tech that's sure to impress — just don't let voyeuristic local university students get their hands on one.

Make no mistake, this digital monocular is no replacement for a real 400mm/800mm lens, or even a 100mm lens on a full-frame camera. What it is, however, is a literal pocket-sized zoom fiend.

While it won't replace the tried-and-tested capabilities of the true telephoto lens, this all-in-one tool is also a fraction of the size and the cost. For comparison, the Canon EOS R6 camera + Rf 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens costs more than 12 times the price of the CPZ.

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The CPZ isn't for the hardcore nature photographer; it's for the everyday man — like the dad who has two tykes running around trying to capture precious moments or the fitness enthusiast who happens to have an interest in taking photos of wildlife.

The Canon PowerShot Zoom is available at the Canon Singapore website at $459. 

editor@asiaone.com