Meet Canon's $500 automated smart camera: the Canon PowerShot Pick

Canon PowerShot Pick
(Image credit: Canon)

Canon's first ever smart camera, the Canon PowerShot Pick, has come to the United States after being rolled out in Japan and Europe. An "intelligent photography companion", it automatically captures your treasured family moments so that you can focus on experiencing them rather than trying to photograph them yourself. 

Like the best PTZ cameras, the Canon PowerShot Pick (known as the Canon PowerShot PX in Europe) intelligently tracks and composes subjects to record both stills and video. And since the device is wireless and completely self-contained – with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a USB-C connection for recharging – it can also be used as a wireless webcam, making it an interesting candidate for the best webcam crown. 

Released in Japan as the Canon PowerShot Pick, and showcased in September at The Photography Show in the UK, the Canon PowerShot PX captures 11.7MP stills and 1080p video at 60p, via a 340° pan and 110° tilt 19-57mm lens. 

Targeted primarily at busy families, the PowerShot PX is being positioned as a portable photographic companion that you can set up anywhere – whether it's in the park on a picnic or in the kitchen while baking with the kids – and capture photos where everybody is in the frame, rather than one person being left out of the photos because they're stuck behind the camera. 

Watch video: The Canon PowerShot Pick in action

By simply shouting, "Hey Pixie, take a picture!" the PX will automatically take an image, so you can snap a family selfie completely hands-free. You can also take control of the camera directly via the smartphone app, and manually compose your stills and video. 

All your images are automatically beamed to the app, which can use subject detection to categorize them by face, and can even automatically select the best shots for you and get rid of the duds.

The Canon PowerShot Pick is available for pre-order, in white or black, for an RRP of $499.99, with shipping set to commence in "late summer". The device is already available in the UK, as the Canon PowerShot PX, for £449.99.

Pre-order the Canon PowerShot Pick from Canon USA

Read more: 

Best Canon cameras
Best Canon lenses
Best Canon RF lenses

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.