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 (opens in new tab), 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 (opens in new tab) crown.
Released in Japan as the Canon PowerShot Pick (opens in new tab), and showcased (opens in new tab) 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 (opens in new tab)
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