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More…Like its Digital Elph predecessors, Canon's new PowerShot SD1100 IS looks and feels great. Its price tag of about $249 puts squarely in the realm of midrange point-and-shoots, but its robust features--including Canon's fast DIGIC III processor, a maximum aperture of f2.8, and outstanding image quality--allow it to compete with cameras that cost significantly more.
Canon Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Pricing
$189.99 - $247.00 From 3 Vendors Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Digital Format
- Display
- Exposure
- Image Processor
- Lens
- Shutter
- Storage
- LCD Screen
- Exposure Controls
- Dimensions
- Power
- Flash
- Lens Features
- Connectivity
- Other Features
Image Processor
| Number of image sensor pixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image sensor | CCD |
| Maximum horizontal image resolution | 3264 |
| Maximum vertical image resolution | 2448 |
| Image sensor quantity | 1 |
| Image format | JPEG |
| White balance | 0 |
Exposure Controls
| Maximum shutter speed | 1500 |
| Minimum shutter speed | 15 |
| Bulb setting | 0 |
| ISO equivalencies |
|
| Exposure settings | 0 |
| Exposure compensation range | 0 |
| Number of scene modes | 10 |
PCWorld Rating, July 29, 2009
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$189.99 - $247.00
From 3 Vendors
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Cameras »
Pros
Fast start-up, focus, and shutter
Maximum aperture of f2.8
Cons
Lacks a true wide-angle lens
Hard-to-find manual features
Bottom Line
Sleek design, superb image capability and intuitive controls make the SD1100 IS a solid buy.
Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital Camera
Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Review, by Danny Palmerlee, PC World April 15, 2008
Although the SD1100 features a number of improvements on the older SD1000, the new model has a few minor drawbacks. First, Canon shaved 3mm off the wide-angle end of the 3X optical zoom, giving it a 38-114mm focal length--which means ciao, wide-angle shots. The SD1100 also shoots a hair slower than its predecessor (though faster than its lower-priced competitors), with a burst capability of 1.3 frames per second. Finally, Canon softened up the Elph's formerly square edges, which I find detracts from its sleek design and, surprisingly, its comfort in the hand.
Still, the SD1100 is an outstanding little camera. Not only does its streamlined chassis make for one of the most striking and seemingly durable point-and-shoots around, the model is perfect for the pocket and downright fun to use. The SD1100's buttons are logically placed, and its menu items--except for some of the more esoteric settings--are easy to find. Video is standard, and movie lengths are limited only by your memory card's size.
Although the SD1100 lacks true manual functionality--it has no aperture or shutter priority, per se--its shooting modes and "manual" settings are stellar. It offers nine scene modes, including an excellent Macro mode, a Kids & Pets mode, and a new Sunset mode (infinitely more practical than the Aquarium and Fireworks modes). Both the Night Snapshot mode and the Slow Syncro flash setting produced well-lit night shots (in the bar and on the street). For more control, the Long Shutter setting slows shutter speed to as much as 15 seconds.
As for white balance, I rarely had to rely on anything but the SD1100's Automatic setting, although the camera has six white-balance modes, plus a custom mode. However, I found Canon's new 'Face Detection Technology' and 'Face Selection & Motion Selection' modes cumbersome and ineffective, and relied instead on the handy Focus and AF (autofocus) Locks and its excellent spot metering mode. (Call me old school.)
In our lab tests, the SD1100 scored higher on overall image quality than nearly all of its competitors. On the sharpness scale, only a handful of the cameras we tested beat the SD1100 (including Kodak's EasyShare V1253, Fuji's FinePix F50fd, and Casio's EX-Z1080), but they all cost more. To combat camera shake in low-light situations, Canon added its Optical Image Stabilizer feature, but I found its presence pretty unnoticeable--as it likely would be on most point-and-shoots.
Despite a few minor issues, the SD1100 IS is a joy to use, and it produces superb photos for its class. If you can get by without a truly wide-angle lens, you'll be more than happy with the SD1100 IS. And, man, does it look cool.
Visit our Digital Cameras Info Center for our comparison charts, news and reviews of the latest models, and shooting and shopping tips.
--Danny Palmerlee
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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81
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74
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85
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Cameras
81
77
75
71
Performance
| Battery Life (minutes) | 163.25 |
| Battery Life Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality, Color | 65.4 |
| Image Quality, Distortion | 55.2 |
| Image Quality, Exposure | 63.3 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Flash | 62.4 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Normal | 63.6 |
| Image Quality, Overall | 64.6 |
| Image Quality, Sharpness | 45 |
| Number of Batteries | 1 |
| Number of Shots | 299 |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: Chockarocka
Strengths: small in size, light-weight, great for snapshots
Weaknesses: only 3x optical
Overall: Visit http://www.shopobot.com/ to find the best price for this camera. It's a great camera and I'd definitely recommend me. Definitely visit the above site to find the best price, because I paid way too much for it!
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Reviewed by: mitchintx
Strengths: Very quick photo capture, very little shutter lag for a Digital Point and Shoot. Lots of extras in camera, like photo stitching which is very easy to use. Good battery life.
Weaknesses: I would like a bit more optical zoom. Not really a weakness as I knew that before purchasing the camera.
Overall: We love it, recently we made the switch from Nikon, for both our D-SLR and Point and Shoot cameras, to Canon and we love both of them. We purchased a XSi 12.2MP with the lens kit, to replace our aging 35mm Nikon N90.
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Reviewed by: tingjuan_shopping
Strengths: small and nice-looking
Weaknesses: limited optical zoom
Overall: I purchased this camera about two weeks ago to replace my large but high-quality old one. Compared with it, this camera is very convenient because of its small size. The quality of the photos are not bad. Of course, this sacrifices its optical zoom. In a word, it is a perfect camera for family use.
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Reviewed by: RevTwig
Strengths: Size, picture quality, Easy to use, Image stabilizer
Weaknesses: Plastic Body, limited optical zoom, uses canon battery pack
Overall: I believe that the Canon SD1100IS is a great camera. The shape and size of the camera is a huge plus. The camera is built like a rectangular box without any parts extending beyond that. The camera's size is also on par with many cell phones, which makes the 1100IS quite portable. The picture quality produced by this camera is astounding. It might cost more than your typical point and shoot camera but it compensates with impressive and consistent shots. Point and shoot wise this camera is an ace. The problems occur when you utilize the zoom feature. This camera has a limited 3x optical zoom. This limits the versatility for long range stuff. For most people this is not an issue since this is a consumer level camera. This camera is also the IS model which incorporates a image stablizer that helps create shots that are clearer. It gets the job done the first time and that is a big plus. The Canon SD1100IS's body is made of plastic, which makes the camera weak to physical abuse. Also the camera has a Canon specific battery pack. Overall I am very satisfied with this camera. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a point and shoot camera that is compact and easy to use.
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Reviewed by: pleonastic
Strengths: - Very compact- Stability control works great- Takes great pictures with no effort
Weaknesses: - Separate charger for battery
Overall: Overall, I'm really impressed with this camera. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but the pictures I'm taking are coming out great.When I was looking for a camera, I had two primary criteria:1. It had to be small and durable enough to carry around without me wanting to leave it at home because it was too big or fragile.2. It had to be able to consistently take good pictures without me changing a bunch of settings for each shot.The SD1100 hits home on both of those marks. It's very small and light, less than half the size of the old Canon S400 Digital Elph that I used to use. The build quality is great. You can toss this in your pants pocket without it becoming a nuisance or having to worry about it getting broken while you move around.One thing to note in particular is that the image stabilization feature is fantastic. I took a bunch of pictures during a helicopter tour of Hawaii last week, and as you can imagine a helicopter is not the most stable platform to take pictures from. My old camera without stabilization would have taken a ton of blurry pictures because I wouldn't have been able to hold it still long enough. The SD1100 worked like a charm and every one of my pictures came out clear. This feature alone will make the difference between good and bad pictures for the vast majority of amateurs like myself.On the down side, the camera comes with an external charger for its battery. While the charger itself is very compact (much smaller than the camera), it's still another thing to remember to take with you. It would have been nice to have just been able to charge the battery inside the camera via USB.
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