Canon PowerShot SD110 3MP Digital Elph with 2x Optical Zoom
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD110 3MP Digital Elph with 2x Optical Zoom
Customer Review: You will never take pictures the same way again... fabulous
Summary: 5 Stars
I own three digital cameras and a pricy SLR and the Canon SD110 has made all the others obsolete. This camera changed my photo-taking behavior and excitement, and now I always carry it in my bag or pocket. First, you should know Canon and Nikon make the best digital cameras - primarily because they were smart in outsourcing electronics to the best Chinese component manufacturers (Flextronics, Celestica) and used their own industry-leading optical lenses. I prefer Canon because of ease of use (both camera and downloading to PC), braoder range of sophisticated features, rock solid reliability, accessories (you must get the cute leather case... all your friends will ask!), and the cameras just *look* and *feel* infinitely cooler.
The SD110 is a small, powerful, high performer even among its Canon peers. Though I provide a balanced view below, as a connoisseur of every new technology out there for cameras, I can attest this little machine boasts a ton of horsepower.
The Pros include:
1. Great pictures (up to 8"x10")
- balanced color resolution (thanks to the Digic processor)
- outside pictures are brilliant, inside pictures come out fine, though the flash is a bit strong to compensate
- nice redeye reduction, but this does delay the picture by a half second or so
- photo zoom mode, so you can zoom into part of a picture (or "move around" the picture) to check clarity, color, etc. immediately after taking the shot
2. Customizable features on par with top-line cameras
- all the same features of my Canon Rebel 2000 SLR and 3x more expensive Powershot G5. Landscape, portrait, moving images,
- color schemes are better and broader than Nikon, Sony, and Olympus: black & white, sepia, neutral, vivid, etc.
3. Ease of use
- simple menu structure, no complicated buttons
- delete bad pictures with ease, effectively increasing your total photo capacity
- photo inventory mode (advancement from earlier Canon models) that lets you look at 8-12 pictures simultaneously and flip quickly through memory by screen shots rather than one picture at a time (critical for memory cards over 64MB)
- "smart" download to Canon Zoombrowser (software that comes with the camera) - just plug in and it automatically downloads
- Zoombrowser software (new version) is clearly superior to earlier generations, and I did not need to buy Photoshop (other camera brands come with a poor software interface so you need to spend an add'l $80-100 on photo editing software)
4. Physical attributes
- compact and lighter than even the S300/400/500 series, fits in your pocket or purse easily
- SD card is wafer thin and cheaper than compactflash (which most other cameras use)
- nice silver/chrome metal finish that catches the eye
- solid rechargable battery (can take 80-100 pictures using the LCD screen) before next recharge
- recharger is small and very cool: battery slips into the bay, and the unit goes right into the wall socket
- one touch on-off (does NOT turn on-off by accident as some other cameras do)
The Cons (none of these are deal-breakers):
1. optical zoom (2x) could be more powerful but digital zoom does a decent job compensating (G5 and SLRs are superior here)
2. shutter speed can be improved: 1.0 second to take pictures (vs. 0.2sec for SLR, 0.5sec for G5), and then you can adjust how long the camera holds the LCD image for you to see
3. Included memory card (16MB) is useless. Think of this as a "practice starter"; you will want at least a 128MB SD (120 pix) or 256MB SD (245 pix) memory cards - both cheap and under $30 extra. Picture counts are estimated and at high resolution
You will not regret buying this camera. Simply amazing how much this has changed my picture taking behavior.
Customer Review: Good camera of year 2005
Summary: 5 Stars
Good camera of year 2005, took excellent pictures. But now we have better ones for year 2008. I recommend Canon SD-750.
I bought 2 of SD-110 camera and both failed after a year of use due to some manufacturing issues. It is possible that they might have fixed this issue in the SD-100 series camera after the malfunction came to their attention. Here is what I found from canon customer support website.
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This Service Notice will update Canon U.S.A., Inc.'s previous CCD Image Sensor Advisory, dated October 6, 2005.
Malfunction:
It has been confirmed that the connecting parts of the internal wiring of the CCD used in affected products may become disconnected, especially if the affected products are stored or used in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. If this occurs, the signal is not output from the CCD normally in Shooting Mode, which may cause a distorted image or the absence of an image. This malfunction can be confirmed on the LCD monitor screen during shooting. The same malfunction also appears on the recorded image.
Canon's Response:
Effective immediately, and regardless of warranty status, Canon will repair, free of charge, the products listed above exhibiting the above-mentioned malfunction if Canon determines that the malfunction is caused by the CCD image sensor. Canon will also cover the cost of shipping and handling in connection with this repair.
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My old review...
I gave Canon PowerShot SD110 camera to my girlfriend as a gift on her birthday. After looking at the quality of the pictures she has taken using this camera, I bought one for myself ;) No need to say she liked it for its look and everything.
Highlights:
- Ultracompact and Unisex Style (fits in purse or shirt pocket)
- 3.2Mega-Pixel provides you the best quality pictures upto 8x10" size pictures on photo paper.
- Uses Secure Digital Memory card (SD card), which is very small in size. Unlike sony's memory-stick(R), SD cards are manufactured by many, hence price cut everyday. 128MB card may hold 80 or more pictures at a time. Go for 256MB or 512MB SD cards if you need more pictures to be taken before transfering them to a CD or to your computer.
- Takes movies with sound. Handy on special events and easy to transfer to computer and email it.
- Rechargable battery and the charge lasts longer too. "AA" batteries can not be used with this camera. Rechagable battery usually degrades after a year or two or more. But you don't have to spend any money on batteries until that time.
- 2x optical zoom is good enough for most of the purposes. This camera is not for people who carry a tripod with them.
- Digital zoom: Turn them off. You can have digitally zoom any picture using computer software. More digital zoom means less picture details/quality.
- DIGIC Imaging processor?!! Duh! scary words? All it means is that this camera has used new technology to make it smart, fast and high performance camera.
- Value for money.
- Highly recommended for those who is looking for a point & shoot type digital camera that gives good quality regular size pictures.
Customer Review: SD100 + PictBridge
Summary: 5 Stars
I've chose this camera over Pentax Optio S4, Minolta Xg, and I've tried SD100 as well. Both Minolta and Pentax had better specs (x3 Zoom, 4Mp), however SD110 ends up making better pictures, and with no effort what so ever.It is, probably, one of the easiest cameras to use. Automatic settings work perfect in almost all the cases. If you'd want to get comparable picture quality from other cameras you'll have to fiddle with manual controls for a few minutes, otherwise you get 4Mp worth of crap (and with high zoom factor as well).
Manual mode is rather simple, although lets you take good night shots (up to 15 sec. exposures). Macro mode is not as great as in other cameras, though.
Start up time is fast enough. Zoom is fast and very easy to control. Other controls are also well placed. One feature I particularly like is that it has separate "Func" and "Menu" buttons. "Menu" has basic camera settings, which are not used very often, and the "Func" menu contains all the picture settings, such as exposure compensation, ISO mode, compression quality, resolution, etc. It makes it much easier to find and change the settings you really need. The only thing I find inconvenient is the lack of a separate "quick view" button. It is necessary to use the mode selector instead.
Movie mode could be better too. Zoom and exposure are fixed the same moment you start shooting, so you do not have the same flexibility as a regular video camera (or Minolta Xg) has. At 640x480 resolution, max you can get is 30 sec at 15 fps, which makes this mode pretty much useless. The 320x240 mode is more practical in this sense. And the in-camera movie editing can help save some storage space when you need it.
As for the lens, you do get some purple fringing in rare cases. Vignetting is lower than in other ultra-compacts. Auto focus and resolution are also pretty good compared to the competition. I guess Canon decided to go a different way than the competition. They traded off zoom ratio instead of picture quality for the compactness.
To put it all together. If you want fast and easy to use point-and-shoot camera that takes great pictures as well, there is nothing better to choose from. Even considering all its weak points, it is still the best camera there is in its market segment.
I regret that I didn't get an SD100 for $60 less, though. Since I print all my pictures at Costco anyways, and do not need the stupid PictBridge button.
Customer Review: Great Camera For Point & Shoot
Summary: 5 Stars
I just purchased this camera from my local camera retailer (cheaper than Amazon.com, if you can believe it!) after debating on the wisdom of forking over my money for this little machine. I have a fabulous Fujifilm S3000 digicam with a lot of zoom and great picture taking capibility, but I found I needed a smaller camera to carry around for those times when the S3000 would be too much of a hassle to haul places. That said, I knew deep down that I was pretty much set on the Canon PowerShot SD110 just because it was so darn cute. It's tiny, smaller than the Elph that a friend of mine bought last year, and can easily fit into the smallest of my purses without taking up much room at all. The size alone was what had initially sold me on it, and the fact that it has a good reputation for being a decent digicam (for reference, it's smaller than the average pack of cigarettes and more compact than some cell phones).The biggest detractor for this camera is the optical zoom, however. It's just not as much as I would prefer, but that's a personal thing and others may find it works well for their needs. Since I have the larger Fujifilm camera to fill in for those times when I need a lot of optical zoom, the SD110 is perfect for just about any other situation. I also like the fact that it takes video with sound, the first of all of my digicams to offer audio recording.
The 3.2 MP is more than enough for quality photos, and I'm quite satisfied with the resolution. The flash seems a little harsh, but just a bit so. I like the fact that opperates on a rechargable battery, although this may present problems if you run out of juice somewhere where it's not possible to plug in the charger (camping trips, foreign countries, etc). In that case, it's wise to bring around a full charged back up battery.
I also bought a Lexar MMC/SD Reader and 256 MB memory card while at the store. The reader plugs into my computer via the USB port and the memory card is removed from the camera and inserted into the reader, which then uploads the photos. It's good to avoid draining the battery by directly hooking up the camera to the computer, although it's obviously not necessary if you don't wish to purchase it at an additional cost.
Customer Review: A great little point and shoot camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this camera for about a month, and I carry it with me everywhere. My purpose for buying it was so that I could always keep a small camera clipped to my belt to take pictures of the many "cute" moments my toddler spontaneously created. In doing this, I have found that this camera can take great pictures.
Keep in mind that any piece of technology is meant to meet a fairly narrow set of needs, but for me this camera is perfect. I don't print snapshots at a size larger than 5 by 7; I don't expect people who look at them to pore over them with a magnifying glass; I am not at all interested in using this camera for professional purposes; and I am by no means a professional photographer.
That said, let me tell you what I love about this camera: It is extremely well-built, and is far more substantial than you would expect given its diminuative size. It has a good battery that will easily last you through even a long vacation without needing to be recharged. It is so portable that I need never be without it; this is a huge plus, considering that I am mostly interested in candid shots of my family and friends. The controls are intuitive and easy to understand. It comes with a great manual that explains everything. I have generally found this to be the case with Canon's products, and this camera is no exception.
Well, what's wrong with it? It should be taken as a given that the memory cards that come with these cameras are useless. I knew this up front, and bought a 256 meg card that says it will hold 270 pictures at max resolution (nice). The 2x optical zoom is limiting, but it suits my purposes fine. If you really feel like you need more than this, you'll pay a lot more for it in a camera of this quality. About 1 in 3 portrait shots has some red-eye, even with the red-eye reduction flash on. This tends to be a pretty standard complaint for tiny cameras, so I view it as a trade-off for its portability.
This one will likely be discontinued as soon as they sell out of their present stock, so if you think it meets your needs then by all means buy it. It's a great little point and shoot camera.