Canon PowerShot SD1100

One of the best selling 35mm point and shoot cameras was the Canon Elph. It was an instant hit with its small size, numerous functions and great picture quality. I got one of the first Elph’s when it came out and have been using it ever since (yes, I still use 35mm cameras). It out performs all of my other point and shoot cameras, and that’s why I’m excited for today’s review.

The Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS is essentially the Canon Elph, but digitized. The SD1100 features a 8.1MP sensor, 3x optical and a number of features like face detection and motion detection.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the PowerShot SD1100 IS:

• Street price: $249.99 approx.
• 8MP
• 2.5″ LCD
• ISO Sensitivity: 80 /100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600
• Shutter Speed: 15 sec to 1/1500 sec
• Image Stabilization

Things I like
Before I get into everything I like about this camera I need to say that I love Canon cameras. For some reason, most other companies are removing the optical viewfinder from their point and shoot cameras and in my opinion, this is crippling the functionality of the camera. Canon has included an optical viewfinder in the SD1100 IS and its really nice because it means I don’t have to rely on the LCD screen to view the shot I’m about to take.

There are a number of things I like about this camera. The menus and user interface is brilliant. All of the controls are intuitive and it didn’t take me long at all to learn a new interface. Often times cameras have very complex menus and it’s hard to navigate around them but this is not the case with the SD1100 IS.

I also like the image stabilization and the motion detection sensor. Basically this tries to reduce the blur that you get when you’re camera shakes or you move it to try to capture a moving subject. Its not perfect, but it does greatly reduce the blur from camera shake.

Things I don’t like
With the LCD screen on, the battery life isn’t the best. With stabilization and the LCD screen on, I only got approximately 230 shots before I needed to charge the battery. This is on the low end of most point and shoots now.

I also don’t like the flash that’s included with this camera. To me, it feels a little underpowered, but that’s probably because I’m used to my Digital Rebel flash.

The only other thing I don’t like about the SD1100 IS is the manual controls, or lack thereof. This camera really isn’t meant for the photographer who wants total control over their shots.

Pros:

• Excellent menus
• Optical Viewfinder
• Image stabilization
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• A little sluggish
• Underpowered Flash
• Lacking manual controls

Final Thoughts
The SD1100 IS is a good camera. The optical viewfinder, good picture quality and intuitive menus make up for the lack of manual controls and a lacking flash. Overall, its a great buy.

Rating: 3.8 / 5