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Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS (Brown)

Manufacturer: Canon USA Part number: 2511B001

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$154.99 - $278.85 at 6 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 7 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: Canon's SD1100 IS adds optical image stabilization to last year's hit SD1000, while delivering just as impressive image quality.
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CNET editors' review

Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS (Brown)

price range: $154.99 - $278.85

Reviewed by: Philip Ryan
Reviewed on: 03/05/2008

The good: Great image quality; minimal shutter lag; speedy performance; optical image stabilization; face detection; optical viewfinder.

The bad: No manual exposure controls; slow flash recycle time.

The bottom line: Canon's SD1100 IS adds optical image stabilization to last year's hit SD1000, while delivering just as impressive image quality.

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One of the most popular cameras of last year wasn't a big fancy digital SLR, or a pimped-out superzoom, it was Canon's somewhat understated Powershot SD1000. Its combination of a nice, though not extravagant, feature set, small size, and relatively low price proved quite appealing to camera buyers. This year, with the PowerShot SD1100 IS, Canon has updated the aesthetic design, switched to a slightly different zoom range, and most importantly, added optical image stabilization. Of course, they've also raised the resolution to 8 megapixels from last year's 7.1 megapixels and refined some of the camera's other features.

Last year's model evoked the design of the original film Elph with its black circle around the camera's lens and squared-off edges. This year, Canon brought this model back in line with more recent designs without abandoning its elfin status and is offering it in silver, blue, brown, pink , and gold. The tweaked design is just slightly thicker than last year's and sports rounded edges and a slightly curved indent on the right-hand side that provides a perfect nook for a middle finger when gripping the camera. As with last year's model, Canon places all buttons on the right half of the body. A slider lets you switch among still image capture, video recording, and playback. Other than three dedicated buttons for Menu, Display, and Direct Printing, the only other control is the circular four-way rocker with a Function/Set button in the middle.

Canon doesn't include manual exposure controls in its Digital Elph line, but you will find an ample array of preset scene modes and some features that make automatic shooting simpler. As with a lot of compact cameras, the SD1100 IS includes face detection. This year, Canon has extended this function to let it set not only focus and exposure, but also flash output and white balance, so the camera should be less likely to blow out the details on your friend's face with the flash and should be better able to keep skin tones neutral in varied light sources. To help combat confusion when setting ISO, the SD1100 IS includes Motion Detection Technology, which raises the ISO setting if there is a moving subject when you have the camera set to High ISO Auto mode. By raising the ISO, the camera can shoot at a faster shutter speed to freeze the action.

While some cameras have been switching to wider-angle lenses, Canon includes a 38-to-114mm-equivalent f/2.8-to-4.9 3X optical zoom lens in the SD1100 IS in contrast to last year's 35-to-105mm lens. The change in focal lengths doesn't make for much of an effective difference, though we did notice more distortion at the SD1100 IS's 38mm setting than we did at the SD1000's 35mm setting. Canon did add optical image stabilization, however, which should help if you often shoot stationary objects in low light. Since the lens isn't all that wide, you might find the optical viewfinder helpful to bring the camera a bit further back when trying to frame a shot, or in situations where you don't want to have the bright LCD turned on.

Though it has a responsive shutter, the SD1100 IS took longer than its predecessor between shots and its flash took too long to recycle. The camera was quick to start up, taking 1 second from pressing the power button to until it captured its first JPEG. Thereafter, it took 2.1 seconds between JPEGs with the flash turned off, making it more than a half second slower than the SD1000. With the flash turned on, the camera took 3.5 seconds between shots, which is more than a second slower than its predecessor. Shutter lag measured a very impressive 0.4 second in our high-contrast test and an even more impressive 0.7 second in our low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. Continuous shooting yielded a none-too-impressive 0.8 frame per second, again a step down from the SD1000's 1.7 fps.

Image quality from the SD1100 IS is quite nice for a camera of its class. Its automatic white balance does a good, but not perfect, job of neutralizing colors under a variety of light sources. It adds a bit of warmth to incandescent-lit shots and a touch of green to fluorescent, but does a great job in natural daylight. The camera's tungsten setting did a good job of neutralizing the harsh yellow cast of our tungsten hot lights. While noise isn't completely nonexistent at ISO 80, you'll have to look quite closely to find any at this lowest sensitivity or at ISO 100, and both settings offer pleasingly sharp images with plenty of shadow detail. By ISO 200 you'll start to notice noise, especially in shadows, though there is still plenty of sharpness to the images. At ISO 400, noise still isn't over the top, and there is a surprising amount of sharpness, though I saw a noticeable roll-off in shadow detail. Things get precipitously worse at ISO 800, though you still might be able to get a decent 4x6-inch print under ideal circumstances. By ISO 1,600, images look as if they're shot during a hailstorm. I suggest staying below ISO 800 whenever possible.

Given the success of the SD1000, I was surprised that Canon let the camera's shot-to-shot time slide with the SD1100 IS. They make up for it a bit by adding optical image stabilization and keeping the impressive image quality of its predecessor. Despite my whining, the SD1100 IS is still a very nice camera, and if you're going to make a trade-off anywhere, I'd rather wait a bit longer between shots than sacrifice image quality or shutter lag. As long as you don't mind the long flash recycle time, Canon's SD1100 IS makes a great choice for a relatively inexpensive ultracompact camera. If optical image stabilization doesn't mean that much to you though, you should probably see if you can find still find the SD1000, since you can get it at a very nice discount if there are still any available.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (low-contrast)

Shutter lag (high-contrast)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130

1.4

1.8

0.4

Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS

2.1

0.7

0.4

Fujifilm FinePix F40fd

2.5

1.1

0.9

0.5

Samsung S850

2.1

0.5

Canon PowerShot SD1000

1.5

0.9

0.5

Typical continuous-shooting speed (frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130

Canon PowerShot SD1000

1.8

Samsung S850

Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS

0.8

Fujifilm FinePix F40fd

0.5

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 7 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 7 out of 7

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9 stars

Excellent all-round camera for beginner and pros

by buco55 on March 2, 2008

Pros: Great image quality, fast spped, simple yet effective and powerfull

Cons: Price can be a bit too high, a bit on the heavy side

Summary: Had the camera just 1 week before, just before it was officially available in stores. So far I am pretty much happy with my purchase. The image quality is much ...

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Summary: Had the camera just 1 week before, just before it was officially available in stores. So far I am pretty much happy with my purchase. The image quality is much higher than other cameras, it is small, compact and easy to carry with. The display is phenomenal as well as the speed at which the camera starts up and takes pictures (the shutter lag).
The only "major problem" can be the price - 250 euro here in the Netherlands just days before the official start of sales. Another possible drawback is the weight - because of its tiny body it feels a bit on the heavy side. But when you compare it with other cameras - it is for sure the winner in almost any category.
A recommended purchase.

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3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 stars

best buy for around 200 bucks

by dm10003 on July 14, 2008

Pros: great button arrangement and function, small size, easy moviemaking.

Cons: slow recovery, cheap plastic doors, limited metering, slow ugly software.

Summary: Let me jump ahead of myself to alert you: ***if the screen goes black when you turn the camera vertically, put your hand up to your ear and remove your ...

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Summary: Let me jump ahead of myself to alert you: ***if the screen goes black when you turn the camera vertically, put your hand up to your ear and remove your polarized sunglasses!!!***

The (reddish) brown is butt-ugly but reduces glare from around the viewfinder. The plastic doors are unimpressive, I hope they hold up. The buttons are simply arranged and well thought-out among monitor displays, menus, and functions. I wish the lens started out with a wider angle. The body size is nice and small, smaller than I expected from the product photo. Startup, shutter reponse, and recovery are still too slow. Movies are easy to shoot.

Special-feature-wise you can easily set up color accent, color swap, sepia, dark or light skin tones and get obvious results. Other custom color settings changes are barely noticable. Stitching pictures that overlap in any way can be done in their verrrrry slooooow software. I often need to take two shots with different readings because the meter can't manage sky detail and shade detail in a single shot. The manual needs an index.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Great point and shoot!

by gryther on May 24, 2008

Pros: Fast to start up and first shot. Compact and long battery life.

Cons: View finder in middle of camera. flimsy feeling battery/card cover.

Summary: Great little camera. Use it for those quick pictures of the family when out and about. Great size for a pocket and with a case still compact for a backpack. ...

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Summary: Great little camera. Use it for those quick pictures of the family when out and about. Great size for a pocket and with a case still compact for a backpack. Good over all, I will see as the years go on.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Excellent compact camera!

by stratisc on December 18, 2008

Pros: very compact, great image quality; good zoom range, excellent functions,

Cons: nothing I think of!

Summary: I bought this last year and have been fully satisfied with it. It was the best buy that I did last year. This camera has a sleek design and easy ...

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Summary: I bought this last year and have been fully satisfied with it. It was the best buy that I did last year. This camera has a sleek design and easy to use functions. The picture quality is outstanding for a digital camera of 8 megapixels. Everyone compliments them. My favorite functions is the color accent where it picks out one color on the picture and accents it. You start becoming an amateur artistic photographer!

All in all, I recommended this camera to anyone who wants a compact camera that will take professional photos.

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7 stars

Perfect Camera for the Price!

by SMorley1 on December 5, 2008

Pros: Easy to use, Compact Size, Video works well.

Cons: Flash weak at distances, Small LCD, the color tends to chip off the outside of the Camera.

Summary: Great Camera for the Price! Takes nice photos. If you need a good all around Camera, you do not need to spend any more money. One suggestion.. buy the Silver ...

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Summary: Great Camera for the Price! Takes nice photos. If you need a good all around Camera, you do not need to spend any more money. One suggestion.. buy the Silver one. At the Store, I noticed that the Cameras that had colored fronts chipped off easily.

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9 stars

Canon is the Standard in Everyman Cameras

by cjohnbrown on June 13, 2008

Pros: Great Pictures

Cons: Menu system maybe hard for new users, Size of Pictures in Memory

0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

easy to use and has good features, for casual users as myself

by boxim on March 31, 2008

Pros: good image quality, image rotates with camera while reviewing, good features

Cons: found it to be a little on the pricy side when compared to sd1000

Summary: I first bought the SD750 and returned it for the sd1100is. i paid about $50 bucks more for the 1100 beacause the 750 was on sale. but all things considered ...

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Summary: I first bought the SD750 and returned it for the sd1100is. i paid about $50 bucks more for the 1100 beacause the 750 was on sale. but all things considered it was worth it just to add the image stabaliztion and optical viewfinder alone. my previous camera was the sony dsc w35 unfortunatly, it got stolen, but in comparison i prefer canon's user interface. the classy colours add a nice touch, you want your camera to stand out from that typical bland silver colour

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0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

Showing opinion 1 to 7 out of 7

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Canon USA
Part number: 2511B001
Description: Color communicates. It introduces you before you say a word, making the PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH the ultimate image-maker. Five fashion-forward hues expressed in pure aluminum add a new burst of excitement to Canon's Perpetual Curve design. Of course, a camera that brings out the best in you also delivers Canon's most advanced technology features. Call it style with substance, for a new level of picture-taking pleasure.

General
Product Type Digital camera - Compact
Color Bohemian brown
Weight 4.4 oz
Width 3.4 in
Depth 0.9 in
Height 2.2 in
Main Features
Resolution 8 megapixels
Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
Sensor resolution 8 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution 8,300,000 pixels
Total Pixels 8,000,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in
Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 800, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 80, ISO 1600, ISO 100
Digital Zoom 4 x
Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs Aquarium, Digital macro, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Sunset, Color accent, Beach, Portrait mode, Night snapshot, Kids & pets, Underwater, Stitch assist, Color swap, Indoor
Special effects Vivid Red, Vivid Blue, Vivid, Black & White, Vivid Green, Lighter Skin Tone, Positive Film, Sepia, Neutral, Darker Skin Tone
Max Shutter Speed 1/1500 sec
Min Shutter Speed 15 sec
Exposure Metering Center-weighted, Evaluative, Spot
Exposure Modes Automatic, Program
Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
White Balance Custom, Automatic, Presets
White Balance Presets Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (warm white), Cloudy, Fluorescent light (cool white), Daylight
Digital video format AVI
Still Image Format JPEG
Continuous Shooting Speed 1.3 frames per second
Color support Color
Image Stabilizer Optical
Face Detection Yes
TV Tuner None
Video Capture AVI - 640 x 480 - 27 sec - With 32MB card, AVI - 640 x 480 - 14 sec - With 32MB card, AVI - 160 x 120 - 189 sec - With 32MB card, AVI - 320 x 240 - 38 sec - With 32MB card
Memory / Storage
Flash Memory 32 MB Flash - SD Memory Card
Floppy Drive None
Digital Storage Media None
Image Storage Normal JPEG 640 x 480 : 270 - With 32MB card - 84 KB, Fine JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 18 - With 32MB card - 1.5 MB, Fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 20 - With 32MB card - 1.4 MB, Fine JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 14 - With 32MB card - 2.1 MB, Super-fine JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 11 - With 32MB card - 2.6 MB, Normal JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 19 - With 32MB card - 736 KB, Super-fine JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 8 - With 32MB card - 3.4 MB, Normal JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 29 - With 32MB card - 980 KB, Fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 52 - With 32MB card - 558 KB, Super-fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 18 - With 32MB card - 1.6 MB, Normal JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 64 - With 32MB card - 445 KB, Normal JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 41 - With 32MB card - 695 KB, Super-fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 29 - With 32MB card - 1 MB, Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 171 - With 32MB card - 150 KB, Super-fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 111 - With 32MB card - 249 KB, Normal JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 99 - With 32MB card - 278 KB, Fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 32 - With 32MB card - 893 KB, Super-fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 11 - With 32MB card - 2.5 MB
Flash memory 32 MB - SD Memory Card
Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
Lens System
Type Zoom lens - 6.2 mm - 18.6 mm - F/2.8-4.9
Focal Length 6.2 mm - 18.6 mm
Additional Features
Self Timer Yes
Self Timer Delay 10 sec, 2 sec
Additional Features Cropping an image, USB 2.0 compatibility, DPOF support, Face detection, Audio recording,

Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS (Brown)

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Specifications

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Main Features

Memory / Storage

Lens System

Additional Features