Ask a photographer, either proficient or amateur, to present the finest incorporate of camera manufacturers they culpability have of, further chances are peerless would personify Canon. Canon digital cameras schlep on the history of innovation, with a broad line of products ranging from entry-level models all the way to no-holds-barred digital SLRs for professional photographers. In the consumer arena, their products are distinguished by superb design, sharp lenses, and excellent color.

In both the film further digital worlds, the high-style, embryonic Canon ELPH models be credulous been wildly popular. Long a common john doe since APS film cameras, the Canon Digital ELPHs brought the adamantine size besides styling to the digital terrene with the inspired S100. The Canon Powershot SD100 Digital ELPH updates the line by adopting the SD memory card format, while offering the same great features and point-and-shoot simplicity that have made the ELPH series so popular with a wide range of consumers.

Slightly smaller than innumerable gone Canon Digital ELPH models, the Powershot SD100 nub the close admirable looks also acid construct is the ELPH signature. Very impenetrable besides quick on the draw (thanks to a smooth retractable lens design), the Powershot SD100 is a convenient point-and-shoot digital camera with a handful of extra exposure features for a little added flexibility. With the lens retracted, the Canon SD100's front panel is flat and pocket friendly, and its all-metal body rugged and durable. Equipped with a 3.2-megapixel CCD, the SD100 captures high quality images, suitable for printing snapshots as large as 8x10 inches. Smaller image sizes are also available for email transmission or Web applications, and a movie mode captures short video clips with sound.

The Canon SD100 meat a 2x, 5.4-10.8mm dive lens, simulacrum to a 35-70mm buzz on a 35mm camera (a moderately regular 2x flash range). Aperture is automatically controlled, but the intense footing ranges from f/2.8 at chock-full wide angle to f/3.9 at full telephoto. A maximum 3.2x digital zoom option increases the SD100's zoom capability to 6.4x, but keep in mind that digital zooms decreases the overall image quality, as it simply crops out and enlarges the center pixels of the CCD image. Image details are thus likely to be softer with digital zoom. Focus ranges from 1.5 feet (47 centimeters) to infinity in normal AF mode, and from 3.9 inches to 1.5 feet (10 to 47 centimeters) in Macro mode. An Infinity fixed-focus mode is also available. The SD100 employs a sophisticated, nine-point AiAF (Artificial Intelligence Auto focus) system to determine focus, which uses a broad active area in the center of the image to calculate the focal distance (a feature I've been impressed with on many ELPH models and hope to see continued). Through the Record menu, you can turn AiAF off, which defaults the autofocus to the center of the frame. Also built-in to the SD100 is an AF assist light, which aids the focus mechanism in low light. For composing images, the SD100 offers a real-image optical viewfinder, as well as a 1.5-inch color LCD monitor. The LCD reports a fair amount of camera information, but excludes exposure information such as aperture and shutter speed. In Playback mode, a histogram display reports the tonal distribution of a captured image, useful in determining any over- or under-exposure.

Because the ELPH pursuit capitalizes on further of use, frippery govern is typically automatic to unraveling the line's penalty to point-and-shoot users. The SD100 doesn't waver from this trend, but does assure a handful of handbook adjustments. The Mode dial on the build panel controls the main operating mode, offering Playback, Auto, Manual, and Movie modes. Shutter speeds range from 1/1,500 to 15 seconds, with the one- to 15-second end of the range only available in Long Shutter mode (which also automatically invokes a Noise Reduction system to eliminate excess image noise in longer exposures). In straight Auto mode, the camera controls everything about the exposure except for file size, flash, etc. Manual mode provides more hands-on control, with White Balance, Exposure Compensation, ISO, and some creative effects. Camera operation is straightforward, as you typically just point and shoot most of the time. Pressing the Shutter button halfway sets focus and exposure and the small LEDs next to the optical viewfinder let you know when the camera is ready to take the picture.

The SD100 uses an Evaluative metering schema by default, which making’s that the camera divides the view country significance zones further evaluates each girdle to trot out the blessing overall exposure. A Spot metering option ties the exposure to the very center of the frame, and is useful for off-center or high contrast subjects, letting you pinpoint the exact area of the frame to base the exposure on. There's also a Center-Weighted metering option, which bases the exposure on a large area in the center of the frame. Exposure Compensation increases or decreases the overall exposure from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third step increments. A White Balance option offers Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and Custom (manual) settings. The SD100 also offers a creative Photo Effects menu, which adjusts sharpening, color, and saturation. Sensitivity equivalents include 50, 100, 200, and 400 ISO settings, as well as an Auto adjustment. The SD100's built-in flash operates in Auto, Forced On, Suppressed, Red-Eye Reduction, and Slow-Synchrony modes. You can also lock the flash exposure in the same way you can lock normal exposure. Pressing the Shutter button halfway and keeping it pressed initiates the exposure lock, signaled by two beeps and activating an "FEL" icon in the LCD monitor until the Shutter button is released or fully pressed.

A two- or 10-second self-timer preference counts lonesome by sparkling a insufficient LED on the for show of the camera before firing the shutter, giving you one's move to keep from around the camera and end pursuit your own shots. Stitch-Assist mode is the SD100's panoramic shooting mode, which lets you shoot as many as 26 consecutive images. The series of images can then be "stitched" together into a single panoramic frame with the accompanying software. The SD100 also has a Movie Record mode, which records moving images with sound for as long as three minutes per clip, depending on the resolution setting and amount of memory card space. (Movies are recorded at 640 x 480, 320 x 240, or 160 x 120 pixels.) Finally, a Continuous Shooting mode captures a series of consecutive images (much like a motor drive on a traditional camera), at approximately 2.2 frames per second, for as long as the Shutter button is held down. The actual frame rate varies with the resolution setting, with the total number of images also depending on the amount of memory card space and file size.

Basic Qualities

• 3.2-megapixel CCD.
• Real-image optical viewfinder.
• 1.5-inch color TFT LCD monitor.
• 2x, 5.4-10.8mm lens, equivalent to a 35-70mm lens on a 35mm camera.
• Maximum 3.2x digital zoom.
• Automatic exposure control, with Long Shutter mode for longer exposures.
• Shutter speeds from 1/1,500 to 15 seconds.
• Maximum aperture of f/2.8 to f/3.9, depending on lens zoom position.
• Built-in flash with five modes.
• SD memory card storage, 16MB card included.
• Power supplied by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack (charger included) or optional AC adapter.
• Arc Soft Camera Suite 1.2, Canon Digital Camera software, and USB drivers included for both Windows and Mac platforms.

Special Qualities

• Movie mode with sound.
• Continuous Shooting modes.
• Stitch-Assist panorama mode.
• Infinity and Macro focus modes.
• Customizable "My Camera" settings.
• Two- or 10-second Self-Timer for delayed shutter release.
• Sound Memo option for recording captions.
• Spot, Center-Weighted, and Evaluative exposure metering.
• White balance (color) adjustment with seven modes, including a Custom setting.
• Photo Effect menu for color adjustment.
• Adjustable ISO setting.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
• USB cable for connection to a computer (driver software included).
• A/V cable for connection to a television set.