soothsayer's Full Review: Canon PowerShot SD200 / IXUS 30 Digital Camera
my review
What's in the Box
One SD200 camera, one 16Mb SD card, one camera strap, driver disk, bundled software disk, lots of manuals, one NB-4L battery, a portable battery recharger, a stereo-to-RCA camera to tv cable, a mini-usb-to-usb camera to computer cable.
Features of the SD200 · Lens : (35mm equivalent) 35-105mm, 3x optical zoom lens
· Image processing: DIGIC (Digital Image Core) II processing chip.
· Sensor: 3.2megapixel, CCD
· LCD Display: 2.0-inch.
· Preset shooting modes: Automatic, manual, portrait, kids and pets (anything fast moving), night photography, indoors photography, digital macro (different than standard macro), and underwater.
· Photo Effects: None, Vivid, Black and White, Sepia, Low Sharpening/soft effect, Neutral.
· White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (cool-white), Fluorescent H (daylight), Custom
· Picture format: JPEG (Superfine, Medium, Normal resolutions)
· Picture sizes: 2048x1536 pixel, 1600x1200, 1024x768, 640x480
· Metering mode: Evaluative, Center, Spot
· ISO equivalent: 50, 100, 200, 400
· Shutter speed: you can't set this, except for a special long shutter mode.
· Exposure compensation: -2, -1, 0, +1, +2
· Flash modes: Automatic; Auto with red eye; flash and redeye (both flash and red eye lamps turn on with each shot); flash lamp on (the flash lamp turns on with each shot); flash off; and slow syncho (available with slow shutter speeds.)
· Video frame rate: 15fps, 30fps, 60fps (60fps available only with 320x240 resolution)
· Video resolution: 640x480, 320x240, 160x120 (160x120 can only shoot 15fps)
· Video signal out: PAL, NTSC
· Battery: Lithium ion, model NB-4L, 700mA
Testing, and Review
The main differences between the SD200, SD300, and SD400 is the pixel resolution, the exterior case style, and the price. Everything else is practically the same; the SD200 features a 3.2megapixel sensor, the SD300 has 4.0, the SD400 has a 5.0 megapixel sensor. The SD400 also come with 4 extra shooting/scene modes (described below), several extra photo effects you can play around with, USB2.0, and oh yeah, digital zoom. In Europe, and Asia, the Digital Elph is called Ixus. Ixus 30 (SD 200), Ixus 40 (SD 300), Ixus 50 (SD 400). Note that the SD500 (Ixus 700) is also available, but this camera is different in that it uses a slightly larger sensor than that used in the SD200/300/400. It uses the sensor that is found in the S400, and S500; and it captures 7.1megapixels.
When I got the SD200, the first thing I did was go down to Canal Street to buy some 0.016 inch clear vinyl at a plastic shop in order to fashion a screen protector (primarily to protect the LCD from dust, fingerprints, and minor scratches); and to a fabric store to buy nice satin ribbon (the ribbon looks and feels exactly like an expensive camera strap, but costs 50cents a yard). The camera strap that came with it looked awfully flimsy, especially at the end where it attached to the camera by a thin thread. With just a starter 16Mb SD card, I was limited to a few photos a day until I was able to secure a larger 512Mb card, and an extra battery a few days later.
I shot images in and around NYC on dull gray winter afternoons, on sunny days, indoors under fluorescent lighting in bookstores, indoors under tungsten light in libraries, outside at night, and surreptitiously at some locations.
The camera is pretty noisy when it is turned on, emitting a whine as the motor extends the lens. It takes about one second for the lens to extend, and another second to capture, process, and store an image.
The Elph series shoots only JPEG images, no RAW mode as in some of their other digital cameras particularly the G series (G1, G2, G3, G5, G6). Sample images taken with the camera were nice and crisp in daylight, but image quality drops off somewhat when the lights go down. I keep the ISO at 50, or 100 at all times to minimize any graininess, at higher ISO, the grain increases a little, at ISO 400 the amount of grain is just too much to believe.
The sharpness of images depended on the light conditions at hand. Light conditions dictated what shutter speed the camera will use. You cannot control the shutter speed directly, only indirectly through the ISO number. At low light, and using no flash, the camera's shutter speed will increase, and images may become blurry. Trying to hold a camera steady under such circumstances is difficult to impossible. But, fortunately, you can simply take multiple shots of the same thing using the continuous shooting mode. At a maximum of 2.8 frames per second (slower under low light conditions, and if a higher ISO number is set) there is bound to be at least 1-2 sharp images in that blitz of photos you've just taken.
What was nice about the SD camera was the 2-inch LCD. Images displayed on it were bright and crisp. I quickly found myself exclusively relying on the LCD rather than the viewfinder to frame all my shots. With such a large display, there is really no need to look into the viewfinder. Plus the viewfinder only showed 82% of the entire scene, and not to mention the large parallax error if you shoot close-ups.
In Macro mode with flash (and tripod), the photos were nice, sharp, with even illumination. To get closer, there is a digital macro in which the camera zooms into an area of a photo, and crops the image to size. I didn't test the digital macro which allows to you zoom even closer.
I tried one of the photo effects available through the function menu. Set on Vivid mode, and shooting NYC on a dull gray winter afternoon, I found colors perked up a bit. Note that the SD400, and SD500 features extra photo effects allowing you to control the vividness of the reds, greens and blues in an image.
Testing the flash, there wasn't too much to do. While the camera features many flash modes you can play around with, it's a small camera with a small flash unit, and can only illuminate things at short range. Extra flash capabilities for the SD200 and most PowerShot cameras--except for top of the line Pro1, and G series--are limited being they do not have a hotshoe, or an external flash connector. You can probably slave an optical flash, maybe even a wireless flash unit to it, but I'm so not sure. The only unit that definitely will work is the recently released Canon HF-DC1 for all compact PowerShot cameras including the Elph.
The autoexposure lock, or the autofocus lock required a bit of practice holding the camera with one hand, with one finger pressing the shutter button halfway down, and the other hand pressing buttons on the jog dial.
With the battery, I noticed if it goes low, you have a short warning period before the camera shuts off. If you are using the LCD, the warning time shortens considerably. If the camera shuts off due to low power, but you insist on turning the LCD back on, you will find the battery completely drained within 15 seconds. The camera doesn't have a battery indicator, just a low battery warning light that lights up when the battery is a few minutes away from dead. Canon says the battery is good for ~300 recharges before you need to replace with a new battery. You can buy third party replacement batteries with a 900mA capacity at half the cost of a Canon original battery. Note that if you are shooting in the cold, battery performance will decline prematurely; however once its capacity will bounce back if the battery is warmed up again.
The camera featured several settings you can personalize. You can upload wallpaper, different sounds for the shutter click, and menu buttons. I didn't mess with those, except to turn off the sound. There was a built-in language setting allowing you to display menus in 21 languages.
Testing Video
The SD200, SD300, and SD400 all have the capacity to capture video at either standard 320x240, or large 640x480 image size at either 15frames per second (fps), or 30fps. In addition, there is a compact video mode that captures 160x120pixel video at 15fps; and a fast video mode that captures 320x240pixel video at 60fps. Videos are saved in AVI format with monaural sound. The video shot with this camera was pretty good, a bit grainy as you increase the frame rate. There is also an image stabilizer built-in so video shot using shaky hands doesn't look shaky. While in movie mode, the zoom button is disabled so you can only zoom in and out by moving your feet (except for the SD400 which you can use digital zoom). Movies, and picture stills can be transferred to a TV, or VCR through a supplied AV cable.
Testing Ergonomics
I like the fact that this camera is small and lightweight. It is easy to carry around in one's pocket. What I didn't like is trying to hold it. There is no grip, or anything, so having the camera strap wrapped around your wrist is a must if you don't want to have it fall onto the sidewalk. The camera is small enough that you can literally palm it in your left hand, your thumb on the shutter, your arm hanging down, and the camera surreptitiously shooting; a useful skill in case you find yourself somewhere where the act of pointing a camera can get you fucked up, such being at a protest with police targeting and intimidating photographers and videographers. Btw, if you are shooting surreptitiously, be sure to turn off the flash, turn off the bright red autofocus-assist LED, have all your settings set prior to turning on the camera. Fiddling around with your camera while shooting is guaranteed to attract attention no matter how small the camera. Learn how to turn it o, press whatever button you need (flash/noflash, single/continous shooting, etc.) take the shot, and then melt away.
End notes
What I liked about the Elph was it's small size, portability, and powerful features at your fingertips. You will find yourself carrying the Elph almost everywhere you go. The Elph is also an easy to use camera, but only if you just kept it simple and didn't press too many buttons, i.e., just point and shoot. If you want access to the more advanced features of the Elph, you really need familiarize yourself with the camera by reading the manual several times, and practice pressing buttons learning how to adjust the camera with each shooting situation. That brings me to the one major thing I didn't like about the Elph, the fact that there wasn't a dial to switch from automatic (A) to manual (M) modes, and the lack of a shutter priority mode, and to a lesser extent, no remote wireless control.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): - This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
Delivers 3.2 megapixels of resolution--enough to make photo-quality 10-by-14-inch enlargements New large 2.0-inch LCD screen for easy image preview an...More at Amazon Marketplace
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