Canon
PowerShot
SX100 IS

   Features: 8.0 Megapixels, 10x optical zoom with optical Image Stabilizer, 2.5" LCD screen, Face Detection Technology with Face Selector button, 18 shooting modes, up to ISO 1600 and optional high-power flash, Smooth VGA movies, Secure Digital (SD) Format storage.

The Canon Powershot SX100 IS is a well built, sturdy little camera, and at around 100mm wide, 70mm high and 45mm deep (lens retracted) its sits nicely in the hand. There are smaller and lighter compacts on the market, but many of these can often lack the features found on the SX100. For the most part the Canon remains very easy to use, making this a good choice if your buying a camera for the whole family to use.

The camera's control system is very simple and intuitive to use, once you are aware that the very nice 'jog wheel' at the back of the device not only allows options to be flicked through, but also doubles up as a (N,S,E,W) option selector.

There is no optical view finder on this camera, but the large 2.5" screen has a wide viewing angle which is great for lining up those awkward shots. One clever feature is apparent when reviewing images via the built-in screen, if you turn the camera 90 degrees it will turn the picture from landscape to portrait automatically, to make viewing easier.

There are 12 basic shooting modes:
Fully Automatic, Program, Shutter Speed Priority (Tv), Aperture Priority (Av), Manual, Movie, Stitch Assist, Night Scene, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Landscape and Portrait.

The Canon is able to capture up to 8 Megapixels and employs an 'Image Stabilizer' to help steady your shots. At ISO settings of 200 or below, I found that the Canon is able to capture some great pictures, with the fantastic 10x optical zoom really making a difference to far off objects. In lower light conditions the camera did not fair quite so well with a little noise evident at higher ISO settings of 400+, but this should not put you off as the majority of the images were still very good.

The camera's auto focus system is consistently fast and accurate, even in low light conditions and it's 'Macro mode' (which allows you to take extreme close-ups of objects) is also very good, allowing you to get within 1cm of the subject. The amount of detail that is captured in macro mode is brilliant.

The movie option on this camera is also excellent, in fact the SX100 IS's VGA (640x480) movies are some of the best I have seen on any digital camera to date. It won't replace your digital camcorder, but you won't be disappointed with the results either. One nice touch is the fact you can zoom in and out while recording a movie. The maximum length of any one movie file is limited to 4GB or by the size of memory card if it's smaller.

The flash does not auto-popup, so you need to manually lift the flash when needed, but the camera does let you know when it's required. I found the flash to be quite good, but one of the few disadvantages of the SX100 IS is that it's flash is quite slow to recharge making it difficult to take several pictures in quick succession when the flash is needed.

The supplied 16MB SD (Secure Digital) storage card is a little mean, but Canon never seem to supply their digital cameras with large storage cards, so I recommend purchasing a larger capacity SD card.

The SX100 IS uses standard AA batteries, and generally battery life is good, for this class of camera, but I recommend purchasing (as some point) a set of good quality rechargeable AA batteries to get the very best from the SX100 IS.

As with many other cameras on the market today, the Canon does not come with any form of case, soft or otherwise, so this is another item you will need to purchase to keep your camera completely safe while carrying it around.

Advantages:

8.0 Megapixel resolution
10x optical zoom
Image Stabilizer and Face Detection
Intuitive controls
Large, good quality 2.5" screen
Good VGA movies
Excellent Macro mode (1cm)
Decent AA battery life

Disadvantages:

Limited storage with supplied memory card
No case supplied as standard
No 'optical' view finder
Manual lift flash
Relatively slow charging flash

Conclusion: I like this camera and have no problems recommending it, as long as the few minor disadvantages don't spoil things for you. Personally I think its a great little camera and even adding the minor cost of a cheap case, larger SD card and set of rechargeable batteries in to the equation, does not stop this from being a great value item.

The Glitch Star Rating

Overall Score

80%

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