I finally got a chance to test out the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS. Color of choice…pink!  I bout this camera for my girlfriend for her birthday last year. The color unfortunately was a huge factor. Unlike myself, my girlfriend is more interested in the color of the camera then its capability.  When I asked her what she was looking for in a camera all she said is “pink”.

“Sigh”

So I jump online and start doing some research for cheap pink digital cameras. There were not many choices and they were either too expensive or too cheap. That was until I found the PowerShot. They had a pink model which is awesome for my better half, and it was only about $250 which was great for me because it didn’t break my wallet. While looking online I looked at other peoples photos to see how well it did and what they thought. Its defiantly not a professional camera but for someone who wants to just shoot family pics and good times then its perfect for them and my girl absolutely loves it.

It wasn’t until now that I finally got to test it out. On a side note about 2 months ago the camera was dropped and the zoom lens twisted and was cockeyed. I took a eyeglass screwdriver and pried the lens even, pushed it down gently and turned it on. The camera turned right on and was ready to go! (However the front silver lens cap never fit back on)

I walked around my apartment for random things to shoot, so I started off with my ceiling fan bulb. I don’t know what it is, but I love to shoot light bulbs. Here is my first picture.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

After I got bored with the fan I strolled into the bathroom. My toothpaste instantly caught my eye, so I shot it. I didn’t try to get fancy with angle or compisition. I just wanted a good contrast of colors. Oh FYI, I shot it upside down. Check it out.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

I wanted to check out the black and white feature on the camera and see how it would look. I shot some change in a large margarita souvenir glass from Margaritaville. I shot it with the on camera flash on, could have been much better if I hadn’t.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

I needed to test the macro type settings to see how clear and sharp it would be. It wasn’t too bad but it could have been a little sharper and a little more contrast, but honestly I was impressed with how well it turned out. Check out the close-up I shot of some cat food.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

And of course you can’t forget the cat, Molefay(Yes he is named after Mole Richardson’s production movie light, if you were wondering) . If you shoot straight on with an animal with these types of cameras then they will get “green eyes” which is what I like to call it. Its the animal version of “red eyes”. To avoid this try moving a little to one direction for a different angle.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Well, I couldn’t just take indoor pictures now could I? I had to see what this puppy was like outside. There are a could little flowers around my apartment complex so I snapped a couple photos. This I will say I was very impressed with. The colors and contrast turned out perfect, without absolutely little to no work at all, just snap and point.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm

One of the interesting things about this camera is that for such a tiny lens, it has one wicked zoom. Here is a shot with this Canon handheld and completely zoomed.I took two shots with the camera zoomed and i could only get this one in focus.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm

On the way back I decided to shoot this this pine cone along the way. It was sitting there all lonely.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm

The biggest downfall for this camera is the same for every digital camera like this, auto-focus. I hate it. I don’t even use it for self portraits. I can never get the focus perfect and that annoys the shit out of me. Here is the second zoomed photo of my girlfriends little sister.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.9
Focal Length: 18.6 mm

All in all I am very impressed with this little camera. It took some beautiful pictures, and it slipped a little, but that can be expected with anything. Oh an not to mention the price, can’t go wrong with that. It also comes in gold, silver, brown and blue as well if pink doesn’t suit you.

-Travis Sackett

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STATS:

Image Sensor      Approx. 8 million
1/2.5-inch type CCD (Total number of pixels: Approx. 8.3 million pixels)
Lens     Canon with Optical Image Stabilizer
Focal Length     6.2-18.6mm (35mm film equivalent: 38-114mm)
Maximum Aperture     f/2.8(W)–f/4.9 (T)
Optical Zoom     3.0x
Digital Zoom     Approx. 4.0x (Up to approx. 12x in combination with the optical zoom)
Shooting Distance / Macro

Normal: 30 cm (12 in.)–infinity
Macro: 3–50 cm (W) (1.2 in.–1.6 ft. (W)), 30–50 cm (T) (12 in.–1.6 ft.(T))
Infinity: 3 m (9.8 ft.)–infinity
Kids&Pets: 1 m (3.3 ft.)–infinity

Auto Focus     TTL autofocus
Face Detect*1 *2 /AiAF (9-points)/Center*3

*1 AF frame can be moved and fixed to specified face.
*2 If no face is detected, AiAF (9-points) is used.
*3 Size of AF frame can be selected.

Image Stabilization     Lens-shift type
Continuous/Shoot Only*1 /Panning*1 /Off
*1 Still images only
Shutter Speed     1/60–1/1500 sec.
15–1/1500 sec. (Total shutter speed range. Available range varies by shooting mode.)
Slow shutter speeds of 1.3 sec. or slower operate with noise reduction.

Exposure Control     Program AE; AE Lock
Shooting Modes

Auto, Manual*1 , Digital Macro, Portrait, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap, Stitch assist*2 , Scene Mode*3 , Movie*4

*1 Long Shutter mode available.

*2 Selectable in Manual mode.

*3 Kids&Pets, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater

*4
- Standard, Color Accent, Color Swap:
640 x 480 pixels (30 frames/sec.)
640 x 480 pixels (30 frames/sec. LP)
320 x 240 pixels (30 frames/sec.)
Recording can continue until the memory card is full*1 (can record up to a maximum of 4 GB at one time*2 )

- Compact (can record for 3 min.):
160 x 120 pixels (15 frames/sec.)

- Time Lapse (can record 2 hours):
640 x 480 pixels (1 frame/sec. (shooting interval: 1 sec.), 0.5 frame/sec. (shooting interval: 2 sec.)), (15 frames/sec. (during playback))

*1 Using super high-speed memory cards (SDC- 512 MSH recommended).
*2 Even if the file size has not reached 4 GB, the recording is stopped when the recording time reaches one hour. Depending on memory card capacity and data write speed, recording may stop before the file size reaches 4 GB or the recording time reaches one hour

Drive Modes

Single Shooting

Continuous Shooting: Approx. 1.3 shots/sec.

Self-timer: Activates shutter after an approx. 10-sec./approx. 2-sec. delay, Custom Timer

Light Metering     Evaluative*1 /Center-weighted average/Spot*2

*1 Facial brightness is also evaluated in Face Detect AF.
*2 Fixed to center.

Exposure Compensation     ±2 stops in 1/3-stop increments
ISO Sensitivity

Auto*1 , High ISO Auto*2 , ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600

*1 Camera automatically sets the optimal speed according to shooting mode and subject brightness.
*2 Camera automatically sets the optimal speed according to shooting mode, subject brightness and subject movement. However, the ISO speed is set relatively higher than Auto.

White Balance     Auto*1 , Day Light, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H or Custom

*1 The colors of faces are evaluated in Face Detect AF.

Built-in Flash

Auto, on, off
Facial brightness is also evaluated in Face Detect AF.

Built-in Flash Range

Normal: 30 cm–3.5 m (12 in.–11 ft.) (W)/30 cm–2.0 m (12 in.–6.6 ft.) (T)
Brightness of image periphery may reduce depending on shooting distance.

Playback Modes

Single (histogram displayable), Index (9 images), Magnified (approx. 2x to 10x max.), Resume Playback, Focus Check, Jump, My category, Trimming, Rotate, Slide Show, Red-Eye Correction, My Colors, Resize, Sound memos (it is possible to record and playback up to 1 min.), Sound Recorder (up to 2 hours sound-only recording/playback possible), Protect

Viewfinder     Real-image zoom viewfinder
LCD

2.5-inch type, TFT color LCD (wide viewing angle type), approx. 230,000 dots (Picture coverage 100%)

Recording Media     SD memory card/SDHC memory card/MultiMediaCard/MMCplus card/HC MMCplus card
Battery

Battery Pack NB-4L (Rechargeable lithiumion battery)
AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC10

Battery Life

Approx. 200 shots¹ (with supplied batteries)
Approx. 450 shots (with optional Canon NB-3AH batteries)¹
Approx. 540 min. playback (with supplied batteries)
Approx. 660 min. playback (with Canon NB-3AH batteries)

Included Accessories     – SD Memory Card SDC-32M
- Lithium-ion Battery Pack NB-4L
- Battery Charger CB-2LV
- Wrist Strap WS-DC2
- USB Interface Cable IFC-400PCU (USB 2.0 High Speed)
- AV Cable AVC-DC300
- Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM

Dimensions (W x H x D)     86.8 x 54.8 x 22.0 mm /
3.4 x 2.2 x 0.9 in.
Weight (Camera body only)     Approx. 125 g (4.4 oz.)
MSRP     US $249.99 / £ 219.00 (SRP Inc. VAT)