Cool G5
Conversation Architect
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The Canon SX 100 IS is a mid end camera, as per Canon. To start with Canon SX 100 IS comes with an 8MP Sensor, 10 X Optical Zoom coupled with the latest & the fastest image processor from Canon, the DIGIC III. More detailed specifications of the camera can be found here
Package Contents:
The camera comes in a blue box which is not too small, it was heavy enough. Under the box the camera and the accessories were tucked nicely.
I got the following things inside the sales package:
# Canon SX 100 IS Digital Camera
# 2*AA alkaline batteries
# 16 MB Secure Digital Memory Card
# Mini USB Cable
# TV Out Cable
# Canon Digital Camera Solution Disk (Has several softwares like Zoombrowser EX 6.0, PhotoStitch 3.1, Camera TWAIN Driver 6.8, EOS Utility 1.1a. The software’s were also available for Macintosh, but not for Linux)
# Hand Strap
# User Manuals
Initial Impressions:
On opening the box, the Canon SX 100 IS looks like a pro camera. It exudes style in it’s own sense. Canon SX 100 IS is available in two colors i.e. Black and Silver. I got the black one & it sure looks sexier than any other cameras. The edges are smoothen unlike some camera’s which hurt with sharp edges. The front face sports a huge lens cover which covers the monstrous 8 MP lens. On top right hand side there is an AF assist lamp (More of this later). The area to left of the lens is the hand grip with the camera’s model number engraved on it with a hint of steel like finish. The rear face holds is occupied by a big 2.5” screen. Beneath the screen there are 4 buttons, which control various functions like face detect, menu etc. Then there is control dial which lets you adjust various parameters while shooting and it also comes in handy during navigation.
Build Quality:
The Canon SX 100 IS isn’t a camera which you can easily slide into your pocket. Due to this you will have to purchase a separate camera pouch or a sling bag. The camera meanwhile is also a bit on heavier side (Acc to manual, it weights around 265gm). Canon has included a hand strap which gives more grips to hold the camera, but I wished they had bundled a camera pouch too. My hand started to ache after carrying the camera for hours on a stretch. The battery compartment door, the swiveling flash, the scroll wheel, all is built well. The material used is of good quality & exudes durability.
In Depth - Canon SX 100 IS:
Lens & Sensor:
The most impressive feature of Canon SX100 IS is its 36-360mm equivalent 10x optical zoom lens. This lets you get close to the subject. Good for those long range sport shots. The sensor is an 8 Megapixel CCD. This is sufficient for printing on up to A3 size paper.
Battery:
The camera is powered by two AA size alkaline batteries. The batteries give enough power to take approximately 80 shots on a single charge. The number may vary depending upon your usage pattern like flash, manual mode or auto etc. I used Duracell batteries while testing the camera.
Memory Card:
You can use SD/SDHC / MultiMediaCard / MMCplus & HC MMCplus card to store your images & videos. The bundled 16MB SD card is good for nothing. Two or three snaps at highest resolution with highest setting or even a 6 sec video at VGA will fill it up in a jiffy. I purchased a 2GB SD card from Toshiba to store my images. The camera supports SDHC & HC MMCplus cards which means you can use higher capacity cards (8GB, 16GB) without any issues.
Imaging Processor:
Canon SX 100 IS uses DIGIC III for image processing. This is the latest & fastest imaging processor from Canon. Owing to this the Canon performs not only faster but also produces excellent quality images in a snap.
LCD Display:
The LCD display used is a low-temperature polycrystalline 2.5 inch one. It displays 1, 72,000 pixels. It is able to cover the entire wide screen pictures shot from the camera. I found no problems viewing images in sunlight. The display intensifies when used with the "night view" option. Though it displays a lot of noise, the noise won't appear on the original image. The brightness of the LCD display can be adjusted by pressing DISP button. Canon also provides a “Quick bright” feature which sets the display brightness to the highest in case you are unable to see it under intense sunlight. It can be activated or deactivated by holding the DISP button for a second.
Startup & Shutter lag:
Canon SX100IS starts up in 1.5 seconds. This is decent for a consumer camera, but it can be a huge if you need to capture some fast moments like fireworks. Shutter lag can be described as the delay when the shutter is released and when the photograph is actually recorded. Shutter lag is seen in almost all cameras. The shutter lag is due to charging of the CCD, saving of the image to memory card etc. The Canon SX100IS has a very low shutter lag. It isn’t even noticeable in the images, I took. According to some reviewers, its around 0.53s at wide angle & 0.48s at telephoto with Full AF.
Optical Image Stabilization:
The lens of Canon SX 100 IS features optical image stabilizations. This helps in reducing blurs which may occur due to shaky hands. It is also useful to prevent blurs when you are using the full optical zoom at high ISO levels. Being optical and not digital, the image is corrected by moving the sensor in the desired direction unlike in digital image stabilization which manipulates images digitally. Thus Optical Image Stabilization is preferred over digital any day. The OIS works very well. The OIS can be set to continuous, shoot only or panning mode. I managed to get clear & sharp pictures shooting from moving vehicles. This feature is a boon for those not having tripods or unipods at their disposal.
Face Detection (FD):
The Canon SX 100 IS comes with face detection technology. In face detection the camera locks focus on the face of the subject & thus produces good images with subject in focus. The camera brings a cubic frame when a face is detected & it turns green when the face is locked. It even follows the subject to a certain extent. I found the FD working well & it even captured the face of a distant person on whom I zoomed using all the 10X value. The camera even detects the face of pets (Dogs, cats). The maximum faces the camera can detect & lock is nine in a single frame. The FD fails sometimes if a person is looking sideways & randomly I even noticed camera detecting a face when there wasn’t any person in the frame.
Auto Focus (AF) assist beam:
There is a small beam positioned on top right of the lens. This beam helps the focusing system of camera while taking pictures in low light. When the user depresses the shutter button halfway, the beam fires & locks the focus on subject. When the shutter button is fully pressed, the beam switches off & the image is recorded. The beam also removes red eye. When the red eye is turned on, the beam fires a orange-red light when the shutter button is pressed halfway. Other than these two features, the beam also comes in hand when taking a timed shot. The beam blinks every second under timed shot & remains still just a moment before the shot is taken(remains still only when red eye reduction is activated). The AF beam does not only help the camera in focusing but also removes red eye from the subject.
Power Saving:
The camera switches itself off when no control has been accessed for the last 3 minutes (shooting mode) or after 5 minutes when in playback mode or connected to printer. Even though the camera switches off in the above mentioned time, the LCD gets switched off after a minute of inactivity. This helps in minimizing battery drain & thus ensures a long battery life. The power saving functions settings can be changed from the menu as per your preferences. I recommend setting LCD to switch off in 30 seconds of inactivity.
Onscreen Information:
The camera provides a detailed info on screen while shooting. For a casual user this won't be of much help but an advanced user will surely be impressed with the plethora of information. This function again can be controlled from the menu. After an image is taken the camera displays for a few moments the image size, ISO, shutter speed, aperture value etc. For those familiar with histogram won't be disappointed either. A small histogram is presented on screen after a image is shot. This can help in checking the exposure of the image. The time for which the information is shown can be adjusted.
Flash:
The Canon SX 100 IS has a flash which can be lifted up when taking images. The camera displays an icon on screen saying “lift the flash” when it senses low light. The flash is very powerful & illuminates the subject really well. The power of the flash can be controlled to suit the lightning conditions. The flash charging times are very low & thus you can click continuously without waiting for too long. Off course, as the battery charge goes down, the flash charging time will shoot up. Slow synchro flash is also available(more on this later).
PC synchronization:
The camera comes bundled with software by which you can hook it up to your pc & transfer the images to your computer. The software provided also let’s you fix some minor flaws in your photos & stitch multiple images to make panoramic image. It is provided for Windows & Macintosh. I didn’t test any of the software as I prefer to transfer images via memory card reader. Still I plugged the camera into my pc without installing any of the provided software & it was detected in Camera under My computer in Windows XP Professional SP2. When the camera was plugged in Fedora 9 and Ubuntu 8.04, it was detected as a removable drive. Fedora gave me some intermittent problem of mounting the camera, but they were solved by simply unplugging & re-plugging the camera. I am pleased with the pc synchronization it offers, but I think Canon should also provide the necessary software for Linux which is catching up on popularity.
Shooting with Canon SX 100 IS:
Using Presets:
The camera has 11 shooting modes (barring AUTO), out of which you can use four modes without tinkering with the settings. The four modes include Portrait, Landscape, Night snapshot, Kids & pets. The modes are self explanatory. Shooting with these preset modes is a piece of cake. Just move the dial to the mode you prefer & depress the shutter button. The results in auto mode turn out to be good, but as always nothing beats the MANUAL mode. The rest seven modes include Movie, Stitch assist, Program AE, TV, AV & Manual. These modes are somewhat arduous for a newbie, so I will run in a brief summary of the above modes.
i) Movie:
As the name suggest, this mode is used to record movie clips from your camera. Just enter the mode & the movie will start to record as soon as you depress the shutter button. The maximum resolution at which a movie can be recorded is at 640*480 @ 30 FPS with a monaural audio stream (PCM 8 bit). Other resolutions available are 320*240 & 160*120 at high & low quality. The file is recorded in an .avi format & it takes up a massive 30 MB for a 20 sec clip. The video quality is good but you cannot say spectacular as digital cameras are bad when it comes to recording movies. It is acceptable to shoot those occassional incidents with friends. The mono audio is also a turn down, so is the resolution. I wish Canon had provided at least 800*600 & that too stereo.
ii) Stitch Assist:
Stitch assist is used when you want to take a panoramic image. When you enter the mode, the camera ask you for sequence i.e. from left to right or right to left. When you click the first image the exposure & white balance are locked on the images to follow up. You can shoot up to 26 images in this mode. Later then you have to use the supplied PhotoStitch software to combine all these images in to a single panaroma.
iii) Program AE:
In this mode the camera automatically adjusts the aperture & shutter speed to adjust the brightness of the subject. You are allowed to freely adjust other parameters like ISO, exposure compensation & white balance. Sometimes when a correct exposure cannot be obtained the values (Shutter speed & aperture) are shown in red on the LCD when the shutter button is depressed halfway. In this case you should alter the flash, metering mode or ISO speed to take the perfect shot.
iv) TV:
In this mode, the camera automatically adjust the aperture value to match the brightness of the subject, while you set the shutter speed. Faster shutter speeds allow you to capture image of a moving object while low shutter speed allow you to shoot in dark without flash. If the values turn red during focusing, it indicates that the image is underexposed or overexposed. In this case you will have to change the shutter speed until the values are displayed in white.
v) AV:
Aperture adjust the light entering the lens. In this mode the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed to match the brightness, while you set the aperture value. A lower aperture value is will blur the distant background & focus on the foreground subject & vice-versa. In short, when you increase the aperture value the camera takes the whole scene in consideration while when you lower the aperture value importance is given to the near subject.
vi) Manual:
The best mode if you want to take some awesome photographs. In this mode you are free to choose aperture value, shutter speed, ISO, white balance etc as per your needs. This mode requires a thorough knowledge of photography & is not recommended for beginners. More experienced photographers will enjoy the Aperture-priority (f/2.8 to f/8.0), Shutter-priority (1/2,500 to 15 sec.), and Manual exposure modes, where you can unleash your creativity. Though, in the fully manual mode the camera still calculates exposure and provides an indication of whether the settings you're using are likely to lead to an under- or over-exposed image. One quirk could be an issue for shooting high-speed action however - shutter speeds faster than 1/1,600 second may not be available, depending on the zoom and aperture settings. Experiment with this mode & you will likely to become familiar with this mode. Personally, I haven’t yet become a pro in MANUAL mode but still can take good images using this mode.
Macro Performance:
Macro in photography world means getting as close as possible to the object to capture its intricate details. You must have been seen those water droplet trickling down leaf wallpaper. It is a macro shot. Taking macro shots with Canon SX100 IS is an ease with the provided 10X Optical Zoom. You can stay a bit away from the object and zoom in to compile the macro shot. The macros turned out to be detailed as any macro should be. The camera also warns in the zoom level meter, if you zoom too much and go out of macro range. To enter the macro mode just press left on the scroll wheel, select macro & you are ready to shoot those water droplets or anything that catches your fantasy.
Low Light photography:
Canon performs well under low light scenarios. The flash helps in illuminating the subjects very well. The night mode is good, but it requires steady hands or you are likely to get a blurred image. The camera also has a slow synchro flash, which is a boon when shooting under low lights. It gives importance to the background, so that the background in your photos does not get washed out.
ISO Range:
The Canon SX100IS offers ISO to be set from 80 all the way up to 1600. There is also a AUTO ISO shift which automatically bumps up the ISO level, if the camera predicts that a shake will result in blurred image. The Camera produces magnificent details at low ISO’s of 80,200 & 400 but noise takes place at high ISO of 1600 & a little bit at 800. It is recommended to shoot with a tripod, if you plan to eliminate blurs from your images which are more prominent at higher ISO’s.
Safety Flash Exposure (FE):
How many times you have taken a picture with a flash & the flash had washed out the various details from the subject? The safety flash exposure helps preventing over exposing of pictures. Just switch on the Safety FE from the menu & let the camera do the rest. This is done by automatically changing the aperture value & shutter speed, when the flash fires.
Display overlays:
If you are familiar with the third rule of photography, then you can have the grid on your LCD to compile a great shot. This can be again set from the menu. Turning this will divide the LCD into nine parts, which is useful to compile a good shot without trial & error basis.
Zoom:
The Canon SX 100 IS provides 10X optical zoom. This huge amount of zoom lets you capture distant objects without sacrificing on the image quality. The zoom mechanism is smooth & doesn’t make creaking noise. The optical zoom comes in handy when taking compiling macro shots. For people planning on outdoor photography, the 10X Optical zoom will come really handy. Besides the camera also features 4X Digital zoom. Digital zoom isn’t useful as it just interpolates the image resulting in poor output. So refrain from using digital zoom. I have disabled digital zoom, as I prefer quality in my snaps. Also with the huge 10X optical zoom, you won’t feel the need to use digital zoom.
Miscellaneous Features:
Auto Rotate:
The camera is built with an orientation sensor. The orientation sensor rotates the image as you hold the camera. For e.g. if you rotate the camera by 90 degrees, then the image is automatically rotated for ease of viewing. You can call it accelerometer for digital cameras. It works similar to the auto rotation found in new generation phones. The sensor is very delicate and moves the image when the camera is physically tilted in a particular direction. This is useful if you want to view some images shot vertically, without the need of going in menu & rotating them. This can be turned off from the menu.
Transition Effects:
Transition effects are the effects which are shown when you switch from one image to another. The camera offers a smooth transition effect which darkens the current image when you press the next button & gradually brightens the next image on the LCD. This makes viewing images a pleasure. If you don’t like it, it can be turned off from the menu as always.
In Camera Red eye reduction:
Sometimes in spite of shooting with red eye reduction the camera fails to eliminate the red eye from the subject. In this case you can use the in camera red eye removal utility to eliminate those red eyes which mar the beauty of the image. I haven’t used this, so I cannot comment on the results which it outputs. You can access this utility from the camera’s menu.
Protecting Images:
You can protect the images & movies shot with the camera from accidental deletion. Just select the image or movie you want to protect, press the function button & menu a couple of times to protect them from deletion. This feature is useful to protect those special moments which you cannot afford to lose,
TV out:
The camera can be connected to your television set to view images on a big screen. It is a no brainer affair, just plug the supplied TV out cable on to the camera TV out port & the other end to your AV ports on TV. Switch on the camera & you will be able to see the images on a big screen. At this time you can perform the normal functions which you do on camera’s display. If you have a Hi-def LCD, you will enjoy viewing the HD pics shot from the camera on the huge display.
Positive Aspects:
Heavy duty Performer
Full Manual Exposure available
Awesome color reproduction & picture detailing
Huge 10X Optical Zoom – Good for outdoor photography
Good for Macro Photography
Quite compact considering the massive 10X Optical zoom lens
Value for money
Negative Aspects:
Only 16 MB memory card included with the sales package
You cannot use optical zoom once the recording starts (You have to set the optical zoom level before you start recording)
No Optical Viewfinder
Noise creaks in images at higher ISO’s of 800 & 1600.
Sample Shots from Canon SX100IS
*img90.imageshack.us/img90/9631/flowersmacrouj3.th.jpg *img90.imageshack.us/img90/9345/lensmacrooc9.th.jpg *img219.imageshack.us/img219/52/milkshakemacrouv7.th.jpg *img219.imageshack.us/img219/3452/phonemacrorj0.th.jpg *img232.imageshack.us/img232/944/bandraworlisealinkfullzmh7.th.jpg *img232.imageshack.us/img232/1994/cricketfullzoom10xxf4.th.jpg *img220.imageshack.us/img220/3468/roadfullzoom10xqe5.th.jpg *img220.imageshack.us/img220/1171/shivajistatueph1.th.jpg *img222.imageshack.us/img222/8551/bengalidevimanualxq1.th.jpg *img221.imageshack.us/img221/9504/ganpatilowlightyu3.th.jpg *img221.imageshack.us/img221/3604/crowdmanualmz7.th.jpg *img119.imageshack.us/img119/8513/skyxp4.th.jpg
Verdict:
The Canon SX100IS is a really good camera in a mid range budget. It is a camera which doesn’t compromise on performance. I enjoyed every bit of photography with Canon SX100IS. I would like to master this camera, so that I could satisfy the photography hunger within myself. The pictures I took were very good & they were praised by all my parents, my relatives etc. Even the photo studio guy asked me which camera you used for taking the pictures while I had given some pictures for prints. I replied back saying Canon SX100IS. He was really impressed and started praising “Canon SX100IS is a really good camera and its performance is so good, that some professionals even use the same camera. There has been not a camera in the consumer’s range which can beat it at present”. So there you have it, a photography pro praising the camera. The Canon SX100IS provides a stellar performance & it’s a must buy for all those who need a solid performer.
My Rating: 9/10
seems like an essay 
I was also looking forward to buy this one but my budget was less. You got its for 7k? Good. 