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Canon PowerShot S110 Canon updates their Digital ELPH with improved color, movie capture, and direct print capabilities! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet PowerShot S110 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on PowerShot S110 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & Flash Review First Posted: 5/24/2001

Exposure
The PowerShot S110 and S300 both feature 1/2.7-inch, 2.1-megapixel CCDs with newly developed Intelligent Auto Exposure systems, which are linked to the camera's through-the-lens Artificial Intelligence Auto Focus (AiAF) system. According to Canon, these new exposure systems are faster and more sensitive than earlier models, concentrating their metering efforts more fully on the subject(s) -- whether or not they're centered in the viewfinder frame. Canon also introduced a new primary color CCD filter, for improved color reproduction, and an ultra-sensitive digital signal processing IC, to speed operations by the cameras' internal CPUs. All of these features are intended to make exposures faster, easier, and more accurate -- perpetuating the Digital ELPH's reputation as a highly sophisticated, fully automatic, point-and-shoot digital camera.

While creativity is paramount in the S110, exposure adjustments are fairly limited in all of the basic Shooting modes, including Manual. Automatic mode provides control over Flash, Drive (Normal or Self-Timer), Focus (Normal or Macro), Resolution, and Compression settings, while Manual mode adds only White Balance adjustment, Exposure Compensation, Continuous (Rapid) Shooting, and a fixed Infinity Focus. Stitch Assist mode provides all of the available exposure controls except Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Digital Zoom, and Continuous Shooting, and by necessity, the Movie mode eliminates all Flash modes, Continuous shooting, and JPEG Compression settings. The S110 offers more resolution options than most QuickTime enabled digicams (640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 160 x 120 pixels in Movie mode), and nine combinations of still image quality and JPEG compression options in all three still capture modes (1,600 x 1,200, 1,024 x 768, and 640 x 480 pixel resolutions, with Superfine, Fine, and Normal JPEG compressions).

Basic exposure decisions, such as shutter speed, aperture setting, and ISO, remain under automatic control and are not reported on the camera's LCD information display (a feature we miss). Shutter speeds range from 1/1,500 to 1 second, and maximum lens apertures are from f/2.8 to f/4.0 (depending on the telephoto setting). Light sensitivity is rated at an ISO 100 equivalency, and is automatically raised to ISO 150 in low-light situations. This boost was helpful in our low light tests, but the maximum shutter time of 1 second meant the camera couldn't capture shots in conditions darker than about 1 foot-candle (11 lux) of illumination. (This roughly equates to common street lighting at night.) One notable feature of the most recent generation of PowerShot cameras is automatic noise reduction for exposures lasting longer than 1/6 second. We found this to be quite effective in our low-light test shots, which showed very low noise levels.

The S110 offers a slightly different user interface than the larger PowerShot A10 and A20 models, primarily because of the limited surface area available for external controls. The large Mode dial is replaced by a two-option switch for Shooting and Playback modes only. Additional Shooting options -- Automatic, Manual, Stitch Assist, and Movie mode -- are the first option in the ELPH's Record menu system.

The S110's White Balance Exposure Compensation is the second on-screen menu item if you're shooting in any mode except automatic. When activated, it displays the Exposure Compensation adjustment scale, which allows you to lighten or darken the image from +2 to -2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third-step increments.White Balance is the third Menu item in Manual mode, with six possible settings -- Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, and Fluorescent -- to accommodate most common light sources, plus a Black-and-White option for more creative shooting. All menu options are navigable with the right and left arrow buttons, using the Set button to select sub-menus and to confirm menu selections.

Many of the most frequently used camera controls, such as Flash mode, Single or Continuous Drive, Self-Timer, Zoom, and Focus, remain outside the camera' menu system, so you should only have to use the menu display for intitial set-up options and periodic adjustments (unless of course, you opt to use the Automatic mode and let the camera do all of the thinking for you).


Flash
The S110 has two built-in supplemental lighting systems: a main flash that fires automatically in low light levels (unless the flash is in Forced On or Forced Off modes), and a very bright white-light LED that is located between the optical viewfinder and the main flash. This LED serves three functions: 1) It emits a bright blue-white focus-assist light when the camera is focusing in low-light situations, to provide additional light for more accurate focusing; 2) it fires an auxilliary flash before the main flash in Red-Eye Reduction mode, to help shrink the pupils in the subject's eyes; and 3) it blinks during the Self-Timer countdown to indicate when the Shutter is about to fire.

The main flash has five operating modes, all controlled by the Flash button on the camera's back panel: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, (Forced) On, (Forced) Off, and Slow Synchro. The Automatic flash fires in low-light situations or when a subject is backlit. Red-Eye Reduction mode works in the same manner, although it fires a small pre-flash before the full flash to reduce the occurrence of red-eye effect. Slow Synchro mode works with a slower shutter speeds (usually 1 second), keeping the shutter open beyond the flash duration, to allow more ambient light into the image to balance the background with the subject.

The S110's built-in flash has a working range of 1.9 to 9.8 feet (0.57 to 3.0 meters) at the wide-angle setting, and from 1.9 to 6.6 feet (0.57 to 2.0 meters) at telephoto. In Macro mode, Canon reports that the flash is effective for the Macro shooting range, which is 3.9 inches to 1.9 feet (10 to 57 cm), but that the flash may be too bright for the closer shots allowed by the wide-angle lens setting (3.9 to 10.6 inches). In our own testing, the flash did a pretty good job of throttling down for macro shots, and also seemed to reach a bit further than the 6.6 range Canon specifies in telephoto mode. (We felt it did pretty well out to about 8 feet.)

Movie Mode
A new feature on the S110 that wasn't previously available on the S100 is the Movie exposure mode. Movies are recorded at approximately 20 frames per second, with resolution sizes of 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 160 x 120 available. Maximum recording times are four, 10, and 30 seconds, with the largest resolution size offering the shortest recording time. (This time may be dependent on the complexity of the images being recorded. In our tests, we measured recording times of six, 15, and 30 seconds respectively.) Recording stops and starts with a full press of the Shutter button, but the amount of available CompactFlash space will also limit the recording time when the card is nearly full. The Self-Timer option is available in Movie mode. Recording starts after the 10-second delay has elapsed, and continues for the maximum amount of time available for the resolution selected, or until the shutter button is pushed again. Exposure Compensation and White Balance are both adjustable in Movie mode, but remain fixed after recording starts. The lens may also be zoomed prior to the start of a movie, but once recording begins, remains fixed at whatever focal length was set when the shutter button was pressed.

Stitch-Assist Mode (Panorama)
The S110 features Canon's popular Stitch-Assist mode, which allows you to create panoramic images by shooting a series of images and then "stitching" them together on a computer. As many as 26 consecutive images can make up a panoramic series, all captured using framing guidelines provided on the LCD monitor (to help line up each shot correctly). Depending on the subject, these framing guidelines can be quite effective, as it's fairly easy to see when portions of the image don't "connect" across the seam properly. (See the screen shot inset right, which shows the result of two shots being lined up. The seam between them is about one-third of the way in from the left-hand edge of the image.) A shot confirmation after each image allows you to re-shoot an image if necessary. Auto and Red-Eye Reduction flash modes, as well as the Digital Zoom, are not available in Stitch-Assist mode. Canon also notes that a television cannot be used as a viewfinder when shooting in Stitch-Assist mode. Canon's (excellent) PhotoStitch software is included on the software CD accompanying the camera.

Continuous Shooting Mode
Accessed via the Drive / Self-Timer button, the Continuous Shooting mode allows you to capture a series of images at approximately 1,1 to 1.5 frames per second. (The manual claims 2.5 frames per second, but we didn't measure speeds anywhere near that level in our own testing.) The camera snaps images continuously for as long as the Shutter button is held down, or until the CompactFlash card is full. In large/fine mode, the camera can capture 6-8 images in rapid sequence before having to pause to write data to the memory card, while in small/economy mode, it can capture dozens before pausing. (We captured 64 small/economy photos without pausing.) Images are immediately recorded to the camera's buffer memory. Once the buffer memory is full, images are recorded to the CompactFlash card. The series will resume if you continue to hold down the Shutter button, but only after the buffer has been cleared. Shot-to-shot cycle times vary depending on the image size and quality settings, whether or not the LCD monitor is enabled, and the amount of image information to be recorded. The flash is available in this mode, but use of the flash decreases the shot-to-shot cycle time to allow the flash time to recharge. Continuous Shooting is available in Manual mode only.