High resolution with a lot of fine detail. Excellent color as well.

The extreme tonal range of this image makes it a tough shot for many digicams, which is precisely why I set it up this way, and why I shoot it with no fill flash or reflector to open the shadows. The object is to hold both highlight and shadow detail without producing a "flat" picture with muddy colors, and the PowerShot SD110 did a great job with it.

The shot at right was taken with a +0.3 EV exposure compensation adjustment, which results in good-looking midtones without sacrificing too much highlight detail. (This is a fair bit less exposure compensation than most cameras require for this shot.) I chose the Auto white balance setting as the most natural, although the Daylight setting produced very similar results. The Manual white balance setting resulted in an image with a slightly warm color balance.

Skin tones here are natural and pleasing, and the blue flowers in the bouquet are almost exactly right. (Many digicams have trouble with this blue, often producing it too darkly with purplish tints, but the SD110 did very well with them.) Color looks good and accurate throughout the rest of the frame as well, with appropriate saturation levels. Resolution is high, with a lot of fine detail visible throughout the frame, particularly in the flower bouquet. Shadow detail is strong, with low noise. Overall, an excellent job.

To view the entire exposure series from -0.3 to +0.7 EV, see files SD11OUTMM1.HTM through SD11OUTMP2.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Effects Series: The SD110 offers Canon's standard range of color effects, as shown below. A low sharpening option is also available, in case you want to sharpen the images yourself on a computer later.

Effects Series
Normal	Low Sharpening	Neutral Color	Vivid Color	Black and White	Sepia

Excellent resolution and detail, with a good exposure.

Exposure is similar to the wider shot above, though I chose the camera's default exposure setting for the main shot. Midtones look about right, and only the hottest highlights are blown out. The SD110 offers a 2x zoom lens, which helps prevent strong distortion of Marti's features, although a little longer focal length would be best for a close-in shot like this one. Detail and resolution are much stronger in this shot, with better definition. Details are also strong in the shadows.

To view the entire exposure series from -0.3 to +0.7 EV, see files SD11FACAM1.HTM through SD11FACAP2.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Normal Flash +0.7 EV

Slow-Sync Mode +0.7 EV

Good intensity and coverage with the built-in flash, but a fairly noticeable orange cast from the incandescent background lighting.

The SD110's built-in flash illuminated the subject pretty well here, though it seemed either slightly dim or too powerful, depending on the exposure setting. At +0.7 EV (the exposure that I chose for the main shot), flash power is low but reasonably even. At +1.0 EV, the image was really a bit overexposed, but did lose the slight orange cast of the dimmer shot. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced pretty good results as well, although again with an orange cast from the background incandescent lighting. The best exposure was again obtained with a +0.7 EV exposure compensation adjustment, as anything brighter created very hot highlights on Marti's white shirt.

To view the entire exposure series from zero to +1.7 EV in the normal flash mode, see files SD11INAFP0.HTM through SD11INAFP5.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

To view the same series in the Slow-Sync flash mode, see files SD11INAFSP0.HTM through SD11INAFSP5.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Auto White Balance

Incandescent White Balance

Manual White Balance

Accurate color with the Incandescent white balance setting, good exposure as well.

This shot is always a very tough test of a camera's white balance capability, given the strong, yellowish color cast of the household incandescent bulbs used for the lighting. The SD110's Incandescent white balance did the best job here, and produced great color. The Manual setting also produced good results (keeping a slight yellow cast from the scene lighting that some users might actually prefer, as being more evocative of the original scene), but the Auto setting had a difficult time, producing a strong orange cast. The best exposure was obtained with a +1.0 EV exposure compensation setting, which is about average for this shot. Skin tones look very good, and the blue flowers are only a little dark. Excellent results overall.

ISO Series:
Noise is fairly low at the SD110's 50 and 100 ISO settings, and probably won't be visible to casual point & shoot-type users. It becomes fairly noticeable at ISO 200, and objectionable at ISO 400.

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Manual White Balance

Accurate color, with high resolution and detail.

The SD110's Manual white balance setting produced great results here, with the most accurate white value on the house trim and the best overall color (though just a hint cool). The Auto and Daylight settings also produced good results, though with warmer casts. Resolution is high, and detail is strong in the tree limbs and front shrubbery. Details are just a little soft throughout the frame, with increased softness in the corners, but neither effect seems too extreme in this shot.

A fair bit of detail, but softer than the best full-sized 3 megapixel models. (The A70 being a good example thereof.)

This image is shot at infinity to test far-field lens performance. NOTE that this image cannot be directly compared to the other "house" shot, which is a poster, shot in the studio. The rendering of detail in the poster will be very different than in this shot, and color values (and even the presence or absence of leaves on the trees!) will vary in this subject as the seasons progress. In general though, you can evaluate detail in the bricks, shingles and window detail, and in the tree branches against the sky. Compression artifacts are most likely to show in the trim along the edge of the roof, in the bricks, or in the relatively "flat" areas in the windows.

This is my ultimate "resolution shot," given the infinite range of detail in a natural scene like this, and the SD110 captures quite a bit of detail, but nonetheless falls short of the best full-sized three-megapixel cameras. (I use the earlier Canon PowerShot A70 as a reference for what a good-quality basic 3MP point and shoot camera can be capable of.) The tree limbs over the roof and fine foliage in front of the house show a fair bit of detail, especially in the leaf patterns, but the finest details are a little fuzzy. The brick patterns and trim of the house also have good definition. While the details are a little soft overall, there doesn't seem to be much additional falloff in sharpness as you get into the corners. The camera does lose most of the detail in the bright white paint of the bay window, a trouble spot for many digicams. Detail is moderate in the shadow area above the front door though. While dynamic range and sharpness appear a little limited, color accuracy is excellent. The table below shows a standard resolution and quality series, followed by ISO, white balance, and effects series.

Resolution Series:

White Balance Series
Auto	Manual	Daylight

Effects Series
Normal	Low Sharpening	Neutral Color	Vivid Color	Black and White	Sepia

Lens Zoom Range

A 2x zoom range. (A bit limited, but typical of subcompact models.)

I routinely shoot this series of images to show the field of view for each camera, with the lens at full wide angle, at maximum telephoto (2x, in this case), and at full telephoto with the digital zoom enabled. The SD110's lens is equivalent to a 35-70mm zoom on a 35mm camera. That corresponds to a standard wide angle to a modest telephoto. (Full-sized zoom-equipped digicams typically cover a range of 35-105mm.) Following are the results at each zoom setting.

	Wide Angle
	2x Telephoto
	6.4x Digital Telephoto

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Manual White Balance

Good color, though slightly cool, with the Manual white balance setting. Strong detail.

This shot is often a tough test for digicams, as the abundance of blue in the composition frequently tricks white balance systems into producing a warm color balance. Though slightly cool, I felt that the SD110's Manual white balance option produced the best overall results here. I almost chose the Auto setting, but in the end decided it was just a tad warm. (The Daylight setting was much warmer.) The Auto white balance did better with the heavy blue component than do many cameras, though. Skin tones are slightly pale, but the blue robe and background look about right, without any strong purplish tints. Resolution is high, and detail is strong in the fabric patterns and embroidery, as well as in the finer details of the musical instruments and beaded necklaces.

Standard Macro Shot

Macro with Flash

A moderately small macro area with good detail. Flash almost throttles down enough, but coverage is a little uneven.

The SD110 did pretty well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of 3.32 x 2.49 inches (84 x 63 millimeters). Resolution is high, and detail is strong in the coins, brooch, and dollar bill. Details are well-defined, especially in the tonal differences of the larger coin. The two left corners of the frame, corner softness being a common failing in digicam macro shots. Exposure is a little bright, but color is about right. The SD110's flash almost throttles down for the macro area, resulting in a hot spot in the upper left corner and falloff in the two lower corners and edge.

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Manual White Balance

Good color accuracy, good saturation but slightly "hot" additive primaries.

The SD110's Auto and Manual white balance settings produced nearly identical images with pretty accurate color, so I chose the Auto setting for the main shot. (The Daylight setting resulted in a slight warm cast.) The default exposure resulted in a slightly dark image, so I used +0.3EV exposure compensation on the shots at right, although I think they're as a result slightly bright. The large color blocks have very accurate hues, and are generally appropriately saturated, although the additive primary colors--red, green, and blue--are a little too vibrant. Detail is moderate in the shadow area of the charcoal briquettes, and noise is low.

Effects Series
Normal	Low Sharpening	Neutral Color	Vivid Color	Black and White	Sepia

Low-Light Tests

Excellent low-light performance, with good focusing, color, and exposure.

The SD110 has a maximum shutter time of 15 seconds, which helps the camera capture bright images even in very low lighting. In my testing, the SD110 produced clear, bright, usable images down to the 1/16 foot-candle (0.67 lux) limit of my test, with good color at all four ISO settings. Noise was quite low at the 100 and 50 ISO settings, becoming apparent at ISO 200. At ISO 400, noise is higher, but still not too bad. (After the results I saw in the Indoor Portrait test I was expecting to see more noise here. It's possible that the better color balance on this light source helped the blue-channel nose though, and also that the long-exposure anti-noise processing helped as well.) The table below shows the best exposure I was able to obtain for each of a range of illumination levels. Images in this table (like all my sample photos) are untouched, exactly as they came from the camera.

(Note: If you'd like to use a light meter to check light levels for subjects you might be interested in shooting, a light level of one foot-candle corresponds to a normal exposure of two seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 100.)

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux
ISO 50	15 sec f2.8	15 sec f2.8	13 sec f2.8	5 sec f2.8	2.5 sec f2.8
ISO 100	15 sec f2.8	13 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8	2.5 sec f2.8	1.3 sec f2.8
ISO 200	13 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	1.3 sec f2.8	1/1 sec f2.8
ISO 400	6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	1/1 sec f2.8	1/3 sec f2.8

Flash Range Test

A pretty good flash for a subcompact digicam, with good intensity to between eight and nine feet, then increasing falloff from there.

Canon rates the SD110's flash as effective from to a maximum of 9.8 feet (3.0 meters), close to my own findings. In my testing, the flash illuminated the test target all the way out to 14 feet, but with decreased intensity from the 10 foot distance on. Below is the flash range series, with distances from eight to 14 feet from the target.

8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft	12 ft	13 ft	14 ft
1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9	1/60 sec f3.9

ISO-12233 (WG-18) Resolution Test

High resolution, 950 - 1,050 lines of "strong detail." Lower than average barrel distortion at wide angle, and a tiny amount at telephoto as well.

The SD110 turned in about an average performance on the "laboratory" resolution test chart for its three megapixel resolution. It started showing artifacts in the test patterns at resolutions as low as 600 lines per picture height, in both horizontal and vertical directions. I found "strong detail" out to about 1,050 lines horizontally, 950 lines vertically. "Extinction" of the target patterns occurred around 1,250 lines.

Optical distortion on the SD110 is a little less than average at the wide-angle end, where I measured an approximate 0.6 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared even better, as I measured only 0.2 percent pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration is quite low, showing only very faint coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.