Reviews
Canon
Powershot SD20
A real camera despite its diminutive size
I've
been a big fan of Canon's Digital ELPHs ever since I held the
first one in my hands. So much fine technology in a package that
small! Yet, progress stands still for no one and Canon's pioneering
little marvels were quickly copied and in some areas surpassed.
Time has not been kind to some of the current models. The top-of-the-line
S500 is still good, but it's now oversized and somewhat hapless.
Canon knows that and introduced a downsized line of mini ELPHs
that shed almost half the big S500's heft.
One
of the latest, the SD20, is about the size and weight of a small
cellphone. Measuring 3.5 x 1.8 by 0.7 inches it makes a Palm or
iPAQ look huge. It weighs just 3.6 inches without battery and
4.3 with it. And a 5 megapixel CCD moves this smallest ELPH into
the ãgotta-haveä megapixel range. The metallic little thing comes
in four stylish colors: silver, red, blue and gray. It's an elegant
camera with a playful look rather than the techno-serious design
of today's crop of brushed or matte silver ultra-compacts. The
SD20 says ãfashion accessoryä and it's not meant to be your primary
camera. It's what you stick in your pocket, just in case.
Apart
from the tiny size, you do get a serious camera with a very good
all-glass 4-element 6.4mm (39mm equivalent) Canon lens. There
is no optical zoom. The 5 megapixel make for a maximum image size
of 2592x1944 pixels, more than enough for almost any size print.
You also get a 640x480 movie mode, and a lot of good Canon technology.
Even in a camera this small Canon didn't leave out a focus-assist
beam that improves the chance for good indoor shots. You also
get a Print/Share button for direct connection to Direct Print
or PictBridge enabled devices. There is Canon's rich software
bundle that here includes both Mac and PC versions of ArcSoft's
PhotoImpressions, and also rev 21 (!) of the Canon Digital Camera
Solution that includes ZoomBrowser for Windows and ImageBrowser
for the Mac (only OS X). Controls and onscreen menus are clear
and simple.
You
also get a lot of the little touches and attention to detail Canon
is famous for. The SD20's Lithium-Ion NB-3L battery pack is secured
with a clip and won't just fall out when you open the side of
the camera to insert or remove the Secure Digital card that sits
under the same little door. The battery charger is a model of
compactness. It doesn't even need a cord as flip-out prongs are
built right into the charger. Finally, you can record up to 30
seconds of audio.
There
are compromises. No optical zoom. And even without an optical
zoom the little lens motors out a quarter of an inch. Annoying,
a seemingly needless expense, and something else that can break
or go wrong. No optical viewfinder. It's either the LCD or nothing
at all. Wimpy flash with an range of less than seven feet. Fairly
slow picture-to-picture time. It usually takes two to three seconds
for the camera to be ready again. The 640x480 move mode is nice
but it records at just 10 frames per second and has a 30 second
limit in VGA mode. In the lower res 320x240 and 160x120 mode the
max is three minutes at up to 15 frames per second.
Amazingly
these limitations mean much less than I expected. The camera is
so small and handy that it's never in the way, yet you can use
it to take more than just snapshots. Picture quality is very good.
The control layout isn't very elegant, but it's simple and easy
to understand. Small cameras often have near useless autofocus
systems, but the SD20 is an exception. Once you depress the shutter
halfway, its 9-point autofocus system pops up one or more of nine
tiny rectangles so you know exactly what the camera is focusing
on. If it's not the right object, release the shutter and slightly
move the camera to get it to focus on the right object.
I
rarely use digital zoom because it's just a gimmick. Amazingly,
the SD20's 6.5X digital zoom really works. It looks just like
an optical zoom on the LCD, and the results are decent. Having
a full 5 megapixel, of course helps.
The
LCD display is tiny, but it's actually readable outdoors, and
it better be, with no optical viewfinder.
The
little battery does a decent job and is rated at 120 images. The
generic problem with small, proprietary batteries applies: you
really need a spare so as not to get stranded with a dead battery,
but a spare costs a steep $45, and it's so small that it's easily
lost.
Picture
quality is much better than you'd expect from such a tiny camera.
There is a bit of barrel distortion, but it's usually not noticeable.
Between the good lens and the superb optics, almost every picture
comes out well. Extreme macro? No problem. Reflections? No problem.
Even purple fringing is virtually absent. There aren't many shooting
modes and such, but that's not what this camera is for. Here ãmanualä
simply means you have access to a couple more menu settings. If
you buy the optional AW-DC10 All Weather enclosure you can use
an ãunderwaterä mode. Sound recording is simple and useful. Sound
quality isn't great, but playback is decent, even through the
tiny onboard speaker. For playback you can zoom in in ten steps,
but there is no panning÷an oversight.
The
SD10 comes full equipped. Good software, great charger, strap,
good manual, internal lens cover, and a cool little case so you
can mount the camera on your belt.
This
camera is not a toy. It is much more competent than its looks
might lead you to believe. I still wish it had an optical zoom
and a bit more in terms of manual controls, but overall the SD20
is a terrific little camera, much better than I expected.
öConrad
Blickenstorfer
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