Canon A1100 IS

	Hardware
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 8	Design & Layout

Viewfinder

It may be tiny, but the A1100 IS features an optical viewfinder above its LCD screen. Viewfinders are becoming less common on compact digital cameras, so it's nice to see Canon include one here. It is definitely something you'll be glad to have on a bright, sunny day when all the LCD screen does is blind your eyes with glare.

Unlike the A2100, the A1100 includes an optical viewfinder.

Interestingly, the more expensive Canon A2100 IS does not include a viewfinder and has a slightly larger LCD screen instead.

LCD

The A1100 IS has a 2.5-inch color LCD screen with a 115,000-pixel resolution. The LCD offers 100% coverage and takes up a good portion of the back of the camera. In comparison, the A2100 IS has a 3-inch LCD screen. This takes us to one of the primary differences between the two cameras—the larger LCD on the A2100 vs. the optical viewfinder on the A1100. Keep in mind the A2100 also costs an extra 50 bucks.

The 2.5-inch LCD screen

Flash

The flash on the Canon A1100 IS is located in the upper right corner of the camera. It is small and will likely be in the way of fingers when you take a picture—especially if you have large paws. The flash can be set to auto, red-eye reduction, auto red-eye correction, flash on, flash off, FE lock, and slow synchro. Canon lists the flash range as 30 - 400cm (1 - 13 feet) when the ISO is set to auto and the zoom lens is at its widest angle. According to Canon the recycling time is 10 seconds or less.

The flash is not very well located

Lens

The A1100 IS has a 4x optical zoom lens with a focal length of 6.2 - 24.8 mm (35mm equivalent is 35 - 140 mm). It has an aperture range of f/2.7 - f/5.6 and a focus range of 50cm to infinity in normal mode.

Using the lens zoom is simple—you just rotate the ring around the shutter button. The lens extends about one inch from the body of the camera when you use the zoom.

The lens extends approx. 1-inch from the camera's body.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

All the jacks and ports are located on the right side of the camera, behind a rubberized port-covering. The cover provides adequate protection and seals the jacks quite well. Inside is a DC-input (for connecting a power adapter—sold separately) and a USB port that also acts as an A/V output.

Both of the camera's jacks are on the right side.

Battery

The A1100 IS runs on two regular AA batteries and it comes shipped with batteries so the camera is ready to go right out of the box. There is the option of purchasing an additional power adapter that connects via the DC-input port on the right side of the camera. This adapter will not charge the batteries in the camera and is only meant for running the camera while connected to a power source.

The camera runs on regular AA batteries.

Memory

Loading via a slot in the bottom is the camera's memory card. It can capture photos to SD/SDHC cards, MultiMediaCards, MMC Plus Cards, and HC MMC Plus Cards. The camera comes with a 128 MB SD card, which is enough to get you started, but you'll definitely want to purchase an extra if you don't already own one.

The camera comes with a 128 MB SD card.

Other Features

The A1100 has a number of face detection features, which may appeal to casual users. The feature will automatically detect faces within the frame and adjust exposure and focus accordingly. Canon includes a face detection self-timer on the A1100 that will detect faces as the timer counts down—a good feature if you want to jump into a photo after you set up the shot. Overall, the face detection features are interesting, but aren't something that prove to be all that useful.