Canon PowerShot S110 Digital Camera Review

Automatic Features

The S110 features a variety of automatic modes, with both a "program" auto and a full automatic mode. The program mode allows the user to finely tune most major settings, while the full automatic mode makes most of the decisions for the user. The full automatic mode just requires the user to select if they want a self-timer, if they want to shoot continuously, and what size and image quality level the shots will be saved as.

Buttons & Dials

The S110's physical design is very well refined, with most of the buttons and dials being tailored just right for the user. The camera has two main control dials, one around the lens and one on the back that also functions as a four-way directional pad. The ring dial is fantastic, as it has been on all the recent S-series cameras, while the control dial has been tightened up just a bit to prevent errant adjustments.

Effects, Filters, and Scene Modes

The Canon S110 features several effects, scene modes, and filters for you to mess around with. Most are pretty common modes relegated to the "SCN" position on the dial, though some of the wilder effects are located in a separate setting on the dial.

For just adjusting color you can take advantage of Canon's "My Colors" mode. There are 10 color modes in total, including vivid, neutral, sepia, black & white, and some less common modes. We found in our testing that leaving these modes off yielded the best color accuracy, but each is useful in its own right.

The effects position offers some of the wilder digital filters available in the camera, including fish-eye conversion, miniature effect, toy camera, etc. You'll also find the popular "color accent" mode here, letting you turn the entire image black and white save for a user-selected color.

Menu

The menu on the Canon S110 is designed into two broad types: the on-screen "Function" menu and the main menu. The function menu is brought up on-screen by pressing the "FUNC. SET" button in the center of the rear control dial. This includes your basic shooting settings such as self-timer, drive mode, metering type, ISO (when available), and image quality/size. The main menu is brought up by pressing the "MENU" key. The actual main menu is devoid of these basic shooting settings, and is mostly centered around system settings and basic setup functions.

While there's no default overlap between the two menu systems, you can put just about any setting you like into Canon's "My Menu." In this custom menu you can select what options appear, accessible through the main menu. It's not as quick as making changes with the function menu, but it lets you customize a bit.

Instruction Manual

The Canon S110 includes a quick start guide and a digital version of the full user's manual on the included CD-ROM. The quick start guide is more extensive than we usually see with other cameras, largely because of the S110's built-in WiFi antenna. The added connectivity can require some troubleshooting, so Canon included a slightly beefier guide than normal to get you on your way.