Canon PowerShot S110 Digital Camera Review

Noise Reduction

The Canon S110 keeps noise to an absolute minimum through most of its ISO range, with three noise reduction settings available to stem the tide against digital grain. We found all three were quite effective at keeping noise down, with even the "low" setting showing some detail loss by ISO 1600.

The normal and high noise reduction settings were less lenient, each beginning to trim noise from the image right from the base ISO of 80. The Canon S110's sensor is not particularly noisy for a point-and-shoot, with noise reaching just 0.67% at ISO 80 with noise reduction on low. It doesn't go up much from there, however, as Canon only allows you to capture shots without noise reduction if you're shooting in RAW (which we don't do for point-and-shoot testing as of this time). More on how we test noise.

Detail Loss

Detail loss is fairly significant with the Canon S110 at higher ISOs. The high noise reduction setting, in particular, begins to draw down on both noise and detail dramatically beginning at ISO 400. It's not noticeable if you are just posting snapshots to the web, but looking at large prints or full size images on a monitor and most of the fine detail (hair, texture, grass, etc.) is gone by ISO 1600, with ISO 12800 looking like it was taken in a sauna.

ISO Options

The Canon S110 offers an ISO range that extends from 80 to 12800. The ISO speed is set via the function menu, brought up on screen by pressing the "FUNC. SET" button in the center of the rear control dial/pad. You also have access to an auto ISO function that lets the camera decide, with the ability to set caps on just how high the auto ISO is allowed to go.