Canon PowerShot SD110 Digital Camera Review

Manual Control Options
Many manual controls are accessible by pressing the Function button at the bottom of the LCD screen. This button, along with the four-way controller, adjusts the following options: Exposure compensation, White balance, ISO, Color effect, Image size and Image quality. The controls are easy to use and manipulate. The major drawback to the SD110's selection of manual controls is the lack of aperture and shutter speed options. There is a Long Shutter option in the Recording menu that adds some control for low light situations. However, it is no replacement for true manual shutter speed or exposure controls. Therefor, the SD110 is equipped to accommodate the engaged automatic user, but does not really provide for more manually-driven users.

Focus
Auto (8.0)
The Canon PowerShot SD110 uses a TTL, or through-the-lens, auto focus system. The camera uses both a 9-point and 1-point focusing frame. In normal shooting mode, the camera focuses as close as 1.5 feet and as far as the eye can see. In macro mode, it can focus as close as 3.9 inches and as far as 1.5 feet. The focus works fairly quickly and quietly, registering accurate responses to motion within the frame.

Manual (0.0)
There is no manual focus mode on the Canon PowerShot SD110. Manual focus modes on these compact cameras always seem cumbersome to me, so I don't miss it and I doubt users of this camera will, either.

Metering (7.0)
The Canon PowerShot SD110 has three metering modes available: Evaluative, Center-weighted average, or Spot (center). These can be accessed by the top portion of the four-way controller and are intuitively marked. By pressing the controller several times, the user can cycle through the metering options. Although this is a fairly standard set of metering options, these settings allow for the user to expose the entire frame or specific area or objects within the composition without the need for a manual option.

Exposure (7.0)
As with most digital cameras, the exposure compensation can be adjusted +/- 2 in 1/3 increments on the SD110. This option is found by pressing the Function button and scrolling right or left on the EV scale. As the user scrolls, the image on the LCD screen brightens or darkens, giving the user a live view of the exposure compensation.

White Balance (8.0)
The White balance setting, found by pressing the Function button, provides a wide range of options, considering the camera’s price and target audience. The Canon PowerShot SD110 offers the following: TTL Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and Custom. "Custom" acts as the manual setting for the white balance on this camera. The custom function will enable the engaged user to move beyond the limitations of automatic settings and record accurate colors regardless of the light source for the scene. The best part about this feature is that it lets the user preview the image on the LCD with the selected white balance setting. This allows users to visualize the setting without having to suffer through trial and error while taking bad pictures and deleting them until the whites look right. The included set of white balance options is one of the more elaborate set of selections provided on the PowerShot SD110, enabling the user to use the settings to attain appropriate color from any scene.

ISO (7.0)
The ISO speed can be controlled by pushing the Function button and then scrolling through the ISO options until the appropriate rating is selected. The following options are available: Auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400. This range is typical of a point-and-shoot camera in this price range, although the inclusion of an ISO 50 setting is slightly lower than most cameras go. This will provide a bit beyond those other models and grant the user more opportunity to capture a clean image under abundant lighting.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
This digital camera employs a hybrid mechanical and electronic shutter that can shoot as fast as 1/1500th of a second and as slow as once every 15 seconds. The shutter speed cannot be controlled manually; the closest option to manually adjusting the shutter speed is the Long Shutter option found in the Recording menu. This can be turned on and off, but cannot be adjusted within its 15-1 second range. The Canon PowerShot SD110 does provide a noise reduction feature when shooting with shutter speeds slower than 1.3 seconds, a feature with growing prevalence among typical point-and-shoot cameras.

Aperture (0.0)
The aperture range of the Canon SD110's fixed lens is f/2.8-f/3.9. Unfortunately, the aperture opening cannot be controlled manually.