Color (8.12)
To test the accuracy of the SD500’s color reproduction, we recorded several exposures of the industry standard GretagMacbeth color chart, composed of 24 color tiles. The images were then uploaded into Imatest Imaging Software to determine how accurate or errant each color is. The chart below is a modified version of the original GretagMacbeth chart. The outer squares represent the color produced by the camera, while the small inner rectangle is the original hue and representative of the tonal ideal. The inner square indicates what the camera’s produced colors would look like when uploaded into a software application.
Below is a graphical representation of the same color breakdown. The circles represent the colors produced by the Canon PowerShot SD500. The squares represent the ideal colors from the GretagMacbeth chart. The distance between the two shapes expresses the degree of error for that tone. The greater the distance between the two shapes, the less accurate that particular color is.
The Canon PowerShot SD500 performed well, earning an overall color score of 8.12. The most noticeable variance between the SD500’s produced colors and the corresponding ideals occurred in the warm red and pink tones, primarily #15, #17, and #9. Although these colors are not accurately reproduced by the SD500, many point-and-shoot digital cameras tend to over-embellish these hues anyway to glamorize skin tones and minimize the appearance of blemishes. For most other tones, the SD500 hovered near the ideal. The overall mean color error was just 7.33 which is quite respectable. For a comparison, the SD110 received a 6.37, the A95 scored a 7.07, and the older S500 achieved a 7.89 overall color score. Canon may attribute the improved color reproduction to the addition of the Digic II imaging processor that reads image information from the 1/1.8-inch CCD.
Still Life Scene
Below is a colorful still life scene photographed by the Canon PowerShot SD500.
Click on the above image to view a full resolution version (CAUTION: The linked image is very large!)
Resolution / Sharpness (5.28)
The SD500 aims for victory in the point-and-shoot megapixel war with 7.4 total megapixels on its large 1/1.8-inch CCD. The SD500 couples an improved Canon Digic II imaging processor with this CCD to maximize the 7.1 advertised effective megapixels. To learn how many megapixels are actually at work, our resolution test aims to find the active number of pixels at work in forming an image. We conduct these tests using an industry standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and Imatest Imaging Software. After recording several exposures of the chart and determining the exact number of pixels used to form the images with Imatest, we assign scores for both an active megapixel count and a percentage of that pixel count contrasted the advertised resolution. This is done to provide a means of comparison across cameras. A camera that scores within 70 percent of its count is “good”; within 80 percent is “very good" and anything exceeding 85-90 percent is considered “excellent” and a very rare find.
Click on the chart above to view a full resolution image
The Canon PowerShot SD500 recorded 5.28 megapixels, which is the most of any compact digital camera we’ve tested (though this also advertises the most of any compact model). This accounts for 75 percent of Canon’s advertised 7.1 effective megapixels, giving it a “good” designation. Therefore, for point-and-shooters who like to mess around in postproduction software and play with and crop segments of the frame, this camera is strong enough to take it.
Noise Auto ISO (5.58)
Consumers who rely on the automatic mode, take note: the ISO ratings cannot be adjusted on the SD500 when using auto setting. We tested the SD500’s automatic ISO setting under bright light (exceeding 300 Lux) to determine how effectively the camera handles noise in optimal conditions — and the Canon PowerShot SD500 performed very well. With a 5.58 score, the PowerShot SD500 performed well beyond other Canon point-and-shoot models that we’ve tested in auto ISO mode. The earlier S500 scored a dismal 3.77 and the SD110 scored a noisy 1.87. The Canon PowerShot SD500 is reliable, producing clean pictures using the automatic setting when shooting under strong interior lighting or in daylight. To see how the camera performs in less favorable lighting, refer the manual ISO section below.
Noise Manual ISO (4.06)
In theory, manually controlled ISO settings should perform better than the automatic mode. This theory holds true in most of our testing, although occasionally, a camera will perform very poorly at one or two ISO steps and those one or two scores will drag the average manual noise score below the automatic noise score (which typically functions on a truncated ISO range). We tested the Canon SD500 at each of its available ISO ratings and put the results into a regression analysis to determine an overall manual ISO noise score. The results are broken down in the graph below to display the camera’s performance at each ISO setting; the horizontal axis indicates the camera’s ISO ratings and the vertical axis represents the corresponding noise at that setting.
There is good news and bad news about the SD500’s manual ISO capabilities - which resulted in an overall manual ISO noise score of 4.06. Good news: the SD500 performed exceptionally well at the 50 and 100 ISO settings. Bad news: the SD500 performed dismally at the 200 and 400 ISO ratings. In fact, this model performed similarly to, though slightly improved from its descendant, the SD110, which earned the worst ISO 400 rating we’ve ever tested. The SD500 handles noise in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fashion: when used outside (daylight) or in bright indoor settings, the camera produces clean images with impressive definition (in both manual and automatic ISO settings), but when used in less favorable lighting requiring the ISO 200 or 400 setting, the camera’s evil side takes over and produces images that are riddled with noise and overwhelmed by distortion.
Low Light (7.0)
Our low light tests aim to isolate the sensitivity of the imager and determine the camera’s point of limitation. We test each camera at four decreasing light levels; 60, 30, 15, and 5 Lux. These light levels replicate common low light conditions; 60 Lux appears as a soft-lit bedroom might after dark, 30 Lux equates to about a single 40 watt lightbulb, and 15 and 5 Lux indicate how the camera performs in relative darkness. This progression is designed to illustrate the camera’s gradual deterioration of image quality and reproduction capabilities in diminishing light, thus indicating how far the camera can be pushed before it is essentially useless. This acts as a guide for indoor, night, and close subject photography in which lighting is compromised.
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Low Light Tests
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60 Lux
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30 Lux
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15 Lux
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5 Lux
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Click on any of the above images for additional analysis
In light (no pun intended) of the camera’s glaring difficulty suppressing noise using the ISO 400 rating, the SD500 performed surprisingly well in low light conditions. Issues with noise are still apparent, but even at 15 Lux, the SD500 is able to reproduce color with some accuracy and it is not until light was dropped to 5 Lux that color issues became considerable. At 5 Lux, the captured subject remained defined and apparent in the frame. This is impressive for a compact camera, though it should not be overlooked — anything shot at ISO 400 using the PowerShot SD500 will be plagued with noise!!
Speed / Timing
Startup to First Shot (7.5)
The Canon SD500 takes 2.5 seconds to start up and take its first shot. This is fast enough to get by as a point-and-shoot, but it seems to be falling behind the competition.
Shot to Shot (9.46)
The burst mode is surprisingly strong on this model. I used the included 32 MB SD card for the first test and was floored when the 2 frame-per-second burst mode didn’t stop after four or five frames. Most compact models take a few frames at a decent clip, then pause for five seconds or so to write to the card. With the 32 MB card, I could only take nine pictures at full resolution, so I grabbed a larger 256 MB card to see if there was any limit to the SD500’s burst mode. After 70 consecutive pictures at a consistent rate (the card couldn’t hold any more!), I am convinced that this is one of the best burst modes available on a compact digital camera. At such high resolution, this is quite impressive. In the spread of exposures, the camera shot as fast as 0.46 and as slow as 0.64, but hovered around 0.54 seconds in between shots. Impressive indeed!!
Shutter to Shot (8.66)
This digital camera doesn’t waste any time, taking the picture 0.17 seconds after the shutter release button is pressed.
