Digital Camera News

Canon Releases Wireless SD430

October 25, 2005 – Keeping up with the latest trend in digital photography, Canon announced the wireless PowerShot SD430 today. Just weeks after the release of the Kodak EasyShare-one and the Nikon Coolpix P1 and P2, Canon adds its version of a wireless digital camera to the market. The SD430 has 5 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom lens, and an easy to use interface. This model comes packaged with a wireless printer adaptor that is pre-registered with the camera, so the PowerShot SD430 won’t require much initial setup. The Canon PowerShot SD430 retails for $499 and will be available at the end of January 2006.

When the SD430 is set to the Auto Transfer mode, it can send pictures to a wireless enabled computer within 100 feet. When that mode is turned off, users need only press the blue Print/Share button to transfer images. A 5-megapixel image takes 6 seconds to transfer. The Canon PowerShot SD430 can also function as a webcam or be remotely operated by a computer. Canon ensured that the SD430’s interface was easy to use so point-and-shooters could take advantage of the latest wireless trend.

"With the new Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless model, we’ve built a camera that takes advances of wireless digital photography and makes them so simple that users of all levels can enjoy them," said Yukiaki Hashimoto, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Imaging Group at Canon, in today’s press release.

The camera body measures 3.9 x 2.1 x 0.9 inches and is what Canon calls a "Slit and Frame" design. The stylish SD430 is still in the Digital Elph series, but has a slightly different look with its camera section and antenna section. A soft blue vertical LED shows on both the front and back facades of the camera body for a flashy look. The back of the PowerShot SD430 has a 2-inch LCD screen with 118,000 pixels. The model weighs 4.6 ounces without the included 16 MB SD card or rechargeable battery.

Images are captured with 5 megapixels on a 1/2.5-inch CCD and processed with the same Digic II imaging processor included in the SD400 and SD450 models. The Canon SD430 has 14 shooting modes including 8 scene modes and a movie mode that can record full VGA clips at a selectable 30 or 15 frames per second. Like some of its other Elph siblings, the Canon SD430 has several custom color modes that let users swap or add colors. The 2.1 fps burst rate is another nice feature on the Canon PowerShot SD430.

Canon is marketing this model with its wireless capabilities as the headline and the company’s printers as the footnote. The SD430 can communicate with Canon Pixma and Selphy printers with the included printer adaptor. According to today’s press release, a 4 x 6-inch photograph costs 28 cents to print using Canon ink and accessories. This may cost even a few cents more than store retailers’ prices, but Canon is banking on the convenience of wireless capabilities to attract consumers. As the opening line of today’s press release says, "Imagine taking a family portrait from the living room and then wirelessly beaming that image to a printer in the home office without ever having to leave your seat." Canon aims to claim a piece of the wireless digital camera pie with the new PowerShot SD430.