Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital ELPH/Digital IXUS 40 Review
Review based on a production Canon PowerShot SD300/Digital Ixus 40
Announced at the end of September 2004, the SD300 (which goes by the names of Digital Ixus 40 in Europe and IXY DIGITAL 50 in Japan) is the latest in a long line of ultra-compact 'ELPH' or 'IXUS' cameras stretching back to early 2000 (and a lot farther back than that in the film camera world). The SD300 (along with little sister the 3MP SD200) is the smallest, slimmest and most powerful ELPH yet, and features several key improvements over the previous generation. The SD300 and SD200 are the first cameras to incorporate two UA (Ultra-high Refractive Index Glass Molded (GMo) Aspherical lens) elements which has allowed Canon to produced its smallest cameras to feature a 3x zoom. It may be smaller than a credit card, but Canon has still managed to cram a fairly comprehensive range of features into the SD300;
- 4.0 megapixel CCD
- 2.0-inch color TFT monitor
- 35-105mm (equiv.) F2.8 - 4.9, 3x optical zoom
- 640 x 480 movies at 30fps
- Print/Share button
- Fast Frame Rate movies (320x240 pixels @ 60fps)
- Voice annotation (sound memos)
- Custom white balance
- Spot, center-weighted and evaluative metering
- DIGIC II and iSAPS
- 9-point AiAF
- Six scene modes
Canon PowerShot SD300 Key specifications
| Street price | • US: $390 • UK: £270 |
|---|---|
| Body Material | Metal |
| Sensor | • 1/2.5" CCD, 4.2 million total pixels • 4.0 million effective pixels |
| Image sizes | • 2272 x 1704 |
| Movie clips | • 640 x 480 pixels @ 30fps or 15fps (clip length limited by card capacity) • 320 x 240 pixels @ 30fps or 15fps (clip length limited by card capacity) • 320 x 240 pixels @ 60fps (max clip 1 minute) • 160 x 120 pixels @ 15fps (max clip 3 minutes) • Motion JPEG (.avi) • With sound (mono) |
| Lens | • 35 - 105mm equiv. (3x digital zoom) |
| Focus | • TTL autofocus • 9 point AiAF • 1-point AF (fixed to center) • 3cm macro mode (Wide), 30cm (Tele) |
| Shooting mode | • Auto |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO50,100,200,400 |
| White Balance | • Auto • 5 presets • Custom WB (manual) |
| Image parameters | • Picture Adjust (Vivid, Neutral) • Sharpness (low or normal) • Color effects (Sepia, Black and White) |
| Continuous | 2.4 fps approx |
| Flash | • Built-in flash • Auto, on, off, slow-synchro, Red-eye reduction: on/off • Range (normal, ISO auto): W: 0.5m - 3.5m (1.6 - 11.5 ft) T:0.5m - 2.0m (1.6 - 6.6 ft). • Range (macro, ISO auto): 30 - 50cm (1.0 - 1.6 ft) |
| Storage | • SD Memory Card • 16MB SD supplied* |
| Viewfinder | Real Image Optical |
| LCD monitor | • 2" TFT LCD • 118,000 pixels |
| Connectivity | • USB 1.1 • A/V out • DC-IN |
| Power | • Rechargeable Lithium Ion batter (NB-4L) • 3.7v, 760mAh • (Optional AC adapter) |
| In the box* | • Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital ELPH (Ixus 40, IXY DIGITAL 50) |
| Other features | • Spot (center), Center-weighted & Evaluative metering |
| Weight (inc batt) | 147 g (4.65 oz) |
| Dimensions | 86 x 53 x 20.7mm (3.4 x 2.1 x 0.82in) Excluding protrusions |
* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help
you understand some of the terms used).
|
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
 |
This article is Copyright 2004 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
