The Canon PowerShot SD20 has a
1/2.5 inch CCD with approximately 5.4 million pixels. Of these,
5.0 million are effective to produce a maximum image size of 2592 X 1944 pixels.
The CCD has a sensitivity range
that starts at 50 ISO, extending through 100 and 200 ISO to
top out at 400 ISO. In addition, an Auto setting is available,
allowing the camera to vary the sensitivity when the light
is low.
The SD20's lens provides a 6.4 mm focal length, equivalent to
a 39mm lens in the 35mm film format. Apertures of f2.8 or f5.6 are coupled
with a shutter speed range that covers from 1/1500 second down to 15 seconds
depending on the shooting mode, and which applies noise reduction automatically
to all exposures captured with a shutter speed inferior to 1/3 second.
Auto focusing is performed using either a 9-point AiAF
system (Artificial intelligence AF) which selects one or
more focus points, or a centre-point auto focus, as determined
by the setting selected in the SD20's recording menu.
The SD20 is able to record images at any one of four sizes:
Large = 2592 x 1944 pixels.
Medium 1 = 2048 x 1536 pixels.
Medium 2 = 1600 x 1200 pixels.
Small = 640 x 480 pixels.
Three levels of JPEG compression are also available: Super
fine, provides the highest image quality by compressing
the image data the least; Fine, applies an average
compression; and Normal uses the strong compression
available on the SD20, maximizing the number of photos
that can be stored at the expense of some image quality.
Selecting both image size and compression is done using the Function menu.
The Function menu provides the most often needed settings, and is displayed
by pressing the FUNC./SET button:
Shooting Mode: selects the still image capture
mode (see further)
Exposure
Compensation: allows compensating the exposure
over a range of ±2EV in 1/3 EV increments. And,
when the camera is set to the Manual mode, pressing
the Menu button while this option is displayed
replaces the exposure compensation scale with a display
for the long exposure setting, allowing the selection
of a long exposure time from 1 to 15 seconds.
White
Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten (incandescent),
Fluorescent (warm white), Fluorescent H (daylight),
and Custom (user set under ambient light).
ISO: Auto, 50, 100, 200, or 400 ISO.
Photo Effects: Off, Vivid (increases contrast
and saturation), Neutral (tones down contrast and saturation),
Low Sharpening (softens outlines), Sepia, and Black and
White.
Compression: sets the JPEG compression (Superfine,
Fine, Normal).
Resolution: Large, Medium 1, Medium 2, Small.
In addition, a format called Post Card is
offered. It records images with a 1600 x 1200 image size
and automatically sets the compression to Fine.
With this format the date can be recorded directly on the
image if the option is enabled from the Rec. Menu(see
further).
The Powershot SD20 is equipped with 8 shooting modes which
are selected in the first option of the Function menu:
Auto is
a fully automatic shooting mode. Set to Auto, the camera
handles all exposure settings including selecting the
CCD sensitivity according to the available light.
Manual Mode provides
the user the most control over the camera, allowing adjustment
to exposure compensation, white balance, sensitivity,
colour effect and metering mode. Moreover, the manual
mode allows selecting an exposure time from 1 to 15 seconds
for night photography.
Macro serves to photograph
subject that can be as close as 3 cm (1.2 in.) from the
front of the lens.
Portrait uses a wide
aperture to blur the background while having the subject
in focus, and enhances skin tones.
Landscape sets the
focus to infinity so as to capture scenery. The mode
can also be used to force the camera to focus on a distant
object when both distant and nearby objects are part
of the composition.
Night Snapshot is
intended to reduce the possibility of camera shake when
capturing a snapshot of someone against the twilight
or a night background. ISO sensitivity is increased.
Indoor sets the white
balance to incandescent (tungsten), increases sensitivity
as needed and controls the flash so it only fires when
absolutely necessary.
Underwater corrects
the white balance so as to obtain natural colours and
reduce bluish tones when photos are captured with the
SD20 inside the All-Weather case (AW-DC10).
Other camera settings are found in the REC. Menu, which is displayed
by pressing the MENU button. As with other recent and current Canon
cameras, the menu system of the SD20 is composed of three parts. The first
part is either the Rec. options covered next, or the Play options
covered further on. The remaining two sections however, Setup and My
Camera are common to both modes.
Set to the Still image capture mode, the SD20's Rec menu contains:
Quick Shot: On or Off. When On, the focus is limited to between
1.5 meters (5 ft.) and infinity, allowing the camera to shoot faster.
AiAF: controls the auto focus operation. When On the camera
automatically selects one or more focus points in the frame. When Off,
focus defaults to the centre of the frame.
Self-timer: 10 seconds, or 2 seconds. Sets the self-timer
when it is activated with the down arrow of the 4-direction controller.
AF Assist Beam: serves to turn On or Off the AF
assist lamp which is located near the lens, and below the
flash.
Digital Zoom: On or Off. Controls the use of
the 6.5X digital zoom (see the Ergonomics section
of the review for more information).
Review: controls whether or not, or for how long
a just-captured image is displayed on the monitor immediately
post-capture (Off, 2 to 10 seconds).
Date Stamp: this option, which superimposes the
date, or time and date, directly onto the image, is only
available when the SD20 is set to the Postcard format
which can be selected in the image resolution section of
the Function menu (see above).
Long Shutter: On or Off. Decides whether or not
the long exposure mode is available when the SD20 is set
to Manual mode.
Stitch Assist: starts the panoramic recording
mode. The Stitch Assist mode can be selected to capture
a series of images from left to right or right to left.
Images can then be assembled into panoramas once they are
on a computer, using the software included with the SD20.
Set to the Playback mode the options available are:
Protect: serves to tag images so that they cannot
be erased accidentally.
Rotate: makes it possible to rotate images clockwise
either 90° or 270°.
Sound Memo: up to 60 seconds of sound can be recorded
and attached to an image when the camera is in Playback.
Erase All: erases all images with the exception
of those that are protected.
Auto Play: plays back images automatically with
a 3 second on-screen time for each image.
Print Order: serves to select which images will
be printed using DPOF (Digital Print Order Format). The
SD20 supports Direct Print for use with Canon
Printers, and PictBridge, and can be connected
directly to compatible printers to print photos, by-passing
the need for a computer. The number of prints to make of
each image, and whether or not the date should be printed
superimposed on the image can be decided.
Transfer Order: serves to select images that will
be transferred automatically when the camera is connected
to a computer running the software included with the SD20.
The second section of the menu, common to both recording
and playback, is called Setup, and its options
are itemized in the Interface and Software section
of this review.
The third section of the menu
is entitled My camera and contains options that allow
personalizing" the SD20. As are most Canon cameras, the
SD20 is pre-loaded with three distinct themes that will not
only display a start-up image as the camera is powered on,
but apply a matching soundscape for the start-up, operation
and shutter sound.
In addition the pre-loaded sounds and images that are part of the themes
can be mixed and matched, and Canon includes almost 40 extra themes as
part of the software that comes with the camera.
The quantity of information superimposed on the LCD monitor in the recording
mode, the review mode, or the playback mode, can be decided in the Setup section
of the menu (see the Interface and Software section of the
review). With the SD20 set to the capture mode, the camera
can indicate all the basic settings for image size, shooting mode, and
any of the Function menu options that are not at the default setting.
In Playback, or in the Review mode,
when a image is shown briefly immediately post-capture, the
user can choose to only display the image, or the image with
some basic shot setting data, or have the camera superimpose
most of the shooting info including a histogram. In the latter
case, the camera overlays information about ISO, exposure compensation,
white balance, flash, metering pattern, etc. However, shutter
speed and aperture are absent from the display, and can only
be ascertained using the software which is able to show all
the Exif data.
A 32MB Canon brand
SD card is part of the camera's kit, and with it the SD20 is
able to capture:
Compression
Resolution
Super fine
Fine
Normal
2592 x 1944
11
20
40
2048 x 1536
17
32
63
1600 x 1200
28
51
97
640 x 480
108
168
265
The SD20 runs off of a rechargeable
Lithium ion battery (NB-3L) which is held in place by
an orange clip so it cannot fall out when the memory card is
removed. The battery is recharged with a charger (CB-2LU,
or CB2-LUE) which takes approximately 95 minutes to
recharge a completely discharged battery.
Two external connections are available on the SD20, and both are on the
lower right side of the camera's back and protected from dirt and dust
by a soft plastic cover that is tethered on the right side.
On the left is the jack for the
Audio/Video (A/V) cable which serves to connect the camera
to a television, and which can be set to either NTSC or PAL
in the Setup section of the menu.
On the right is the USB port (compatible USB 2.0 but at USB 1.1 speed),
and both cables are supplied with the camera.
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