Canon PowerShot SD300

Reviewed February 2005

Characteristics

As is the case with the selection of apertures, shutter speeds, covering a range of 1/1500 second down to 15 seconds, are controlled by the SD300 with one exception: the Manual mode. Set to Manual mode, the user can select a specific exposure time from 1 to 15 seconds in the Function menu (see further), allowing the capture of night photos, and noise reduction is automatically applied to the images by the camera when exposures are longer than 1/3 second.

The SD300 provides a choice of four image sizes:

• Large = 2272 x 1704 pixels,
• Medium 1 = 1600 x 1200 pixels,
• Medium 2 = 1024 x 768 pixels, and
• Small = 640 x 480 pixels,

any one of which can be used in combination with 1 of 3 compression levels: Super fine, the highest image quality; Fine, an average compression; and Normal, which is the most compressed format.

Set to capture Movies, the SD300 provides a choice of 3 different frame sizes:

• 640 x 480 pixels at either 30 or 15 frames per second,
• 320 x 240 pixels at 60, 30, or 15 frames per second,
• or 160 x 120 pixels at 15 frames per second.

While sound is automatically captured with all frame sizes, only movies captured at 30 or 15 frames per second and at either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels can last as long as there is space on the memory card. Movies recorded at 320 x 240 and 60 frames per second are time limited to 1 minute, while 160 x 120 movies captured at 15 frames per second have a maximum duration of 3 minutes. In all cases however, auto focus and zoom setting are fixed at the first frame, while white balance and exposure are dynamically adjusted as the recording progresses.

The Function menu, displayed by pressing the FUNC./SET button at the centre of the 4-direction controller, provides the access to image size settings along with the selection of the shooting mode, which is the first option:

Underwater: corrects the white balance so as to obtain natural colours and reduce bluish tones when photos are captured with the SD300 inside the All-Weather case (AW-DC30).

• Shooting Mode: (see above)
• 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, so that the exposure time can be selected 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, 400 ISO.
• Photo Effects: Off, Vivid (increases contrast and saturation), Neutral (tones down contrast and saturation), Low Sharpening (softens outlines), , Sepia, 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).

• AiAF: On or Off. When On the the auto focus system uses AiAF (Artificial intelligence Auto Focus) which lets the camera select the focus point automatically from 9 areas 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 when it is not required can interfere with some subjects.
• Digital Zoom: On or Off. Controls the use of the 3.6X digital zoom (a maximum combined magnification of 11X). The Digital zoom process captures the central part of the image and interpolates it to the selected image size, causing a loss in image quality.
• Review: controls whether or not, or for how long a just captured image is displayed on the monitor immediately post capture (Off, 2 or 10 seconds).

• Date Stamp: this option is only available when the SD300 is set to Postcard as the image resolution (see above), and allows superimposing the date, or the date and time on the image.
• Long Shutter: On or Off. When On, the long exposure mode is available when the SD300 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 SD300.

The second and third parts of the menu are common to all modes (Still image, Movie and Playback). The second part is called Setup and its options are reviewed in the Interface and Software section of this review.

The third section of the menu is called My Camera and serves to personalize the SD300:

• Protect: serves to tag images so that they cannot be erased accidentally.
• Rotate: makes it possible to rotate images in 90° increments to the left or right.

• 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.
• Slide Show: plays back images as determined by their DPOF settings. Up to 3 slide shows can be configured, and so can the on-screen time of the images.

• Print Order: serves to select which images will be printed using DPOF (Digital Print Order Format). The SD300 supports Direct Print for use with Canon Printers, and PictBridge, for use with PictBridge compliant printers. 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 SD300.

As is implied by its name, the PowerShot SD300 uses SD (Secure Digital) memory cards. The cards are pushed into a card slot that is located in the same area as the battery, underneath the camera and covered by a solid door.