Canon PowerShot SD430

Reviewed August 2006

Ergonomics

WiFi is the keyword for the Canon PowerShot SD430, also Digital IXUS Wireless in Europe, a palm-size 5-megapixel compact with a 3X optical zoom that can print wirelessly to a Canon PictBridge compliant printer, or transfer images to a wireless capable computer.

The top of the SD430 is typical of the SD camera series: the 2-stage shutter release is a round chrome button, and it is ringed by the zoom control. Pushed to the left, the zoom control moves the lens to the wide angle end, pulled to the right, it moves the lens to the telephoto setting.

In common with other Canon compact cameras, the zoom control also serves to review images in an index format with 9 images per screen when pushed towards , or zoom into an image up to 10X when pulled towards .

Two small LEDs are positioned on its right, the top one indicating focus (green), or focus difficulty and/or potential camera shake (yellow); while the bottom one indicates the flash status (charging or ready).

The other external controls are on the right side of the SD430, starting with the Mode Switch, which controls the three basic camera modes:

The next external control below the Mode Dial is the Print/Share button:

The button serves to start the automatic transfer of images when the camera is connected to a computer, with a USB cable or wirelessly; or starts the printing process when the camera is connected — once again with a USB cable or wirelessly — to a PictBridge, Pixma, or Selphy DS compliant printer.

Below this button, the 4-direction control rings the FUNC. SET button which displays the Function Menu. The Function Menu provides control over most of the commonly used settings, and as noted above, serves to choose the shooting mode, be it when the SD430 is set to capture still images, or when it is set to capture movies.

The type of option and the availability of others varies according to the shooting mode. For instance, the Auto Mode limits the choices that are accessible to the shooting mode, the Image Size and Quality. All other options are greyed-out. Similarly, when the camera is set to the Movie mode, the options are limited to White Balance Photo Effects, Frame Size and Frame Rate.

The Manual mode, on the other hand, offers more choice:

• Shooting mode serves to choose the still image mode of the SD430, as outlined above.
• Exposure Compensation offers an exposure correction range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• White Balance offers the following settings: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (warm white, cool-white), Fluorescent H (daylight fluorescent), Custom (set under ambient light).

• Photo Effect changes the look and feel of photos: Effect Off, Vivid (increases saturation), Neutral (decreases saturation), Low Sharpening, Sepia, or Black and White.
  When the camera is set to My Colours (see above), the Photo Effect option is replaced by the selection for: Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Colour Accent, Colour Swap and Custom Colour.
• Metering controls the metering pattern: Evaluative (a type of averaging), Centre-weighted, or Spot.
• Image Quality: serves to select the strength of the JPEG compression applied to the images (see the Characteristics section of the review for more details).
• Image Size: serves to choose the still image size, or the movie frame size. (See the Characteristics section of the review for more details.)

Moreover, as it does with some other recent PowerShot cameras, when the FUNC. SET button is held pressed for more than a second; it displays a clock on the monitor, which changes as the orientation of the camera changes.

The round directional control that surrounds the FUNC. SET button serves primarily to navigate the menus, and review photos in playback, but in addition, each of its four directions also control settings when the camera is set to the shooting mode:

ISO	With the Manual or Digital Macro modes, the up direction serves to select the ISO Speed: Auto, 50, 100, 200, or 400 ISO. In addition, the ISO button can be used to lock the exposure (AE-Lock) once the auto focus has focused and focus if maintained by holding the shutter release at the halfway point. Similarly, the button serves to lock the flash exposure (FE-L) if the flash is set to Forced On, and once auto focus has taken place and the shutter button is being held at the halfway point.
	While with the SD430 in Playback mode, the same direction serves to jump groups of images, making it possible to search through a large number of images: Jump 10 Images: jumps 10 images at a time. Jump 100 Images: jumps 100 images at a time. Jump Shot Date: jumps to the first image of each shooting date. Jump to Movie: jumps to a movie. Jump to Folder: displays the first image in each folder.
	The right direction serves to select the Flash mode: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Forced On with Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off, or Slow Synchro.
	The down direction serves to select the Continuous mode, which can capture images at 2.1 frames per second at the highest resolution and best image quality until the memory card is full: or select the the Self-timer, which can be 2 seconds, 10 seconds, or Custom as selected in the Rec. menu. (See the Rec. menu options in the Characteristics section of the review for more information); or return to single shot mode.
	While with the SD430 set to the Playback mode, the same direction serves to delete images.
	Last, the left direction serves to select either Macro mode, or Infinity mode. The Macro mode allows the camera to focus on a subject that is 3 cm (1.2 inches) from the front element of the lens at the wide angle end, and 30 cm (12 inches) when the zoom is at the maximum telephoto setting. While Infinity mode locks the focus at infinity, ideal to capture distant subjects and ensure that the auto focus does not select a closer subject. Moreover, when the camera is set to the Manual, Digital Macro, My Colours or Movie mode, the left arrow serves to lock the Focus (AF-L) once the focus is set and maintained by holding the shutter release at the halfway point.

Two more buttons round off the external controls of the SD-430:

• The MENU button, on the right, displays the menu appropriate to the current camera mode (menus are covered in the Characteristics and Interface and Software sections of the review).
• The DISP. button, on the left, controls the way information is displayed on the monitor either in capture or playback mode, and turns it off.

In a capture mode, the camera normally displays camera settings on the left, top and right sides of the screen, while the bottom is reserved for the aperture and the shutter speed, which are displayed when the shutter release is pressed halfway.

Pushing the DISP. button once removes the information superimposed on the screen, leaving only the AF Area and, of course, the aperture and shutter speed when the shutter release is at the halfway point. A second press of the button turns off the monitor, conserving power when the optical viewfinder is in use.

With the camera set to the Playback mode, a captured image is normally displayed with its file name, position within the group of images on the card, its resolution and quality and the date and time at which it was captured.

Pressing the DISP. button once adds a histogram, and below, using symbols, all the basic shooting data including the capture mode, metering, exposure compensation, effect, flash mode, ISO, white balance, image size and file size. Pressing the button a second time turns off the monitor, intended for when images are being viewed on a TV.

With some minor differences, the PowerShot SD430 will be instantly familiar to anyone who has used a Canon compact camera. And, with one exception, the design is user-friendly and very well-finished. The exception however, is the labelling of the functions assigned to the 4-direction controller. The controller's surface is finished in a slightly dull metal while the icons indicating the functions are slightly shiny, resulting in icons that are distinctly too difficult to see under most circumstances, and which often require the user to change the orientation of the camera to decipher them.