Canon PowerShot SD430

Reviewed August 2006

Interface & Software

Interface

The interface of the SD430 is typical Canon: in the capture modes icons representing camera settings are superimposed on the monitor's image as a stack on the left side and aligned across the top of the screen. Icons are clear and the settings they represent are quickly familiar.

The menu system is also typical of canon cameras, dividing the settings available on the camera across the Function menu and the Main menu. The Function menu is superimposed on the left side of the image coming from the lens, and the effect of some changes made in the menu, such as those for white balance or exposure compensation, are immediately reflected on the image. The Main menu, on the other hand, is not superimposed on the image coming from the lens, it occupies the entire screen. The Main menu is composed of four sections, but the first section is linked to the camera mode, showing either the Rec. section, or the Playback section, the other three being common.

One of these is the Setup section, which contains fundamental settings for the SD430:

• Mute: On or Off, serves to mute all except warning sounds produced by the camera.
• Volume serves to independently adjust the volume for the sounds produced by the camera (from 1 to 5, or Off) for Start-up, Operation, Self-timer, Shutter, or Playback.
• LCD Brightness: allows adjusting the brightness of the LCD monitor over a range of ±7 steps.
• Power Saving has two settings, On or Off for Auto Power Down; and to set the delay after which the monitor turns off when there is no activity (10, 20, 30 seconds, or 1, 2, 3 minutes).
• Time Zone: allows setting both a local time (Home) and a World time, useful while travelling with the camera.
• Date/Time: serves to set the internal clock and calendar of the SD430.

• Clock Display: serves to set the duration display time for the clock that is shown on the monitor when the FUNC. SET button is pressed for more than 1 second (adjustable from 1 second to 3 minutes).
• Format: to format a memory card, deleting all the images and movies on it, including those that have been protected. In addition, an option is offered to perform a Low-level format on the card, which can allow it to return to its maximum read/write speed.

• File Numbering: decides whether images will be numbered consecutively, or if numbering will restart from 1 when a blank card is inserted, or the memory card is formatted.
• Create Folder serves to Create a New Folder into which images will be stored every time a new recording session is started (On or Off). Or Auto Create a new folder based on the day of the week, the month, or daily.
• Auto Rotate: On or Off. Automatically rotates images captured vertically so they appear with the correct orientation in Playback, and rotates images as the camera is rotated so the top of the image is always up.
• Language: English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Korean or Japanese.
• Video System serves to set the video out signal: NTSC or PAL.
• Reset All: returns the camera to its original settings with the exception of the time and date, the interface language, video system, white balance, and colour mode.

To understand and learn to operate the SD430, Canon supplies four printed manuals:

• T he Basic Camera User Guide;
• the Advanced Camera User Guide;
• the Software and Wireless Guide;
• and the Direct Print User Guide.

All four manuals are clearly written and present the information logically. The Basic Camera User Guide quickly leads a new user to take their first photos and display them. The Advanced Camera User Guide delves into all aspects of the camera, covering all modes and functions. The Software and Wireless Guide details the installation and use of the software, and the configuration of the camera to link up to a computer, a wireless network or a printer. And finally, the Direct Print User Guide instructs on the use of the camera when it is linked to a printer to print photos.

Software

Included with the PowerShot SD430/IXUS Wireless is a single CD that contains the Canon Digital Camera Solution Disk (version 27). The disc contains the following programs:

ZoomBrowser/Image Browser serves to organize photos and print them. It can also be used to make an image a monitor background, or a screen saver.

The main program window provides image tools on the left, and presents the folders on the computer underneath. While the images contained in the currently selected folder, either on a hard disk or on the camera’s memory card, are shown on the right side of the window, in a thumbnail (index) view. If desired, once an image is selected the detailed shooting parameters can be shown in a separate window, including a histogram that reveals the distribution of brightness in the image.

Regrettably, however, if an image has been shot using the Auto ISO, the precise ISO setting used by the camera is not shown.

Some image correction is possible with ZoomBrowser once an image has been selected. The image to be corrected is opened in a new window where overall corrections can be made for colour, brightness, sharpness, saturation and contrast, using sliders.

In addition it is possible to correct red-eye automatically, or the image can be cropped and text superimposed on it.

For Windows XP SP2 users, Camera Wireless Setup 1.0 is a utility designed for the SD430, and the best program we have seen to configure a wireless camera for use on a network or direct connection to date, especially when used in conjunction with the Software and Wireless user manual.

Even when used in the "Advanced" mode, the program walks the user through a series of questions that make it easy and quick to get the camera to operate flawlessly with a network, or a computer.

PhotoStitch is the program Canon supplies to assemble images captured with the SD430 into panoramas, using the overlaps created by the Stitch Assist mode to stitch images together seamlessly.

ArcSoft's PhotoStudio is a more advanced image editor that offers some tools that are reminiscent of tools available in Photoshop, such as a lasso that can be used to select specific sections of an image, or the possibility of working in layers.

QuickTime is supplied to see the movies captured with the SD430.