Canon PowerShot SD500

Reviewed September 2005

Introduction

The latest addition to Canon's Digital Elph/IXUS line is the SD500 (IXUS 700 in Europe) which offers a 7.1 megapixel resolution. This new camera retains the family's good looks, offering a 3X zoom and a 2-inch LCD monitor.

Generally, the SD500 has its controls organised in a similar manner to other recent Digital Elph / IXUS models with, of course, a few minor modifications.

Three controls are assigned to the top right of the SD500: the shutter release, which is ringed by the zoom control, and the power switch with its green LED. The zoom control has the usual dual function of magnifying images in playback up to 10X when pulled towards /, and of displaying the index screen with 9 thumbnails per screen when pushed towards  /.

Although the SD500 is a very compact camera with a 2-inch LCD screen composed of 118 000 pixels, Canon has also given it an optical viewfinder. The viewfinder is quite plain, providing only a cross at its centre and no parallax indication and when the zoom is set to the wide angle end, the lens can be seen through the viewfinder. Nevertheless, it is commendable that it is available, and it comes in handy when the monitor is difficult to see because of direct sunlight, or when power needs to be economized.

The optical viewfinder is flanked by two LEDs:

• The upper LED lights in green when the camera is ready to take a photo, or blinks while the camera is saving an image. It also blinks orange when the flash is charging or when there is a risk of camera shake, and is solid orange when the camera is ready to shoot with the flash.
• The lower LED lights yellow when the camera is set to the Macro mode, Infinity focus, or the AF lock is engaged. And, as a warning, it blinks yellow when the camera has trouble focusing.

The Mode Dial is embedded at the top right side of the camera's back. It offers four recording positions: three for still image capture modes, and one for the movie mode:

	The first position at the top sets the SD500 to the Playback mode.
	The second is for the Auto mode, which is a "point-and-shoot" mode that leaves all photographic decisions up to the camera.

	The Manual mode also establishes the aperture and shutter speed automatically, but provides user control over exposure compensation, white balance, sensitivity, etc. It also allows access to the SD500's Long Exposure mode which lets the user choose a shutter speed between 1 and 15 seconds, making it possible to capture photos at night. In addition, the Manual mode is the only mode to offer access to two special shooting modes which can be selected in the Function menu (see the Characteristics section of the review for more information about the Function menu): Digital Macro: combines the use of the Macro mode and the digital zoom. With this mode the camera is able to focus from 5 to 50 cm (2 to 18 inches) and then, using the digital zoom crop the image so the subject appears even larger in comparison to the frame. My Colours mode makes it possible to alter the colours recorded by the camera using any one of a group of options: Positive Film intensifies the reds, greens and blues. Lighter Skin Tone makes skin tones lighter. Darker Skin Tone makes skin tones darker. Vivid Blue emphasizes blues. Vivid Green emphasizes greens. Vivid Red emphasizes reds. Colour Accent makes it possible to select one colour from all those showing on the monitor, and then capture the scene with all other colours except that one converted to black and white. Colour Swap makes it possible to select a colour, chosen from those showing on the monitor, and swap it for another also chosen from those showing on the monitor. Custom Colour makes it possible to adjust the colour balance freely between red, green, blue and skin tones to obtain subtle effects.
	Serves as the access point to the SD500's 9 Scene modes. As was the case with the modes above, the Scene modes are selected using the Function menu: Portrait mode uses a wide aperture to shorten the depth of field and blur the background, emphasizing the subject, an effect that is more pronounced if the zoom is set to the telephoto end. Foliage accentuates green tones. Snow increases the exposure to counteract the influence of highly reflective snow on the camera's meter and ensure that snow appears white instead of bluish. Beach also applies exposure compensation so that subjects photographed in the highly reflective environment of a beach and water are exposed correctly. Fireworks captures a 2-second exposure with the focus set to infinity and the flash forced off. Underwater applies a colour correction so that the image shows natural colours when images are captured using the optional waterproof case (WP-DC70). Indoor prevents camera shake by increasing the sensitivity as required and adapting the colour balance so as to capture natural colours under either incandescent or fluorescent lighting. The exposure is regulated to avoid the use of the flash as much as possible. Kids and Pets optimizes the shutter speed and sensitivity to allow capturing subjects that move around. Night Snapshot increases sensitivity to minimize camera shake so that a subject against a twilight or night background can be captured without using a tripod.
	The Movie mode is last. As with the previous two modes, the type of movie the camera will capture is determined in the Function menu: Standard allows choosing the resolution (640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels) as well as the frame rate (30 fps or 15 fps). The maximum movie size is 1GB and the digital zoom can be used while recording. Fast Frame Rate uses a 60 frame per second (60 fps) recording rate so that fast moving subjects can be recorded and played back at a slower frame rate. Only 1 frame size is available, 320 x 240 pixels, and the recording is limited to a maximum of 1 minute. Compact serves to capture a low resolution (160 x 120 pixels) movie at 15 fps for up to 3 minutes, making the movie suitable as an attachment to an e-mail. My Colours offers the same flexibility as the Standard mode, but adds the possibility of changing the image colours prior to shooting the movie. Whatever the movie type, the optical zoom position is locked at the first frame, the sound is recorded in mono, but the exposure and white balance are adjusted dynamically.

Directly below the Mode Dial lies a small, round button called the Print/Share button, which houses a blue LED at its centre. In the Playback mode, the button serves to:

Automatically transfer pre-selected images to a computer once the camera is connected via USB. Or print directly to a PictBridge, Bubble Jet Direct printer, or SELPHY CP series Card Photo Printer.

Next is the 4-direction control, which serves to navigate menus and review photos when the camera is in Playback. In addition, each of the 4-directional controls supports other functions, depending on the SD500's mode:

	The UP arrow selects the Metering mode: Evaluative divides the image into several zones to evaluate the exposure. Centre Weighted measures the entire frame, but gives greater importance to the reading obtained at the centre of the frame. Spot concentres the metering on a small area at the centre of the frame.
	In Playback the button serves to jump groups of images: 10 or 100 images at a time; or from one recording date to the next; or from one movie to another, skipping still images captured in between.
	The LEFT arrow selects between Macro Mode and Landscape mode. Set to Macro mode the SD500 is able to focus on a subject from 5 to 50 cm ( 2 to 18 inches) from the front of the lens at the wide end of the zoom, and from 30 to 50 cm (12 to 18 inches) at the maximum telephoto. The Landscape mode, on the other hand, simply sets the focus to infinity.
	The RIGHT arrow serves to select the Flash mode: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Forced On with Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced Off, or Slow Synch.

At the centre of the 4-direction control is the button which displays the aforementioned Function menu (see the Characteristics section of the menu for more information about the Function menu), and which serves to confirm some selections made in the camera menu. Moreover, when an image is displayed briefly on the monitor after shooting it, pressing continues the display of the image.

The button also serves to display an "on-screen" clock if it is held pressed in for more than 1 second. The clock appears displayed vertically or horizontally, according to the camera's orientation.

The last 2 buttons of the SD500 are aligned below the 4-direction control, and each is labelled clearly:

Simply calls up the menu according to the mode of the camera: capture, movie or playback. (For more information on the contents of the SD500's menu system refer to the Characteristics and Interface and Software sections of the review).

With its 7.1 megapixel resolution, the Canon PowerShot SD500/IXUS 700 moves to the top spot of this series of super compact but high performance cameras. It is in a way the product of cumulative improvements made over years producing the models of the series, the first of which was the Powershot A5 back in 1999.

Getting familiar with operating the SD500 is quick as it is a camera that is intrinsically simple to use. And, ergonomically-speaking, the only aspect of the camera that leaves something to be desired is the placement of the viewfinder, near the centre of the camera's top, which is somewhat impractical.