Canon Powershot SX110 IS Review

The Canon Powershot SX110 IS is a compact super zoom digital camera. It has a 10x optical zoom lens with built in image stabilisation. It has a full set of manual exposure controls.

The main attraction of the SX110 IS is likely to be its compact body size when taking the length of the lens into account. The manual exposure controls will come in handy for the more experienced photographer or someone who is looking to learn more about photography.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
We start off with a bright, colourful photo. Sharpness is someway above average with each individual brick in the building in the centre of the photo showing up clearly. At this time of year sun glare is a problem for all cameras. The Powershot SX110 IS handles it quite well, but there is some detail lost from the boats.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
When it comes to sharpness this photo is much better than most cameras manage when the zoom is not being used. There is a slight issue with purple fringing. This shows up on the right hand side of the photo where the trees meet the sky.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
The Powershot SX110 IS produces another sharp shot. It also handles the light colouring of the boats as they are caught by the sun. The downside of the photo is purple fringing. This is a common problem with longer lenses on compact digital cameras. It happens where the sun catches the edge of objects. It is likely to be a problem if you are looking to make lots of extra large prints.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
In my outdoor tests Canon digital cameras routinely produce the sharpest edge to edge shots. The Powershot SX110 IS continues that trend. The lens is able to produce sharp photos throughout its different focal lengths from wide angle to full telephoto shots.

Outdoor Portrait
This is a fairly standard portrait taken in the shade. The Powershot SX110 IS is able to take a sharp shot and produce colours with a natural look. It should be able to handle this type of portrait shots without any problem.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
In this photo the lighting from the flash unit is about as good as you are going to get. There is a slight reflection coming from areas of the face, but this is more or less impossible to avoid. The camera does well to ensure that despite using flash there is still plenty of colour in the shot.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Even when the light indoors is good digital cameras still struggle to focus sharply for this type of photo. The Powershot SX110 IS does better than most cameras manage. As with the other portrait shots the skin tones have a natural look.

Colours
Colours have been strong throughout all my tests. They stay with in reasonable bounds and give the photos a vivid look.

Macro
As with other models in the Canon range the Powershot SX110 IS produces a good quality macro shot. It is bright and clear with plenty of definition.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At higher ISO picture quality is inline with expectations. There is the expected loss of quality that becomes more marked as you increase the ISO value.

Overall
Overall this camera is above average. There were no areas where it really struggled and many where it did very well.

Times with the flash off are standard, with a single photo taking 0.35 seconds and five 10.49 seconds. If you want to slow down a Canon digital camera turn on the flash. With flash turned on times increased to 1.11 seconds for a single photo and 21.17 seconds for five.

To turn the camera on and take the first photo took 2.78 seconds. This places the Powershot SX110 IS right inline with most other digital cameras.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

For a camera with a long lens this camera comes in a very compact body. Although too large to slip into a pocket it is a neat and tidy camera.

110.6 x 70.4 x 44.7mm

245g

2 AA batteries are required to power the camera. Canon estimate standard alkaline batteries should take around 140 shots before running down.

A 32mb card is supplied by Canon with the camera. This is enough for about 12 photos. It is also compatible with SD and SDHC cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Good. If you already know the basics of photography then it shouldn't take too long to find where to access your favourite controls. For less experienced people it will take a little longer, but will be worth the extra effort.

Photo quality - Compact body

Shutter delay with flash - No viewfinder

There are a few smaller compacts with longer lenses to choose from. A camera with a similar size and features is the Sony DSC H10.

The Canon Powershot SX110 IS would be near the top of my list if I was looking for extra zoom capabilities without a large, bulky body. This camera handles most situations well and will deliver sharp, colourful photos.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Canon Powershot SX110 IS