Pros: Solid build quality, Excellent image quality, Clear, vibrant LCD screen
Cons: No optical viewfinder, Lacks HD video
The PowerShot SD1300 is Canon's latest entry-level digital ELPH. They offer good photo quality and features in a compact, stylish body. The SD1300 doesn't go overboard in the gimmick department, instead offering a solid set of well-implemented basic features. The SD1300 is available in a rainbow of colors, including silver, brown, green, pink, and blue. The PowerShot SD1300 is known as the IXUS 105 in some countries.
The Canon SD1300 IS lacks any form of optical or electronic viewfinder, with all interaction taking place through its rear-panel LCD display. The PowerShot SD1300's display measures 2.7 inches diagonally, and offers 230,000 dot resolution, which equates to roughly a 320 x 240 pixel array with three dots per color. LCD coverage is said to be approximately 100%. As well as still images at resolutions up to 4,000 x 3,000 pixels, the Canon SD1300 can record standard definition movie clips at either VGA (640 x 480) or QVGA (320 x 240) resolution, with a rate of 30 frames per second in Motion JPEG AVI format, and including monaural audio.
The SD1300 does not have built-in memory, nor does it come with a memory card. That means that you'll need to supply your own. The camera is compatible with a plethora of cards, including SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MMCplus, and HC MMCplus. I'd recommend sticking with an SD or SDHC card, with 2GB being more than adequate for most people. There's no need to spend extra money on a high speed card for the SD1300.
The camera uses the familiar NB-6L lithium-ion battery, which allows you to take a respectable 240 shots per charge. The battery is charged via an external charger in less than two hours. Accessories for the SD1300 include an underwater case, AC adapter, external slave flash, and numerous camera cases.
Camera Window allows you to transfer photos to your computer and adjusts basic camera settings, where as the Image/Zoom Browser is a very good photo organizing and editing tool by bundled software standards. Editing tools include Auto Adjustment, redeye correction, color/brightness/sharpness adjustment, and movie editing. Photos can also be printed, e-mailed, uploaded to YouTube, or burned onto a CD or DVD. And in addition PhotoStitch lets you combine several photos into a single, panoramic image.
The PowerShot SD1300 is a stylish and ultra-compact camera with a body constructed mostly of metal. Build quality is good for the most part, though the door over the battery/memory compartment is quite flimsy, and I'm never a fan of a plastic tripod mount. The camera's controls are logically laid out, though I found that my thumb rested on several buttons, which can lead to accidental setting changes if you're not careful. Speaking of being careful, it's very easy to block the flash with the fingers of your left hand, so watch out! The SD1300 is available in blue, silver, pink, green, and brown.
The SD1300 features an F2.8-5.9, 4X optical zoom lens. The focal range of the lens is 5 - 20 mm, which is equivalent to 28 - 112 mm. The SD1300 is one of only two cameras in this comparison to sport optical image stabilization, which makes sharp photos a lot more likely, especially in low light situations. The screen is sharp, bright, and easy to see in bright outdoor light. Low light visibility was among the best in the group.
It comes with some of the notable features:
Smart Auto mode is a point-and-shoot mode which automatically picks a scene mode for you, Low light scene mode lowers resolution to 2 Megapixel and boosts ISO as high as 6400 in order to get sharp photos in low light; features like this are never recommended due to poor image quality, underwater scene mode for use with optional waterproof case, custom white balance lets you use a white or gray card for accurate color in unusual lighting, digital redeye correction the camera can remove redeye as a photo is taken, or later in playback mode, and many more to follow.
The PowerShot SD1300 has a VGA movie mode. You can record video at 640 x 480 (30 fps) with sound until the file size reaches 4GB or the recording time hits 1 hour (whichever comes first). The optical zoom can not be operated while a movie is being recorded. The image stabilizer is available, however. The PowerShot SD1300 IS starts up very quickly, taking just under a second to extend its lens and prepare for shooting. Autofocus speeds were good, but not spectacular. At wide-angle, it took the camera between 0.3 - 0.6 seconds to lock focus. The SD1300 focuses pretty well in low light, with focus times hovering around the one second mark.
Overall, the Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS Digital ELPH is a very good entry-level digital camera. It doesn't go overboard with gimmicks, instead concentrating on the basics: a solid design, responsive performance and, of course, good photo quality.
The retail package contains the following items:
Smart Auto mode is a point-and-shoot mode which automatically picks a scene mode for you, Low light scene mode lowers resolution to 2 Megapixel and boosts ISO as high as 6400 in order to get sharp photos in low light; features like this are never recommended due to poor image quality, underwater scene mode for use with optional waterproof case, custom white balance lets you use a white or gray card for accurate color in unusual lighting, digital redeye correction the camera can remove redeye as a photo is taken, or later in playback mode, and many more to follow.
The PowerShot SD1300 has a VGA movie mode. You can record video at 640 x 480 (30 fps) with sound until the file size reaches 4GB or the recording time hits 1 hour (whichever comes first). The optical zoom can not be operated while a movie is being recorded. The image stabilizer is available, however. The PowerShot SD1300 IS starts up very quickly, taking just under a second to extend its lens and prepare for shooting. Autofocus speeds were good, but not spectacular. At wide-angle, it took the camera between 0.3 - 0.6 seconds to lock focus. The SD1300 focuses pretty well in low light, with focus times hovering around the one second mark.
Overall, the Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS Digital ELPH is a very good entry-level digital camera. It doesn't go overboard with gimmicks, instead concentrating on the basics: a solid design, responsive performance and, of course, good photo quality.
The retail package contains the following items:
The
12.1 effective Megapixel PowerShot SD1300, NB-6L lithium-ion battery, Battery
charger, Wrist strap, USB cable, A/V cable, CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital
Camera Solution, 35 page basic manual (printed) + full manual (on CD-ROM).
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