Canon Powershot SX110 IS Review

Here you can see the new Easy exposure mode. This is a 100% automatic exposure mode. The only thing you can control is the flash, and that is because you have to manually raise it in order to use it.

The AUTO mode allows anyone, regardless of expertise, to use the SX110 like a simple point-n-shoot camera. The camera automatically selects the shutter speed and aperture allowing you to concentrate on framing your subject, not changing camera settings.

In Program mode the camera selects both the shutter speed and aperture like Auto mode, but now you have access to all of the same camera settings as in Av, Tv, and M mode (see FUNCtion and Menu screens below.)

Half-pressing the shutter release with get you an auto focus lock and the shutter speed and aperture values will be displayed.

FUNCtion menu (in P, Tv, Av and M mode).

White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash or Custom
My Colors - Off, Vivid color, Neutral color, Sepia, B&W, Custom (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation)
Flash Compensation - Adjust the output level of the flash +/- 2.0
Metering - Evaluative, Center Weighted Averaging, Spot
Image Size - Large 3456x2592, Medium1 2816x2112,
Medium2 2272x1704, Medium3 1600x1200, Small 640x480, Post card 1600x1200, Wide 3456x1944
Image Quality - Superfine, Fine or Normal JPEG compression

In Tv (Shutter-speed priority) mode the user selects the desired shutter speed and the camera automatically selects the aperture value. If the shutter speed is too fast (or slow), the aperture value will be displayed in red (when the shutter is half-pressed) which tells you to select a different speed. Slow shutter speeds allow for moving objects to "motion blur" and fast shutter speeds will "freeze" fast moving objects.

In Av (Aperture priority) mode the user selects the desired aperture value and the camera automatically selects the appropriate shutter speed. Small apertures (large F-stop number) increase the depth of field (range of focus) whereas large apertures (small F-stop numbers) decreases the depth of field.

In Manual mode the proper exposure value is determined by changing both the shutter speed and the aperture values manually. You can visually see the screen lighten or darken as you change settings and the EV (exposure value) chart along the right hand side will help you achieve the desired exposure.

Record MENU (in P, Tv, Av and M mode).

AF Frame - Center or Face Detect
AF Frame Size - Normal or Small
AF-Point Zoom - On or Off
AF Mode - Continuous or Single auto focus
Digital Zoom - Off, Standard, 1.3x, or 2.2x
Flash Settings - Set Flash Output, Red-eye Correction, Red-eye lamp
Self-timer - 2/10 seconds or Custom
Auto ISO Shift - On or Off
MF-Point Zoom - Magnify focus area during manual focus
Safety MF - On or Off
AF-assist Beam - Enable or disable AF-assist lamp
Review - Post-capture review time, Off, Hold or settable for 2 - 10 seconds
Display Overlay - Control the display of Shooting Info, Grid Lines and Histogram on the LCD or EVF
IS Mode - Image Stabilizer: Off, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning
Set Print/Share button - Choose a custom function to use while in record mode

Movie mode lets you record high-quality motion video with stereo audio 640x480 or 320x240, with a frame rate of 30fps. The maximum length of capture in any mode is limited to 4GB or 1 hour, whichever occurs first. Audio is recorded, therefore the optical zoom may not be used while recording. You may preset the desired focal length before recording begins. You can use the digital zoom while shooting video, just be careful as it will degrade picture quality.

SETUP menu options.

Mute - Off, On: Mutes the speaker
Volume - Speaker level for Start-up, Operation, Self timer, Shutter and Playback
Start-up image On or Off
LCD Brightness - Adjust LCD backlight intensity
Power Saving - Auto Power Down (On, Off) and Display Off (20s, 30s, 1,2,3,10m)
Date/Time - Set the internal clock / calendar
Format - Format the CF device or display space remaining
File Numbering - Continuous or Auto Reset
Create Folder - Create a new folder on demand, or daily, weekly or monthly
Auto Rotate - Orientation sensor (On, Off)
Distance Units - Focus distance in feet or meters
Lens Retract - 0 seconds or 1 minute
Language - Set the menu language
Video System - NTSC or PAL video output
Print Method - Auto or Wide with Canon SELPHY
Reset All - Resets values to their default settings