"Picky Details" for the Canon PowerShot SD110 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)
Timing
I measure both cycle times and shutter delay times, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Canon PowerShot SD110:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot |
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LCD turns on and lens extends forward. Average to a bit faster than average.
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| Shutdown |
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First time is time to retract lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time, before you can remove the memory card. Lens-retraction is on the fast side of average. Worst-case buffer clear time is fairly typical.
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| Play to Record, first shot |
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Time until first shot is captured. Average.
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| Record to play |
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Time to display a large/fine file after capture. A little slow.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. Slower than average, average runs around 0.8-1.0 seconds. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button. Quite fast.
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| Cycle Time, max/min resolution |
1.95 / |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. In large/fine mode, shoots this fast for 5 shots, then slows to about 4 seconds per shot. The buffer clears in 11 seconds. In TV mode, the buffer never fills and takes only 3 seconds to clear. Average to a bit slower than average these days, but not bad for a compact digicam model. |
| Cycle Time, continuous High mode, max/min resolution | 0.99 / 0.76 (1.02/1.32 fps) | In large/fine mode, shoots this fast for 5 shots, then slows to about 3 seconds per shot. The buffer clears in 13 seconds. In TV mode, the buffer fills very slowly and takes up to 19 seconds to clear. The speed is nothing to write home about, but most compact digicams are on the slow side, so perhaps not so bad in comparison. |
As is the case with most compact digicams, speed isn't the PowerShot SD110's strong suit. It's definitely on the slow side of average in terms of full-autofocus shutter delay, but is quite fast when the camera is prefocused by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the exposure itself. Cycle time isn't too bad at just under two seconds per shot, for the first 5 shots in large/fine mode, and continuous mode shooting is reasonable at just over one frame/second for five frames. Overall, not the first choice for sports, but not horribly slow. (I really would like to see better shutter lag numbers though.)
Power
The Canon SD110 uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery for power. Because it uses a custom AC power connector, I wasn't able to perform my usual direct measurements of the SD110's power consumption. I did test how long it would operate in its worst-case power drain mode (capture mode, with the LCD on), and found that it ran 103 minutes on a freshly-charged battery. While this is pretty good for a compact digicam model, I still highly recommend purchasing a second battery at the same time as the SD110, so you can keep a fully-charged spare on hand during any extended outings.
Storage Capacity
The SD110 stores its photos on Comact Flash memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a
64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended
outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included
16 MB card at each size/quality setting.
| Resolution/Quality 32 MB Memory Card |
Fine | Normal | |
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| 2,048x 1,536 | Images (Avg size) |
9 1.7 MB |
17 941 KB |
33 476 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
6:1 | 10:1 | 20:1 | |
| 1,600 x 1,200 | Images (Avg size) |
15 1.1 MB |
27 593 KB |
51 311 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
5:1 | 10:1 | 19:1 | |
| 1,024 x 768 | Images (Avg size) |
26 607 KB |
46 344 KB |
81 197 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
4:1 | 7:1 |
12:1 |
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Images (Avg size) |
57 278 KB |
88 180 KB |
115 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
3:1 | 5:1 | |
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Download Speed
The Canon PowerShot SD110 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to a Sony desktop running Windows XP. I clocked it at 557 KBytes/second. This is about as fast as cameras with USB v1.1 interfaces get. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)
SD110 Test Images
SD110 Specifications
SD110 "Picky Details"
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