Canon PowerShot SD20 Birmingham AL

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Originally published at Internet.com

With the addition of an extra million pixels, last year's SD10 becomes this year's SD20. Indeed, without the model name inscribed on the camera, outwardly the SD20 would be indistinguishable from the SD10.

Yet, aside from the change in CCD, there are some subtle differences. For one, the SD20 is available in four colours: red, blue, gray and silver, such as the one presented here. For another, it has a direct print button, as it is PictBridge compatible and can be connected directly to a similarly compatible printer to produce photos without the intermediary of a computer. Power button, and the Shutter release. The Power button is designed to avoid having the camera turned on accidentally, and is not only mounted flush to the body's surface, but needs to be held pressed in for at least a second before it turns on the camera. The shutter release, the larger of the two buttons, is a standard 2-stage release that provides autofocus lock and auto exposure lock simultaneously when pressed and maintained at the halfway point. The Mode Switch serves to choose one of the main modes of the SD20: the Playback mode , the Movie mode , or the Still Image capture mode .

Set to the Movie mode, the SD20 is able to record video clips with sound at any one of three frame sizes: * 640 x 480 pixels: 10 frames per second, maximum 30 seconds. * 320 x 240 pixels: 15 frames per second, maximum 3 minutes. * 160 x 120 pixels: 15 frames per second, maximum 3 minutes.

Auto focus, exposure and white balance are set and fixed at the first frame.

The button is the uppermost of 3 buttons that are clustered around the 4-direction control. In use, not only does the MENU button display the Recording or Playback menu, it also serves to access sub-options of the FUNC. menu (see the Characteristics section of the review for a list of the menu options.)

The 4 directional arrows of the control also have additional uses. Starting with the up and down arrows, when the camera is set to Still Image capture mode, the arrows can be used to control the digital zoom (6.5X) if it is enabled in the Recording menu. The digital zoom of the SD20 is a cropping system that selects a progressively smaller centre area of the full frame as the zoom is increased and then interpolates the cropped section to the image size in use currently. In as such, the SD20's digital zoom lowers the image quality as the interpolation is made from a smaller and smaller portion of the frame. And, to highlight the range of magnification that can still yield an acceptably sharp image when printed out to postcard size, the digital zoom magnification factor is shown in green on the monitor (1.3X, 1.6X, and 2.0X), switching to yellow for the rest of the range (2.5X, 3.1X, 4.1X, 5.1X and 6.5X). Similarly, in Playback the up and down arrows also serve to zoom in —approximately 10X— and out of a photo displayed on the 1.5 inch, 78,000 pixel LCD monitor. In addition, with an image displayed on the screen, the down arrow also serves to call up the Delete sub-menu.

Back in the Still image capture mode, the right arrow of the 4-direction control provides for:

Choosing the Flash Mode: Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Auto, Forced On with Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced Off, Slow Synchro. While the left arrow serves to activate the Self-timer, which can have a delay of either 2 or 10 seconds, as chosen in the Rec. menu; or the Continuous Shooting mode which is able to capture 0.9 frames per second (Fine/Large).
The last two external buttons of the SD20 are aligned below the 4-direction control. Starting on the left, the first button:


calls up the Function menu which serves to select the most commonly changed photographic settings such as shooting mode, sensitivity, exposure compensation etc. (See the Characteristics section of the review for an overview of the settings contained in the Function menu.) In addition, as with some other recent Canon cameras, if the FUNC. button is pressed and held for more than a couple of seconds while the camera is on, it displays a clock for a length of time that can be set from 0 seconds to 3 minutes in the setup menu. The clock display is connected to the camera's orientation sensor and any movement causes the display to change colour.

Finally, the button on the right is new with the SD20: Called the Print/Share button, it serves to transfer pre-selected images automatically when the camera is connected to a Windows computer running the software Canon supplies with the SD20. Moreover, the button also serves to select print options and start the printing process once the camera has been connected directly to a printer that supports PictBridge, Direct Print, or Bubble Jet direct. With a relatively high price tag for a camera that lacks a zoom, the PowerShot SD20 cannot be considered entry-level. It offers a 5-megapixel resolution and an ultra compact size, features that make it attractive to those that want a high resolution image in a package that can be carried easily.