Canon PowerShot Digital Elph SD1100 IS / IXUS 80 IS Camera

Canon has today announced the Powershot SD1100 IS (will be known as the IXUS 80 IS in Europe). The Powershot SD1100 IS is an update to the popular Canon Digital Elph SD1000, and incorporates 8.0 megapixels of resolution, a 3x zoom with optical Image Stabilizer and a 2.5” high resolution PureColor LCD II. The camera features a compact, curved metal bodied design that will be available in four colour variations (Classic Silver, Candy Pink, Chocolate, Caramel).

The Canon SD1100 IS also features a number of updated and new Canon technologies, including: improved AF Face Recognition, new Face Detection and Motion Detection, and Automatic Red Eye Correction among others. See the Digital Elph SD1100 IS major features and improvements below.

A Sharp Zoom Lens with Image Stabilization

Adding to the new camera's versatility and optical excellence is its sharp and fast 3X optical zoom lens (38-114mm equivalent opening up to f/2.8 at wide-angle settings and f/4.9 at telephoto settings). The PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH camera also features Canon’s advanced Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) system that significantly reduces the image-blurring effects of camera shake by shifting the lens to compensate for the movement. Available for the first time in an entry level Digital ELPH, Canon’s OIS technology is proven effective for extended telephoto shots as well as low-light shooting conditions and helps users get the best possible picture quality every time.

Genuine Face Detection Technology

Beyond their appeal on the social scene, the PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH cameras feature the latest and most advanced generation of Canon’s Genuine Face Detection technology, thus ensuring that up to nine forward looking faces in the frame – whether posed for a family portrait, candidly capturing friends and fun, or spontaneously snapping a toddler’s expression of triumphant glee as two halting steps – are in focus and properly exposed, with or without flash. In addition to focus and exposure control, the SD1100 IS camera’s Face Detection feature captures truer, more accurately lit skin tones (and hence more beautifully rendered pictures) thanks to Canon’s improved face detection white balance.

Face Selection and Motion Detection Technology

While the face detection algorithm automatically prioritizes up to nine human faces in a scene, it can also be instructed via the Face Select and Track function to lock on to a single face in the crowd, ensuring that the chosen countenance is finely focused, no matter where it appears in the frame. Additionally, a new Motion Detection function linked to the camera’s High ISO Auto mode improves image clarity by raising ISO speeds (and shutter speeds) for fast-moving subjects or lowering ISO speeds to reduce noise when the subject is stationary. These automatic advances provide even more ways for the PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH cameras to optimize picture quality with seamless ease.

Canon DIGIC III Image Processing Technology

The “brain” in every new Canon digital camera is Canon’s proprietary DIGIC III imaging processor. This exclusive chip is responsible for the cameras’ higher performance levels including faster start up, faster autofocus and quicker shutter response times that leave long lag competitors far behind. What’s more, DIGIC III improves both the image quality and the cameras’ power consumption, extending the battery life under typical shooting conditions.

See and be Scene

The PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH camera offers users a choice of 18 shooting modes including a fully automatic mode that makes these cameras a true point-and-shoot affair; a semi-automatic “Camera M” mode which allows access to features such as Exposure Compensation and White Balance adjustments that Full Auto mode does not, as well as a plethora of scene selection modes – including Canon’s new Sunset mode -- that optimize image results under a variety of shooting conditions.

These scene modes put the power of Canon’s collective photo expertise into the hands of even the most rookie shooter, ensuring that in the end, the shots are the best that they can be, whether indoors or out; in day or night light (and now, with the Sunset setting, in between too); through an aquarium glass; across stark snowy vistas or bleached sandy beaches; into lush, colourful foliage or at a brilliant burst of fireworks against a black satin sky.

The PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH cameras feature Canon’s precise 9-point Autofocus system along with the new AF-Point Zoom feature that work together with Face Detection Technology to allow users to double check the facial expressions of their subjects, when shooting under more challenging conditions. After activating the feature in the camera’s menu, the AF-Point Zoom can be engaged simply by pressing the shutter button halfway.

Streamlining the image review process, Canon’s Intelligent Orientation Sensor determines whether a scene is being shot as a vertical or horizontal image and automatically adjusts it for quick and easy review on the camera’s bright, sharp and easy to read, 230,000 pixel 2.5 inch Pure Color LCD II screen.

The Image Inspection Tool feature zooms in on faces automatically during playback to make it even easier to check facial expressions. The new cameras also feature Canon’s newly-developed Automatic Red Eye Correction that engages in the shooting mode, minimizing the need for correction before printing or sharing images. In-Camera Trimming is yet another new advancement that allows users to adjust and save cropped versions of their images without using a computer.

As an added convenience, the PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH is compatible with MMC, MMC+ and HC MMC+ memory cards as well as standard Secure Digital (SD) and SDHC memory cards.

In the Box

Scheduled to be in stores beginning in March 2008, the five colour versions of the PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH camera kit each include a battery pack and charger, a 32MB SD Memory card, a USB interface cable, an AV cable, a wrist strap, and Canon's software suite. Each kit carries an estimated selling price of $279.99* Canadian.

Optional accessories include a waterproof case (up to 130 feet), a wireless flash unit, an AC Adapter, and a line of Canon compact photo printers.