Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Camera Review

September 27, 2009

Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS is an amazing digital ELPH camera offering you ease of use, style and affordability. Those who have just taken up photography as a hobby or are learning the tricks, Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS is the perfect camera to start with. Attractive and compact in built, it is one of the finest models from Canon so far.

Physical Features

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS, being only 3.48 x 2.16 x 0.86 inches in dimensions is actually smaller than a deck of cards and is so tiny that can easily fit in your pocket. It weighs 4.23 ounces that makes it ideal to carry around on your trips and outdoor activities. Available in funky colours; pink, orange, green, blue, light and dark gray, the camera appeals to girls and boys equally. The camera has a pleasant and unique design that suits both casual and formal use.

Display and Viewfinder

SD1200 IS has a large 2.5 inch screen which could have been bigger if the space on top and back of the camera wasn’t wasted on the next-to-useless linked optical viewfinder. The linked optical viewfinder has lost its significance with the passage of time since now photographers prefer the more helpful LCD screen for framing of the shots.

The TFT active matrix, 230000 pixels display screen offers a 16:9 widescreen viewing angle and for the adventurous types who are prone to hit and scratch their screens often, the display comes with a PureColor LCD II protective coating. Though dust and finger prints are still a part and parcel of your outdoor shootings, the screen is highly easy to clean and gives a clear and sharp image playback. The Zoom toggle given can be used to zoom in on the photos during the play back and the display shows the zoomed areas as crisp and clear as a computer screen would.

Optical Zoom and Lens

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS offers an excellent focus with 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and 12x combined zoom that extends your focal length from 35 to 105mm. Supporting a 10.0 megapixel 11.8 inch Zoom lens and a CCD sensor, the camera allows you to shoot casual as well as focused shots with ease while maintaining the quality of the picture.

DIGIC 4 Processor

SD1200 IS possesses a DIGIC 4 Processor that is the reason behind excellent lighting in the still images captured by the camera. The processor recognizes faces in the frame and adjusts the focus and lighting according to the positions assigned to the faces. In high light conditions, the results are fine but in low light situations, the sensor showed difficulty in picking up the faces. Though, one might not consider the image quality as highly exceptional, the performance is still better than most of the cameras have to offer.

Light Sensitivity

SD1200 IS offers a wide range of ISO Settings; ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 which along with the brilliant i-Contrast feature takes care of the light issue. In low light conditions, image noise is a problem especially, above ISO 200, photo quality takes a down side. However, the Intelligent Contrast Correction system (i-Contrast) takes up charge and gives a better picture by illuminating the dark areas in the image without over blowing already lit up areas. The i-Contrast can be applied while capturing the photo or when viewing the shots in the play back mode.

Shooting Modes

For those who are new in the field of photography, SD1200 IS offers a good margin for learning. It has 18 preset shooting modes for different kinds of shooting situations. If you want to capture sea-life through a glass, then apply the Aquarium setting, which produces photos of underwater life without the reflection of the glass. And if you want to take a dip in the water yourself, then feel free to do so as the Underwater mode allow you to take snaps with minimum back scatter and off course in a water proof casing. Other modes include the P or Program mode designed for experienced photographers in which you can set the ISO speed, white balance, and metering according to the situation and the Kids & Pets for prompt focusing and fast image capturing.

Movie Recording

With SD1200, you can record VGA movies at 640 x 480 and QVGA at 320 x 240 resolutions which can be thereafter replayed on a computer or you can simply connect the camera to a television for playback. The camera can record a video of one hour maximum or a clip of 4GB size so this gives you the freedom to shoot continuous videos without worrying about the memory space.

Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS Specifications:

Physical Dimensions: 3.5x 0.9 x 2.2 inches (W x D x H))

Weight: 4.2 oz

Enclosure Color: Dark gray

Color Support: Color

Optical Sensor Type: CCD

Total Pixels: 10,400,000 pixels

Resolution: 10 Megapixels

Light Sensitivity: ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO auto

Digital Zoom: 4x

Lens System:
Lens Manufacturer: Canon
Type: Zoom lens – 6.2 mm – 18.6 mm – F/2.8-4.9
Focal Length: 6.2 mm – 18.6 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera: 35 – 105 mm
Focus Adjustment: Automatic
Auto Focus: TTL contrast detection
Min Focus Range: 11.8 in
Macro Focus Range: 3-50cm
Lens Aperture: F/2.8-4.9
Optical Zoom: 3 x
Lens Construction: 5 group(s) / 6 element(s)
Features: UA lens, Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield

Viewfinder:
Type: Optical – Real-image zoom
Viewfinder Color Support: Color

Display:
Type: LCD display – TFT active matrix – 2.5 in – Color
Display Form: Factor Built-in
Display Format: 230,000 pixels

Special Features:
Shooting Modes: Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs: Snow , Beach , Indoor , Sunset , Foliage , Aquarium , Fireworks , Landscape , Underwater , Kids & pets , Slow shutter , Digital macro , Portrait mode , Night snapshot , High sensitivity
Special Effects: Sepia, Vivid, Black & White
Image Stabilizer: Optical
Image stabilizer feature: Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
Face Detection: Yes
White Balance: Custom , Presets , Automatic
White Balance Presets: Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, and Tungsten light
Digital Video Format: AVI
Still Image Format: JPEG
TV Tuner: None
Video Capture: AVI – 640 x 480, AVI – 320 x 240
Self Timer: Yes
Self Timer Delay: 2 sec, 10 sec
Additional Features: AE lock , FE lock , DPOF support , Direct print , Built-in speaker , Histogram display , Resizing an image , Exif Print support , PictBridge support , In-camera red-eye fix , USB 2.0 compatibility , Digital image rotation , Digital noise reduction , RGB primary color filter , Face Detection Self-timer , Face Detection AF/AE/FE/WB , Motion Detection Technology , Camera orientation detection , I-Contrast (Intelligent Contrast Correction) system

Shutter Speed:
Max Shutter Speed: 1/1500 sec
Min Shutter Speed: 15 sec
Exposure: Metering Spot, Evaluative, Center-weighted
Exposure Modes: Program , Automatic
Exposure Compensation: ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps

Memory / Storage:
Supported Flash Memory: Multimedia Card , SD Memory Card
Floppy Drive: None
Image Storage: Normal, Fine JPEG 3648 x 2736, JPEG 2816 x 2112, JPEG 2272 x 1704, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 3648 x 2048

Camera Flash:
Camera Flash: Built-in flash
Flash Modes: Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Effective Flash Range: 1 ft – 14 ft

Microphone:
Type Microphone: Built-in
Microphone Technology: Electrets condenser
Microphone Operation Mode: Mono

Connections:
Connector Type: 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output
Expansion Slot(s): 1 x SD Memory Card

Software:
Software Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ImageBrowser, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ZoomBrowser EX

System Requirements for PC Connection:
Peripheral Devices: USB port, CD-ROM drive

Power Source:
Power Device Battery charger: External

Battery:
Supported Battery: Canon NB-6L
Supported Battery: 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery (Included)
Manufacturer Warranty: Service & Support 1 year warranty

Environmental Parameters:
Min Operating Temperature: 32 °F
Max Operating Temperature: 104 °F