Canon PowerShot SX110 IS

I purchased the Canon SX-110 a few days ago and have been very happy with it until I made a video. I made some videos to test the three video quality settings and all three had a noticeable audio whirling sound added to the sound track. I read another reviewer's complaint about this problem with movie sound and his problem sounds similar to mine. My swooshing sound is audiable no matter what other sound level is being recorded, I mean uinless it was drowned out by some extra loud continious sound. This problem may not exist on all production models, or it may exist in different degrees, but it is a disappointment on the camera I bought. Otherwise, the camera is really nice and I particularly like manual settings that allow to to rotate the dial to adjust the aperature and/or shutter speed setting, as you can see the screen change while you're doing it. Not many p&s cams have manual settings and even those that do are not as well designed as this one with instant monitor review of the settings changes as you make them. Overall, it's a good camera and takes decent shots, but I would have really liked to have at least one good video setting with perfect sound quality.

10x optical zoom and reasonably compact, more so that other 10x point & shoot cameras. Manual controls for aperature or speed settings, plus "P" programmed. Instant review of changes to the aperature and/or shutter speed settings. Large 3 inch monitor screen. Telephoto lever well placed and blank area for thumb print to hold the camera.

The main weakness I've seen with the camera I bought is the audible swoohing background sound that is recorded on the video soundtrack. One reviewer said if you want perfect video then get a camcorder, and thats true, but there is also no excuse for putting a moderately priced still camera into production with an audio defect in at least some of the cameras. The fine line between still and movie cameras continues to blur and cameras & camcorders will be judged by how they perform both functions. One may not expect top quality video sound from a $99 digital camera but when you're shelling out $225 - $250 you expect sound quality, especially from Canon. A slight weakness is the quality of the mode dial, not the dial itself, but the gear inside that separates one mode position from another. It just feels weak, slippery, not a positive detent, and like it might last for a year or two and then wear out or break. I've had other Canon cams like the G5 that have a much better quality dial. Not to be nitpicking because this is a camera with a retail price less than half of what a G5 cost new a few yeasr ago.
IT could use a little more control over sharpness. I like my photos extra sharp, not soft. Of course, sharpness can be added later in editing but still it would be nice to get it right and save time fixing the photo later.

I've owned dozens of digital cameras at every quality level over the last twelve years I've been using them. I've owned them from just about every camera company.

I have not had a customer service experience as I just got it a few days ago and will return it to the store after I carefully consider whether the movie audio track problem is a sufficient enough reason to return the unit. If video clips are not that important to you, or if you're just not too concerned about video sound quality, then I can recommend this camera to you as a good solid camera. However, if doing both still photos as well as quality video and sound are what you're after, then you might want to look around at some of the other choices available. In any case, save your sales receipt so you can return it if you find that your particular camera has an objectionable audio problem then you can return it. You may luck out and get one that doesn't have the problem. I'm sure if this problem with mine is affecting many of their production models then Canon will get around to correcting the problem with newer produced cameras. Overall, Canon makes very good cameras from my experience with them and this SX-110 IS is no exception.

I love this camera, it is great. It may not be the best camera for really advanced photographers but for a beginner though expert this would be a great camera. It takes very high quality pictures and it is not all that expensive. This is a wonderful product! I would recommend this to anyone.

Great lens, focus, clear and crisp photos, big screen, easy to see in sunlight, and a lot more.

Annoying light in front when you take a picture.

I can't really comment on the previous reviewer's problem with the sound. Please don't take offense, but if I am looking to shoot high quality movies, I am not going to do it on an inexpensive point and shoot... I use my camcorder for that. I guess if one is using this camera for movies, it may not be the best choice. Anyway.... as far as still pictures (which this camera is really meant for), it excels. Having owned many Canon P&S's through the years, I felt pretty confident that this camera would take satisfactory pictures. One needs to not expect too much when there is a 10x zoom lens. There are sacrifices in optical quality. However I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The quality exceeded my expectations greatly. It takes really good pictures.. really no worse than some 3-4X zoom cameras I have owned. Exposure and color are very good. Sharpness and distortion are pretty well under control for a camera in this class too. Chromatic Ab's are sometimes visible, but nothing heinous. Controls are logically laid out. Low ISO's are great. 400ISO is usable up to 5x7" prints if you expose properly, but starts to suffer from noise issues. If you convert ISO400 to monochrome black and white, it is not as offensive as it mimics grainy black and white film and is quite cool. However at base ISO, noise is not an issue. I feel you should be able to go up to 8x10 or 11x14 without a problem.

If you are expecting SLR quality pictures that look like they were taken with a Canon L series or comparable Nikon lens, it just is not going to happen here...or in ANY point and shoot for that matter. When I want impeccable quality, I get out my SLR. People need to accept the P&S digicam for what it is, a convenient snapshot camera. If one can accept this limitation, I think they will be quite happy with this camera.

Lens, exposure accuracy. Nice control layout. Good color.

Camera would not be harmed if it was a bit smaller. Higher ISO's are noisy (as expected)

Canon G7
Nikon P6000
Many Canon digital Elphs

n/a

I Purchased Nov. 2008. In movie mode, shooting running streams or waterfalls, a continuously chugging, whooshing sound lays on top of the sound of the running water when played back on a computer. It is disturbing. Office Depot replaced the SX110 IS with another. It had the same audio characteristics. A Nikon Coolpix L3, had no audio distortion on similar video shots Just the clean sound of running water. I returned it to Canon 3 times. Twice they referenced repairs to the images. The third time a senior tech told me ,' If I wanted clear audio I should get a professional movie camera. that all Canon digital cameras had the same audio distortion because they concentrated on the photography aspect in their design.
Has anyone else noticed this distortion? You can test it using running water at a sink. Please send feedback on results of test.

Thank you
Don Bradford.

Stills and video were just what I wanted

Distortion in audio in videos is not what I wanted

Canon Coolpix l3..Which I dropped and broke. Which had no distortion in the audio.

Very little feedback without a lot of effort. Then they said they had no way of correcting my problem. That it was just the way their cameras handled the audio. Also that they had no systems in place to replace this model with another or refund my money. I had use of this thing only about 5 days since purchased in November, 2008