Rs.16,995 from Canon India Pvt. Ltd.

Pros

• Good resolution
• Clean and detailed image output at all zoom settings
• Very efficient image stabilization
• Fast, reliable focus (except in low light at longer focal lengths)
• Reliable exposure
• Good white balance and accurate color (in daylight)
• Clear and understandable menu
• Well designed and intuitive control layout
• Comprehensive feature set
• Good range of in-camera tonal and color adjustments
• Big, fairly bright screen
• Good balance of noise reduction and detail retention at higher ISO settings
• Good movie quality
• Useful zoom range (although no real wide angle)
• Good value for money
• Good flash exposure and color accuracy

Cons

• Noise and noise reduction artefacts showing in fine texture even at low ISO
• Very slow flash recycling (especially when batteries are weak)
• Images a bit soft viewed at 100% - benefit from a little sharpening
• ISO 800 and above only suitable for emergency use
• Battery life not brilliant (it’s useful to always carry a spare set of batteries)
• Occasional highlight clipping
• Some purple fringing
• No real wide-angle

Overall

The SX100 IS is not ugly, but it certainly won’t turn any heads either, it has a fairly good spec and feature set but nothing that we haven’t seen somewhere else before. ‘Solid’ is probably the best way to describe the performance of this latest addition to the Canon PowerShot range. The SX100 IS performs well in (almost) all areas but there is hardly anything exceptional about it.

Canon describes the SX100 IS as a camera for all members of the family in its press material and although this is some of the most overused marketing blurb you could possibly come across, there is some truth in it. The SX100 IS’ well designed user interface makes it easy to find your way around the camera in a relatively short space of time. The long zoom range of the lens makes the SX100 IS a viable camera for a number of photographic applications, rather than a specialist tool that excels in one particular field. Relatively little distortion at its widest setting means the SX100 IS works well for landscape shots (although the lens could be a little wider) and at 360mm equivalent focal length at the long end of the zoom you can get up close to your kids on the soccer pitch (although the AF might struggle to keep up with them if they’re fast runners).

There is no need to discuss image quality in too much detail. Again, it is very ’solid’ without being exceptional. Under the usual circumstances (high contrast, brightness) there is some evidence of fringing and in lighting conditions other than bright sunlight noise reduction artefacts are visible in dark parts of the image even at base ISO. Users of the SX100 IS will also inevitably experience some of the highlight clipping that is typical for compact cameras with small sensors. None of these issues are deal-breakers though and it is very unlikely they will have any negative impact on your prints unless you print at sizes larger than A4.

Face Detection is a feature that we have not mentioned a great deal in this review. The reason for that is quite simple. Although Face Detection is the must-have accessory of the season, I am still not certain what it is good for. It works well on the SX100 IS in so far as it detects faces (in record and review mode) as long as they are looking straight at the camera and do not wear any hats or other headgear. The ‘Face Selector’ button even lets you chose between faces and assign ‘main face’ status to one of them. However, the difference in image output, compared to focusing on a face using Center AF, is fairly marginal.

The only two points that merit some real criticism have been inherited from Canon’s A-Series to which the SX100 IS is closely related. Flash recycling times are frankly a nuisance. It takes too long for the flash to recharge when batteries are new to start with but it gets even worse when battery power is low. In your typical ’social’ shooting situation it can be fairly embarrassing (and frustrating) having to wait the best part of 10 seconds for the flash to get ready while your subjects are waiting. We found the battery life in general quite disappointing. Always make sure to carry plenty of spare batteries, otherwise you might find yourself stranded ‘powerless’ and missing out on all those photo opportunities.

The SX100 IS is Canon’s first stab at the ‘budget’ big zoom segment and the engineers have clearly done their homework. The camera delivers good image quality in a compact and solid packaging. The SX100 IS’ performance is agile in all shooting situations, thanks to the latest generation of the Canon DIGIC III imaging processor, and the inclusion of comprehensive manual controls and the very efficient image stabilization plus the large clear screen make the SX100 IS a fine photographic tool not only for beginners but also the more advanced photographer with budget constraints.

The most obvious comparison is with the similarly priced Panasonic TZ3, which is smaller, has a much more versatile 28-280mm zoom range and a bigger screen, but which can’t quite match the SX100’s image quality, particularly at higher ISO settings.

In conclusion, the SX100 IS offers reliable image quality, a big zoom range and a good variety of photographic controls in a relatively compact body at a very competitive price. If you don’t mind the slow flash recycling times (which somewhat limit the camera’s use as a social snapshot tool) the SX100 IS is a perfect piece of equipment for anyone wanting to cover a large variety of photographic situations without breaking the bank or carrying a backpack full of lenses. It offers a well balanced package, value for money and is simply fun to use.

Conclusion - Pros

• Superb resolution, good per-pixel sharpness (especially in raw files)
• Good tonal response and dynamic range
• Trademark Canon CMOS noise free images, remain detailed even at high sensitivities
• Optional high ISO NR removes all chroma noise
• Viewfinder bigger and brighter than predecessors
• New features (live view, spot metering, MyMenu, Highlight Tone Priority, 14-bit raw) lift it above the typical ‘entry level’ and move closer to 40D territory
• Improved continuous shooting, 3.5 fps and better buffering
• Feels very fast and responsive in use
• Good battery life
• Compact, sharp stabilized kit lens (though it can’t match the sensor’s superb resolving capabilities)
• ISO indication in viewfinder (finally!)
• Lots of external controls including new ISO button give instant access to commonly changed functions
• Contrast-detect focus in live view (though see cons, below)
• Bright, clear 3.0-inch screen and clear, logical menu system

Canon EOS 450D review

Conclusion - Cons

• Average automatic white balance performance, still very poor under incandescent light
• Limited exposure compensation range (+/- 2.0 EV)
• Contrast detect AF so slow it’s useless for most types of photography
• Metering has tendency to overexpose in very bright, contrasty conditions
• Default JPEG output may be a little ‘over processed’ for some tastes (raw far more flexible)
• Flash must be up for AF assist lamp (although AF is good even in low light)
• Automatic AF point selection unpredictable (use center AF, it’s safer)
• Occasional total focus failures (in our case only 5 or 6 shots in almost 2000)
• New Auto Lighting Optimizer doesn’t really seem to do anything
• No mass storage USB support
• A little pricey

Canon EOS 450D review

Overall conclusion

The EOS 450D represents Canon’s response to the increasingly crowded and competitive nature of the entry-level DSLR market. Where the original ‘people’s DLSR’, the EOS 300D, owed at least some of its success to the simple paucity of competitors, the market in 2008 is a very different place indeed, and one that’s seen Nikon (with the D40/D40x/D60) carve a sizeable slice of the action, and where Olympus, Sony and Pentax have strong offerings at price points unthinkable just couple of years ago.

It would appear that Canon decided the best way to avoid getting caught up in the melee was to aim just a little higher, giving the EOS 450D as much of a feature boost as it could without it treading on the 40D’s toes. So although some of the upgrades are an entirely predictable box-ticking exercise (bigger screen, live view etc), there are some pleasant surprises too. The new sensor is superb, and from a resolution point of view puts the EOS 40D to shame without losing any of the high ISO performance that has been Canon’s trump card for so long. Canon was never going to take any risks with its biggest breadwinner, and we feel the EOS 450D is a significant, albeit incremental step in the right direction. We’re certainly happy to see the improved buffering, spot metering and ISO button / viewfinder display, as well as the improvement in the viewfinder itself.

These performance improvements (not just in continuous shooting but across the board) and new features make the EOS 450D feel a lot less intentionally crippled than any of its predecessors, and put some clear blue water between it and cameras such as Nikon’s D60 or Olympus’s E-420 (with a small price premium to match). In fact you can’t help thinking that there is now a space at the bottom of the EOS range for a true ‘entry-level’ model, something the internet’s rumor mongers haven’t failed to notice either.

The EOS 450D feels like a mature product, it is capable of superb results (even if it’s actually now good enough to reveal the limitations of the cheaper EF-S lenses) and it has a feature set that offers an excellent balance between beginner-friendly ease of use and the manual control / customization demanded by those wanting something a little more serious. The new stabilized 18-55mm lens is a distinct improvement on some of Canon’s earlier kit zooms and the fact it only adds $100 to the body price is a real bonus. That said, you really need to be using primes and pro-level zoom lenses to really see what the sensor is capable of.

Of course no camera is perfect and the EOS 450D isn’t without its annoying foibles and weaknesses; the default JPEG output is very punchy but it’s a bit ‘over cooked’ for my taste (too bright and contrasty) and I found myself using RAW even more often than normal. The metering occasionally gets it wrong and I’d recommend turning off the auto focus point selection as it can get jumpy and produce unpredictable results (if the focus is wrong the metering, which is linked to the AF point, gets it wrong too). But the overall hit rate is very high, and virtually all the things we found to complain about can be dealt with easily if you know your way around a camera, or by shooting RAW if you don’t like Canon’s processing.

We’re still not keen on the handling (the small grip means it doesn’t sit as comfortably in the hand as, for example, the Nikon D60 or Olympus E-520) and we’d love to see a second control wheel - and like most current SLRs the live view feature is of limited use outside the studio - but we’ve moved far from ‘deal breaking’ territory here.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Canon at the sales counter is that the EOS 450D costs too much to compete with the real entry-level DSLRs and and - on paper at least - cameras such as the Sony Alpha 350 that offer a lot more bang for your buck. But compared to many of its competitors the EOS 450D just feels like a more ’sorted’ camera; in the half decade since the original ‘Rebel’ the line has matured to the point where we have to dig pretty deep to find anything serious to complain about.

Canon may no longer be the automatic choice for the entry-level SLR user, and I possibly wouldn’t recommend it over a Nikon D60 or Olympus E-420 for absolute beginners or anyone wanting ‘point and shoot’ access to well optimized JPEG output. But if you want to move to the next level of image quality and performance, and are prepared to take control of parameters (and ideally shoot raw) to get the best possible results, the EOS 450D is an easy recommendation.