- 16.1 effective megapixel, 1/2.3-inch high-sensitivity CMOS sensor
- 3-inch TFT PureColor system LCD with wide-viewing angle
- DIGIC 5 Image Processor
- Full 1080p HD video with stereo sound and dedicated movie button
- 24mm wide-angle lens (5x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and 20x combined zoom) with optical image stabilizer
- 5x Optical Zoom 24mm Wide-Angle lens with Optical Image Stabilizer
- Canon's HS SYSTEM with a 16.1 MP CMOS Sensor with DIGIC 5 Image Processor (up to 3200 ISO)
- 3.0-inch PureColor System LCD
- Smart AUTO with 58 predefined shooting scenarios and the new Face ID function
- Full 1080p HD Video in Stereo Sound with a dedicated Movie Button and HDMI Output for HDTV viewing
First off, I did many comparisons to other Canons recently released. This camera has all of the features of the 320HS except for the WiFi and the touch screen. This camera is identical except for those two features. And at the time of this purchase, those features were $30 more on that camera. But I also considered that the possibility of hardware failures increases the more features you add. Also, I didn't want to "miss a moment" waiting for the lag of a touch screen. I wanted to be able to push a button and have the picture snap. I also hate giving the camera to someone to snap a group photo and them not knowing where to touch on the screen. The traditional shutter button was a plus in my book.
As for other features, I did a side by side comparison of the 520HS, 320HS, 310HS and 530HS. I opted for a higher resolution and a lower optical zoom because but with the Digic5 processor because, for casual photos, 5x optical should be sufficient. If I want to get a higher resolution with a greater optical zoom, I will just upgrade to a DSLR camera.
I've also owned Canon's for many years and I was happy with previous versions. With the 110HS I took a couple hundred shots on a recent vacation and several videos in HD. The videos came out great with good sound quality for a point and shoot. And the photos were exceptional for the price point.
Personally I also like the auto focus features and the fact that it seems to calculate exposures and makes adjustments when I don't have the flash on. I did find that turning the flash off gives a much more natural look and with it on my photo subjects seemed to run "hot" so I opted to have it off except in low light situations. The button configuration to toggle the flash on and off is both ergonomic and intuitive.
Additionally, the menus are standard Canon-type, so if you are used to them, you will enjoy a familiar interface. If you are not used to Canon cameras, it won't take long to learn.
Also, the quality of the hardware is good overall, but it does have a sort of plastic-ish feel. Not bad, as it keeps it lightweight, but be aware that some may find it chintzy feeling. I, personally, think it feels light and nice. The battery lasted for about 2 days taking a combination of videos and pictures but I always kept it off and in the storage case (for power conservation) when not in use.
Finally, I do have to admit again that I bought the camera at Fry's Electronics in Burbank due to the fact that I was going on vacation the very next day. I bought the SquareTrade warranty direct from SquareTrade, which I felt was a great deal for about $50 bucks for 3 years. It's the same on Amazon's site or going through them but you cannot get the 2 year warranty if you go through SquareTrade directly and it seems you can get 2 years full coverage on Amazon, which I would have preferred.
All in all, this is a quality camera with a reasonable battery life, good quality pictures and videos with an intuitive interface. I give it 5-stars and am very happy with my purchase.
PS: I also got a SDHC 16 gig card, class 10 and it seems to be pretty speedy. I'd recommend getting one of those or larger as this camera does not include storage. Also look at picking up some sort of a case. I bought a CaseLogic case with a plush interior (from K-Mart for $10) and am happy with that as well.In preparing for a trip to a remote area of East Africa, I needed a camera that would fit in my pocket. I have a nice Canon Rebel with all the lenses, but the fear was that if I packed that in my luggage it would be stolen, and it is too bulky to fit in my very limited carry on bag. I purchased the Canon Powershot in the hopes that it would take reasonable pictures. My expectations were that it would not do as well as what I had come to expect with my full size Canon.
The bottom line was that I was blown away with the picture quality and functionality of the camera. I was shocked at the brilliance, contrast and sharpness of the images. I took several thousand pictures on the trip and did not get one bad shot.
Also due to limited space in my carry on bag, I was not able to take a separate video camcorder. I was pleasantly surprised with the video and sound quality from this small unit.
Very rarely have I been as pleased with a product as I am with this one. It gets my enthusiastic recommendation!I originally purchased as a gift the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens with 720p HD Video Recording and 3.0-Inch Touch Panel LCD (RED BUNDLE) which included the red camera, a case, and a memory card.
Instead I ended up purchasing for her the Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS 16.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom 24mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full HD Video Recording (Silver) and returning the A3400.
Having been a Canon fan and owner for many years, since my first Elph, here were my reasons.
The 24mm wide angle zoom combined with 16.1 MP, DIGIC5, 1080P video, image stabilization, and 5x optical zoom, along with a great array of Canon special effects make this an unbeatable package in a Canon PowerShot Elph.
The 3-inch LCD is nice and bright at 461,000 pixels. It is pocket-sized at 3.67 x 2.24 x 0.79 in.
Overall, this camera produces snappy, bright, colorful shots in a surprising variety of lighting conditions, all in a tiny little package. It has fun effects like Toy Camera, Miniature, Sepia, and Black and White.
The Elph 110 HS records video in HD 1080p at 24 fps or 720p at 30 fps.
Who should get it:
* If you like to shoot in low light. (see note below)
* If you want to shoot HD video in 1080p
* If you want a wide angle lens, this one has a 24mm wide angle lens
* If you'd like a Super Slow Motion Movie Mode that records video at high speeds to allow playback in slow motion.
* If you want that "real film" feel this one supports 24p movies
* The Elph 110 HS has a high resolution LCD screen
Battery life:
* Battery life is not the best I've seen this camera is rated by Canon to get 170 shots out of a battery -your experience may vary if you are shooting video. You may want to keep a spare battery on hand.
A note about photos in low light:
At first glance, the images appear to be good in low light. And for MOST purposes, it IS good in low light. But if I zoom in at an image to look at the details, I can see that finer details in the image are missing at higher ISOs. I use Photoshop though, so I zoom in really large on an image. Expect some detail missing if you are shooting in low light at higher ISOs. But for most general purposes, this camera will do fine in low light.
Some other cool features of this camera:
* Color Accent You pick one color to accent in your picture, and leave the rest of the picture in black and white. You pick out the color that is present in your scene before you take the photo. Everything in your photo that is, say, the color red, will show up as red, and everything else will show up as black and white.
* Face ID Detection Allows you to keep track of 12 faces (grouped as babies, children or adults), which you "register" by recording them with the camera. You can then search for photos with these people in them. For parents with babies, if the camera recognizes your baby is smiling, it will take 3 photos in rapid succession instead of a single shot. It has the ability to detect if your toddler is sleeping: if the camera detects this, it will turn off the flash and silence the shutter.
* Super Slow Motion Video Recording great for recording video of sports events. It records at 120fps or 240fps and plays back at 30fps which gives the effect of slow motion. It only records at 640x480 or 320x240.
How it compares to other Canon Elphs:
The Elph 110 HS is very close to the Canon Elph 320 HS, except the Elph 320 HS has a touchscreen, wifi and a larger viewscreen. The Elph 110 HS has a slightly faster high-speed burst mode and is a little lighter.
The Elph 310 HS has an 8x zoom and has better macro. It can shoot at 3.5 fps continuous shooting vs the Elph 110 HS's 2 fps. The Elph 310 HS has DIGIC4 whereas the Elph 110 HS has DIGIC5. The 110 HS has the better 24 mm wide angle lens.
The Elph 520 HS has 10.1 MP, a 12x optical zoom, and a faster 1/4000 shutter speed than the Elph 110 HS. But it has the decreased MP and it doesn't have the wide angle lens of the 110 HS. The Elph 520 HS's aperture is also wider at f3.4, so it doesn't let in as much light.
The Elph 100 HS is slightly cheaper than the Elph 110 HS and has 12.1 MP and DIGIC4, slower shutter speed at 1/1,500, and about half as many dots on the LCD screen; however, its continuous shooting mode is 3.4 fps versus the 110 HS's 2 fps and in high-speed burst mode the Elph 100 HS is 8.2 fps versus 5.8 fps. The 110 HS has the wide angle lens; the 100 does not.
What's in the box:
* PowerShot ELPH 110 HS
* Battery Pack NB-11L
* Battery Charger CB-2LD
* Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM
* "Getting Started" Guide
* USB Interface Cable
* Wrist Strap
What you will need:
* Camera case, such as the Caselogic TBC-302 Ultra Compact Camera Case with Storage
* Memory, such as the Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC10E
* A memory card reader or memory slot
Conclusion:
Overall the Elph 110 HS to me is the best point-and-shoot that Canon offers as of this writing that meets most needs at a reasonable price point. One could also consider, depending on what you are looking for in a camera, the Canon PowerShot ELPH 100 HS Digital Camera with 4X Optical Zoom or the Canon 320 HS. The A3400 is another good value if you can find it on sale, especially the "red bundle" (red camera, case plus memory card) which is currently being offered. Good luck in your quest to find the right camera for your needs.I purchased the Canon ELPH 100 HS camera last year to try out the Canon HS System. I was impressed with the relatively clean-looking images that can be taken in low light, compared to the noticeably noisy images taken with my older cameras. However, when I zoomed in on parts of the images to look at details, the images were soft and lacking the detail I wanted. The ELPH 100 HS also did not have an optical zoom for video only a digital zoom, and only if the still image aspect ratio is set at 4:3. I considered getting the ELPH 300 HS, which had a 24mm wide angle lens and which did have optical zoom for video, but I decided to go for the models with the newer DIGIC 5 processor, which Canon described as follows:
"The Canon HS SYSTEM lets you take bright, clear photos in an even wider range of shooting situations. Beautiful low-light shots are possible with minimal noise and maximum detail in highlight and shadow areas. The system is the result of two technologies brought together in PowerShot cameras: a high-sensitivity imaging sensor, which is able to capture more light; and the DIGIC Image Processor, which actively reduces noise with high-speed image processing. The 16.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor in the PowerShot ELPH 110 HS digital camera incorporates advanced light reception technology that enhances sensitivity. The DIGIC 5 Image Processor provides a major boost in noise reduction, expanding the usable ISO range to an amazing high of ISO 3200. The Canon HS SYSTEM takes the frustration out of low-light shooting, delivering clear, blur-free images."
Based on the representation that the DIGIC 5 processor "provides a major boost in noise reduction," I decided to pre-order the ELPH 110 HS at $249 on Amazon.com. the 310 HS has a longer zoom lens range, but starts at 28mm and did not have the 24mm wider angle that I wanted. The 110 HS is also available in black, whereas the 100 HS and the 310 HS did not have a black model. The 310 HS also has the DIGIC 4 processor, not the newer DIGIC 5 processor that provided the "major boost in noise reduction." Then I read the review by PC Magazine:
"I used Imatest to measure the sharpness of photos captured by the Elph 110 HS, and the results were actually quite good. We consider a sharp image to be one that contains a center-weighted average of 1,800 lines per picture height, and the 110 HS exceeded that--recording 2,189 lines. In this regard the camera ran circles around the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH27 ($229.95, 2.5 stars), a camera that only managed 1,548 lines.
High ISO performance was another matter entirely. We consider a clean image to be one that contains less than 1.5 percent noise. The Elph 110 HS was only able to keep noise under this threshold through ISO 200, a surprisingly low setting. That said, it only registered about 1.6 percent at ISO 400 and ISO 800, so it isn't going to produce terribly grainy photos at higher ISO settings. That's the good news. The bad news is that the camera applies some pretty aggressive noise reduction to hit even these just-ok numbers. Detail is slightly diminished at ISO 400, but you can still make out textures and fine lines in the image. At ISO 800 it's bad, and at ISO 1600 it's pretty terrible--any semblance of texture is gone from your photo by that point. The Canon PowerShot Elph 310 HS does a much better job both in terms of image noise and preservation of detail--it keeps noise under 1.5 percent through ISO 800, while managing to do a great job with image detail through ISO 400. At ISO 800 it's not that bad at all, although at ISO 1600 the 310 HS is also a victim of some heavy-handed noise reduction.
. . . .
The PowerShot Elph 110 HS is a good compact camera, but not a great one. Its lens is sharp, but Canon's decision to cram 16 megapixels onto a tiny sensor results in noisy images at higher ISO settings. The camera attempts to counteract this with noise reduction, but only serves to kill detail in photos at higher ISOs. This won't be a problem on smaller-size screens, but if you want to share your photos on larger LCDs or prints, the lack of texture and detail at higher ISO settings will be noticeable.
Canon also turns out to be its own worst enemy here--if the PowerShot 310 HS wasn't available for a mere $10 more, the 110 HS would be easier to recommend. The 310 HS, which earned our Editors' Choice award for midrange compact cameras, features a nearly identical design and a more impressive 8x zoom lens. It does have fewer megapixels and its lens doesn't provide the extra-wide 24mm field of view of the 110 HS, but when you consider the noise reduction that the 110 HS requires to shoot images at ISO 800 and above, you really aren't losing much in terms of image quality when shooting in anything but bright light."
This review was disappointing apparently, instead of producing a "major boost in noise reduction," the DIGIC 5 processor in the 110 HS was noisier than the DIGIC 4 processor in the 310 HS. Now the question was whether I should cancel my pre-order of the 110 HS. I put off the decision, because the "release date" for the 110 HS was not until March 31, 2012. On March 30, I noticed that the price had dropped by $20, so I decided to cancel my pre-order. But then I saw that my order of the 110 HS at the original price of $249 was labeled as having been shipped, so it was too late to cancel. [UPDATE JUNE 30, 2012 -two months after the release date, the price of the ELPH 110 HS has dropped by $50 or twenty percent -it does make my decision to pre-order the camera and not cancel the pre-order in time look pretty bad -that will be the last time I pre-order from Amazon.com a new Canon camera model. UPDATE AUGUST 5, 2012 -four months after the release date, the price of the black ELPH 110 HS has dropped by another $30 or a total of $80 or thirty-two percent from the original $249 that I paid! If I had known, I would have waited four months to save $80 or thirty-two percent.]
Since receiving the 110 HS on April 2, 2012, I have been using it as my everyday carry camera it is as thin and light as my 100 HS. The images taken in bright daylight look fine to me. The images taken at higher ISOs do look a bit noisy, but they are sharper than the images taken with my 100 HS. When I zoomed in on the images in the camera and on the computer, I could see more detail, even in the images taken indoors. So there still is the trade off between sharpness and noise on the balance, I prefer the additional sharpness that I get with the 110 HS, even though there is more noticeable noise. In addition, the 110 HS provides the wider 24mm angle and provides optical zoom during video.
Unfortunately, the 110 HS is the same as the 100 HS regarding the limitation on the use of digital zoom digital zoom is only available at the 4:3 still image aspect ratio, while I prefer to shoot at the 3:2 still image aspect ratio to match the 4 X 6-inch prints that I usually order. I was surprised to find that the images taken with the digital zoom looked better than the images taken at the maximum optical zoom and cropped on the computer to match the magnification of the digital zoom, so now I set the camera at the 4:3 still image aspect ratio with the digital zoom turned on in case I want to take quick snapshots with the digital zoom. I compared images of a FedEx truck taken through an office opened window with the digital zoom of the 110 HS and with a 70-300mm (at 300mm or the 35mm equivalent of 450mm) lens on a Nikon D5100. The image taken with the D5100 was less noisy and sharper than the image taken with the digital zoom of the 110 HS, but all of the letters and numbers on the side of the truck could be read in the digital zoom image taken with the 110 HS, except the Grumman name plate on the side of the truck, which could be read only in the image taken with the D5100. I was pleased to learn that I could take usable photos with the 110 HS when I am not carrying the DSLR and zoom lens with me.
If you are looking for a thin, light, and not too expensive [UPDATE -especially at the $169.99 price as of Aug. 5, 2012; on Nov. 29, 2012, the prices on Amazon.com range from $129 to $179 depending on the color of the camera] everyday carry camera with reasonable sharpness, with a lens with the 24mm angle of view at the wide end of the zoom, and in the color black, the ELPH 110 HS may suit your needs. I decided to keep the 110 HS, which is my fifth Canon compact camera (but the first one in black). The 110 HS is a good compact camera that is my current everyday carry camera to have handy for quicky snapshots of various things and people, but, as PC Magazine said, it is "not a great one." If images with lower noise are desired, there are other camera models around this price range and size that should be considered and, of course, there are more expensive cameras with bigger sensors that will provide images with lower noise.
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I'd previously had the IS1400, and loved it -so sleek -but it was co-opted by a family member. Figuring this was a sign from the cosmos that I should update for an upcoming trip abroad, I checked out tons of cameras, and almost went with a similar Panasonic that had just come out. In any case, the 110 won out for the simple reason that it boasted not only terrific specs (HD video and a healthy pixel count for photos) and was truly pocketable, but because it did NOT have a touch screen. Many people had commented negatively on the absence of dedicated buttons for accessing menus and prior photos, and I have to agree with them: you don't want to be futzing with a touch-screen just to quickly access a capability that a dedicated button would instantly allow, especially in strong daylight.
The photos and video I took (over 2000 so far) in full daylight have been nothing short of stunning, much better than the already-terrific IS1400. If this is your main use, don't hesitate. Photos in modest lighting were also quite good, due to the new sensor and specialized Low Light setting. Night photos were again better than the last generation, but not nearly so good as a camera designed for that capability (e.g., the S90-95-100 series).
Even though the camera is tiny -you can carry it in your pocket and literally forget it's there -there were a couple of very minor drawbacks. First, it's somewhat boxy in shape; the IS1400 was incredibly slim, with rounded edges. The 110 is very thin, but entirely rectangular, with squared-off corners. Second, the battery lasts for about 200-300 shots. This is sufficient for lots of situations, but not if you cannot recharge it daily, or even more often; I took along a spare (easily obtainable for 1/5 the Canon price from multiple vendors), and am glad I did. Lastly, the screen isn't touch-capable. For that, it seems you'd need to give up the dedicated buttons, which I absolutely didn't want to do. All very minor, as I said.
If you're looking for an idiot-proof, truly pocketable camera that takes first-rate photos and HD video, you won't be disappointed. Just buy an extra battery and try to get as much ambient light on your subjects as possible.
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