Canon PowerShot SD300: The Best Ultra-Compact in its Class?
by Stephen Caston on February 23, 2005 4:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Final Words
There isn't a lot to dislike about the Canon SD300. It is an ultra-compact camera with a sleek metal body offering 4 megapixel images. In our tests, it proved to be exceptional in almost every respect. From startup to cycle times, the SD300 feels very responsive and outperforms similar cameras that we have tested. We were also very impressed to see such an amazing continuous drive mode on a camera of this class. The camera proved to have a very respectable shutter lag performance and battery life. When it comes to image quality, there is no question that the SD300 can resolve an impressive amount of detail. The only major drawbacks that we discovered were corner softness in wide angle shots and frequent purple fringing. Although it was rare, we also found some JPEG artifacts in images with significant shadow detail. Despite these image quality issues, the SD300 is certainly very capable of some outstanding 8"x10" prints. Another thing that we like about the SD300 was its AF-assist lamp, which allows the camera to focus when there is virtually no light. Also, the movie mode is very impressive, offering unlimited recording at 640x480 at 30 fps. The only thing to complain about regarding movie functionality is that the optical zoom is unavailable during recording.Anyone in the market for an ultra-compact camera with a metal body and fast performance should think twice before passing up the SD300. At the ~$300 price point, this camera outperforms all other similar cameras that we have reviewed. It offers a real bang for your buck and even has an optical viewfinder (something that is missing on many new ultra-compacts). We are eagerly awaiting the release of the 5 megapixel PowerShot SD400 and we will certainly bring you a review to see how the image quality stands up to the competition.
| Pros | Cons |
| - Very fast startup time - Decent shutter lag time - Good resolution - Very impressive cycle times - Continuous mode can shoot forever at 2.46 fps - Incredible movie mode - AF-assist lamp - Optical viewfinder |
- Yellowish cast with Auto WB under tungsten light - SPurple fringing - Corner blurring (esp. at wide angle) - Delicate plastic battery door |
Thanks again to Newegg.com for loaning us the Canon SD300 for review.
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Fricardo - Saturday, July 16, 2005 - link
"We are eagerly awaiting the release of the 5 megapixel PowerShot SD400 and we will certainly bring you a review"Sooo, the SD400 is out. And still no review?
brownba - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
i love my sd300i've read about the lcd being fragile...
but that's just the 2% of disgruntled owners being loud, while teh 98% of happy owners are out taking great pictures
zoomsix - Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - link
Buyers Beware: the sd300 lcd breaks VERY EASY. Take special care when handling as even the slightest impact can break it, and canon WILL NOT replace it free of charge.IMO, this is reason enough not to buy the camera. The simple fact that it can break from something as simple as being in your pocket is screaming flawed design.
You won't see this in any reviews because reviewers only test the product... they don't actually have extended experience with it.
If you don't believe me, just search around.
You have been warned.
Cameraman - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
Yet another flippin' awesome review, man! I can't even imagine buying a digital camera at this point without reading what you have to say about it. Thanks for all of the hard work, dude!Bookie - Monday, February 28, 2005 - link
I just got this camera last week to compliment my Dimage A1 and I've very impressed. The movie quality rocks. The pictures aren't quite as clear as my Dimage, but that's where the $400 price different comes in. I paid just over $300 for this camera. I really wanted to wait for next month to get either ther sd500 or sd600, but since I'm headed on a cruise next week I couldn't wait any longer, though I may ebay this after the trip and get one of the new ones depending on their street price. I also found replacement batteries (generic) for $12 online and picked up a couple of those.I did comparisons of this camera with the eLixims. Even though I could get the 5mp casio for the same price, it just didn't do as much as well as this camera. I also couldn't stand that they had to have that docking station to charge.
Brunnis - Saturday, February 26, 2005 - link
Okay, I think I've decided now. I'm buying the IXUS 40 (as it's apparently called here), along with a fast 1GB SD card and Canon's own camera bag. Should be really neat to have this camera the coming summer. :) I've read more reviews of it and they're all agreeing with this one!drwho9437 - Friday, February 25, 2005 - link
#21 they did I believe add a digital zoom in the SD500 but not an optical one. Though since the image is so small compaired to the sensor resolution it will probably work well. The auto focus system is designed to continously focus.stephencaston - Friday, February 25, 2005 - link
#22, yep IXUS 40 for the SD300 and IXUS 30 for the SD200.Brunnis - Friday, February 25, 2005 - link
This is pretty much what I've been looking for! I'm just wondering what the exact name is in europe. Would this be the Digital IXUS 40 (not 400!)?Jedi2155 - Friday, February 25, 2005 - link
I have a SD300 and I also use a Lexar 32x 1 GB on it. I've tried taken a movie sample with a full battery charge had it go till I filled the card to capacity. Thats about 8 minutes and 45(50 maybe) using a empty card @ 640x480 30 FPS. After that, I still managed to get a weeks worth of shots (about 10-20 a day) with a few more videos on the battery charge. Needless to say, I am impressed and decided to against buying a spare.I am irked about the inability to zoom in the movie mode but I heard they fixed that in the upcoming SD500......