News

• The Good: The 7.1 megapixels capture incredible resolutions for a compact camera. "My Colour" feature makes for some interesting and unusual photos. Video recording and night modes are quite good.
• The Bad: Noticeable shutter delay when shooting. Red-eye reduction sometimes falls short.
• The Verdict: Big and crisp photos come in a very small package with the SD500.
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REVIEW:

While carrying Canon's SD500 around with me, I kept having to check my pocket to make sure it was there. Such was the experience of hanging onto a unit that's smaller than a pack of cigarettes, and weighs only a little bit more than one.

The old adage that suggests "good things come in small packages" seems to ring true several times over with Canon's latest ELPH series darling. At 7.1 megapixels, the SD500 is creeping up on the kind of quality digital SLRs are boasting. Not only that, but the 4x digital zoom lens also features a 35mm equivalent focal length of up to 37-to-111mm, which makes the camera well-suited for both distant landscape and macro shooting.

Shutter speeds have been beefed up so that you can now shoot as low as 15 to 1/2000th of a second, all of which would be pointless without the much-hyped autofocus system that does its best to achieve a decent level of depth of field.

The larger lens also means a larger built-in flash, which is great since the working range of the flash is as high as five metres at wide angle and three metres at telephoto. The AF-assist lamp, which is on the other side of the lens, acts as the self-timer lamp, as well as a focusing aid in low-level lighting conditions.

On the other side, you have a two-inch LCD screen showcasing 118,000 pixels. A new feature called Night Display brightens the screen considerably so you can see what you want to shoot easily instead of squinting through the viewfinder.

The small size of the SD500 probably has something to do with how the picture modes have been tucked away into the SCN (Special Scenes) mode. Within these confines lie modes for Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets and Night Snapshot.

But that's not all. Using the Manual Setting, you get to utilize the "My Colour" feature, which allows you to shoot photos with only certain colours standing out. For instance, if you set it to red and shoot a bouquet of red roses, the roses will come out red, while the rest of the photo is in grayscale.

It's an interesting concept and one that can lead to some nifty results once you get used to it. Since the SD500 is the first camera from Canon to try this, you shouldn't expect perfection, though. The colours you choose may sometimes come out duller than desired. Even so, you won't be able to ignore the cool effects that can come from this option.

Thanks to the DIGIC II chip, the SD500 sports an impressive continuous shooting mode. As long as you have a fast SD memory card, you can shoot two frames per second up to the card's capacity.

Just make sure you get at least a 512MB card, because the paltry 32MB SD card that comes with the camera is virtually useless. At the highest resolution, it can only fit nine photos.

Shooting action shots brings mixed results, and that has a lot to do with the fact that you can't adjust the shutter speed specifically for that. Part of the problem is the slight lag that follows when you push the shutter. No matter what mode or speed you're using, there's a delay of about 1.3 seconds before the photo is captured. While the SD500 does a great job of "freezing" slower actions with no blurring, there are times where the lag will cause you to capture the wrong moments.

Ultimately, with some practice on timing, the lag issue starts to become less and less of a factor, though it would've been nice if Canon had been able to slash the time.

Red-eye becomes a bit of a problem because it will show up in photos even if you have red-eye reduction turned on. This is a tough one to tackle effectively because of the proximity of the flash and lens on this tiny camera body. So, if you see red-eye, don't be too surprised, but keep in mind that it's easily fixed with photo-editing software.

For its size and scope, the SD500 is an impressive offering from Canon. The picture quality is impeccable with smooth tones and excellent exposures and colour balances. It's compact, easy to use and has some things that are unique ("My Colour" is an example). If you want big photos in a compact unit, the SD500 is a worthy choice.