Index

The Canon SD line is very popular for its small size and solid construction and the PowerShot SD300 is no different. Offering a 4 megapixel output and 3x optical zoom, the SD300 has a lot to offer. On top of the basic still recording modes that we have come to expect from current digicams, the SD300 offers a versatile movie mode that can record at 640x480 at 30 fps. It can even record at 60 fps with a resolution of 320x240. Despite its size, the SD300 features a luxurious 2.0 inch LCD monitor. Also, the SD300 is a unique ultra-compact camera in the sense that it has an AF-assist lamp and optical viewfinder.

Click to enlarge.

In our review of the SD300, we found that it could quite possibly be the best ultra-compact digicam available. Although it carries a heavier price tag than some similar ultra-compact cameras that are a bit bigger, the SD300 puts in a very solid performance in our tests. It is fast from startup to shutter lag. It even has remarkable cycle times with and without use of the flash. We were blown away by its continuous drive mode that is capable of shooting at 2.4 fps until the flash card is full. When it comes to image quality, there are a few minor quibbles, but nothing that detracts from the overall quality. Read our full review of the Canon PowerShot SD300 to see the details and why we love it so much.

Product Sample provided by Newegg.com

Canon SD300 Specifications

Canon SD300
Release Date	September, 2004
Price	~$320
Pixel Count	4.0 Million
Camera Type	Ultra-compact
Highest Resolution	2272x1704
Lower Resolutions	1600x1200, 1024x768, 640x480
Sensor Type	CCD
Sensor Size	1/2.5"
LCD Screen Size	2.0"
Optical Zoom	3x; 35 - 105mm equivalent
Digital Zoom	3.6x
Focus Range	1.0' - Infinity
Macro	W: 1.2 - 19.2"; T: 12 - 19.2"
Aperture Range	f/2.8 - f/4.9
Shutter Speeds	30 - 1/1000th sec.
Auto Focus	Yes
Auto Focus Type	TTL; 9 point AiAF
Manual Focus	No
Lens Thread	None
AF-assist Lamp	Yes
ISO	Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Flash	Built-in
Flash Range	W: 1.6 - 11.5'; T: 1.6 - 6.6'
Flash Compensation	None
Exposure Compensation	+/- 2 stops in 1/3 increments
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
Bracketing	None
Metering	Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot
Color Space	sRGB
Aperture Priority	No
Shutter Speed Priority	Yes (Long exposures)
Manual Exposure	No
Continuous Drive	Yes, 2.4 fps
Self-Timer	Yes, 10, 2 sec.
Storage Method	SD
Storage Included	16MB SD card
Compressed Format	JPG
Uncompressed Format	None
Quality Settings	Superfine, Fine, Normal
Video clips	640x480 or 320x240 (15 or 30 fps, unlimited), 320x240 60 fps up to 1 min.), 160x120 (15 fps, up to 3 min.), w/sound, AVI (M-JPEG)
Battery Type	NB-4L rechargeable
Charger Included	Yes, 90 minutes
PC Interface	USB
TV-out	Yes
Tripod Mount	Yes, metal
Weight (w/out battery or card)	4.59 oz.
Dimensions	86 x 53 x 21mm

Included in the Box

Canon SD300 camera NB-4L rechargeable LI-Ion battery Battery Charger 16MB SD card A/V cable USB cable Wrist strap Instruction manual Software CD with ArcSoft Camera Suite

The Design: Canon SD300

Click images to enlarge.

The front of the SD300 features a 3x optical zoom lens that has a 35mm equivalent range of 35 - 105mm. When the camera is powered on, the built-in lens cover opens and the lens extends. Directly above the lens is the viewfinder window. To the left is the AF-assist lamp, which also acts as the red-eye reduction and self-timer lamp. At the upper-right is the thin, built-in flash with a working range of 1.6' - 11.5' at wide angle and 1.6' - 6.6' at telephoto. Just to the left of the lens is a tiny microphone.

Click to enlarge.

The back of the SD300 features a large 2.0" LCD monitor. Directly above the LCD monitor is the viewfinder. It is nice to see that Canon continues to put an optical viewfinder on their ultra-compact cameras. It offers a great way to save battery power (by disabling the LCD). To the right of the viewfinder are two indicator lamps. The top lamp indicates when the camera is ready to shoot or is writing to the SD card. The bottom lamp indicates macro/infinity mode, AF lock, or focus difficulty. On the right side of the LCD monitor are all the main camera controls. Starting at the top is the Mode Switch, which has three positions: Play, Movie, and Record. Below the Mode Switch is the Menu button and a 4-way controller with a separate "Func./Set" button in the middle. In addition to menu navigation, each direction on the 4-way controller corresponds to specific options. Below the 4-way controller is a Display and Print/Share button. A blue light in the Print/Share button activates when the camera is connected to a printer or computer.

Click to enlarge.

The main power button is located on the top of the camera in the form of an On/Off button. A green lamp will light just below the button to indicate that the power is on. To the right of this is the zoom controller with the shutter button in the middle.

Click images to enlarge.

Located on the bottom of the camera is a sliding hinged door that conceals the battery and SD card. We found this door to be fairly weak as it is made out of plastic. It certainly must be handled with more care than the rest of the body. The SD300 is bundled with an NB-4L Li-ion battery (3.7V 760 mAh) and 90-minute wall charger. To release the battery, you must slide a small clip to the side. The camera also comes with a 16MB SD card, but you will most likely want to upgrade to a larger capacity as the included card will only hold a handful of high resolution images. Directly in line with the lens is a metal tripod mount.

Click images to enlarge.

The right side of the camera features a plastic terminal cover that conceals the USB and A/V connections. You will probably need a fingernail to open this cover as it is flush with the side of the body. Below this terminal cover is the post for the included wrist strap.

Click to enlarge.

There's nothing to see on this side, but some screws holding the metal body together.

Overall, we are very impressed with the design of the SD300. The camera is very small and light at only 4.6 oz. In fact, we forgot frequently that we had it in our pocket while we were walking around. The metal body gives it a solid and robust feel.

Recording Features

In all recording modes, the SD300 records images as JPEG files with quality settings: Superfine, Fine, or Normal. The resolution options are below:

Setting	Resolution (pixels)
Large	2272x1704
Medium1	1600x1200
Medium2	1024x768
Small	640x480
Postcard	1600x1200 (Fine)

By pressing the Func/Set button, the SD300 offers the following recording modes: Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, and Underwater. In Auto mode, the camera restricts your access to the options along the left side of the screen. You are left with the options to adjust image quality and resolution. In Manual mode, you have access to all the options on the left. Below is a table that outlines the available settings:

Function Menu (Manual)
Exposure Compensation	+/- 2 stops in 1/3 stop increments
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
ISO	Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Picture Effect	Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White
Image Quality	Superfine, Fine, Normal
Resolution	L (2272x1704), M1 (1600x1200), M2 (1024x768), S (640x2480), Postcard (1600x1200, Fine)

When selecting the Image Quality and Resolution, the camera will estimate how many pictures will fit on the SD card with the current setting. For example, in Manual mode, the camera indicates that we can hold 246 images at the highest quality and resolution settings on our 512MB PNY SD card.

The Digital Macro mode will use the camera's digital zoom to crop out and magnify the center of the image. Because the digital zoom degrades image quality, we recommend using the regular macro mode, which we'll discuss in a bit. Portrait mode will use a large aperture to create an image where your subject is in focus and the background is blurry. In Night Snapshot mode, the camera uses a slow-sync flash to allow ambient light to illuminate the background while the flash illuminates the subject. With Kids & Pets mode, the camera attempts to use a fast shutter speed to capture moving subjects. In Indoor mode, the camera attempts to take pictures without using the flash in order to capture natural-looking indoor images. Finally, Underwater mode is designed for use with the optional underwater casing (AW-DC30). This accessory goes for approximately $120.

In any still recording mode, a direction on the 4-way controller can be pressed to alter specific settings. The available options will vary depending on which recording mode you have selected. Below is a table that outlines all the different options:

4-Way Controller options
Up	Light Metering (Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot)
Down	Single Image Erase/Continuous Drive/Self-timer
Right	Flash mode (Auto, Auto w/red-eye reduction, On with red-eye reduction, On, Off, Slow-Synchro)
Left	Focus (Macro, Infinity)

With Evaluative metering, the camera measures light from the entire frame to determine the appropriate exposure. When Center-weighted metering is selected, the camera will measure light primarily in the center of the frame. With Spot metering, the camera will use a very small portion of the center of the frame to determine the best exposure. By default, the camera will show a 2-second review of an image immediately after it is taken. During the review, you can delete an image before it is written to the SD card by pressing down on the 4-way controller. In all modes except Auto, the camera can be set to continuous drive mode where it can shoot images up to 2.4 fps. The Self-timer length can be either 2 or 10 seconds; this is specified in the Setup menu. The "On" flash setting forces the camera to use the flash, even if there is already enough ambient light. Many people use this setting in sunlight to fill in shadows on a subject's face when there is strong backlighting. In Macro mode, the camera can focus on objects as close as 1.2" from the lens. When Infinity focus is selected, the camera will fix its focus to infinity for landscape pictures.

Info

No Info.

In any recording mode, the Disp button can be pressed to alter/disable the display. By default, the display will contain the following information: shooting mode, quality, resolution, metering, drive, flash, and number of pictures remaining. When the Disp button is pressed, the display is cleared of all information other than the live image. Another press of the Disp button will turn off the LCD to save battery power.

AiAF On

AiAF Off

With AiAF enabled (via the Setup menu), the SD300 will select one or more focus points automatically when the shutter button is half-pressed. When AiAF is disabled, the camera will always focus on the center point. With AiAF disabled, it is still possible to focus on off-center subjects. To do this, simply half-press the shutter button over your subject. Then, recompose while keeping the shutter button half-pressed. When you have the image framed as you like it, press the shutter button down all the way.

By pressing the Menu button in Manual mode, the SD300 will display 8 options under the Record section of the Menu. The options available will vary depending on the recording mode. Below, we have outlined these options as they appear in Manual mode:

Record Menu (Manual mode)
AiAF	On, Off
Self-timer	10, 2 sec.
AF-assist Beam	On, Off
Digital Zoom	On, Off
Review	Off, 2 - 10 sec.
Date Stamp	Off, Date, Date & Time
Long Shutter	On, Off
Stitch Assist	Left to right, Right to left

AiAF refers the the SD300's auto-focus system. If "On" is selected, the camera will select one or more of the 9 focus points. If "Off" is selected, the camera will always focus on the center focus point. The Self-timer amount simply specifies how long the camera will wait before taking a picture when the self-timer is enabled. The AF-assist beam is a bright red light that helps the camera to focus in low-light scenarios. To use the Date Stamp feature, you must first select Postcard (1600x1200) as the image resolution. To use a long shutter speed, you must first select "On" from the Manual mode menu. Then press the Menu button to exit the menu, press the Func./Set button and select the Exposure Compensation option. Now, press the Menu button and select a shutter speed from the following options: 1", 1"3, 1"6, 2", 2.5", 3.2", 4", 5", 6", 8", 10", 13", 15". The Stitch Assist option helps you to align panorama pictures that can later be "stitched" together using the supplied software.

To switch to movie mode, you must slide the Mode Switch to the movie mode position. Below is a table that outlines the available resolutions and frame rates:

Resolution (Pixels)	Frame rate (FPS)	Maximum Length
640x480	15, 30	No
320x240	15, 30	No
320x240	60	Yes, 1 min.
160x120	15	Yes, 3 min.

The SD300 records video clips with sound as AVI files using the M-JPEG codec. In addition to the options for resolution and frame rate, the SD300 offers the same white balance options and picture effects that are available in the still recording modes. The optical and digital zoom functions are unavailable once the camera has started recording a video clip. In movie mode, the Record menu only offers the self-timer and AF-assist lamp options.

A setup menu is available at all times through the main Menu button. Below, we have outlined the options:

Setup Menu
Mute	On, Off
Volume	Startup, Operation, Self-timer, Shutter, Playback (5 increments each)
LCD Brightness	15 increments
Power Saving	Auto Power Down (On, Off) Display Off (10, 20, 30 sec., 1, 2, 3 min.)
Date/Time	Set
Clock Display	0 - 10, 20, 30 sec., 1, 2, 3 min.
Format	Cancel, OK
File No. Reset	On, Off
Auto Rotate	On, Off
Language	Select
Video System	NTSC, PAL

When "Auto Power Down" is enabled, the LCD monitor will turn off after 1 minute of inactivity (by default). This length of time can be adjusted under the "Display Off" option. The lens will retract and the camera will power down 2 minutes after the display turns off. Interestingly, when the LCD monitor turns off, it can be turned back on by simply rotating the camera to a different orientation. Otherwise, you can just press any button other than On/Off. With the option "File No. Reset" enabled, the camera will reset the file numbering system each time a new SD card is inserted. If "Off" is selected, the camera will continue the file numbering where it left off, even if a new card is inserted.

In addition to the Setup menu, there is a "My Menu" screen where you can select a startup image and operation sounds. Below is a table with the available options:

My Menu
Theme	Off, 1, 2, 3
Start-up Image	Off, 1, 2, 3
Start-up Sound	Off, 1, 2, 3
Operation Sound	Off, 1, 2, 3
Self-timer Sound	Off, 1, 2, 3
Shutter Sound	Off, 1, 2, 3

The Theme options allow you to select themes 1, 2, or 3 that correspond to a specific startup image and operating sounds. Options 1 and 2 of each section are customizable. For example, by selecting "2" as the Start-up Image option, you can press the Disp. button to select your own image. Likewise, you can record or select your own sounds for each of the sound options. These custom settings are saved to the camera's memory, so they are available even after the SD card is formatted.

Playback Features

If the camera is already in a record mode, you can switch to playback mode by sliding the Mode Switch to Play. With the unit off, you can power up the camera in play mode without extending the lens. To browse through images/videos, press left/right on the 4-way controller.

Image thumbnail view

Image regular view

Image magnified

An image can be magnified in 10 increments by pressing the zoom controller towards the telephoto end. While an image is magnified, you can move to different areas of the picture by using the 4-way controller. We found this process to be very smooth and fast. To fit the image back to screen, you can press the Menu button. To view a thumbnail screen with 9 images, press the zoom controller toward the wide end. If you press toward the wide end again, you can scroll through sets of images 9 at a time. To delete a single image, press down on the 4-way controller. A dialog will appear to confirm your decision.

No Info.

Info.

Detailed Info.

By pressing the Disp. button, you can cycle through three different displays. The default display only shows the image with no information to accompany it. By pressing the Disp. button, the following information will appear: file number, number of picture out of total on card, resolution, quality, date, and time. Another press of the Disp. button will add the following information to the display: record mode, exposure compensation, white balance, flash, metering, macro/infinity, and a histogram.

Edit movie screen

After selecting a video clip, the SD300 offers several options. On top of simply playing a clip, you can go through the clip frame by frame or in one of 4 increments of slow motion. The volume can be adjusted at any time by pressing up/down on the 4-way controller. There is even an option to edit a video clip. You can select a new beginning and/or ending and then either save the edited version as a new file or overwrite the original. Another cool feature is that you can view the histogram for every frame in the clip.

By pressing the Menu button, the following options will be displayed:

Play Menu
Protect	Select
Rotate	Select, Rotate
Sound Memo	Record, Play, Delete
Erase All	Cancel, OK
Slide Show	Program: (All images, Show 1 -3), Play Time (Manual, 3 - 10, 15, 30 sec.) Repeat (On, Off)
Print Order	Order (Select)
	Set up: Print Type (Standard, Index, Both), Date (On, Off), File No. (On, Off)
	Reset
Transfer Order	Order (Select), Reset

The Protect option allows you to mark images as protected so that they cannot be erased accidentally. Formatting the SD card, however, will erase all images even if they are protected. With the Sound Memo option, you can record audio clips to go along with your pictures. The audio clips are recorded as WAV files with the same file number as the picture. The maximum recording length is 60 seconds. By selecting images in the Print Order section, you can specify images for printing on a DPOF-compatible printer. You have the option to print an index as well as to stamp the date and/or file number on your pictures. With the Transfer Order option, you can specify which images the camera should transfer when it is connected to a computer. The pictures will be transferred in the order in which they were taken (oldest first).

Battery Performance

Our general method for battery testing is to reset the camera to its default settings and change the recording mode to the highest quality option. Then, we take 5 pictures without the flash and 2 pictures with the flash until the battery is dead. For more information on our battery test, please refer to our Testing Procedures page. For the Pentax Optio S40 and the Nikon Coolpix 4100, we used our pair of NiMH Power2000 2500mAh batteries. For the other cameras, we used the included battery packs. All batteries were fully drained before charging for the test.

Number of shots taken in one battery charge
Casio EX-Z40	1,767
Pentax S40	1,236
Nikon 4100	1,315
Canon SD300	1,028
Olympus Verve	400

The Canon SD300 comes with a NB-4L Li-ion battery pack (3.7V 760 mAh). In our test, it took a very impressive 1,028 frames on a single charge. Although the SD300 does not last as long as some of the competition, you can certainly count on it lasting throughout a day or two of heavy shooting. An extra battery pack can be found for ~$40.

The Timing Tests

* NOTE: For all of our time tests, the camera is reset to its factory default settings and set to record using the highest resolution and quality setting. It is set to record in Auto mode. We also disabled all sounds and "welcome" screens. A PNY 512MB SD card was used.

Before reading our results, please refer to our Testing Procedures page.

Startup Time

The startup time is recorded from the moment that the power button is pushed to the moment that the shutter sounds. The camera is set to record in Auto mode and all startup sounds and images are disabled.

Startup time (seconds)
Canon SD300	1.84
Casio EX-Z40	2.15
Pentax S40	3.63
Olympus Verve	3.76
Nikon 4100	4.02

The SD300 is able to start up and take a picture in just 1.84 seconds. When we enabled the startup sound, the camera slows down very slightly to a 2.0 sec. startup time. Either way, this camera starts up very fast.

Auto-focus and Shutter Lag

To record shutter lag, we perform two tests with the lens at its widest angle setting. For the first test, we pre-focus the lens and measure the amount of time that it takes the camera to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed. The second test measures the time that it takes for the camera to take a picture after we press the shutter button without pre-focusing. Each test is performed 3 times and the results are averaged. We left AiAF enabled for this test. For more information regarding our testing procedures, please refer to our Testing Procedures page.

	With Pre-focus (seconds)	Without Pre-focus (seconds)
Nikon 4100	0.09	0.55
Canon SD300	0.08	0.62
Olympus Verve	0.13	0.64
Pentax S40	0.29	0.78

When we pre-focused the SD300, the shutter lag was a mere 0.08 sec. With a full auto-focus, the camera was able to take a picture after a 0.62 lag, which is on the fast side of average. We didn't notice any significant improvement in focus speed when we disabled AiAF. Overall, we are very impressed with the shutter lag times.

Write Times

We recorded 5 different write times with a PNY 512 MB SD card:

Single Shot - The time that it takes for a single picture to be completely written to the flash card (the time that the "activity light" is on).
Shot To Shot (STS) - The time until the second shot can be taken after the first (shutter to shutter).
Shot To Shot w/Flash - The time that it takes the camera to take two pictures with the flash (from flash to flash).
Shot To Shot w/Buffer Full - The time between the last shot of a burst that fills the buffer to the moment that the shutter sounds again.
Clear Buffer - The time that it takes the camera to clear the buffer after a full burst of pictures is taken.

We performed each test three times and averaged the results. Below are the resolution, quality setting, and average file size used for the tests.

	Resolution (pixels)	Quality setting	Avg. file size (MB)
Canon SD300	2272x1704	Superfine	2.33
Nikon 4100	2288x1712	High	1.34
Olympus Verve	2272x1704	SHQ	2.56
Pentax S40	2304x1728	Superior	2.48

	Single Shot	Shot to Shot	Shot to Shot w/Flash	Shot to Shot w/Buffer Full	Clear Buffer
Canon SD300	*	1.24	5.07	N/A	N/A
Nikon 4100	*	1.90	12.07	3.54	9.99
Olympus Verve	3.08	1.93	11.47	2.85	20.05
Pentax S40	1.26	3.75	12.21	1.58	N/A

* Because these cameras do not have precise activity lights, we were unable to record a Single Shot time.

Although we couldn't measure a Single Shot time accurately for the SD300, it is certainly less than a second. Between shots without the flash, the SD300 takes just 1.24 seconds. When the flash is enabled, the cycle time is a bit slower at 5.07 seconds. As our comparison shows, this is much faster than similar cameras that we have reviewed. In Continuous drive mode, the SD300 is able to shoot images at 2.46 fps at the highest resolution and quality setting. With a fast SD card, you could shoot at this speed until your memory card fills up. With our 512 MB PNY card, at about every 20 frames, the SD300 would slow down very slightly for 2 or 3 frames and then speed back up to 2.46 fps for about 20 more frames. The camera would continue this cycle until the SD card was full. This is a very impressive continuous drive mode for a consumer camera. Because the SD300 is able to clear its images out of the buffer so fast, we were unable to record a "Clear Buffer" time. This is surely one of the fastest ultra compact digicams that we have tested.

Resolving Fine Lines

For our resolution test, we reset the camera to its default settings and then used the highest resolution and quality setting. The camera was then set to +1.0 E.V, manual WB, and ISO 50. For more information, refer to our Testing Procedures page. When reading this chart, the numbers represent lines per picture height (LPH). For example, the number 16 would represent 1,600 LPH. Click on a crop to see the full chart at 100%.

Canon SD300	Nikon 4100	Olympus Verve
+1.0 EV	+1.3 EV	+1.0 EV
Click on images to download.

Canon SD300 VS. Nikon Coolpix 4100

Roll your mouse over the 200% crops below to see the difference between the Canon SD300 and the Nikon Coolpix 4100 resolution charts.

Hold mouse over image.

The SD300 holds up very well in comparison to similar models. In the horizontal crops above, the SD300 is able to resolve lines out to 1,250 LPH, which is just a bit better than both the Nikon Coolpix 4100 and the Olympus Stylus Verve. All three cameras show some moiré near their resolution limits. Again, in the vertical crops, the SD300 has a slight advantage over the other two cameras by resolving fine lines out to 1,250 LPH. Canon has done a good job of not over-processing its images. This results in a smooth and clean resolution chart.

Color Reproduction

* For all of our color tests, we reset the SD300 to its factory default settings. It was then set to record using the highest image quality option. All images are sRGB.

We took a picture of our color chart using each of the following WB settings: Auto, Tungsten, and Manual. Click on a thumbnail below to view a larger image.

Tungsten light

Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB
Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
Reference Chart ("actual colors")

Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB

Under tungsten light, the Auto WB setting produces an expected yellowish cast. It is unfortunate that so many other digicams get this wrong when Kodak seems to get it right. When we set the camera to Tungsten or Manual WB, the colors become very accurate.

Daylight

Auto WB	Daylight WB	Manual WB
Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
Reference Chart ("actual colors")

Auto WB	Daylight WB	Manual WB

Under direct sunlight, the SD300 proves to have very accurate color reproduction with each WB setting.

Studio Shot

In this shot, we tested the camera's ability to reproduce colors in our studio shot using different WB settings under tungsten light.

Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB
Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.

Here, the yellowish cast of the Auto WB system is very evident. Interestingly, the Tungsten WB setting is more accurate than the Manual WB setting. The Manual WB sample shows just a very slight yellowish cast.

Built-in Flash

For the flash test, we set the camera to Auto mode w/Auto flash. The picture was taken from 5 feet away.

Click to enlarge.

With the flash enabled, the Canon SD300 produced very accurate colors with no detectable color cast.

Noise

The noise test consists of pictures of our studio shot taken at increasing ISO levels to show the effect on the image. The pictures were taken after resetting the camera to its factory default settings. The camera is then set to record with the highest quality option with manual WB. Click on a 100% crop below to view the full-size image. All images are sRGB.

ISO 50	Click to enlarge.
ISO 100	Click to enlarge.
ISO 200	Click to enlarge.
ISO 400	Click to enlarge.

At ISO 50 and 100, the SD300 does a very good job of controlling noise and producing clean images. When we set the camera to ISO 200, there is a noticeable increase in noise, but detail remains very high. At ISO 400, however, there is a significant loss of detail and the introduction of some discoloration in shadow areas. Although the images are definitely still usable, you might notice the noise in an 8"x10" print.

General Image Quality

For these pictures, the camera was reset to its factory default setting. Then, it was set to its highest quality recording setting. The pictures were then taken in Auto mode unless stated otherwise. Portrait-style images have been rotated using Irfanview's "lossless operations". Click on a thumbnail to view the full-size image. All images are in sRGB color space.

Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.

In the first sample above, the SD300 proves capable of producing images with excellent detail. We also noticed some blurring near the corners of the frame. Again, in the second sample, we were very impressed with the level of detail. However, we noticed some purple fringing along the top of the building and the branches at the upper-left of the frame. In the third sample, we have highlighted more corner blurring. We found this to be much more common in pictures taken at a wide angle than at the telephoto end of the optical zoom.

Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	(Macro mode, + 0.7 EV) Click to enlarge.

In the first sample above, we have cropped out a portion of the frame that reveals some JPEG artifacts. Although this was not a common problem with the SD300, it does appear in shadow areas such as this. In the second sample, our crop shows significant purple fringing around one of the subjects. We should also point out that corner blurring was not as much of an issue in this picture, since we had the camera at the telephoto end of the zoom. In the final sample, the SD300 proves that it can take some very good macro pictures. To counter the strong backlighting, we applied an exposure compensation of + 0.7 EV. With the ability to focus as close as 1.2", this camera certainly offers a lot of possibilities to the macro photographer.

Overall, we were very impressed with the SD300's image quality. The main issues were purple fringing and softness in the corners. We feel that both of these issues aren't so bad that they would compromise overall image quality. In fact, in an 8"x10" print, they would probably be hard to notice at all.

Long Exposure

(8 seconds, ISO 50) Click to enlarge.

By enabling the "Long Shutter" option in Manual mode, the SD300 can expose images for up to 30 seconds. In our 8-second exposure above, the camera proves capable of capturing a respectable level of detail. We were expecting a less grainy image at ISO 50, but the amount of detail is decent. You can also see some purple fringing around the lights.

Movie Mode

(640x480, 30 fps)
Click to view.

The SD300 offers several resolution and frame rate options in its movie mode. In the sample clip above, the camera proves capable of recording smooth video at 640x480 and 30 fps. The camera even offers a 60 fps mode at 320x240. It is really hard to be disappointed with the movie functionality of the SD300 and we think that most people will be very impressed. It is also refreshing to see that Canon does not limit the videos to a certain length other than the 60 fps and 160x120 modes (1 and 3 min. respectively).

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.