Canon PowerShot SD450 Review

The Canon PowerShot SD450, which was first introduced in August 2005 and is known as the Digital IXUS 55 in Europe, is the most recent model in a long line of ultra-compact ‘ELPH’ or ‘IXUS’ cameras that date back to the early 2000s (and a lot farther back than that in the film camera world).

The Canon PowerShot SD450 is a pretty slight update to the popular Canon PowerShot SD450 (Ixus 50). However, it does have two UA (Ultra-high Refractive Index Glass Molded (GMo) Aspherical lens) elements, which have enabled Canon to make their most miniature cameras to date that boast a 3x zoom.

The new features include a larger 2.5-inch monitor with a wider viewing angle, a direct access ISO button, a nifty orientation sensor that rotates the display of images as you turn the camera around in playback mode, and some fancy playback effects. Other new features include a direct access ISO button and fancy playback effects. The PowerShot SD450 from Canon may be less than the size of a credit card, but the company has nonetheless been able to pack a pretty extensive assortment of capabilities into it;

Canon PowerShot SD450 Design

The SD450 is, except for a few minor stylistic adjustments and somewhat more rounded edges, extremely identical to the SD400, which it succeeded in and includes the same straightforward control arrangement that is well-designed and easy to operate. The body is nearly completely devoid of protrusions, and the sleek, understated appearance of the all-metal body gives off an air of sophistication. Additionally, the quality of construction is exceptional.

Despite its small size, the SD450 is by no means a lightweight camera; with a total weight of around 157 grams (5.5 ounces) when fully loaded, it possesses remarkable stability when held in hand. The bulk of the controls is centered on a circular four-way controller, which can be found on the back of the camera. The back of the camera is dominated by the new, bigger LCD screen that measures 2.5 inches.

This is a simple point-and-shoot camera, and most of the features that most users will want to access regularly have dedicated external buttons. These features include the flash mode, macro/infinity focus, flash mode, metering pattern, drive mode, self-timer, and (new for this model) ISO. In addition, the ‘FUNC’ menu provides access to all other settings, including white balance, image size/quality, etc. This menu has been tried and proven.

Within your grasp

The SD450 is a remarkable piece of photography equipment, even though it is only about the size of a credit card and can be hidden under one.

It is a joy to hold because of the simple squared-off shape and rounded edges, and the weight lends it some stability; a little raised region on the back works as a thumb ‘grip,’ and operation with one hand is not only conceivable but encouraged (though something this sleek, smooth and relatively weighty camera feels a lot safer held with both hands).

Because of the sturdy construction and the camera design, which avoids placing the shutter release button on the very end of the device, I was pleasantly pleased to find that camera shaking wasn’t as big of an issue as I’d imagined it would be.

Body elements

The battery compartment and the SD card slot are merged and may be found behind a hinged door located on the bottom of the camera (the entrance is one of the few bits of plastic on the entire thing).

If yUse LCD, the 3.7v, 76. The 760mAhion battery pack will only give you around 150 shots (the CIPA standard), but if you switch to the optical viewfinder and only use the LCD to check your pictures every once in a while, you should be able to get quickly get almost 500 shots out of a single charge.

A little clip secures the battery in a place where it should be (so there is no chance of it falling out). It is important to note that the card and battery cover cannot be opened when the camera is placed on a tripod if you intend to use the SD450 on a tripod.

A discharged battery may be recharged using the provided battery charger in approximately one hour and ninety minutes. If you prefer to use the LCD rather often (and why wouldn’t you? ), it is highly recommended that you get a second battery for your device.

The battery may be replaced with a mains adapter for the camera, which can be purchased separately. The mains cable can then be fed through a hole under a flap on the entrance to the battery compartment.

The only additional piece of plastic outside the SD450 may be on the right side of the body when viewed from the rear. The AV (audio and video) out ports, and the USB connectors, are hidden by this false chrome ‘flap,’ which is mounted on a plastic hinge. As a result, the display of the SD450 is somewhat lower in resolution than its predecessor, despite its screen size having been from 2 inches to 2.5 inches. Unfortunately, this trend is becoming more widespread (to 115,000 pixels).

In a point-and-shoot camera like this, having a low resolution isn’t the end of the world; having a few extra pixels would make me happier. Aside from that, the screen is bright, performs well even when exposed to a lot of light, and can be viewed clearly from a somewhat broad viewing angOn the other hand, the optical viewfinder is, to put it bluntly, almost entirely worthless; it is tiny, lacks clarity, does not have a dioptre adjustment, and only displays around 82 percent of That said that it’s not any worse than 99 percent of cats that are in its category.

If suppose does choose to use the optical viewfinder, yo. In that case, you will be able to eliminate shutter latency while simultaneously increasing the number of images you can take from a single charge of the battery to over 500. The current focus and flash settings are displayed via two LEDs to the viewfinder’s right.

The built-in flash is underpowered but entirely usable in most social situations. It can reach up to 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) at the most comprehensive end of the zoom and 6.6 feet (2.0 meters) at the furthest end of the zoom (auto ISO).

An add-on slave flash unit called the HF-DC1 is available from Canon. This item extends the flash range to around 30 feet and connects to the camera via a bracket.

With a maximum aperture that ranges from a beautiful and brilliant F2.8 at the wide end to a less remarkable F4.9 at the long end, the 3x optical zoom covers a practical range comparable to 35-105mm. This range is equivalent to a focal length range of 35-105mm. When the power is turned off, the zoom may be entirely retracted into the device’s body. You can concentrate as near as 30 centimeters while using the regular photography mode, but when you switch to the macro mode, you can reach as close as 3 centimeters when using the broad end of the zoom. On top of the camera, in the middle of the circular zoom lever, is where you’ll find the vast shutter release button. The shutter has a beautiful positive feeling and a noticeable ‘halfway’ point, which ens half wayt you won’t mistakenly shoot a picture while trying to engage the autofocus.

The zoom movement is slightly on the “jumpy” side; there only appear to be six steps from wide to tele, making precise framing difficult. You’ll locate the primary next to the shutter’s release button the shutter. The primary mode switch is located on the back of the camera, precisely below the shutter release button. However, because of the bigger screen, the controller has been shifted to the right and is now vertical.

There is a play position, a movie mode position, and a stills mode position. You can power the camera in play mode. However, the lens will not expand until you switch to the record mode. As a result of incorporating a more substantial display, the primary controls have been relocated to a grouping on the right-hand side of the camera’s back.

Canon has resisted the urge to reduce the number of external controls and relocate functions that are often unsteady.; there, the menu system.s now has a button designated explicitly for the ISO setting, which can be found on most PowerShot models.

The workings and the controls

There is virtually total uniformity in the controls and menus throughout all of Canon’s tiny camera ranges, making it one of the most enjoyable aspects of reviewing a Canon compact camera. Each new generation is an evolution rather than a complete reinvention of the wheel.

And this is not without good cause; the combination of great exterior controls and the ‘FUNC’ menu allows single-screen access to nearly every facet of the camera’s functionality, making understanding a PowerShot straightforward and utilizing it smoothly quite impressive.

This is a straightforward camera, a “point-and-shoot” type that offers extremely little control over the manual settings. What you do get, however, is control over the majority of the critical stages, including metering, flash, ISO, white balance, file size and quality, and so on. What you do not receive, however, is any significant control over the apertures and shutter speeds of the camera, except a small selection of subject modes.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Performance and timing of events

The PowerShot SD450, like most other models in the PowerShot SD line, gives the impression of being very quick and highly responsive in usage, confirmed by our tests. When it comes to starting up, zooming, and navigating, however, when the settings, shooting images, and utilizing the flash, the SD450 operates exceptionally well, it leaves you wanting very little, if any, of it.

Even if Canon is still behind some of its rivals in focus speed, the SD450 is not a terrible camera, mainly if the AiAF option is off. Even at the far end of the zoom range and in settings, however, evocatively low light, there is very little hunting (though focus speed does slow down in such conditions).

When using the optical viewfinder, the shutter lag seems virtually immediate, and the continuous shooting performance is outstanding as long as you use a fast SD card. The performance of the camera when shooting in continuous mode is also excellent.

Timing Notes

The timings are determined by taking the average of three separate procedures. Unless otherwise specified, all durations were done on an image 2592 pixels wide and 1944 pixels high and were saved as a SuperFine JPEG (approx. 2,500 KB per image). A SanDisk Extreme III SD card with 1 gigabyte of storage capacity served as the test medium for these procedures.

Action	Details	Time, secs
Power: Off to Record		1.2
Power: Off to Play	Image displayed	1.1
Power: Record to Off	All activity ceased	2.0
Power: Play to Off	When the buffer is empty	~0.2
Record Review	Image displayed	~0.5
Mode: Record to Play		1.3
Mode: Play to Record	Lens already extended	~1.5
Play: Magnify	To total magnification (10x)	~0.9
Play: Image to Image	No transition effect	~0.25
Play: Image to Image	With transition effect	~0.4
Play: Thumbnail view	3 x 3 thumbnails	~0.4

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele	35 to 105 mm (3 x)	1.3
Half-press Lag (0->S1)	Wide angle	~0.45
Half-press Lag (0->S1)	Telephoto	~0.65
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2)	LCD live view	~0.06
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2)	Viewfinder	~0.05
Full-press Lag (0->S2)	LCD live view, wide angle	~0.45
Off to Shot Taken	LCD live view	~1.8
Shot to Shot	Flash off	1.4
Shot to Shot	Flash on (red eye reduction off)	2.4
Shot to Shot	Flash on (red eye reduction off)	2.9

Continuous mode

The results of our test on continuous shooting are detailed in the following tables. Each table provides information on the actual frame rate, the maximum number of frames that can be captured, and the amount of time that must elapse before the next shot can be taken once the maximum number of frames has been arrested. A SanDisk Extreme III SD card with 1 gigabyte of storage capacity served as the test medium for these procedures. The shutter speed was maintained throughout these experiments at a value greater than 1/200 second.

Continuous drive mode

The SD450 only has a single continuous shooting mode; however, after each frame it captures, it does show a small review image for you to look at. We discovered that the frame rate was somewhat reduced when using lower resolutions (something reasonably familiar).

Image Type	Mode	Avg. frames per sec	Frames in a burst *1	After burst *2
2592 x 1944 JPEG Super Fine	Continuous	2.05 fps	Unlimited	n/a
2592 x 1944 JPEG Fine	Continuous	2.08 fps	Unlimited	n/a
2592 x 1944 JPEG Normal	Continuous	2.05 fps	Unlimited	n/a
2048 x 1536 JPEG Super Fine	Continuous	1.9 fps	Unlimited	n/a
2048 x 1536 JPEG Fine	Continuous	1.9 fps	Unlimited	n/a
1600 x 1200 JPEG Super Fine	Continuous	2.0 fps	Unlimited	n/a
1600 x 1200 JPEG Fine	Continuous	2.0 fps	Unlimited	n/a

There is nothing wrong with this camera; not only does it maintain a suitable two frames per second or so at all file sizes and quality settings, but the buffering is so fast that you can shoot pretty much indefinitely, even at the highest 5MP/Super Fine setting, as long as you have an SD card that is fast enough.

We did measure a slight drop-off in the frame rate after a burst of around 50 shots from time to time, but for all intents and purposes, it is impossible to fill the buffer. This means that you can keep shooting for as long as you have the battery power and card capacity to do so, provided that you do not run out of memory on your memory card. It’s an interesting fact, but this implies that when you’re using the LCD, you can keep your finger on the shutter button and use up the battery in only a few minutes.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Image Quality

A Perfect White Balance

In addition to the camera’s built-in auto white balance setting, the SD450 features five different white balance presets: daylight, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent, and fluorescent H. You may also set the white balance manually by pointing the camera at a white or gray object and using the ‘custom’ white balance setting. This setting is available as an additional white balance option.

Even if you switch the camera off, it will keep the custom white balance setting that you have previously selected. When usually shooting outside, the auto white balance serves its purpose admirably (as confirmed by our studio tests).

Fluorescent illumination doesn’t pose much of an issue indoors, but incandescent (tungsten) lighting produces a relatively strong orange color cast. This is something that we’ve experienced with the majority of Canon PowerShots.

If you want the colors to be more muted, it is best to remain with the preset (or use the one-push custom WB). When we asked Canon about their method of determining the white balance, we were told that the warm colors that appear on the camera’s display when it is being used to capture images in incandescent light are deliberate and are done so to “try to keep some of the warm atmospheres of this kind of shot.”

Canon PowerShot SD450 Performance in a Flash

At the broad end of the zoom range, the built-in flash of the SD450 is said to have a working range of 0.5 meters to 3.5 meters (1.6 feet to 11.5 feet), while at the telephoto end, it has an operating range of 0.5 meters to 2.0 meters (1.6 feet to 6.6 feet). Moreover, in macro mode, it can focus as close as around 30 centimeters (about 12Moreover, inches) (in all cases assuming the ISO is set to auto).

Our experiments using the flash in the real world performed exceptionally well, achieving excellent exposure in various scenarios and producing practically no color cast. Additionally, it is relatively quick, which means that even with the red-eye reduction feature off, you won’t miss any random images waiting for the flash to go off.

As long as you keep in mind the range restrictions of the flash, you will discover that this is the ideal camera for taking “social” snapshots. In addition, we found that the autofocus (AF) illuminator would enable focus in total darkness at distances of up to approximately one meter.

Macro Focus

The macro mode of the SD450 is most effective at the broad end of the zoom, which is typical of most tiny digital cameras. At this end of the zoom range, you can go as near as 3 centimeters, which is remarkably close for an ultra-compact camera.

Even if the performance is less outstanding at the long end of the zoom (with a subject distance of 30 centimeters), it is still rather handy. Of course, when filming extremely close up at the wide end, there will unavoidably be some degree of distortion. Still, it is not overly severe and certainly less powerful than with many of its competitors.

Distortion of the Barrel and the Pincushion

The barrel distortion is minimal for a camera in this class, coming in at around 0.7 percent. However, this certainly does not detract from the quality of real-life scenic images.

No distortion can be measured at the telephoto end of However, this zoom range. At the largest zoom setting, we did observe a very slight degree of vignetting, which is the darkening of the frame’s four corners, but we did not see this in images taken in the real world.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Concerns Regarding the Specific Image’s Quality

Regarding picture quality, an ultra-compact camera like this would inevitably involve some sacrifice on the user’s part.

The issue that has to be to get a genuinely pocket-sized camera pocket-sized is how much of a sacrifice we are willing to make in terms of image quality.

First, the good news: this is a Canon, and it possesses all of the typical Canon hallmarks, including excellent color that is both bright and natural, exact exposure and focus, and an unexpectedly large quantity of detail.

It’s not all flowers, however; the SD450 (like previous SDs before it) exhibits some corner softness at the wide end of the zoom, but it’s not strong enough to be seen in the vast majority of ordinary images, mainly when printed at sizes considered to be “average” (under 5×7 inches).

We observed that corner softness was not as much of an issue with the SD500 as it was with the SD300 that we tested; however, this is more likely to be batch variation than a substantial difference between the two cameras (which we presume to share the same lens). In addition to that, there is the typical issue of purple fringing.

Last but not least, similar to almost every other Canon compact camera we’ve tested, we discovered that using the sophisticated 9-point AiAF system (which makes an educated guess as to where the subject is located in the frame) not only slowed down the focusing process but also led to a significantly greater number of focusing errors than the more straightforward center-focus setting. We found that turning AiAF off was the best option for this evaluation. Therefore we recommend doing the same.

Coloring along the edges

In all of the pictures with highly bright (particularly overexposed) parts, there is a trace amount of fringing that looks like purple or blue, and in some of the images, it is pretty prominent. Canon has to get this sorted up as soon as possible.

Turning out highlights and showing the dynamic range

The SD450, much like every other tiny camera with a small sensor, has specific issues when photographing situations with high contrast and an extended dynamic range.

To Canon’s credit, the exposure system seems to do an excellent job of retaining highlight detail most of the time, and the default contrast is not as high as on some competitor models, which means more fine tonal detail is preserved. Although it is no worse than its competitors (this is more of a sensor issue than anything else), it is still a credit to Canon tSo although do so.

Be aware, however, that there are situations where the contrast between the darkest and brightest sections of an image indicates something hidden in the scene.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Movie mode

It would take a bold manufacturer in this day and age to make even a cheap model without a fundamental movie mode, and the ability to record movies is becoming an increasingly significant component of the purchasing decision for cameras of this sort.

The largest movie size that the SD450 can record is 640 by 480 pixels, which is sufficient to fit most television screens when played back at 30 frames per second. This feature is now standard on cameras of this sort. Additionally, it allows shooting at a lower frame rate and smaller size. For example, the ‘high frame rate mode can record videos with a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels at a rate of 60 frames per second.

The videos have a high overall quality, being extrFor example, they are fluid and display very few (if any) compression artifacts. The only significant issue is that the exposure system occasionally cannot keep up with the quick changes in scene brightness.

The AVI files are enormous; using the highest quality level (640×480 at 30 frames per second), you will need just under 2 MB of storage space per second. Because of this, if you photo a love, you will need to get some large and quick SD cards.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Specifications

Body Material	Metal
Sensor	• 1/2.5″ CCD, 5.3 million total pixels • 5.0 million effective pixels
Image sizes	• 2592 x 1944 • 2048 x 1536 • 1600 x 1200 • 640 x 480
Movie clips	• 640 x 480 pixels @ 30fps or 15fps (clip length limited by card capacity) • 320 x 240 pixels @ 30fps or 15fps (clip length limited by card capacity) • 320 x 240 pixels @ 60fps (max clip 1 minute) • 160 x 120 pixels @ 15fps (max clip 3 minutes) • Motion JPEG (.avi) • Mono sound (.wav)
Lens	• 35 – 105mm equiv. (3x optical zoom) • F2.8 – F4.9 • 4x digital zoom
Focus	• TTL autofocus • 9-point AiAF • 1-point AF (fixed to center) • 3cm macro mode (Wide), 30cm (Tele)
Shooting mode	• Auto • Manual • Digital Macro • Portrait • Night Snapshot • Scene mode (Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater) • My Color (9 Settings) • Stitch Assist • Movie • AE compensation -2.0EV to +2.0 EV in 1/3EV steps
Sensitivity	• Auto • ISO 50,100,200,400
Shutter speed	• 15 – 1/1500 sec • Slow shutter speeds of 1.3 seconds Assistwer operates with noise reduction
White Balance	• Auto • Daylight • Cloudy • Tungsten • Fluorescent • Fluorescent H • Custom
Image parameters	• Vivid • Neutral • Low Sharpening • Sepia • Black & White • My Colors (9 settings)
Continuous	2.1 fps approx
Flash	• Built-in flash • Auto, on, off, slow-synchro, Red-eye reduction: on/off • Range (average, ISO auto): W: 0.5m – 3.5m (1.6 – 11.5 ft) T:0.5m – 2.0m (1.6 – 6.6 ft). • Range (macro, ISO auto): 30 – 50cm (1.0 – 1.6 ft)
Storage	• SD Memory Card • 16MB SD supplied*
Viewfinder	Real Image Optical
LCD monitor	• 2.5″ TFT LCD • 115,000 pixels
Connectivity	• USB 2.0 High Speed • A/V out • DC-in
Power	• Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (NB-4L) • (Optional AC adapter)
In the box*	• Canon PowerShot SD450 Digital ELPH (IXUS 55) • NB-4L battery • Battery charger • Wrist strap • AV cable • Interface cable • 16MB SD card • Software CD ROM (ZoomBrowser, PhotoStitch, PhotoRecord, ArcSoft PhotoSutdio)
Other features	• Spot (center), Center-weighted & Evaluative metering • 2/10 sec self-timer + custom self-timer • PictBridge, Canon Direct Print, and Bubble Jet Direct-compatible • Playback Histogram • Optional Slave Flash (HF-DC1) • Optional 3m All-Weather case (AW-DC50)
Weight (inc batt)	157 g (5.5 oz)
Dimensions	86.,0 x 53.5 x 21.6 mm (3.4 x 2.1 x 0.9 in) Excluding protrusions

Canon PowerShot SD450 Overall conclusion

In a perfect world, purchasing a tiny camera would not require sacrificing. But this is not an ideal world, and if you want a camera that you can carry with you, you have to demand some terms of absolute image quality. On the other hand, if you want a camera you can take with you anytime, anywhere; then you have to accept that there will be some compromise.

The SD450, much like its predecessor, the SD400, So ifs a speedy, user-friendly, and well-equipped camera that can legitimately claim to be pocket-sized. Additionally, it can produce images that, while not perfect, are crisp, clean, and colorful, requiring the user to make the absolute minimum of effort. Because of its compact size and the fact that it is easy to hold and use, you won’t be able to resist taking it with you everywhere you go. This would be more difficult to accomplish with a more substantial camera.

The changes made over the SD400 are primarily aesthetic; nonetheless, it is good to have a larger screen (again, with a camera like this, the poor resolution does not make as big of a difference), and the inclusion of an external ISO adjustment button is beneficial. In addition, the playback slide show effects are pretty neat and give a little bit extra to the experience of using the camera.

On the other hand, the issues that we found when testing the SD400 haven’t been fixed. ThesIn addition, the problems included fringing, edge softness, and poor battery life. Furthermore, I don’t understand why Canon won’t put the shutter speed on the screen all the time rather than just when it’s slow enough to be concerned about the camera shake. Even with the fringing and the occasional soft corner, I was pleasantly pleased by how crisp the photos created by the SD450 were. Of course, there are limitations to what you can anticipate, but I was impressed by how sharp the SD450 produced the images.

In the end, the SD450 more than satisfies expectations in areas critical to the target market, such as exposure, color, focus, speed, and flash performance. These areas include: This is an excellent choice when you don’t want to take a larger camera with you and the perfect pocket camera if you don’t mind not having manual control over the exposure settings. If you can live with that, this is the camera for you.

Now we will discuss the rating. In the roughly one year since the SD400 was released, the ultra-compact market has unavoidably progressed. Features such as image stabilization and high ISO have begun to appear (though it should be noted that the latter is rarely any good), pixel counts have increased, and prices have decreased; therefore, the question arises as to whether or not the little Ixus or Elph can still compete. It is a bit better than the SD400 (though the upgrades are hardly world-breaking) and cheaper than the SD400 (the average price is approximately $320). Still, there are undoubtedly other better cameras than this one.

This is, undoubtedly, the case if you desire a greater degree of manual control or an increased number of pixels. For a comparable price, the Fujifilm F10 provides usable high-ISO performance. In the end, everything that made the SD400 so appealing as a bundle is equally true for the SD450, in some cases, even more so.

It is a beautifully made and reliable point-and-shooter that is easy to use and fun to use, one that produces surprisingly good results where it counts, and one that – even with the niggles mentioned above – is perfectly designed to satisfy its target market. Even with the niggles mentioned above, it is a camera that is perfectly designed to help its target market.

Therefore, despite the increased difficulty of the competition, the Canon PowerShot SD450 maintains its status as a Recommended product, but with a more significant number of caveats than the grade given to the Canon PowerShot SD400.

Canon PowerShot SD450 Pros & Cons