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Design and features
The S110 has the same basic design as the S100, albeit with a few tweaks. It's still the most compact option available in its class, and has a solid-feeling build and matte finish. Canon jettisoned the tiny grip on the front of the S100 and removed the rubberized material on the thumb rest in the back, so overall the S110 isn't as comfortable to use as its predecessor, but it's still okay. The touch screen is new, though you can't operate the camera completely from it; for instance, you still bring up the shooting options via the Func Set button, but then you can select them via the screen. It does support useful capabilities such as touch shutter and touch focus, however.
The S110 retains the control ring around the lens that's becoming an increasingly popular interface design. The ring can be set to control shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance, stepped zoom, i-Contrast, aspect ratio, or its function when in Custom mode. The functions can be set independently of shooting mode, so that, for example, it can control focus in Manual mode or shutter speed while in aperture-priority mode. The stepped zoom can also be a surprisingly useful feature for some; it jumps to popular preset focal lengths (24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 120mm), which is quite convenient if you need repeatable shots. You can quickly access the ring control assignments via a dedicated button on the back of the camera. If you don't plan to change the ring function that often, you can even reassign the button to a host of other options, including some important ones like metering, raw+JPEG override, or the built-in neutral density filter.
On top are a shutter button and the mode dial, which has the usual PASM, auto, movie, and scene modes, as well as a custom-settings slot and special-effects mode. The custom settings that you can save include a manual focus position, zoom position, and My Menu items in addition to the relevant shooting settings.
While the menus are structured into three seemingly short screens, you nevertheless have a lot of control and customization over the camera's behavior and the options. Rather than force you to maneuver through the menu system, in several cases deeper controls for the direct-access functions (like flash) can be accessed using a secondary button press. New in the S110 are a couple of "safety" options: Safety MF, which allows the camera to autofocus once you've used manual focus to indicate the subject, and Safety FE, which automatically adjusts your shutter speed and aperture if it thinks a flash exposure will be blown out.
| Canon PowerShot S100 | Canon PowerShot S110 | Fujifilm XF1 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 | Samsung EX2F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor (effective resolution) | 12.1MP CMOS | 12.1MP CMOS | 12MP EXR CMOS | 10.1MP MOS | 12.4MP BSI CMOS |
| 1/1.7-inch | 1/1.7-inch | 2/3-inch | 1/1.7-inch | 1/1.7-inch | |
| Sensitivity range | ISO 80 - 6400 | ISO 80 - 12800 | ISO 100 - ISO 12800 | ISO 80 - ISO 6400 | ISO 80 - ISO 3200/ 12800 (expanded) |
| Lens | 24-120mm f2-5.9 5x | 24-120mm f2-5.9 5x | 25-100mm f1.8 - 4.9 4x | 24-90mm f1.4-2.3 3.8x | 24-80mm f1.4-2.7 3.3x |
| Closest focus (inches) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Continuous shooting | 2.3fps n/a | 0.9fps (with AF) 2.1fps (without AF) | 7fps 8 JPEG | 5fps 12 JPEG/ n/a raw (11fps without tracking AF) | 10fps 10 JPEG |
| Viewfinder | None | None | None | Optional EVF | None |
| Autofocus | n/a Contrast AF | n/a Contrast AF | n/a Contrast AF | 23-area Contrast AF | n/a Contrast AF |
| Metering | n/a | n/a | 256 zones | n/a | n/a |
| Shutter | 15 - 1/2,000 sec | 15 - 1/2,000 sec | 30 - 1/2,000 sec | 60 - 1/4,000 sec | 30 - 1/2,000 sec |
| Flash | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hot shoe | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| LCD | 3-inch fixed 461,000 dots | 3-inch fixed touch screen 461,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 460,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 920,000 dots | 3-inch articulated AMOLED 614,000 dots |
| Image stabilization | Optical | Optical | Optical | Optical | Optical |
| Video (best quality) | 1080/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo | 1080/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo | 1080/30p H.264 QuickTime MOV | 1080/60p AVCHD @ 28Mbps; 1080/60p QuickTime MOV @ 28Mbps Stereo | 1080/30p H.264 MP4 Stereo |
| Manual iris and shutter in video | Yes | Yes | n/a | n/a | No |
| Optical zoom while recording | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes |
| External mic support | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Wireless connectivity | None | Wi-Fi | None | None | Wi-Fi |
| Battery life (CIPA rating) | 200 shots | 200 shots | 300 shots | 330 shots | 260 shots (non-CIPA rating) |
| Dimensions (WHD, inches) | 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.1 | 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.1 | 4.2 x 2.4 x 1.2 | 4.4 x 2.6 x 1.8 | 4.4 x 2.4 x 1.1 |
| Weight (ounces) | 7 | 7 | 7.9 (est) | 10.6 (est) | 11.4 (est) |
| Mfr. price | $429.99 | $449.99 | $499.95 | $499 | $499.99 |
| Availability | November 2011 | October 2012 | October 2012 | August 2012 | August 2012 |
The back has the typical set of controls, including focus mode, flash, and exposure compensation, plus a quick function access button and dedicated movie record button. The physical buttons are flatter and slightly less easy to feel than on the S100, though the back of the camera does look a little sleeker.
You access the new wireless upload features from the back control dial when in playback mode.
This is the entry point for all your connectivity options: camera-to-camera, to phone, to computer, to printer, and Web upload.
To connect to your phone, either Android or iOS, you need to install the CameraWindow app. That's not unusual, though the app is currently pretty basic, with a single or gallery view of the images on the camera and the option to geotag images. (FYI, my old Android 2.3.4-based phone couldn't connect directly but a newer Samsung Galaxy S3 had no problems.)
The camera's upload interface
To upload images to the Web -- right now your only choices are to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (video uploads are iOS-only), and e-mail -- you have to first create a Canon Image Gateway account and then link the services to CIG via the CameraWindow software on your computer. In order to connect to Facebook, you have to grant CIG the right to access your basic Facebook data. For Twitter, it's an authorization that, among other things, gives CIG the right to see who you follow and follow new people. Though not uncommon, this whole process is a big fail in terms of convenience and privacy that unnecessarily inserts Canon into the middle of everything. The workaround, of course, is to connect to your phone, save the images, and then upload them directly wherever you want -- more convenient than having no connectivity at all, but a lot less convenient than it should be.
Conclusion
For someone who's looking for something a little better than a point-and-shoot, with more manual features and slightly better photo quality, but still wants the smallest camera possible, the Canon PowerShot S110 is a good choice. But it's not substantially better than its predecessors or the latest generation of competitors, so if you can find them for less, the S100 and S95 are still good options as well.
