This Elph's nine-point/one-point center-spot autofocus system takes you down to 3.9 inches in normal mode and as close as 1.2 inches in Macro. The jerky, 10fps monaural sound clips, which can run as long as 30 seconds at 640x480 pixels, will certainly turn off movie buffs.
The SD20 uses Canon's last-generation Digic chip, so its performance was not stellar, particularly the lethargic burst mode. The Canon poked along to capture 1 frame every 1.5 seconds, although it was able to grab 25 shots in sequence before slowing down. Shutter lag was a middle-of-the-road 0.8 second under contrasty lighting conditions and, even with light-assisted focus, amounted to 1.3 seconds under low-contrast lighting. There is also a Quick Shot mode that freezes the LCD, reducing shutter lag to 0.5 second.
Wake-up time to first picture was acceptable at 2.98 seconds, but we were unable to snap off pictures any more quickly than one every 2.8 seconds thereafter (4.58 seconds with flash). Battery life was excellent, however, delivering 467 pictures (half with flash) during a workout that included reformatting, plenty of LCD photo review, but of course, no zooming. We like the compact 2-ounce battery charger with its flip-up AC plug that requires no bulky cord.
Images were crisp, with good saturation and accurate exposures, although there was a tendency to overload highlights, and we noticed some purple fringing around backlit areas. Flesh tones tended to be a little yellow. Noise wasn't a problem until we used higher ISO settings (ISO 200 and 400), and the SD20 has automatic noise reduction for exposures of 1.3 seconds or longer.
Increasing numbers of ultracompact snapshot cameras offer decent zoom ranges, zippy performance, and usable movie-capture modes, making Canon's PowerShot SD20 look like it's still standing at the starting line. But if you're looking for cute and simple, slip the SD20 into your smallest pocket and go.
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