Canon PowerShot SD1200 Digital Camera Review

The Canon PowerShot SD1200 is the smallest, best designed Elph I’ve ever used and has some big changes over its predecessor, the Canon PowerShot SD1100. The SD1200 is successor to the series that included the SD600, SD1000, and. SD1100. These all came with a classic, slim design.

An average-sized male hand can still easily hold it, barely covering lens, flash, or resting on the LCD. Still the round power-button is now almost too small to press if you had big fingers and no fingernails.

The SD1200 digital camera is somewhat smaller than the SD1100 digital camera, but feels notably smaller by virtue of its curved edges and the LCD being flush with the body. Some big changes in the SD1200 digital camera are a larger CCD sensor, and Digic4. This enlarged CCD size (1/2.3″ vs 1/2.5″) is supposed to create “more clean-living” photos, while Digic4 is a camera technology that offers cleaner/faster shots. The menus and buttons are streamlined, and now there a button for review mode: pressing this button a 2nd time takes you back to the previous state. The slider offers dedicated AUTO and Manual settings, no longer needs to use menus for that switch.

In the Function Menu there are continuous mode and ISO now. Although all of the other Elphs released this season had HD, unfortunately there is no HD video mode in SD 1200. You will have to stick with 640×480 video. USB connector now serves both purposes and the A/V output is gone. The Canon SD 1200’s new battery has a higher capacity 1000mAh (vs ~760mAh for SD1100). It comes with a new charger, a glossy white-colored model that looks really good.

The Zoom Browser 6.3, is a new version of Canon software is required for this model. Canon naturally requires a new release for each new family of cameras. Unluckily, the Camera Window software has been deliberately dumbed-down in the 6.x software and no longer offers the options to delete your photos nor to chose custom naming for the downloads. I say deliberately, since I asked Canon customer-support about it and they stated the changes were not bugs.

In formal indoor tests, the 1200 seemed more ready to go to ISO400 (often too “earsplitting” to be functional) when the SD1100 would have chosen ISO200. The SD1100 andSD1200 have identical glasses on their optics. You will become aware of a more pronounced barrel-distortion on the 1200 at extreme wide-angle. (Still only detectable in close-up shots of straight-edged items at wide-angle)

In a laid-back speed test, the SD1200 took photos notably faster than its predecessor. (Same brand SD card, same scene and continuous-mode). The 1200’s image size being larger though.

With SD 1200, the only manual included is a quick-start guide; the rest is on CD-ROM. Thus Canon’s paper manuals have been shrinking steadily. The packaging is about half the size of the SD1100’s box, which is even more efficient than before. Some people will find this lack annoying that a SD card is no longer included. Apart from the remarkable quirks: the absence of HD and the limited features in the download software, this camera is Highly Recommended. Get the Canon SD1200 from Amazon.

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