Canon PowerShot SX100 IS review

Canon PowerShot SX100 IS Review

Reviewed by: Lori Grunin

Reviewed on: 2 November 2007

Performance
While the SX100 gets decent marks overall for speed, it does have some borderline performance issues that earned it some ratings demerits. It wakes and shoots in a reasonable two seconds. Its shutter lag for high and low-contrast scenes -- 0.5 seconds and 1.7 seconds, respectively -- are typical for this class, as is its 1.7-second typical shot-to-shot time.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Smaller bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3

1.3

1.8

1

0.4

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

1.7

1.5

0.8

0.4

Canon PowerShot S5 IS

1.6

1.3

0.8

0.5

Canon PowerShot SX100 IS

1.7

2

1

0.5

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

1.3

2.3

1.3

0.6

Fujifilm FinePix S700

3.3

1.3

2.2

0.6

 
However, shot-to-shot time jumps to 4.3 seconds once you enable the flash, a seriously slow figure we haven't seen for several years. And burst shooting runs a mere 0.8 frames per second, which barely exceeds the single-shot shooting speed. Finally, the LCD is good, but not terrific and not always easy to see in bright sunlight.