-Hi, I'm Josh Goldman, senior editor with CNET, and this is a look at the Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS.
It's the company's smallest compact megazoom featuring a 10X optical zoom, though the lens isn't wide-angled so it's not as flexible as other competing models.
Similarly, it has a 3-inch LCD on the back but it's a standard 233,000 dot resolution
instead of a higher resolution screen that we're seeing on other high-end compact megazooms.
Overall, though, it's a nice design.
If you're looking for a simple, easy-to-use compact megazoom that's small enough to fit in your shirt pocket.
The SD4500 is the second PowerShot with a high-sensitivity 10-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor.
Now that sensor mainly improves low-light photo quality but it also allows for some
speedy burst shooting, getting up to 3.6 frames per second.
There are faster compacts but they usually make you wait while the camera stores the photos and the Canon doesn't.
However, the rest of its shooting performance is average borderline slow.
Its photo quality is, overall, very good thanks to generally excellent color; but like most cameras in this category, subjects look soft and benefit from a little sharpening.
The SD4500 is also capable
of recording nice-looking movies at resolutions up to full-HD 1080p at 24 frames per second and there's a stereo mic in front and use of the optical zoom while recording.
There is also a super slow motion mode that records video at 240 frames per second at a resolution of 320 X 240, so really only suitable for viewing on a small screen but it's fun nonetheless.
All of these features and its
small size seem to come at the cost of battery life, though.
The little rechargeable pack is only rated for 150 shots and using any of the burst or movie modes put real hurt on---- on battery life.
But if frequent recharging doesn't bother you or you're willing to buy an extra battery, the camera is certainly a compact megazoom worth considering.
I'm Josh Goldman and that's the Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS.
