I got the Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS as an early Christmas present. I wanted to give it a thorough test before doing a proper review.

Build quality

The first thing I noticed was the lack of a grip, but I didn’t feel like the camera would fall out of my hands. A close inspection of the Canon logo reveals a textured surface, which functions well enough as a grip for such a small and light camera.

It’s hard to believe the body is plastic since it has that cold metal feel when you pick it up that you don’t usually get with plastic. It’s well-balanced and feels sturdy, so it seems to vanish once you start using it. Use the wrist strap, or it’ll vanish for real.

Low light performance

There’s a common thread in reviews I’ve seen that it takes poor shots in low light. I haven’t experienced this in real world usage. It won’t automatically go all the way to 3200 ISO, but it still takes good (if noisy) photos at that high sensitivity. You’re exchanging picture detail for exposure, and it’s worth it in cases where you need it. The backlit CMOS almost makes up for the sensor’s tiny size.

Video performance

I made two test videos. The first was from just before the supposed Mayan apocalypse. I took a video of the moon in heavy wind at full zoom.

Image quality is what counts

I found a review that went to great lengths to examine the technical precision of the produced images. I don’t think that’s particularly useful.

Here’s a sampling of the pictures I’ve taken. You can click through to see the full pictures on flickr.

Conclusion

The Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS outperforms its price tag, but it’s still a low-end point and shoot camera. The shots are a bit noisy at 100% zoom, but are still perfectly usable even at the highest ISO setting. The image stabilization works well, and it can shoot sharp pictures without a tripod if you squeeze the shutter button gently to take shots.

This camera takes good pictures in a wide range of situations with minimal fuss, and fits comfortably in a pocket. This is what you buy a point and shoot camera for, and it fills that role admirably. You can get a bridge camera or entry level DSLR if you need an inexpensive camera that does more than a pocket camera will ever be capable of.

It’s good enough to where I feel comfortable with making it my main camera. I’ll sell my old point and shoot after I get my DSLR, and after CHDK is ported to this one.

Update May 9, 2013: CHDK is now available, and it works perfectly.