2026-05-21 Canon PowerShot SD1200is Digital ELPH

There is sometimes slight frustration in collecting multiple iterations of a single design. Kodak Al—a founding member of the Edmonton Photographic Historical Society—has had to find satisfaction not just in collecting only Kodak items, but being able to find satisfaction in the shutter/lens/finish differences in single camera designs made over the years.
Well the same feeling consumes you when you find a digital camera that has been made through APS film into digital versions. The Canon ELPH cameras share a common outward appearance—rounded corners, solid feel, speedy reaction to the zoom—while evolving slightly.

When I found this Canon PowerShot SD1200is Digital ELPH I was initially saddened by thinking to myself, “I must have this already.” It was too good to not pick up. It came with a really excellent Roots™ brand case, a battery, a wrist strap and a 512 M SD card for $3. Imagine how happy I was to find I actually haven’t collected one of these before!

This SD1200 came in six colours. It has an optical viewfinder that—because you aren’t consuming power to run the 2.5 inch monitor— doubles the number of images you can capture (to 700). It has a 35-105 (equivalent to 35 mm) zoom with apertures from f/2.8-4.9. There is a 4x digital zoom. The shutter speeds can vary from 15 —1500 sec. Its ISO can vary from 80-1600. The flash can illuminate from 12 inches to 14 feet (30.5 cm — 4.27 m). There is optical image stabilization. It is 88.5 x 54.8 x 24.8 mm and weighs 120 gm without battery or card. Its suggested price was $230 when introduced in February of 2009.

This is the almost bullet-proof carry case (RSW1) from Roots™ (a Gentec product). The case came with a neck strap (not shown) and has a back Velcro™ belt loop. The case fits the ELPH like a fine leather glove.

Comments

2026-03-14 - History and Evolution of the Kodak Logo

While working as a junior clerk at the Rochester Savings Bank, George Eastman first began commercial production of dry photographic plates in a rented loft of a building in Rochester, New York in April 1880. In the next few years, Eastman became very successful and expanded the company several times. His company started as the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881, later became the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company in 1884, and soon after the Eastman Company in 1889. The last name change occurred in 1892, when the Eastman Kodak Company of New York was organized. The company has been called Eastman Kodak Company ever since. The word "Kodak" was first registered as a trademark in 1888. The letter “K” had been a favorite of Eastman’s, he is quoted as saying, "I devised the name myself. The letter 'K' had been a favorite with me; it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made word...

2026-03-20-Manfrotto monopods

Sometimes collecting is a matter of persistence. The Manfrotto “GRUPPO” 434SSB monopod (shown top) showed up one day at my local thrift store. They had a price tag of $25 on it. I had bought the lower Manfrotto Compact MMC3-01 monopod at the same thrift store for $3. So I asked, “Why so much?” They answered their “expert” had found it sold for $200 on the internet. I find experts—who almost never clerk in the thrift store, so are unreachable—hard to deal with. There is also the matter someone might actually pay them $25 for a 2.27 kg (5 pound) aluminum pole, so I decided to let the Gods-of-Collecting decide if I was going to ever own it. For weeks I would pick it up, check the price tag to see if they had come to their senses, and return it to the shelf. I did try various clerks to see if they would lower the price, but they said they were not authorized to change prices. I plodded on, week after week without much hope. ...

2026-03-25 The Kiron 70-150 mm F/4

This Kiron 70-150 mm f/4 Macro1:4MC zoom was made by Kino Precision, Japan in 1980. The same company made both 1.5x and 2x extenders for this lens. It is a lovely design featuring a 52 mm filter size —common to many normal lenses—and a constant f/4 at all zoom positions. The f/stops are full stops from f/4 to f/5.6 and from f/16 to f/22 while the other apertures are half stops apart. FOCAL LENGTH RANGE: 70mm - 150mm [2.1X zoom ratio] DIAGONAL ANGLE OF VIEW: 34.3° @ 70mm - 16.4° @ 150mm LENS CONSTRUCTION: 13 elements in 9 groups WEIGHT (Olympus OM Mount): 460 g (with hood, front and rear caps) The macro range sets in below the three foot (0.9 m) marked distance at all zoom positions but you only get to the minimum 1:4 ratio at 150 mm. Macro starts around a 1:8 macro range at 70 mm. This is the only lens I have ever collected that has the original price sticker on the rear cap. At least I assume it is the original price sticker… It ha...

Edmonton Photographic Historical Society

Search This Blog