Reviews by keneverettsmailbox
Canon PowerShot SD750 Digital ELPH
Price: $199.95 - $199.95
Canon PowerShot SD750 manages to distinguish itsel07/21/07
- Pros:
- Good performance
- Cons:
- Lacks the image stabilization
Sandwiched between similar 7-megapixel siblings--the PowerShot SD800 IS on one side and the PowerShot SD1000 on the other--the Canon PowerShot SD750 nevertheless manages to distinguish itself as a well-designed, practical option for snapshooters who favor big LCDs over optical viewfinders.
The 5.3-ounce SD750 doesn't quite match the SD1000 for compactness, but its 3.6x2.2x0.8 inch body will fit just as comfortably in a pants pocket. It comes in silver and silver with black accents, the latter design recalling the early film Elphs. The Touch Dial Control--so named for its optional ability to display a virtual dial when you simply touch the control--quickly accesses the small set of shooting options, including ISO speed, flash mode, macro/infinite focus, and continuous/timer. Though it doesn't offer manual or semi-manual exposure modes, it does supply a host of color enhancements and scene modes, exposure compensation, and a choice of three metering modes.
For focus, Canon provides a face-detection AF mode, which automatically locates a face (just one) and determines focus and metering for it. That's in addition to the company's standard AiAF automatic focus-point selector and center focus. The face-detect AF works reasonably well, but the option is buried within the menus and only works in conjunction with the AiAF; that is, if it doesn't find a face, it falls back on AiAF. I generally don't like the automatic focus selection on any camera--they never seem to find the desired subject, just the closest. So I don't like the face-detection option stuck in a set-it-and-forget-it location. You may feel otherwise.
Overall, however, I find the SD750's layout intelligent and comfortable to use. It has a big 3-inch LCD for framing and playback. The LCD appears bright and easy to see, even in direct sunlight, although it also tends to look a bit coarse.
For more details on the SD750's design and image quality, click the image.
Photo and movie quality rank high for an ultracompact. In fact, despite almost identical innards with the SD1000--they both use the same sensor, f /2.8-4.9 35mm-105mm (35mm equivalent) 3X zoom lens, and Digic III processor--the photos from the SD750 look a bit better, especially vis-a-vis high ISO noise. As measured by CNET Labs' tests and in photo samples, the SD750's noise profile generally outperformed both the SD1000 and the SD800 IS. With the exception of photos shot under our extremely warm tungsten lights, white balance, exposure, and saturation look very good. Movies look equally good, in part because Canon captures in MJPEG, which uses far less compression than other cameras' MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 formats. As a result, a 30fps 640x480 movie uses about 2MB per second of storage.
On the other hand, the SD750's performance matched that of the SD1000. It takes 1.0 second from start to shoot, with subsequent photos about 1.6 seconds apart without flash and 2.3 seconds with the flash enabled. Shutter lag measures 0.5 second in our high-contrast test, which mimics bright shooting conditions, and 0.9 second in our low-contrast test, which mimics dim shooting conditions. Continuous shooting was the only disappointment--approximately 1.6 frames per second regardless of image size.
It lacks the image stabilization of the SD800 IS and the tiny appeal of the SD1000, but the Canon PowerShot SD750 has a more elegant, cutting-edge design, large LCD and--to my eyes, at least--better photo quality.
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Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Digital ELPH
Price: $699.99 - $699.99
SD800 IS is a great point-and-shoot camera07/21/07
- Pros:
- can pump out beautiful shots at a pretty rapid pace
- Cons:
- If you want higher resolution and don't mind losing the optical image stabilization - the trade off
The 7-megapixel camera's tiny body is shiny, curvy, and very attractive. But it may be just a bit too stylish for its own good. For instance, the power button is a tiny, illuminated half-oval built flush into the top panel; without actually pressing it, you might easily mistake it for an indicator light or a design flaw.
The Canon PowerShot SD800's mode dial curves slightly outward, flowing into the design of the camera, making a comfortable resting spot for your thumb. But it feels slightly slippery when switching camera modes.
Beyond those quirks, though, the SD800 IS is a standard, straightforwardly designed Canon shooter, with a four-way navigation switch, additional buttons, and the shutter-release/zoom-rocker mechanism we've grown used to. The small, all-metal body weighs slightly more than six ounces, and at an inch thick, is just the right size for most pockets. Though small, the camera still has enough room on its body to hold both a 2.5-inch LCD and an optical viewfinder, a rare and welcome feature on an ultracompact.
The SD800's most prominent feature is its image-stabilized, f/2.8-to-f/5.8, 28mm-to-105mm-equivalent lens. The 3.8X zoom range offers the flexibility of wide-angle focal lengths, while still providing a bit more zoom power than the average 3X point-and-shoot lens. Though the SD700 IS had a 4X zoom lens, the SD800's 28mm-equivalent wide shot more than makes up for the slightly smaller telephoto factor.
In addition to the flexible lens, the SD800 IS has some handy snapshot features. The camera's sensor can be boosted to as high as ISO 1,600 for low-light or high-movement shots, though you'll want to keep it at ISO 800 or lower because of image noise. You can shoot 30fps VGA video, or bump it up to 60fps QVGA (320x240) to capture action footage for half-speed playback. If you're looking for manual controls, however, look elsewhere; like the SD700, the SD800's aperture and shutter settings can't be changed except for a long shutter mode, its focus modes are all automatic, and the camera's manual mode allows only exposure compensation, color correction, metering, and white-balance adjustments.
The SD800 also uses the recent Digic III image processor, which Canon claims improves image quality, performance, and battery life. We didn't notice any significant improvements over the SD700's already good performance, but the SD800 seemed slightly more responsive than its predecessor. It performed excellently in our lab tests. Just 1.1 seconds after the power button was pressed, it was able to take its first shot and subsequently could snap off a shot every 1.3 seconds. Even with the onboard flash enabled, we experienced a lag of only 2 seconds between shots. Shutter lag was a negligible 0.4 second. The only disappointment was the camera's burst mode, which managed only one shot per second.
Shooting speed
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Typical shot-to-shot time Time to first shot Shutter lag (typical)
Casio Exilim EX-Z1000
3.5 1.8 0.3
Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30
1.6 1.8 0.4
Canon PowerShot SD800 IS
1.3 1.1 0.4
Canon PowerShot SD700 IS
1.6 1.5 0.5
Note: In seconds
Typical continuous-shooting speed
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Canon PowerShot SD700 IS
2.0
Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30
1.4
Canon PowerShot SD800 IS
1.0
Casio Exilim EX-Z1000
0.4
Note: Frames per second
Photos were attractive, with fine detail rendering and solid color reproduction. Aside from some slight purple fringing along the borders of bright subjects, we noticed few distortions or aberrations in our photos. Image noise was acceptable to as high as ISO 800, manifesting as a fine grain that dulled colors but otherwise didn't mar photo quality too much. ISO 1,600 was a different story; a sparkly, static-filled mess that made the photo look as if it were received via a television antenna.
The Cano
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Canon PowerShot SD1000 DIGITAL ELPH (1862B001)
Price: $169.99 - $169.99
Great point & shoot - small, fast, great pictures07/21/07
- Pros:
- The S3 IS has a great image sensor
- Cons:
- Needs better auto focus
I have owned several Canon A series, Canon SD series, the Canon S series and also the S2/S3 IS. So here's the skinny as an amateur user.
A series - The A series is best for you if you're looking for a low cost camera that gives you a wide range of features, many manual controls and great image quality. Although, the size is bigger than SD series making it a jacket-pocket camera, the advantage is in the styling. It gives you a convenient grip on the side which helps hold the camera steady and results in less "blurry" pictures. The mode selector dial on top helps you zip through selections. The convenience of AA batteries which are available in every corner of the world, no missing out on pictures as your battery was discharged, might be a selling point for those who travel a lot.
The S3 IS has a great image sensor, the wonderful image stabilization, a great zoom and super macro function that can produce never before pictures. The flip out screen helps take shots from angles you've never considered before. It's also just a little more expensive and pretty bulky. If taking great pictures is all you care about and do not mind carrying a bulkier camera, the S3 will be a great choice. It's the first step towards a real professional camera.
And finally (drumroll) - the SD series. Small. Cute. Slips into your shirt front pocket without making it sag. If you're wondering about the style, the square "retro" design is better. Does not slip out from your fingers as easily as the curved edge ones. Since it is so small some features like different shooting modes are accessible only through the menu which makes changing between them more cumbersome. Sometimes I've just preferred to stay on Auto rather than missing the shot while I navigated to the right mode. They also have less manual or user defined controls like flash power reduction which I miss. The flash incidentally, can get very strong in lower light or indoor situations and often bleaches out color from people's faces. If you turn off the flash then you have to use a tripod or have the camera on a flat surface to prevent shaky pictures. I also find that the smallness and lightness of the SD series makes my hand shake more than when I'm holding the A series camera with the side grip. I get more fuzzy pics with the SD series than my A series and it's annoying to see the camera-shake warning each time on the screen I am trying to take a shot. I also get a little more red eye with this series probably because the flash is so close to the lens.
Having said all that, guess which camera travels with me most often. My SD1000. Just because it's small and fits into my tiny purse or pocket. I'd never take along the S3 on a daily basis and would miss some great photo ops...On the SD 1000 there is a red eye correction feature so you can remove red eye right on the camera. The other improvement over the previous SD series is the automatic face detection which helps reduce the flash glare on faces so pictures come out better. This is the one to buy folks!
And what about some other Canon features? (If you're a regular Canon user skip reading this section, as you already know all this good stuff.):
- It has an intelligent focusing system with DIGIC III (up from DIGIC II earlier) auto red eye correction and face detection (see above).
- SD card slot - cheap to buy 2 GB cards You can choose from 4 sizes for the pics depending on the size you may want to store/ print.
-Photo-stitch - For stitching together panoramic views. I have shot countless seascapes, 'bridge'scapes, and landscapes from all my Canons using this function and stitching together 6-10 shots in one. It's easy.
-Macro mode - Great for close ups of babies or product shots
- The SCN mode (special scenes)- Fireworks, Beach, Snow, kids and pets, Underwater, Foliage, Aquarium and Indoor is great. Now even amateurs can use
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Canon PowerShot A550
Price: $124.95 - $124.95
Great Camera For The Average User07/21/07
- Pros:
- This camera makes a great first camera
- Cons:
- A little joy pad surrounded by four buttons
This is simply a great camera to get whether you are buying a digital camera for the first time or the fifth time. Why? Because you get all the Canon quality and features for a very good price. At this price you can afford to even gift it to a teenager who wants to learn a little more photography as it offers a little more than just point and shoot.
I've owned about 4 A series cameras in the past, along with S2/S3 series and SD series and I still recommend A series as the best value for money based on its performance. I tried this particular camera when I bought it recently for a gift. Although the size of A series cameras is bigger than SD series making them jacket-pocket cameras, the advantage is in the styling. It gives you a convenient grip on the side which helps hold the camera steady and results in less "blurry" pictures than SD. The mode selector dial on top helps you zip through selections from portrait, landscape to nightshot and special scenes. The convenience of AA batteries which are available in every corner of the world, no missing out on pictures as your battery was discharged, is a great convenience. You can buy 2NiMH batteries with a charger like I did, and never have to buy any more again. The screen is only 2 inch (up from 1.8 earlier) but it makes the camera more durable, as the design makes it more resistant to damage.
And what about the features? :
- It has an intelligent 9 point focusing system with auto red eye correction which means it can choose the focus pretty accurately, although it also gives you the flexibility to choose the focus through 3 modes. (Centered, Evaluative, Spot)
- SD card/MMC card slot - These cards are so cheap now so get the 2GB to store a whole vacation's worth of pictures.
-Pic size- You can choose from 6 sizes for the pics including a widescreen 16:9 format which can be viewed on your HDTV.
-Speed Dial: This dial on top allows fast spinning between shooting modes (night, landscape, indoors, kids, portrait, movie, auto, manual, special) so you never miss a shot. For this feature alone, I'd prefer an A series over SD as I keep missing shots on SD series while trying to change modes through the menu. With this dial even a kid becomes a pro. The SCN(special scenes) mode has Fireworks, Foliage, Beach, Snow, and Night Scene. Now even amateurs can use Canon experience to get the best shot. Fireworks is particularly amazing as it produced some great 4th of July shots. This camera does not have the Photostitch mode found on some other cameras but it does have the macro mode to take close ups.
-Special effects (B/W, Sepia, Vivid, Nuetral etc.) I've used sepia a lot when taking potraits giving them an 'old world' feel. Vivid has been helpful in special situations like a red kite against a blue sky to bring out the colors. You can do this in Photoshop later but how many of us actually get the time to do this, once a pic is taken it's over with for me! This camera does not have the color accent/color swap option which is available on some other Canons.
-You can set white balance manually on this camera or manually adjust shutter or aperture priority. It also has an optical viewfinder which is handy for very dark/very bright situations.
-You can also take videos in 3 different resolutions with this camera and edit them right on the camera.
-The zoom button shows one or many images at a time in the replay mode and you can zoom into each individual image to see parts of it closely.
- While replaying, the images auto-rotate to landscape or portrait mode to align with how you're holding the camera. It's a nice feature as otherwise you can't see the portrait shots properly in the landscape mode.
This camera makes a great first camera, with many features, and the image quality is superb. Especially if you are shooting outdoors the images are unsurpassed by any other brand, in my opinion. So go get it, at this price it
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