Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black) by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black)
Digital camera Review: A great pocket camera for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the problems with writing camera reviews is that people never consider the "space" which this camera occupies in the market. For example, I know that a $200 point and shoot camera will never take as awesome photos as my $3500 digital SLR, or even as my Powershot G10. But at the same time, I'm not going to go out on a night of drinking with my friends and bring a digital SLR because a) it's expensive and b) bulky.
Having said that, I'm really impressed at the output of the pictures. At the default high resolution JPG, I was blown away at how crisp the images were. At higher ISOs, the photos became progressively noisier - but that's a problem that's common among most point and shoot cameras. I'm not too worried - again, this is a camera I'm taking out and about and taking snapshots, not trying to be Annie Liebovitz. Prints at 8x10 look fine.
The 720p video is rather slick - even while goofing around taking videos, the videos were of decent enough quality that I'd be happy posting them to YouTube or Facebook. And no "rolling shutter', which is kind of cool. I'd recommend getting a Class 6 SDHC card for the camera, so it'll write the HD video fast enough to the camera without having to deal with dropping video. The optical zoom doesn't work in video mode, but digital zoom does. Digital zoom, in my experience, generally leads to awful photos and videos, so I try to avoid it all costs.
The SD780 is easy to operate, and there's virtually zero learning curve if you have experience with other Canon cameras.
One of the common complaints is that the camera's casing will attract dings, scratches and other things that will keep your camera looking less than pristine. If you're going to be buying this camera, you're better off spending $25 extra to get the Invisible Shield cover for this camera.
For under $250, this camera is great. It's smaller than my Blackberry and wallet, and makes up deficiencies by being a petite camera that fits in virtually any pocket.
Digital camera Review: A nice little all purpose camera
Summary: 5 Stars
What caught my attention with this camera was its size. It is a very small camera, but packs a punch. The image and video quality is really good. We have used it in a variety of settings as well as image types and it all came out very well.
The small size of the camera could be an issue for some, but i highly recommend it.
Digital camera Review: A surprise delight.
Summary: 5 Stars
Took matching pictures with this little gem and my Nikon D90 using several different lens types. When compared side by side on a 25 inch monitor it was very difficult to tell the difference between the results of the two cameras. While the Nikon pictures were a bit sharper when the images were expanded, the quality of this camera's shots was quite impressive. In addition, it has virtually all of the manual features found on the Nikon. Very impressive for such a little device.Digital camera Review: A very good camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't like the color, black, makes features on the camera hard to read.
Camera works great. Transferring pictures from the camera to the computer is easy. Has a viewfinder which is wonderful. Zooms in & out very well. A fine camera. Glad I bought it.
Digital camera Review: A wonderful itty bitty camera!
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a lot of agonizing between the SD940 and this camera. After all the 940 is almost the same camera, but with a slightly bigger screen, and slightly better optical zoom and wide angle. That's a lot of slightlys. I had ruled out Nikons and Fujis only because I really wanted the HD video, and I love that it's a MOV format instead of an AVI. (yes I'm a mac user). In the end I bought this camera because it was $169 on Black Friday and at an 90 difference I see no reason not to go with this camera. Currently at a $50 difference, I would say if you happen to have the extra cash, and those slightly better features are important to you, go with the 940 - but I think if you get this camera I think you would be quickly happy and forget what the differences were anyway.
This is a TINY camera. It's quite a bit smaller then my iphone! When you are recording video, and I found the quality quite good for such a little package, make sure you don't cover up the mic on top while holding the camera, which is easy to do since it's so small. The IS works really well, I was amazed at what I could hand hold in low light. Macro is quite good as well. A feature I really like is you can have your playback display show both the whole photo and a 100% zoom so you can see the noise and focus quickly, which is super handy. There is not a lot of manual customization on this camera, but there is a program mode where you can control some things like slow syncro flash, WB, etc. I really wish it came with a case, but canon does make a case specifically for this camera, and you can get it on amazon.
I usually hate software included with cameras, but I was forced to try it out, because the camera does not mount as an external drive, so I needed it to import photos using the camera's usb. Surprisingly I find the software pretty handy, particularly for trimming videos. I would recommend something else for actually enhancing your photos though.
All in all, I love the size, love the video, enjoy the photo quality, and highly recommend this camera.