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 Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black)
Customer Review: With such great power comes great resp- ..video?
Summary: 5 Stars
As many have already left HUGE reviews on this camera I will try to be quick about it, but I did have to review this camera. This camera is great. When I say that I mean it. I work for a camera store and everyday I'm reviewing cameras to people's faces and when this one came out I took one look at it and the features and told my boss "Oh yeah, we'll be out by tomorrow" and we were. It sells FAST. Why? Because it's a GREAT camera.
The form factor can't truly be captured in a picture, you have to feel this thing in your hand to know what everyone's talking about. 9 out of 10 people I show the camera to decide to buy once they've held it. It's small, it's REALLY small. It's just a sexy form. The 2.5 isn't screen isn't because they wanted to be cheap, it's because they couldn't put a bigger screen on there without making the camera a good deal bigger. Same for the 3x zoom.
The Digic IV processor and iSAPS technology means this camera is fast and accurate. It's constantly focusing and letting you know what it thinks you want to take a picture of. It's facial recognition is so fast and accurate, it can track someone running quickly across the screen with a box around their face the whole time. And it picks up faces on magazines, ads, anything that has a human face on it. The iSAPS is constantly changing the mode to better suit what you're shooting and it'll show you the mode you're in while it's doing it(upper left hand corner of the screen).
The 720p high-def video is the one that seals the deal. You know it's fast. You know it's accurate. You know it's easy. But the video, always catches you of guard. "Wait you mean to tell me this camera smaller then my blackberry curve can take high-def video as well as pictures??" Oh it can do more then that. Canon always has a few things thrown into video mode for the fun of it, like color Accent, as in taking away all but one color. Allowing your friend in the red shirt to be the REAL center of attention. And seeing that on the big screen only makes the camera more interesting.
And I even sold myself on buying the camera, with it's sleekness, speed, accuracy, and high-def I just couldn't resist. I'm not telling you to get the camera, but if you do, you won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: Excellent buy!! Best bang for your buck!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are looking for a small, lightweight, & good quality photo, this is your best buy! No other camera is this small, lasts this long, & snaps photos this fast. I've used to for capturing family moments, outdoor activities, & random stuff and always very happy with it. Photos come out clean.
If you are looking for a camera packed with features, great in low light situations, and best photo quality possible from a point-and-shoot, this is not it, so keep looking. For my breakdown of attributes, read below.
Ease of Use - All features on this camera are very easy to use and find. Nothing is hidden under sub-menus & sub-sub-menus.
Portability - Very small & you won't find a smaller camera that takes the same quality photo as this one.
Picture Quality - 12.1 megs speaks for itself. Yes it comes out clean. Doesn't have the strong range in low light but still handles quite well.
Display - This display is beautiful & colors are crazy vivid. Only downside is that it is small, BUT that really saves on battery life.
Features - Allows you to single out colors in B&W photos & some other minor things. Good, but could do with a few more (panorama sweep, etc).
Battery Life - One of the best available. Because it is so small, screen is so small, battery is amazing! Just went backpacking for 3 days & shot HD video & took over 200 photos and my battery is flickering between 2/3 & 3/3 bars. AMAZING
battery life!
Image Format - Shoots jpg & I'm not sure what else. Standard person won't use anything else.
Design Quality - Up to the buyer but I love the slick, smooth, & rounded design. Very happy with the look & feel of it.
Comfortably sits in the hand :)
Focus speed - Quite quick! Never had a problem here.
Shutter lag - In bright light situations the camera takes the picture when you press the button. Super fast! Medium light, you're looking at 1/2sec lag but still not much. Not until dark light do you want 2sec for it to focus and flash.
Resistance - I've always kept very good care of it so can't say much here. Dropped it once but haven't seen any sign of damage.
Customer Review: Canon SD780: Finally found the ultimate hybrid camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this camera now for about a week. The main reason for this purchase is the 720p HD video feature. I've been playing with all the recent point and shoot camcorders such as the Kodak Zi6 and the Creative Vado HD. I also have the not-yet-released-in-the-US Canon SX1 which does full 1080p HD video. I have also tried the Sony T500.
The first thing you'll notice is how small this camera is. To date, its the smallest Canon camera yet almost to the point that its difficult to handle. I'd call it Ultra-compact and this thing can fit anywhere. The button are more flush than any other Canon which makes button finding and feeling a bit cumbersome.
I wasn't expecting much from this camera in terms of performance but it blows all other point and shoot camcorders out of the water. The colors are much more accurate and the video overall is much smoother. Part of this due to the image stabilization feature. The toy cameras do not have this feature which is a huge necessity for something so small and light. It handles low-light situations better as well. Search SD780 on youtube for samples. Make sure you click the HD button.
The photos are secondary to me but they can be good in the manual mode. Using it with higher ISO setting will introduce noise. Then again, these photos are much better than the point and shoot camcorders. These are actually usable.
So with the point and shoot camcorders around the $200 mark (MinoHD, VAdoHD, Zi6), for $80 more (SD780) you get something that is much better overall.
+ Made in Japan and much better build quality than the toy camcorders
+ Removable SD storage card
+ Removable battery (uses the common NB-4L)
+ Image stabilization
+ Usable stills
+ Canon optics
+ Ultra compact (2/3 the size of a MinoHD)
+ Easy to use .MOV files
+ Stealth Black color
The only drawbacks I can think of are:
- Cannot use optical zoom during recording (let's hope this can be changed via firmware upgrade)
- Photos can be noisy and grainy at times
- Mono sound recordings
Customer 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.
Customer Review: Professional photographer view of this camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a professional photographer that owns the Nikon D300 and Nikon D80 slr cameras for professional business. I bought this little camera because I was seeking a pocket size "everyday" camera that I can pull out when I need to and to take to social engagements where my other equiptment is too bulky and something I don't want to risk. In reading some of the reviews, I think that this camera is getting either too good a review or definitely too bad.
People: this is a small pocket size point and shoot camera that has up to ISO3200, 12.1 megapixels and video capability all rolled into a product that can be bought for $200 on sale and taken ANYWHERE with ease. It is ONLY a point and shoot and NOT an SLR so therefore, does NOT take phenominal pictures that a $5000 SLR camera with expensive lenses would. It is ONLY a point and shoot camera so therefore when you HAVE noise up in the 1600 Iso range or in the video camera, having purchased this for this kind of money without expensive lenses should not come as a surprise even compared to all the other Camera point and shoots and its competitors.
My point here after owning this for 2 days but having owned a previous Canon point and shoot for 5 years before the Nikon slrs? Canon makes a PHENOMINAL product that does what its supposed to do in this tiny little portable package. If you want to make money off your photos? If you want to have pristine quality...go get an SLR and plunk down $1500 or more dollars on ALL the lenses and bodies and education that will make that happen. If you want a convenient cute little camera that gets the job done VERY WELL...THIS is well worth the money. As a professional photographer, this is my new everyday camera...the Nikon D80 is my backup and vacation camera..and the Nikon D300 is HANDS DOWN the "bread and butter" camera for there is NO comparison.
For the average person who wants a GOOD camera that does what it should IF YOU RESEARCH ALL the features and LEARN what this can do....THIS is your camera.