Canon PowerShot SD800 IS 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Image-Stabilized Optical Zoom
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD800 IS 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Image-Stabilized Optical Zoom
Customer Review: Very nice.
Summary: 5 Stars
The wide angle (28 mm equiv) is beautiful -- much closer to the range your eye sees normally than the usual 35 mm equivalent. I'd read that the lens loses sharpness around the edges at its widest setting -- but if the loss is measurable, it is not noticeable. Don't worry about it.
The camera feels good in the hand, with enough heft to feel substantial, not toy-like.
The image stabilization works. I took a hand-held macro close-up of a bee hovering over a flower in less-than-bright light, and it came out sharp sharp, like with a tripod - all the little hairs on the bee's legs. Generally, though, brace the camera as best you can when shooting in low light. The image stabilization is very helpful, but it is not absolute.
Having lots of extra pixels is useless if you just print whole pictures at smaller than poster-size. 3.2 megapixels is plenty for that. But if you like to crop to a tiny piece of the whole picture and blow it up to a regular size, the extra pixels let you do it -- the more you have, the tinier piece of the whole will be usable as your final picture. The 7.1 megapixels this camera has is excellant for the purpose -- but I would not scoff at having more. At some point, the quality of the lens becomes the limitation.
The reviews say the 1600 ISO is too noisy to be useful. It is noisy -- but it lets you get a picture where you could get nothing at all without it. I closed myself into a totally dark room and tried it (without flash, of course) -- not surprisingly, I got nothing but black. Then I opened the door a tiny bit, letting in only enough light to begin to see some shapes without detail. At 1600 ISO, that's exactly what the picture showed. If you can see it at all with your eyes, you can get the picture. The picture will have about the same amount of detail you can see with your eyes. This is not a night-vision spy-camera, but it is terrific for recording whatever you can see.
The green power-light is annoying for night shooting -- too bright.
Customer Review: excellent ultra-compact camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I just have this gadget yesterday and my first impression with this camera is high. I bought this over SD700 mainly because it has image stabilizer, new DIGIC III processor, and wide angle lens. Build-in quality is decent, despite of plastic battery door that many other reviewer complaint, I found this is not a great deal. This camera made in Japan, so you can be sure the quality of this camera is strong.
Picture was great. I try macro shot and the picture comes up better than my Nikon D50 camera. There are many other features like color swap, color accent, multi-shooting modes that you need to play with more to get familiar with this. I will give you more updates after downloading the pictures. Highly recommended!
Updates 11/7/06
I downloaded the pictures and it comes up beautiful, crisp, natural color. Didn't notice any corner softness.
Stabilizer works great. Now I can take low-light photograph without worry of getting blurry pictures. Pictures without flash also come in great shape. For me just unbelievable! Macro shot also excellent. I can take very2 close pictures while my Nikon DSLR unable to focus within very close distance. One thing that I really enjoy is color accent feature. Just pick any color from your object: live! , and the camera will automatically select only the color you choose to be taken. Other than that, will be black & white. For example you want only flower shown in color on your picture. Or maybe you want to swap the color of your flower from red to yellow? isn't that cool? not to mention it has great movies features which allowing you to take high quality video at 30 fps!
Other advanced features that you might be able to find only in proffesional camera also available such as:
- Exposure Lock(AEL)
- Flash Lock(FL)
- Focus check mode
I really recommend this camera for everyone. Even great backup for amateur/professional user.
Customer Review: LOVE it
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this camera about a week ago to replace my old SD200 that died and I am having a ball with this little thing. I do a lot of photography so I need a camera that takes good, sharp pictures consistently and this camera really delivers. I'm absolutely in love with the image stabilizer. I can actually use the digital zoom and still get a sharp picture. I'm amazed. Another plus about the image stabilizer: you can take low light pictures much easier. I took a picture recently of a carosel at dusk and its completely clear.
Another criteria of mine is a very minimal delay between pressing the button and taking the shot. Most of the other cameras I tried out had at least a half second delay. This camera doesn't have a delay. At all. You press the button and it takes the shot that second. The only exception is in low light when the shutter stays open longer but thats a different matter all together.
I also love all the little features. I haven't quite figured out all of them yet but this camera has a color accent feature that will pick out one color and put the rest of the picture in black and white. Its really fun to play with. There seems to be a setting for everything, so you can get the perfect shot every time and not botch the special moment.
The LCD screen is amazing. Its so clear and has awesome colors. It also flips the pictures for you so no matter what orientation the picture is you can see it full screen. The buttons and menus are really easy to figure out, but then again its identical to all the other elphs so i already knew how to work it.
I haven't printed any images that I've taken yet but I'm pretty sure that they'll be good. Overall, i just love this camera. I was sold the moment I saw how clear the pictures were, even on 10xs digital zoom. Everything about it is just perfect for every use.
Customer Review: Its all about the 28MM IS LENS
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera works exactly like pro reviews say it will. The photos don't look the prettiest when zoomed in 100% because the sensor just isn't as good as the rest of the camera. As for the rest of the camera i want to stress a few things
You just CAN'T compare this camera to a 35mm or 38mm camera because the difference is huge. Some people get caught up in the zoom rating but here is basically all zoom is good for:
Sports (sort of)
Wildlife
Occasional random subjects that you can't get close too
Here is what wide angle is good for:
Group photos
Landscape (beaches, mountains, lakes)
Scenery (buildings, sports stadiums)
That latter category covers about 95% of most people's photos. And of course zoom can be accomplished after the fact (crop), but you can never go back and take a wider photo.
Secondly I want to say that IS is a fantastic feature. Every picture in marginal light will benefit and even many pictures indoors are possible without a flash now. If i concentrate on steadiness and use the 2 second delay I can get sharp photos all the way down to 1 second exposures.
The face feature on the other hand is somewhat gimmicky although its neat to watch it re-white balance and bring out the skin tone as soon as it detects a face.
As i mentioned earlier the image quality suffers from noticeable noise and average resolution. It looks somewhat muddy compared to the sharper, cleaner sony i just replaced. Color on the other hand always shines with canon and thats exactly what I've seen here. The wide lens also leaves its mark in the form of edge and corner softness.
So overall while the CCD is clearly lacking, the rest of the camera is still probably most well rounded and versatile compact on the market right now. And do not over look the 28MM LENS!
Customer Review: Incredible Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera exceeds my wildest expectations. It is small enough to fit in your pocket, but delivers incredibly clear, beautiful pictures. I needed a camera with the best stability control I could find, since I have a bad habit of moving when I snap a picture. Every review said this was the best, and they were right. I took pictures from the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, with traffic flying by on the road beneath me, bicycles whizzing by behind me and crowds of people all around me, and every one came out postcard perfect.
Yes the dials are small. Hello?!? The camera is the size of a credit card and as thick as an Ipod. It has a huge LCD display. Of course the dials are small. But I bought the camera to take great pictures, and that's what it does. And for all those people obsessed with the flush mounted on/off button, get over it. It is simple to use, and is out of the way of vital functions. After half an hour of getting familiar with the camera and settings, those so-called issues will be gone. Also, unlike my previous Canon, the settings and menus are much easier to navigate.
That display is incredibly bright and accurate. I was on the bridge in full noon sunlight wearing sunglasses, and the display was still easy to see and use.
The books and literature that come with the camera look daunting at the beginning. But once you actually start using the camera, they become much less intimidating. The CD software installs easily and is easy to use.
The one caveat is the memory card. The one that comes with the camera has so little memory, it is practically useless. Spend a little money and buy yourself one or two high capacity cards. You'll want them for all the pictures you'll take.
I spent weeks comparing cameras and options. It was time well spent. This one was worth the time.