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: Canon SD 800 IS / Point and shoot champ
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned several PS didgicams, all having strengths and weaknesses. The sd 800 is no different. It takes very good photos if exposed correctly . Colors are rich and well saturated, maybe a tad over , but not too far done like my former lx-1 by pani. I bought it for the features, wide angle, IS andcompact as compared to LX-1. The SD800 takes pictures far better than the LX1 as far as color and sharpness, all in a small package. I use a Nikon D200 w/ over $5K in lenses, but have found that while my pictures from the sd800 are no wear near the quality of the D200, they are more numerous, meaning it comes w/ me everywhere and i never miss a shot, unlike the large D200 which sits at home most of the time. I brought the sd800 on my recent trip to PR and it was great. 600+ pix on a 2g card, no need even to bring the laptop as the file sizes are small enoug and the 2g card big enough for a weeks worth of keepers ( itossed several hundered bad photos). While most will complain about, the corner softness, the design, the this the that, remember this, it is about getting the shot and the sd800 is always thier when needed and performs in 80% of all situations (low liight is ok, lots of noise at iso 200 +, but better than the LX1, flash is weak and recycles slow, and high contrast is tricky but use AE compensation and AE lock to get it right). Bottom line, if you pixel peep at 100% and make your decision on this camera, you are stupid. It is a PS digicam w/ great features and very good photo quality. As far as some design problems and cheap plastic material, it is metal and the Sd door is cheap, but when the sd700 came out it was $499, the sd 800 is $360 from amazon and has better features in the wide lense. Get this camera, if photo quality is poor it is a poor sample, exchange until you get a keeper, you won't regret it.Customer Review: Excellent digital camera
Summary: 5 Stars
After a few months of use and 4000 pictures taken, I can say I am very happy with the SD800. The camera is pocketable, feels like it is of great quality, is very easy to use, the screen is big and easy to see, there are quick response and power-on times, and good times between flashes. The pictures taken are excellent, and the 7.1MP resolution is great for my needs. The image stabilization is great for preventing blurriness in general, and is expecially helpful for preventing blur with low light, nighttime, digitally zoomed and no-flash shots. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie mode, due to the great quality of both video and audio.
I have only one issue with the camera, and two very minor ones. My main issue is that there is no battery meter; you don't know how much power you have left until the red battery warning starts flashing, and you have only 3-5 shots worth of battery left. IT would be nice to know how much power I have left to some degree, such as a meter telling me the battery is full, 75%, 50%, 25% and redline. The battery life is good anyway, but I take a may take 200+ pictures on an outing, and this is a concern for me, though having only been a problem twice in 3 months. The minor issues are that you might have to retake some macro shots because there aren't any manual focus conrols (to my knowledge). Also, don't expect the face-recognition to be magical; it doesn't work too well if people are not facing the camera, though the camera focuses well in general anyway.
Despite the above small issues, I am very happy with the SD800 IS and I'll be using it for a long time. I recommend this camera and others in the Powershot series to friends, and I'll be looking into other Powershot models if i'm in the market for a new camera later down the line.
Customer Review: Excellent Digital Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading many reviews I had my camera choice narrowed between this and the Sony W90. I purchased the W90 and fought with it for 2 weeks before finally returning it and buying the 800IS. Although both cameras are capable of taking excellent pictures in a wide variety of lighting conditions, I found the 800IS to be significantly better with less grain and much better image stabilization.
I have taken about 800 pictures with this camera in many lighting conditions. Of course in bright daylight the camera takes excellent pictures in all modes. What really impressed me however, was the quality of pictures in very low light. I took many pictures of a dress rehearsal in very difficult lighting conditions. Every picture came out! The image stabilization worked perfectly even at full zoom.
It is extremely easy and quick to change ISO settings which is very handy for changing light conditions.
In terms of picture quality, ISOs up to 400 have little or no grain. Pictures taken in ISO 800 and 1600 have noticeable grain, but are very sharp and produced excellent 4x6 prints.
Overall I am VERY pleased with this camera and am glad I didn't settle for the picture quality of the W90.
UPDATE: June 10, 2007 I took this camera on a trip to Singapore a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to take some night shots along the river that runs through the city. I used a railing for stability and the 2 second timer to take the shots. The 2 second timer allows any shake to stop after the button is pressed. I took about 20 pictues using the nightshot setting. All 20 turned out with no bluring even when zoomed in. The 8x10 prints looked like they had been professionally taken.
Customer Review: Nice Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I previously used a Canon Powershot G1. Before buying the SD800 I tried an SD400 and SD900. I wanted a quality camera, a small camera, and one that had resolution high enough that I could take pictures of objects some distance away but be able to enlarge them without great loss of quality
The image stablization feature of the SD800 became an important feature. These small cameras do not have much heft and so I found that it was very easy to introduce body tremor and therefore blurring into the pictures.
I have found that I can take a picture of a bird 15-20 feet in the distance and enlarge the picture to the extent that I have a quality "portrait" of the bird. For me this is satisfactory.
Although the SD900 has higher resolution, the difference between it and the SD 800 was not sufficient to cause me problems. Camera motion seemed to be a greater consideration in taking pictures and then enlarging them.
The finish of the SD900 is of a higher quality than the SD800 and I feel this is something to consider. The price of the SD400 is less and of course this is something to consider as well.
I liked my old G1. It was a substantial camera. I liked the movable screen and the buttons and knobs were, of course with the larger camera, more substantial. But having a smaller camera enabled me to have it always at the ready when travelling. The lag time between depressing the shutter and the actual taking of the picture was slow with the G1 and seems very quick with the SD 800.
The SD800 has quite a few user controls but lacks the manual settings of larger cameras. Good photo editing will help compensate for some of this but, of course not all.
Customer Review: Quality, value, reliable brand, etc.. Buy one today!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've now had this camera for about 6 weeks and I really love it. It came with me to Colorado for a world cup ski racing event in early December and I was very impressed with just about every feature. The first day we were there, it was minus 17 degrees, with the wind chill at minus 33, yes, below zero. After about 3 hours, my cell phone battery even died out, which really surprised me that the cold puts that much drain on a battery. However,my Canon stood through it all quite well and with power to spare at the end of the day, I'm happy to report.As a long time, avid skier, I have always taken along a camera to bring those shots back home from around the world and I'm glad that I did. However, when preparing for the day in the morning, laying out all the necessary stuff to take along ,I would dread carrying those few extra pounds of camera in my pocket and little by little, would eventually begin to leave it behind and then miss out of course on the best shots of the day. My last camera, a Canon power shot A 80, about 4 years old has been handed down to my 12 year old daughter as her back pack always has about 20 pounds of gear in it anyway and she doesn't seem to notice the difference.
I love the speed at which the camera "boots up".It's ready to shoot in about 2 seconds. I also take a lot of close up people shots, which the wide angle is absolutley perfect for. It virtually guarantees me a good shot with the wide angle lens. The video format is great too. Make sure you buy a 1 or 2 gig card. Night shots are also great with the image stabilization feature.Overall, a really well thought out design and a very functional all around camera for just about anybody, regardless of their camera experience. Great job Canon!