Canon PowerShot SD700 IS Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot SD700IS SD700 IS

Strengths: Good image quality (for a P&S digicam), image stabilization, [barely] usable ISO800, 4X zoom (35-140mm), compact, light-weight, nice 2.5" LCD, still has an optical viewfinder

Weaknesses: Flash is very, very weak; optical viewfinder is tiny

Summary: We bought the SD700IS for the times when I didn't feel like lugging around the DSLR and assorted lenses. 6MP is plenty since we typically never print anything larger than a 5x7 from a P&S -- our previous compact digicam was only 3MP (it died), so this was a big step up.

My wife is intimidated by the plethora of controls on my DSLR, and she loves the SD700 because it has few controls. This is especially true when you are in the auto mode. However, I have been blown away by the image quality even when using the auto mode. Focus and exposure are almost always spot on.

Since cameras of this form factor are so lightweight, the image stabilization is almost a necessity. Since Canon does a better job at taming noise in these tiny sensors than _anyone_ else, my friends are amazed at the natural, low-light shots I get from this camera (ISO800, no flash). I'm not going to print an 8x10 out of the resulting photo, but it looks fine at 5x7 and it captures the moment.

You can read a thorough review at DPReview -- they did a great job. This camera has been superceded by both the SD800IS and the SD850IS. Both of these cameras have higher MP sensors, but the SD700IS can still hold its own.

It's getting harder and harder to find these now, so good luck! I paid $295 in June 2007.

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An engineering marvel

Strengths: Build quality Battery life Optics Digic II processor Pic quality

Weaknesses: None.

Summary: Brilliant! Superb piece of engineering. I don't know how they got all these high-end features in this tiny package.

This is my second Digital Elph, and like the first, it has great optics. After I had bought my first Elph in 2002, I knew I would look no further for point-and-shoot cameras. The addition of ISO400 and 800 is very nice, and opens up opportunities for night shooting. Noise can be an issue on high-ISO shots, but Paintshop Pro has an outstanding digital camera noise removal filter that cleans it right up. You're left with jaw-dropping night shots. I've already gotten requests from others for a few I took, for Windows wallpaper.

The image stabilizer works quietly in the background and the only clue you have that it's doing its thing is a red icon that appears for longer exposures. It works flawlessly.

The DigicII processor works flawlessly as well. My previous Elph had a Digic1 processor, was 2.1MP, and still I was able to enlarge some pics I took in Egypt to 16"x20" without artifacts (stair-stepping or pixelation). Incredible. I have them framed and hanging on the wall. The look like they were taken with a medium format film camera. With this one, working with 6MP, there should be no practical limit to the size of enlargements.

The camera's stainless steel construction is solid - it just feels right holding it. This little gem is built rugged. And it's so small!! I was unprepared for the size. I bought it sight unseen at the local Circuit City, and when I got it home I seriously thought they had forgotten to put the camera in the box - perhaps a security measure they forgot about. My wife spotted it next to the battery charger. It was smaller than the tiny charger, sitting nestled in the styrofoam cutout. I took the shipping sleeve off of it and sure enough, that was it!

A nice surprise was the little speaker for sound movie playback, with a volume control. That's something I missed on my Elph S300.

The power button is recessed near the top right of the LCD screen. Some complain about its placement, but I think it makes sense. After all, you're likely to stuff the camera in your pocket on the way out and you don't want it turning on by accident.

And speaking of movie mode, the fast mode (60fps) works great. And in the normal mode you can shoot a movie for up to an hour long, or 1GB, with a large enough memory card. That means with this camera you no longer need to lug along a camcorder on a family vacation trip. Just extra storage media which are so small, you have to make sure you don't inhale them!

Movie quality is all you'd expect, given the quality of the still pics it takes. And the ability to use the digital zoom while shooting, and the fact the auto exposure works real-time while shooting a movie, are nice improvements over earlier Elphs. Normally I don't care for digital zoom, being nothing more than software cropping and resizing. But since the CCD resolution is so much higher than movie resolutions to start with, it is quite handy and useful.

Another huge improvement is the macro mode which now allows you to get good and close - 2cm. I've already taken some stunning flower macro pics.

The menuing is intuitive and easy to learn. Almost all the needed settings are found with one FUNC button push. And the display has to be seen to be believed - large, bright and crisp.

About the only negative I can think of for the average shopper, is the price. It's a bit more money than the rest. But long after you forget about the extra you paid, you'll still have a rugged, capable little camera that likely will be your last point-and-shoot. You won't mind a bit having paid that premium. Trust me.

I've had the camera for several weeks and I still take it out of its case and hold it, shaking my head in awe, seriously considering building a small shrine to honor the Canon engineers ...perhaps with incense, and offerings of some sort. Being an engineer myself I am aware of the design difficulties they must have faced, I don't know how they did it. I consider the price tag at least fair and likely even too low considering the quality of this camera. Canon has earned a lifetime customer.

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Point and shoot at it's best

Strengths: Fast focusing Clear/crisp photos Very good quality video mode A point and shoot that I can take low light photos with

Weaknesses: Price? maybe, but compared to what? Slightly difficult menu system to get used to

Summary: The SD700 IS was a replacement for my Minolta Dimage XT. It's difficult to compare the two, because the Minolta was only a 3 Megapixel camera. That aside, I'll focus on the SD700 IS:

A week before a cruise I was going on I decided I wanted to upgrade my camera. I wanted something of quality, and most importantly a camera that takes good pictures. I wasn't just thinking about cruise pictures, but was looking for a camera that I could happily grab every day and take with me wherever I go. I did as much reviewing as I could, and even though the SD700 IS was relatively new, it seemed to get good enough initial comments to warrant spending the $$ on.

The first thing I noticed about this camera was the look and feel. It looks pretty cool, but obviously that isn't what a camera is about. It feels very sturdy and well-built. That's very important for a camera that I carry with me every day. The one thing I am fearful about is the retractable lens. I know it's just me, but my mind tells me that's just something that could break over time, moreso than a camera with a fixed lens.

As far as using it is concerned, I won't get into every detail of the camera - it's parts and menus. There are several well-written fully documented professional reviews on the net explaining each item this camera has to offer.

For an ameteur such as myself, I want a camera that does what i expect it to do, and this camera has not failed any expectations of mine. It's actually exceeded my expectations.

Within a second of turning on the camera I can pop off a picture. I always take care to keep the wheel in auto mode when I put it away, for I know it will be set for most instances when I need it without thinking. I have found in auto mode the ISO High setting and auto flash generally cover my needs. It's fairly quick to change ISO and flash settings, so within a second or two I can change those if needed. I have the fine mode set, and use the M1 (2272x1704) setting.

In manual mode, I've used the long shutter mode for night pictures and sometimes keep it on. Usually, when I'm in manual mode, I am taking my time and care in setting up the picture, so I don't really care what the settings are when I leave that mode, such as flash, long shutter, white balance, etc. The next time I use manual mode I check the settings for my particular shooting case of the moment.

As far as the pictures I've taken to date, I can say the following:

The daytime pictures are as perfect as they can be. I find 6-megapixels is fine for my needs. They display very well on my 19" monitor based upon my settings once transferred to my computer, and I generally print 4x6 photos with photo paper on an HP photo printer and they look pretty darn good.

The low light pictures are noisy, but I expect that for what I purchased. I still get pictures in low light I've never been able to get before. Even in 4x6 printing, they capture the moment and I can look beyond the less than perfect quality just knowing I actually got the picture.

I haven't used the flash all that much. At the normal 5-7 foot distance the flash works fine. I find it a little bright when too close, and haven't really played with the settings enough to see how to balance out that problem.

I've had a few red-eye pictures, but I blame myself for not using the red-eye flash setting.

I've used the macro setting, and the close-ups of some plant and animal life i've taken have been beautiful.

I've played with the special color settings. I took a picture in the lobby of the ship of flowers with a piano player in the background. the only color I kept was the red in the flowers, and the rest was black and white. It was a very cool picture. I haven't tried the color swap yet.

The video setting is a nice feature too. I have a nice mini-DV camcorder, but when I want a clip on the fly, the 640x480 at 30fps does a nice job.

Reviewing the pictures on the fly are a breeze. It displays the picture i just took, and in a second I can delete it if i have the time. or, of course i can wait until I get home and delete the pictures I don't want. I purchased a Sandisk UltraII 2GB SD card for the camera, so I can hold a ton of pictures before the need to transfer.

I used the slide show feature and played back the photos on my TV with the supllied cable - it was easy. Also, reviewing the pictures on the SD card with the thumbnails is handy.

I find the 2.5" screen to be clear and adequate.

I use the supplied photo editing software, and I find transferring the pictures from the camera to my computer to be a breeze.

The camera is small enough to not to be a pain to carry, and the quality of pictures I find to be admirable. It's a point-and-shoot camera, not a professional one. These sort of cameras, to me, are for the person who just wants a picture. There are cheaper cameras on the market, but I believe you get what you pay for. The money on this beauty I find well spent.

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Pocket Rocket

Strengths: Obviously the Image Stabilization Small & light - easy to carry everywhere & anywhere Large LCD screen

Weaknesses: Price Like other compact cameras -- suffers in indoor, low light situations

Summary: My previous compact powershot was a Canon S230. The SD700 has continued in the long tradition of high quality ELPH's by Canon. This camera is very light, has a nice finish & feel, and like its predecessors, is well made, high quality camera.

Ideally, this is a camera to be used for taking pics with your friends or when you're out with family and doing activities.

Obviously the megapixels are adequate for most consumers. The zoom is a tricky thing tho. On the one hand, 4x is very good. Most other similar cameras are 3x. The problem is that whenever you zoom, camera shake is more prone to blurry or noisy pictures. Although this has image stabilization, that in itself can sometimes not completely off-set the camera shake, especially at the high zoom of 4x. Sounds contradictory, but the IS works well in 0x - 3x zoom in my experience.

For outdoors, this camera produces beautiful, sharp pictures.

For indoors, it has the same problem as many other compact cameras. So be sure to take pics with adequate lighting, and don't rely on the small, weak flash.

All in all, it's a great camera. Relatively expensive due to the new technology, but I have no regrets. Nobody likes taking pics and later discovering that they turned out blurry or noisy, so this camera, although not perfect, does improve in producing excellent pics that you can share with your friends & family.

The only thing I'd suggest is to not rely on the 4x zoom unless you have a tripod, or have plenty of light, or you have steady hands.

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a WONDERFUL little camera!

Strengths: good crisp photos, still the small powershot body, very user friendly, lots of manual settings if you like that, lots of different menus for different pictures.

Weaknesses: can be yellowy in color if not adequate lighting, weak flash, a little pricey.

Summary: This is a wonderful camera...even with the weaknesses that I listed, I give this the best rating, cause it's the best you are gonna find in a lil point and shoot camera! Yes, it's a little pricey, but well worth it. I bought a panasonic lumix before this one with the image stabilizer, what a joke. I sent it back. I researched for months before getting this, and well worth the wait! Thanx Canon!

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Wow, I expected it to be good, but not this good!!

Strengths: Image Stabalizer, Nice screen, good pictures, very small.

Weaknesses: High ISO pictures can be a little grainy especially if you zoom in alot for a closer look after the picture has been taken (on the playback).

Summary: I was amazed by how clear the pictures came out with the image stabilizer, I actually started with the camera near my head, and moved it very quickly to my chest/stomach while taking my picture and it was still as clear as if I was not moving at all.

I do a lot of wake boarding so I really love the continuous shot feature (finally even somebody with the worst timing can find the right shot, and since it is digital just delete the extras u dont need :) The Image Stabilizer really helped to get some great shots on the moving boat, even zoomed all the way out to 4x I did not have a single blurry photo!

I am very impressed and happy with my purchase.

Brandon

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Canon camera with Image Stabilization

Strengths: Large display; viewfinder; Image Stabilization (IS); good build quality

Weaknesses: Cheapo viewfinder; no widescreen video mode; limited manual controls; ISO800 is noisy; EXPENSIVE

Summary: 2006-06-03 09:57:54 I've had this baby for about two weeks now, and have been quite happy! I upgraded from a Canon SD400, which was a great compact camera for my needs. I didn't *really* need to upgrade, but I liked the fact that the SD700 has low-light capabilities via ISO 800 and Image Stabilization (IS). Found it on sale, so picked it up (after selling my SD400, of course).

I like the fact that I can now take indoor pictures, without having to use the flash. IS has really helped me out. However, the ISO800 mode is pretty useless, as it is extremely noisy. I plan to only use it when I need to get the picture, but just for posterity's sake. Surprisingly, I don't know how to view that ISO data when displaying the EXIF data on my computer.

The large LCD is very nice. Bright and crisp, and an improvement over my SD400. The viewfinder is nice to have when trying to save batteries by turning off the LCD, but its pretty cheap! Lousy optics and blurry. Oh well, at least they provide one.

Battery life has been good. I've been shooting with the same battery the last two weeks. Probably 100 shots. Unfortunately, the camera does not display a percentage of battery life that is left!! Come on Canon, this is reasonable to have this feature! Just in case, I picked up a pair of generic NB-5L batteries on ebay for $12.

While I have not printed out any pictures (only do this ocassionally), they look great on my 24in LCD monitor! I am quite happy w/ low ISO image quality. Like mentioned before, totally different story for the ISO800 mode!!

Oh, and one other thing that may or may not be important to you. I wish there were some more manual controls. Specifically, I'd love power control for the flash. My old S40 had this feature, and came in handy. Same for exposure compensation. I'm not sure why Canon refuses to put these features into their SD camera line? The capability is there in the DIGIC II chip, so why not turn it on???!!!

Lastly, I really like the sturdiness and size of the camera. A tad larger & heavier than my SD400, but it feels good in my hands, and still fits easily in my pocket.

So, while I'd like to give this camera 5-stars, I'm forced to give it 4.5, but since I can't do that, I drop the review to 4 stars. Highly recommended, but you have to be aware of some of its shortcomings mentioned above. The biggest one, that I forgot to mention, is price!! $500 retail, when they don't include some of the features requested above! Canon seems to be consistently higher priced than many competitors for similarly equipped cameras.

Updated 6/3/06: After another week of use, I decided to give it a five star review. There really is no such thing as a perfect camera, but this one is darn close enough to warrant a "perfect" review!

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• You'd like to give the camera 5 stars, but are "forced" to give i...
• 5 stars, 4.5 stars or 4 stars? Which is it?
• Sorry to be confusing regarding my star review. :-) Well, the cam...
• I think the OP stated it clearly in the review.

Manual or automatic, it's a great camera

Strengths: Fine pictures, wide range of user options, small & lightweight, 4x optical zoom, image stabilization. Battery lasts forever.

Weaknesses: Grainy pics at high ISO. Controls are close together due to large LCD screen.

Summary: This is my second Canon and so far I've been very happy with it. The image stabilization has allowed me to take great closeup shots. I am definitely still learning how to use it and experimenting w/various exposures, etc. My only movie (of my cat, naturally) came out beautiful and plays perfectly in Quicktime. The camera came with a lot of software which I looked at once and then I went back to iPhoto which I already know how to use. But the included software has lots more features, including telling you the settings of the pics, which is very helpful if you're still experimenting, as I am. I do use Photostitch, which creates beautiful panoramas. As with my other Canon, if you just want to point and shoot, the camera will "guess" correctly most of the time, rivalling SLR pics in many cases (though I agree that it can be yellowy in low light). I especially appreciate the 4x optical zoom (greater than any others in this size category except the Pentax), and as cameras continue to get smaller, this 6MP is half the size of my old 4MP. I did a ton of research before I bought it and I agree w/most user reviews: If you don't mind the cost, this is a fantastic camera.

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Canon SD700 IS Digital Camera Review (Novice)

Strengths: Excellent picture quality, very good indoor pictures, 'NO MORE RED-EYE' and a Real_Image Optical viewfinder

Weaknesses: Pricey compared to other cameras, I paid $499, Surprised that it fit in the palm of my hand, it seems to be a little heavy to put in your shirt pocket but it fits perfectly in the front pants pocket.

Summary: Exquisitely styled with unique 'Curvature and Stream' design, the camera incorporates a host of cutting-edge features, Image-Stabilizer, Real-Image Optical Viewfinder, and 'NO MORE RED-EYE' were the most important features to me.

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• This camera has 4x (optical) zoom, image stabilization, and high ...

Great camera!

Strengths: Image Stabilization improves picture quality, especially in dark spaces, bright LCD screen, partial manual controls. After a month: Still very happy. "Nightshot mode" excellent. ZoomBrowser helpful :)

Weaknesses: Still difficult to get sharp pics with 4x zoom at night. Good Video - only 8min though, because of 1GB limitation.

Summary: 2006-06-21 07:13:53 The colors produced are very bright and saturated. Please see the link for an unedited casual picture on auto setting (care! it is 2.46MB)

Dark places still need care though.

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Great Camera, takes awesome vivid pics AND video, IS works well, LCD looks beautiful with improved improved graphics

Strengths: Solid construction, 4X optical zoom is nice, movie mode work great (hi speed movie mode allows for smooth slow motion), image stabilization really works well, and SD700 still has svelt, compact body

Weaknesses: LCD collects fingerprints/smudgemarks very easily, power button is a little odd, viewfinder is right above LCD so is hard to avoid smudging LCD with face

Summary: I love this new camera! This replaced my old S500, and the IS function really makes taking indoor and low light pictures a breeze now--something I couldn't do without a flash. I love how smooth the video is. Bought a 4GB card for $89 on Zipzoomfly.com and it works great with the camera. I can record over 30 minutes of highest quality video with this card! Also can take over 1400 highest quality pics (and over 10,000 VGA pics) with this card--perfect for a long vacation where you don't have to worry about taking a laptop to transfer pictures until you get back! Battery is also new for this model and gives increased battery life. I give it 5/5.

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Canon Powershot SD700

Strengths: Very sharp pictures Very Good Macro Easy to use

Weaknesses: expensive sharpness declines when zooming in in movie mode

Summary: I bought this camera to replace a Nikon 4500. I have been very pleased with the operation and quality of the pictures . . very sharp. They require very little retouching. The color is excellent. The image stabilizer works very well and the programed scenes are more than adequate. Movies are excellent except when zooming in. Then there is obvious deterioration. But at least you CAN zoom. Most small digitals today are fixed focus only.

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Awesome camera

Strengths: 4X Zoom, picture quality, coolness factor

Weaknesses: Canon should have made the mode selector a bit easier to turn. Buttons are a little too small IMHO

Summary: 2006-12-03 22:29:02 I own a Canon Powershot A610 camera and my first reaction when I opened and searched the box that the Canon Powershot SD700 IS came in was, "Where's the camera?" I could not believe how small this camera really is. Compared to my A610 camera, the SD700 IS is tiny. Now that is both good and bad. I've only been using the SD700 IS for a day or so now, and have not really not become used to taking pictures using the SD700 IS using one hand. I think the A610 has a much more sturdier feel as you can take pictures with that camera using one hand. I really have to use both hands when taking pictures with the SD700 IS. The A610 is portable but it is a tight fit into a jeans pocket. Now I don't think the SD700 IS will have that problem as it will fit into any pocket.

I haven't taken many pictures yet, but the ones I've taken have come out looking really sharp. Also, the mode selector is a little tough to turn as it both small and requires a little force to turn. Canon can definitely improve upon this design.

Overall, I absolutely love this camera and will definitely recommend it because of it's great features set, the speed in which it takes continuous pictures with and without flash, and incredible picture quality.

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Nice upgrade from the SD400, but still a bit expensive

Strengths: Image stabilizer, 4X optical, high ISO

Weaknesses: Larger than SD400 (just a little), expensive, control buttons are a bit smaller

Summary: I upgraded from the SD400 to this SD700 IS. I use this type of camera because it's so small that it easily fits into a pocket. This little camera is slightly larger than the SD400 in all dimensions. It still fits in a pocket, but you can tell it's a little bigger. You can also tell it's somewhat heavier too. Yet for its size, it's aweseome that they've been able to jump to a 4X optical zoom, whereas most cameras this size are 2X or 3X. My 3X zoom was okay on the SD400, but there were times when it seemed like I needed just a little bit more. So I think the 4X will be great. It also helps to jump up to a 6 MP which will allow for even more cropping for times when we can't get close enough.

Of course, the biggest new item with this camera is the image stabilizer. IS lenses are typically though of for big zoom lenses, yet even with a compact like this I've had some blurry shots, particularly in low light when the shutter speed is lower. I also like IS because we take a log of short video clips, and the IS lense helps smooth out camera movement for the videos as well as still shots.

Canon has also increased the screen size yet again on this new model, now up to a 3" screen - very nice!

For indoor shots I like to shoot without the flash if possible, to avoid harsh skin tones and red eye, but that's rarely possible unless the room has a lot of light. Canon has introduced a high ISO setting with this model that should help in this regard. I took a few test shots at "auto" and "high ISO" and they high ISO shots are definitely brighter.

The 700 IS features a high frame rate video mode, but it's only at 320 X 240, so I doubt I'll ever use it. It also has a wide-screen mode, but I don't have any wide screen displays (TV, computer, etc.), so that's not appealing to me.

The improvements that were most significant to me were:

- IS Lens (for stills and video)

- High ISO

- larger screen

- 4X zoom

The 4 directional menu navigation buttons are a bit smaller on this model, making them just a little more difficult to use, but I have pretty thin fingers, so it's not a real problem.

The only real down side for me is that it's a bit bigger and heavier and pretty pricey. If you're not in a hurry to upgrade, you'll probably save a bundle if you wait 10 months until the next new model is announced. But for me, I was ready for the new one despite the price.

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Canon SD700 IS

Strengths: compact, 4X zoom, image stabilization

Weaknesses: On/off switch and mode dial are a little awkward for larger fingers

Summary: A very well built camera that easily slips into a pocket and takes great pictures. The image stabilization feature works very well. I no longer have the camera shake problems that I had with my previous compact camera. I highly recommend this camera.

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