Canon PowerShot SD780 IS / IXUS 100 IS Digital Camera

The Canon SD780IS ELPH camera:

I had this camera for only a day so the impressions are based on only this 1 day of testing which is to say isn't a lot. But from what I tried the bottome line is I love this camera.

I had a Canon SD850 IS ELPH camera before this and I loved that camera except I gave it to my brother-in-law so I needed a new compact P/S (point-and-shoot) camera. I also have a Canon EOS 20-D SLR which I also love, which probably means to most people that I am biased towards Canon products and that I love a lot of things (am I materialistic?!?!?!?).

Well getting back to the SD780IS I would say that this tiny camera (yeah it's a little bigger than a credit card length and width wise) is very well designed and can stand toe-to-toe to cameras twice as expensive.

SPECS:
-12.1 MP with DIG!C 4 processor
-3x optical zoom with optical image stabilizer (4x digital zoom)
-Can capture 720p High Def video
-Aperture setting of f/3.2 (W) - f/5.8 (T)
-Shutter speeds of 15-1/1500 sec
-ISO ratings of 80/100/200/400/800/1600 (can go to 3200 in special shooting mode)
-Capabilities include: Red-eye correction, blink detection, motion detection, contrast correction, and automatic face detection
-2.5" color display
-18 predefined shooting modes along with Auto mode (P program, portrait, foliage, snow, beach, sunset, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, ISO 3200, indoor, kids & pets, night snapshot, long shutter, color accent, color swap, digital macro, and stich assist)
-Accepts SD (Secure Digital) cards
-Lithium Ion rechargeable battery

Turning on the camera the first time was a breeze. It asked you to put in the date and time. Then if you want you can modify the settings on your camera (ex: whether you want to turn digital zoom ON or OFF). I left mostly everything as is with the exception of muting the camera sounds and lowering the brightness of the LCD.

There is a mode selection button that allows you to select either (full) Auto, manual, or video. Auto of course allows the camera full control, the only thing you have to do is point the camera and take the picture. The camera will determine whether flash is needed, ISO setting, apeture setting, and shutter speed depending on the situtation.

Manual mode on the other hand allows you as the user to select shutter speed, ISO, flash/no flash, etc. It also allows you to use one of the 18 preset camera modes mentioned above and select which recorded image size you want to use (small, medium, large, fine, and normal). More into this later.

Video mode of course allows you to shoot video. I haven't played around with this yet, but I'm guessing it does what Canon says it does. The only negative I heard about this as with other cameras, not just Canon, is the inability to control video capturing such as the lack of adjusting brightness, apeture, etc. So basically you get what you get.

Performance:
Again I only had this camera for a day so a full performance review was out of the question. However I did take several still pictures and boy were they exceptional. I tried varied scenes such as day outdoor shots, indoor shots, night shots, dark situations, and fast action shots. Fast action shots were a little blurry as expected since this is not a camera intened for taking action pictures.

I only tried a few ISO settings, but the lower ISOs (80-200) were excellent and the higher settings of course introduced noise (grain). Only 1600 and above were unreasonable (to my standards). In low light situations, the camera didn't have too much difficulty focusing on the subject and in fact took low light subjects pretty well.

Useability:
This camera is a breeze to use. It takes pictures pure and simple. On/Off switch on top with 3 selectable modes: auto, manual, and movie. Now some people will have difficulty of a time to use the features of the camera, but for an experienced camera user I did not. Yes some of the features are not easily accessible, but overall this camera can be used by both amateurs and experts. The main features such as ISO setting, shooting modes, and flash On/Off/Auto are pretty well laid out. You can't complain much since the camera is a P/S and small in size.

Cons:
Ok there are some cons with the camera but are very minor and does not and should not impact the way the camera operates and the performance of the camera. One thing about this camera is that it is small so people with large hands or are easily frustrated may have difficulty tinkering with the buttons. I don't have large hands but even for me I have some difficulty using the buttons. The other issue I have is that the camera can scratch easily especially the LCD screen. I suggest placing a protective film over the screen to keep from scratching and buy a camera case especially if you plan on putting the camera in your pocket or purse. The other "issue" i have is that it is somewhat expensive camera. In today's economy this is a luxury that many people will not be able to afford and in fact I had to scrounge around to pony up for this. But I should not complain since I did decide to buy this camera knowing well about the financial situation. Lastly I could have sworn that Canon left out some shooting modes that my previous SD850 IS had so I'm wondering why Canon left them out since I used and enjoyed some of them.

Overall though this camera is tight. Excellent performance and features, compact and lightweight, easy to use and versatile. Canon has done it again!