9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Real time optical viewfinder required...
Date of Review: Nov 4, 2006
The Bottom Line: A pocket camera that rivals SLR's. I would recommend it to any enthusiast.
My goal was to get a pocket sized camera, with excellent optics, and as close to SLR as possible in its features. With the feature set that the SD700IS has, it meets all of those requirements. Add in the Image Stabilizer, and it exceeds my expectations.
One feature required on my cameras is a real time (zooms with lens) optical viewfinder. After almost 40 years of taking pictures through a viewfinder, the concept of composing on a TV screen doesn't work for me. The viewfinder on this camera is tiny, like the rest of the camera; but completely workable. The only note is that the viewfinder only shows about 90% of the full frame. The final picture is going to be slightly larger than the viewfinder's image. This is similar to the difference between focal-image window and the full viewfinder image in an SLR's viewfinder.
The image stabilizing is a definite plus. My hands shake and it has freed me from having to take along a tripod. I still do for those special shots, but I don't HAVE to anymore.
The size of this camera is perfect. I purchased a special case that slips onto my belt and I always have it with me at the ready. Sure beats an SLR hanging around your neck. Most people assume it is a cell phone.
The only negatives I have discovered with the camera, to date, are:
1. wimpy flash - reliable only to 8 feet - but this can be augmented with a small slave flash if required
2. zoom is too fast - tends to overshoot the release point and then return - easily over zooms - but with a little practice I think I can learn to predict the outcome and adjust my release timing accordingly.
As far as the color manipulating features of the camera, since I can recreate all of those effects with PS software after the fact, I don't believe I will ever use them.
