Canon SD800 IS
This is a great compact camera for toting and traveling. With the IS (Image Stabilization) included as on of its features, bumpy picture taking gets that much better. One of the cool things about this camera is that it has both a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a sleek-styled Viewfinder which means that if you prefer not to target your subject in its large 2.5 inch LCD screen, then you can always rely on your trusty eyes. With this screen, you can definitely tell when you’ve taken a good picture though because its so large and clear. The viewfinder does have its drawbacks though. Although I’ve seen a range of people saying you can view 80 or 90% of the actual photographable scene, I would say its more like 70% and possible not the most comfortable thing to look through for long periods of time. It’s the tradeoff you have to take with its cool design though.
It’s got a 7.1 megapixel sensor that will allow for super high quality prints. As you have probably learned from the TechSelector questionnaire as well, the more megapixels you have, the better the image quality, and the bigger you will be able to print your images at high resolution.
One of the features that I found really helpful and extremely cool was the Face Detecting focus. You can turn on the Face detect setting and in any mode the camera will focus on the nearest face when taking pictures. It’s a super-cool feature, and you’d be surprised at how helpful it really is.
It takes an SD memory card for storage. Its design is also pretty cool and seems to fit nicely in your hand. It’s a bit curved around the edges and for some reason with just feels more comfortable that the sharper edges of the ELPH’s of old.
All in all, this is a great camera for beginners or intermediates that want a pretty simple camera. The extra features that it possesses really help to keep things simple and do a lot of the settings work for you.
View Pricing and Product Details for the Cannon SD800 IS.
Reviewed by Peter Ensio 01.24.2007