- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 38 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent update to prosumer compact line"
Pros: Slim design, excellent styling and build quality, large crystal clear 3.0" display, easy to use controls, intuitive interface
Cons: No widescreen movie mode, glossy screen collects fingerprints easily, included 32MB SD card is a waste
Summary: Canon has hit a home run for me with the (as of yet pending) release of the Canon SD790 IS. My wife and purchased the SD 750 last year and it has worked very well. I spent some time recently underway on an aircraft carrier and wanted something portable to take with me and chose the Sony T2. Despite it's styling the camera (as submitted by editors and reviewers here) had a less-than-stellar interface and took soft photos.
Enter the brand-new Canon SD790 IS. Despite it's "late March" availability I was able to purchase one online from Circuitcity.com. (Only store that shows it as stocked and available pending the actual release date. If you're looking for this camera, they likely have it in your area and you can purchase it -- though only online with in store pickup or delivery) The camera has yet to be "officially released", so even though I had purchased online the store manager would not let me look at a box in the display case since it was not yet "available." (Talk about a lack of common sense on the store's part!)
The packaging and included accessories are what you've come to expect if you've owned a Canon point and shoot in the past. Only downside is manufacturer's reluctance to include a memory card of any relevance - a 32 MB card is a waste of space. Are they trying to clear long-held inventory? With the price of a new Extreme III SanDisk SD card around $39, a 1GB should be the new standard.... though I'm sure there is some sort of collusion with the memory card manufacturers.
The camera, thankfully, operates in a very similar fashion to the SD750. Notable additions are the extremely nice (and glossy) 3.0-inch 4:3 display. Comparing both cameras side by side didn't prove the colors to be any "better", but it certainly looks nice the way it's integrated into the camera. The controls are similar as well, though now there is a dial that actually spins (albeit not well when brand-new) to toggle through menu or shooting options. At first glance the SD790 looked larger physically than the 750, but it's simply an illusion because of the single color design of the case (the black/silver combination of the 750 is quite slimming). Other than a style upgrade to the buttons, is operates largely the same.
Taking pictures at the highest resolution setting provided excellent quality (10M/superfine/autofocus). Photos from both the 790 and 750 were uploaded into iPhoto on a 17" glossy screen Macbook Pro for comparative purposes. The 790 shots were extremely crisp and showed few artifacts. The added IS (image stabilization) definitely helped in low light situations, where the 750 would occasionally inject a slight blur due to camera shake.
With an extremely solid build quality, the same retail price as the returned Sony T2 (which is 8.1MP btw), and above average feature set the Canon SD790 has already proven to be an excellent choice. Looking forward to taking it overseas for a more "in depth" review.
Where to buy
Canon PowerShot SD790 IS:
$390.40
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$390.40 | Yes |
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