- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 38 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Almost Sheer Perfection for a Compact Shooter"
Pros: Excellent Pics in Various Lighting Conditions, Face Detection, Motion Stabilizer, Fast Startup, Fast Shot-to-Shot Cycling, Excellent 3" Screen, Ability to use SDHC Cards, Logical Menu System
Cons: Slightly Large Compared to Certain Models, Absence of Optical Viewfinder, Not Shockproof or Waterproof, No HD Video
Summary: Not going to get into all the technical nitty-gritty...I'll leave that for other reviewers.
Overall, I did a ton of research from the time of the 2008 CES show in Vegas. I was looking for something to replace my aging Canon SD500. Since that was a great camera overall, I had high expectations.
The contenders I narrowed it down to were basically the Canon SD790IS, Canon SD890IS, Canon SD1100IS, Panasonic DMC-FX35, Olympus 1030SW and the Fuji Finepix F100fd.
Each camera had its pluses and minuses. After testing each camera out at the store, I ended up feeling the Canon SD790IS had the best blend of features overall. In addition to this, the 3" Screen was far-and-away the most vivid & clear of the bunch. Also, the excellent Canon menu system combined with the jog dial and recessed RAZR-like buttons provided the greatest ease of use in my opinion. I actually really wanted to like the Olympus 1030SW but the clumsy menu system and mandatory use of XD cards caused me to eliminate it as a contender.
Now that I've used the camera on a few occasions, I am really impressed so far. The startup time is lightning fast. Shot-to-shot cycle times are very fast. And there is also virtually no shutter lag...which is a big difference compared to my old SD500. The face detection technology with the Digic III processor is amazing. Little floating rectangular boxes on the screen always are able to locate each person's face and focus in on them. It however does not work for pets from my testing. Pictures in various lighting conditions (indoor/outdoor) have been awesome so far. We were in a dimly lit club and the pics we took came out perfectly. My old SD500 would have overexposed and bleached out everybody's faces. Though it is not capable of HD video, movie mode is still very good. Paired with a 16GB SDHC card, you can really take some long movies if needed. Other pluses include the truly awesome screen. It's so crisp and large that I really don't care about the missing optical viewfinder. It's also great for using it as a photo album with friends & family. One really cool feature is that the screen has a tilt sensor much like an iPhone and will automatically tilt the picture for best viewing whether you are holding the camera horizontally or vertically.
Minor gripes are that I wish it was slightly more compact like some of the Casio Exilims out there. The inclusion of features like HD Video (like the Panasonic DMC-FX35) and being Waterproof and Shockproof (like the Olympus 1030SW) would have made this my dream camera...but c'est la vie...This already is pretty darn good overall. Really the best compact shooter as of April 2008.
Where to buy
Canon PowerShot SD790 IS:
$177.95 - $390.40
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$390.40 | Yes |
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$177.95 | Yes |
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