- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 104 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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79 out of 103 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"Image Stabilization fuels the hype of this one trick pony."
Pros: Image Stabilization and the use of this in low light shooting.
Cons: The lack of quality shown everywhere esle. Poor image quality, noise, oversaturated yellow/red tones, corners that are so soft they look post-processed with a blur tool, and horrible CA.
Summary: Yesterday, I got home with my new sd800. And due to the scrutiny of the forums, I immediately had to test it. I compared exact duplicate shots from my SD550 to this ?upgrade? sd800. I am very sad to say that in normal shooting conditions, this model just couldn?t keep up. The main things I saw the sd800 losing horribly to the sd550 in were: picture clarity, sharpness (edge to edge) and color accuracy (the sd800?s produces a very warm shot, too much yellow & red). This was a disappointment indeed when you compare the fact that my sd550 is almost a year old.
Now, on the flip-side, and should you ever find yourself in ?overhead fan lighting,? this will be where the true benefits of the sd800 become VERY clear. If this is how you shoot, the IS will become a lifesaver for every single shot. But aside from a museum or other ?no flash,? location, RARELY am I not using the flash on my camera. And I found the trick to not having over-saturation or too much flash contrast (whatever the model) is to just lower the brightness setting prior to shooting and use a bit of Photoshop shadow highlight love. (Although this can never fully prevent your shot from the flashlight effect left on objects from shooting, but it helps). This camera is only ideal for shooting in an IS situation. Period. Or at least IMHO, but it is my review right? lol
My solution was simple. I ended up taking a risk against better judgment, returned the sd800, and got the sd900. Let me just say that the quality from this camera will NEVER be achievable from an SD800. So make the call. If IS is your ?make or break feature,? go for the 700is, or800is. However if its quality you want from your shots, and you aren?t found in low light situations often, the 550 or 900 are the way to go! Price per mega pixel being the only difference.
PS- Cnets review of both the sd900 and the sd800 showed such a fanboy lack of effort in thier lust for the sd800 they almost lost all credibility with me. Thier review of the sd900 was so minimal, I have to wonder if they even spent any time with it. And then to call the sd800 pics good? It just shows how little they do know about the things they speak. Sad. Go look at the pro reviews and it shows exactly why not to use cnet for digital camera reviews!
- 12 replies to this review
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when you say "go look at the pro reviews" where do you mean?
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If you have ever used cameras such as Canon 30D or Nikon D200 you would have a different opinion of IS. As for 10Megapixel verses 7 or 8,I think you need to do more research! I just saw a review on cameras that had shot the same photos from 5, 8 and 10 megapixels side by side and only the experts could tell the difference.
Most of the mega pixel is for selling advertisements. I have the Canon 800IS and Canon 30D and Nikon D200. All take great photos. I go by setting and lens more than a few more mega pixels -
I know what you hate about this camera, and that's fair, but this review would have been more helpful to me if you had offered me an alternative camera that performs better than this one in the same price range.
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wow, that's quite an opinionated review on such a broadly used camera.
It amazes me on how long it takes people to learn that when you state your opinion in such a strong, black and white way, people become very turned-off and close out your opinion, in no way is it a universally helpful way to review something. -
I've had this camera for about 7 months and unfortunately, I have to agree with this comment completely. Color is very over-saturated and unnatural looking. (Yes, lots of yellow and red/pink.) Edges are soft and blurry. I've read the manual and experimented with the settings, but I haven't been able to eliminate these problems. The ISO setting is nice in low light if your subject is not moving at all, but if you are using this camera to take pictures of pets or people (especially kids), then forget it. The flash does not work well on subjects more than a couple of feet away - not only is the lighting uneven but the pictures often are extremely grainy (my 3 megapixel video camera does better.) Adjusting pics with software helps some, but who has time for that on every picture? I'm just a shutterbug mom who was looking for a great point and shoot to take pics of her kids, but this is NOT the one. This is just an honest opinion from an average user, but I hope it helps someone.
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Wait a second, dd you just call Cnet SD800 fanboy and then turn around and give this great, but not perfect camera a 4 out of 10? LOL Please.
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I got a Canon SD 900 few weeks ago; it's feel like a one solid piece of pure metal (titanium) made for one of the best cameras and lenses makers. Image quality is superb in every situation and environment, intuitive controls and easy to learn menu. Someone said sd 800 "is" with wide angle? well... not everybody needs a wide lens unless you gonna take a full view of a bridge. The 900 looks beauty and expensive ----a lot more than 800 is----. Moreover I couldn't find the "great" improvement of the stabilization considering that efective antishake feature is included in most cameras nowdays. For sure a it's little bit expensive but the SD 900 it's outstanding among others (including sd 800 is) and worth in each of it 10 megapixels.
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Camera works great? I don't experience any of your problems, and read the review at dcresource.com and they recommend the camera? Why a 4 out of 10? The camera you said you bought instead is 10MP? not even in the same class, and more expensive.
The SD800 is a great little camera and no way deserves a 4 out of 10. Way off. -
I, too, experienced the same problem about excessively yellow and red colors in my photos. Is this problem caused by the flash or do you know if there are any settings I can adjust to fix the problem?
Thank you. -
The settings on the SD800 are very different from the old 550, and it sounds like you didn't read your manual carefully if at all. Out of the box, the camera will shoot on its highest ISO, for example, and you'll get noisy pics. Actually getting the settings right, this camera takes very good pictures for a snapshooter.
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Today is Oct17. Pls post links to the aforementioned Pro reviews. I am on the verge of buying this camera except for your review. (BTW why did you not take the advie of the Pro reviews?)
Thanks! -
The huge draw of this camera is the 28mm equiv. wide angle lens - a fact that poster completely missed. I checked a pro review of the camera & it came out quite good. All ultra-compact cameras suffer a bit of corner softness, so it would be fair to compare this with a full size Camera. Here's a review from a professional tester who I trust:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_sd800-review/
Where to buy
Canon PowerShot SD800 IS:
$699.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$699.99 | Yes |
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