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"Great cam and near perfect pictures more than make up for no IS like its little brother." on by zerohalcyon
Pros: Everything about the camera is amazing.
Cons: Only room for improvement would be the lowlight shooting. IS would have made this THE camera to have for the year and raised the bar.
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. It just shows how little they do know about the things they speak. Sad. -
"Good for outdoor still pictures" on by baxterflash
Pros: Clear pictures, good build quality
Cons: Needs IS, red eye, blur in continuous mode
Summary: I first purchased the Canon SD900. It was a good camera, but needs image stabilization. If you are taking still shots in fair to good lighting it is a good camera. Well, with 4 kids (three of them 2 year old triplets), life does not stand still for a picture. I took the SD900 back and got the SD800IS. Best choice I have ever made. The image stabilization is great. I can chase the kids around taking pictures and they are very clear. Both the 900 and the 800 have a fair amount of red eye in indoor and low light pictures and of course anything over ISO 400 gives a great deal of noise.
The lower pixel count makes no difference for my use. I also use a Canon EOS-1D Mark II N with 4 different high end lenses if I want to use manual settings and try to get the perfect picture to crop and enlarge. But that camera does not fit in my pocket. I love the 800IS for what I am using it for. After looking in depth and trying Fuji, Panasonic and Sony, the 800IS is the best pocket sized camera that is out right now for a wide range of uses. The battery door is a poor design. When it is open you do need to be careful, but when closed it locks into position well.
Just be aware of opinions that are looking for SLR capabilities in a tiny package. Also be aware that there is not a single perfect camera. Fuji does great in low light but picture quality is not very good. Panasonic does great outdoors but again picture quality is not very good. Canon 800 does good (not great) indoors and outdoors but picture quality is much better than Fuji or Panasonic. If you want faster continuous be sure to spend the extra money and get the highest quality, fastest memory card that you can. With a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB card there was only a slight difference in continuous speed. Almost not noticeable, but with the SD900 pictures tend to blur in continuous where they were all clear in the 800IS. As for the Sony N2 cool touch screen but very disappointing in every other category. -
"amazing, you will love it" on by kpie2point0
Pros: clear giorgios photos, nice features, 10 megapixels
Cons: viewfinder is in awkward place, pricy
Summary: its amazing, worth every penny, especially after owning a casio (for 3 days) this camera is a blessing. canon cameras are great, and if you are looking into buying one, this is a great choice.
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""Cadillac" of all the cameras I've purchased" on by wrlongo
Pros: Great photos, great handling, ease of use
Cons: Heavier than expected for such a small camera, but still great
Summary: This is the "Cadillac" of all six digital cameras I've purchased in the last 7 years. At an unbelivable 10 megapixels, it's easy to carry in any pocket, and incredibly easy to use, and very forgiving! What clever Canon engineers.
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"nice camera BUT...." on by adupadhyay
Pros: an all rounder
Cons: HD video with ONLY 15fps
Summary: its a good camera BUT the main draw back is that it only takes HD video in 15 frame per second rather then 30/60 fps. so the video does not run smoothly when you view it.
SD 800 is better, with an image stabilizer and better lens. Though the 800 has only 7mp and sd 900 has 10mp.
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