Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (Silver)

September 11, 2007 06:28

4.0/5
I been looking for a camera for a month now, I bought the Sony T100, Panasonic TZ3 and Canon TX1 and returned them all, you can read why on their own reviews in Cnet.com.

I recently bought this camera and I guess I had to make some sacrifices, but got some good stuff in return. This camera is nice and small and to be honest the 3" screen is amazing. I guess I had to realize what I needed more, and when from there. I mostly use my cameras during snowboarding trips. So I need something small, and with a wide lens to get nice scenery pictures, plus it helps for the self portraits.

The camera is faster than the tx1, and it produces better result as far as picture quality goes, much less noise and sharper pictures. the video is pretty good except you can only use the digital zoom, and not the optical. this is due to amount of noise the optical zoom makes and the microphone would pick it up. The noise in the pictures is keep well under range, much much better than the tx1 and the t100, but not as good as the TZ3, but then again people complain that panazonic is pushing the limit with the noise reduction, and creating to many artifacts.

Low light performance is pretty good, the flash is somewhat powerful, better than the TX1. Colors are kept nice and strong during lower light situations and amount of detail is well kept as well.

The battery is nice and strong, it should be more than enough for 2 days or so, close to 300 pictures. The camera is light 153gr, somewhat small.


The BEST option this camera offer is the 28mm lens, it is simply the best. You can get better shots and get a lot more detail than a 35mm, I believe about 33% more detail in each picture.

Yes I lost the HD video but I more about pictures than video, although it would been nice to have the HD video as swell.

People complain about the view finder, to be honest this is why I bought this one instead of the SD800 IS, if you want a viewfinder get that one, it's the same camera. I personally love the 3" screen. Yes they could of left some of the plastics out of the camera, but it's not that bad, I bought the silver one in my opinion it looks better that the black one.

I guess between the 4 cameras I bought the only two I would consider are this one and the Panasonic TZ3, the only thing holding me on the TZ3 is the size of the camera and the lack of color accuracy in the pictures and the fact that you cannot even use the digital zoom in the video(but the again you get a 28mm-290mm lens, instead of 28mm-105mm lens).

here are some pictures for you to look at

http://www.flickr.com/gp/10297837@N05/096Rpe

I will try to upload the video later on.
Updated
by fet123456 (see profile) - September 7, 2007

The video at Youtube.
here is the video, it looks so much better. youtube messes up the quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDheEUJVKAU


The pictures are also downgraded, they look much much better. but it's still good to see what the camera offers.

Remmember there a lot of choices, but I bought this one considering my need, and it fits perfectly for me.
Updated
by fet123456 (see profile) - September 9, 2007

Last set of pictures, and samples from the Panasonic TZ3
I took the SD870 to the beach today and the result were very nice, I set the colors to Vivid and in my opinion the pictures look much much richer. I tried the digital zoom, and to be expected it does not work just like in every other camera I have ever used. The video is good but the microphone is kind of crappy. Overall the camera performs great good pictures. The only thing is men I would love more zoom like the TZ3, but the TZ3 is a little to big to carry around.

Just so some of you know, my final rating for the TX1 is a 7, for the panasonic is a 8, the Canon SD 870 IS and for the Sony T100 a 6 (at best more towards a 5 ). just something to add. If you have any questions just comment my review and I will sure to respond that comment. I wanted the perfect camera, and I guess it's impossible to get right now, maybe in the future. But at least this one comes close to perfection for my needs.

I just got a 8gb SDCH class 6 memory card (Best memory available at the moment) , I bought it for the TX1 so I could do more HD video, but good enough it also works in the SD870 IS, I get 64 minutes of video at max setting not bad, it's like $85 of eBay.

I will be waiting for the second generation TX1 maybe they can fix the noise in the pictures and give me a wider lens, cross your fingers. Or even a smaller Panasonic TZ3 a third generation.


Here is beach set of pictures as promised.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/10297837@N05/386DQG


Flickr.com downgrades the pictures a lot from 3.5 mb to less than 1 mb, so quality is lost, but its still pretty good, maybe the best I saw from all the cameras.

I wont even try to upload more videos, I am not crazy about youtube


This last set of pictures is from the Panasonic TZ3, you can notice how the picture colors are not as rich as the canon, but they are still pretty good. You can also adjust the color to vivid and this helps a little.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/10297837@N05/771205
Updated
by fet123456 (see profile) - September 9, 2007

Small mistake in this paragraph
I made a mistake on one of the paragraphs above.

I meant to give the Canon SD870 IS a 8 for the final review, not a 5 or 6. The 5 or 6 is for the Sony T100(horrible camera).

- fet123456

November 30, 2007 09:29

4.5/5
I've been using the Nikon D70 for 3 years and have snapped over 20,000 pictures with it. I like this Canon SD870 almost as much as the D70.

Obviously the D70 has better glass and is all-around a better camera; however, I like this camera almost as much for the following reasons:

- Small, I can take it everywhere!
- Movies, it's a whole new world being able to shoot movies. This camera also has a really cool time-lapse movie mode with an adjustable time lapse.
- Movie quality is impressive - 640x480 @ 30fps. This is adjustable too.
- Great battery life, went 4 days and 200 pictures without charging (with lots of flash)
- Good picture quality. Not as good as a DSLR, but good. Very rich colors.
- Surprisingly good control over exposure, shutter speed and color/saturation. You'll definitely need to spend a few days playing with the camera settings. I was able to capture some great low light shots with a few minutes of setting adjustments.


CONS
- The auto mode could be a bit better - my wife botched a couple shots because of low light exposure and flash issues. This was almost a non-issue though, really.
- The menus take a bit to figure out. Based on which mode you're in, the menu will appear differently. If you've got 30 minutes to read the manual, this is also a non-issue.
- The body on this camera scratches very easily... get a case if you want this camera to look new. After one trip it looks like it's 6 months old.
- Someday camera manufacturers will create a sunset mode - where the sunset is behind the subject. To this camera's credit, I was able to get the settings just right for the shot - took about 3 minutes though (wife tapping foot and getting snippy)

BOTTOM LINE
As an avid photographer, I absolutely love this camera and would recommend it to anyone.

- MajorD

November 21, 2007 02:42

4.0/5
Just got one. Paid about $300 in Nov/07. Loving the large screen. Also finding the many shooting modes very useful. I've got a couple young kids around and the kids/pets mode comes in handy.

I also like to use my digital camera for shooting video and am pleased with the results from this unit. It has a built in speaker and a large display so looking at your footage in-camera is no problem.

I have to say that I didn't find the 'tools' that intuitive and had to consult the manual quite a bit at the start. I've since pretty much mastered it, but the learning curve was a bit steeper than my old Olympus. To be fair, it has a lot more features than that camera.

I also feel kind of bad to complain that the camera is too small, as that was exactly what I was looking for in a camera - something that I could bring anywhere and not be bothered by its bulk. So, just be aware that this thing is very small. That gives this camera the bonus of being very portable, but also makes it a bit difficult to hold comfortably without getting your fingers in the shot and the buttons are a bit difficult to navigate.

That said, I am pleased with this product.

- phreesh

December 5, 2007 01:30

4.5/5
This is a great camera...period. Takes amazing pictures at ISO 80 and even darker areas ISO 400 is pretty good too if you need the shot. I like the bigger screen with no viewfinder. I had the SD800IS with viewfinder and never used it...ever. I prefer the bigger 3 inch screen especially when viewing my pictures. The one button review after taking pictures is wonderful as is the quick zoom in display button to check for focus.

The time lapse feature in video is amazing for opening your creativity to sunsets or moving objects then making a picture/video CD or uploading to your favorite online sharing site. Trust me once you use the time lapse you'll love it but do use a tripod....it adds such great creativity.

My last important point is the built in red eye eliminator. Once you take the picture if the people have red eye you can go in the menu section select red eye and have it eliminated from the picture....and it works GREAT!! No need to do extra photoshop work as the camera does a great job getting rid of it through the menu feature.

I hope by next year they will have HD video at 1028x760 instead of the current 640x490 video capture it has now.

- jvas2

June 21, 2008 06:43

4.0/5
DO NOT INSTALL their software if you have mac os 10.5, leopard. it is only compatible with 10.3 or 10.4, which is stated on the package. once i installed on my os 10.5, my computer FROZE. restarting and shutting down did not help. had to completely uninstall to have my comp work again. go on to the canon site and install the driver for os 10.5.

- kaysling

April 15, 2008 07:55

3.5/5
This is a good solid camera, but compared to my other camera Fujifilm F30. It does not compare, except for the fact that it has 8MP and not 6.3MP like the Fuji, ability to zoom in movie mode and a 3.8x optical zoom compared to 3x that the Fuji has. Otherwise it is a pretty good camera. It is solid heavy duty camera. It is a little bigger, thicker and heavier than some models in the same catagory. And yes the body, card and manual are made in Japan so it is heavy duty. I just wish it had a higher ISO of at least 3200 or 6400. But even at low ISO settings even without using flash photos are very bright. The highest ISO is 1600 and it does have image stabilization. I was ready to purchase the Fujifilm F50 camera and the fuji is much better, but even when taking photos indoors with flash it was very dark, so I went with the Canon.

- gregorylovesmovies

February 23, 2008 07:45

4.5/5
This is my favorite camera. I had a very good olympus for a long time, and i still own that camera, but this one is Spectacular! My family was very loyal to Olympus for a long time, but when my girlfriend asked for a digi-cam for christmas i did research and took a gamble on a Canon. I was blown away by the performance, and the when i bought my own, i knew Canon was the way to go. It's time-to-first-pic is blazing. Super clear images thanks to IS even in low light with no flash. So happy with this camera.

- kamikaze533

February 20, 2008 01:17
Good
1.5/5
After reading plenty of good reviews, I purchased the silver model camera from Best Buy and was puzzled that about one in every 3 photos had small dots all over the photos. I found online that these dots are called spectral orbs. I tried the camera indoors, outdoors, night shots and they were everywhere.

I returned this camera thinking it was a problem and purchased the black model from Costco. The new one has the same problem. The Canon tech can't explain why it's happening. We adjusted settings, manual vs. auto, digital zoom on and off, and the dots are still appearing. The camera is only 5 days old and clean. The canon tech also assured me that it's not a faulty camera. The only way to consistently remove the dots from the picture is to turn off the flash. When I did that, my pictures were terrible and blurry.

I compared a Minolta f-100, Casio Exilim 10 megapixel, and Kodak Easy share z760 side by side with the Powershot 870 indoors with good light, and outside on a clear day, and the only camera to destroy 1 in 3 photos was the canon. The other 2 pictures turned out great. Every other camera produced 100 % perfect pictures.

I am very dissapointed with this and will be returning it. Beware of this problem. So far not many people have reported it, but it definitely should be something to think about before buying this model. I hope this helps.

- msj4

January 7, 2008 08:40

4.5/5
After years of using cameras shared with my family, I finally purchased the Canon SD870 for myself in the weeks before Christmas on sale at Best Buy for $299. I've used many different cameras in the past from Sony, Fujifilm, and Canon, and I can say this is easily the best compact camera I've ever used. The pictures that this camera takes are absolutely stunning, with vivid colors and fine details that really pop out. Using the various settings and options, a good deal of which can be controlled manually for subtle adjustments, is also great, especially for anyone interested in artistic photography. The user interface is easy to use and very quick, giving quick access to the most used settings with a thumb wheel. Not only are the pictures great, but the display on the camera is also excellent, displaying colors and details with great accuracy when viewing photos. However, one of the few issues is that while actually taking photos, the preview can, at times, be grainy and distorted, especially at higher ISO settings, but the final picture is fine. Another great feature that was also a surprise to me is the video mode, which takes very impressive video for a camera of its size. On the highest setting, the quality easily rivals that of DV camcorders, with the middle setting not being too far behind. On a 4 gb SD card, I can get an hour of video on the middle setting or about 1800-1900 photos on the fine image setting. So, overall, I would highly recommend this camera to anyone, whether they are a photography enthusiast or simply looking for a family camera. 10 out of 10!

- UKbigman91

November 20, 2007 11:41

4.0/5
My father has the SD800 IS and I love his. The newer SD870 IS is similar to his but the screen is the most notable. Both cameras produce great pictures but the 870 has more Mega Pix. As for not having a viewing lens (eye hole), who uses it anyways? The only thing that I am not sure of yet or haven't seen, is a battery life monitor.

- relaxdkid