Pros: Quality, ergonomics, settings, image stabilization, zoom, resolution, fast
Cons: Price, high ISO noise, battery life with IS and LCD
The Bottom Line: This camera would be on every reviewer's top 5 list for best compact camera. If you can find it for a good price, but it. You won't be dissapointed.
sportsc4's Full Review: Canon PowerShot® SD700 IS Digital ELPH / IXUS...
[LCD and Viewing]
The SD700 comes with a 2.5" LCD. The resolution is better than previous models and it looks nice. However, it appears to scratch easily (the LCD is recessed 1mm or 2) and appears to be similar in LCD build to my coolpix 5900. With my coolpix, touching the LCD resulted in a "smooth" area in the middle of the screen. I would have preferred something similar to the SD630. Speaking of the SD630, I also would have preferred a 3" LCD option, especially for the price that this unit sells at. The optical viewfinder views only about 85% of what's captured (that means that the actual pictures picks up more than the viewfinder shows). Nevertheless, the LCD is at a good resolution, it's easy enough to see, and supports auto-rotation (rotating the camera will align the picture automatically so that you see the best alignment).
[Colors]
The colors are good but at sometimes they seems somewhat muted. I'd reccomend that the first time user try taking a few pictures in the normal mode and in the vivid color mode and see what they like.
[Picture Quality]
The picture quality is good. Very good. Purple fringing is better than previous SD cameras and corner blurriness isn't too bad for the casual user - especially considering that this is a 4x zoom camera. Pictures came out sharp, albeit a little noisy. However, when printed, the pictures came out clear and somewhat lighter. So yes, pictures at higher ISO are noisier but are still nice to print. But if it's in pitch black darkness without a flash (Very high ISO), be reasonable, it's going to be extremely noisy. The Image Stabilizer (IS) is noticeable and a very welcome feature. Although, I do wish that they would have stuck with the larger CCD - it would have helped with colors.
[Features]
It has a stitch mode. This is where a person can piece together several shots together and later use the accompanied software to stitch it together into one big shot. I found it lacking. With my Coolpix 5900, the previous shot was superimposed (and reduced opacity) onto half of the old shot. This made it easy. The SD700 does not superimposed the old image. I found this feature in the SD700 (and SD630) lacking. Auto-mode is very good. One of my main problems with my Nikon Cameras is that they don't do a good job with white balance under Auto mode. This SD700 is fantastic at figuring out the proper white balance. There are plenty of scene selection settings which is a must for any compact for the average user and they all work well. The movie mode is terrific and takes very good videos.
[Picture & Movie Options]
Besides the ISO setting I mentioned before, this has the standard settings you'll find on nearly all Nikons and Canons. It has Exposure, Color, Focus, Macro, Size and Quality settings. It has a lot of color settings which is nice and even a color replacement option. The macro setting isn't as easy as Nikon (coolpix 5900) and I believe Canon could have made it better to select. In regards to size, it offers a large, medium, small, postcard and widescreen. I am REALLY glad they have a widescreen option. It's on my Coolpix e995 but not on my Coolpix 5900 and that was one of a number of reasons why I moved from the 5900 (the SD700 is in a different class of compact camera). The reason I like widescreen is that it makes it great to print 4x6" prints. Not everyone wants to do post-processing work to their pictures in order to get 4x6" prints and I think for a compact point and shoot camera, this is a must.
Another good thing was the inclusion of Superfine for picture quality. I found it to be very good and much better than the best quality on my older Coolpix 5900. I didn't see any artifacts or blending due to compression. Expect file sizes to be from 2-2.5 megabytes per picture under Superfine and Large.
Movie mode offers the standard 640x480 and 320x240. Each at 15fps or 30fps under standard conditions. There is a high FPS mode which is at 320x240 @ 60fps. A compact mode which is at 160x120 @ 15fps (good for email and such). Color Accent and Color Swap modes. White balance and Color settings are pickable. The SD700 records video in an AVI file.
[Build]
The SD700 build appears great. My only big concern is, as noted above, the LCD. It's very solid and I can see this lasting for a long time. One issue is that the lense is kinda noisy. I don't find it to be a big problem but it's noticeable and other might find issue with it.
[Ergonomics]
Another big reason for me in getting this camera was that it lays flat on both sides. This makes it easy to carry around and while it isn't as thin as the SD600 and SD630, it's still thin enough. The settings dial is kind of stiff, I found myself not sure if I had it on the correct setting a couple times but that's hardly a big problem. Buttons are kept to a minimum which frees up the camera from clutter.
[Battery]
Battery life is... OK on this camera. I expect to get around 140 shots with the IS (Image Stabilization) on continuous. If the IS is off, I would fully expect to get around 250 and if the IS is on just for individual shots, I would expect around 200 shots. It's a small battery though, so carrying around an extra if need be wouldn't be a problem. If you don't use the LCD, expect battery life to be great.
[Memory]
The SD700 only takes SD memory. I have 133x 2gb Corsair memory in there right now and I did have a 150x 2gb PNY memory in there and I didn't notice any difference between the two. With 2gb on Superfine and Large, expect to be able to take around 710 pictures. Superfine and Widescreen resulted in around 920 pictures. The SD700 defaults at Fine and that will result in about 1150 pictures in Large mode and around 1525 in Widescreen. Obviously you can get more pictures if you step down the quality and size.
This unit can use 4gb SD cards. However, it cannot (low-level) format 4gb cards. Hopefully Canon can release an updated firmware to fix this.
[SD700 Specs]
I hope you don't mind, but I believe knowing the specs of the camera are important. The following specs are leeched from Howard_Creech's review of this camera. If you haven't already, read his review as it's very good and a different type of review.
Type: 6.0 Megapixel, 1/2.5 inch type Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
Total Pixels: Approx. 6.2 Megapixels
Effective Pixels: Approx. 6.0 Megapixels
Focus: TTL Autofocus
-Normal: 1.5 ft./45cm-infinity
-Macro: 0.79 in.-2.0 ft./2-60cm (WIDE), 1.3-2.0 ft./40-60cm (TELE)
-Digital Macro: 0.79 in.-2.0 ft./2-60cm (WIDE)
Metering: Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot Metering frame is fixed to the center
White Balance: Auto, Preset (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H), Custom
ISO sensitivity: Auto, High ISO Auto, ISO 80/100/200/400/800 equivalent
Exposure Control Method: Program AE, AE Lock is available
Exposure Compensation: +/-2 stops in 1/3-stop increments
Built-in Flash Modes: Auto, Auto w/ Red-Eye Reduction, Flash On, Flash On w/ Red-Eye Reduction, Flash Off, Slow Syncro
Flash Exposure Compensation: none
Maximum Aperture: f/2.7 (W) - f/3.5 (T)
Shooting Modes: Auto, Camera M, Special Scene (Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap), Digital Macro, My Colors, Stitch Assist, Movie
Photo Effects: Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Custom Color
Self-Timer: Activates shutter after an approx. 2-sec./10-sec. delay, Custom
Continuous Shooting: approx. 2.1 fps
[Final Say]
I would say that if every reviewer came up with a top 5 list of the best compact camera, this camera would appear in every one of them. It's a good camera and you really can't go wrong with it. But the MSRP is ridiculous. So get it cheaper.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 365 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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