Another GREAT Camera from Canon with HD Video too!
Written: Jun 04 '09 (Updated Jul 06 '09)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Excellent Stills and good 720P Video make this a perfect portable!
Cons: Average audio and lack of any case.
The Bottom Line: Wonderful high resolution photos and very nice 720P high definition video makes this a great choice for a pocket portable camera/camcorder!
mitchells's Full Review: Canon PowerShot SD970 IS / Digital IXUS 990 IS Dig...
We've had this camera for about 3 weeks now (it was released in the US in mid April 2009) and we are very happy with its performance. You can look up all the technical specifications at any of the retail places that sell the camera, but the highlights that make this camera stand out above the rest are:
12 Mexapixels of resolution 5x Optical Zoom 720p High Definition Video Recording
The camera takes fantastic still shots, as do most of the SD series Canon cameras, and has smart Auto setting that analyzes the composition of the photo and switches the exposure mode to its best guess of the type of exposure you are looking for (it displays what it has chosen).
It has great face detection software that makes timed exposures a breeze. Set it to face detection timer mode, press the shutter release and it counts the number of faces in the shot, then when you enter the shot it waits 3 seconds and takes a number of photos (you can chose how many it will take---another cool feature---allows you to be sure no one has blinked)
The controls on the back are very good. I particularly like the wheel that allows you to scroll through shots in much the same fashion you can scroll songs etc in an IPOD. It also has an accelerometer that detects if you turn the camera on its end and then automatically changes the layout on the screen (for example if you have a portait photo being previewed).
The high definition video is very good quality. It isn't going to match your 1080 high def camcorder, but it does take good video - good enough to keep for a long time. Since the camera is so small, it will allow you to take video on those occasions you forget your camcorder (assuming you remember that it takes video!). One caution....because the camera is so small, it does pick up finger movements in the audio when you are recording video....so be sure you move your hands carefully and quietly. Another thing I noticed once while taking video was that the zoom wouldn't move. This only happened once, and I'm not sure why--I couldn't make it do it again.
UPDATE ON VIDEO: Ok, now that I've had some time to play with the camera, I understand some pretty significant limitations on the camera's ability to handle shooting video. The issue I noted above about the camera not zooming is indeed a limitation. The camera doesn't allow you to change the zoom in all situations (still not narrowed how it decides if it will let you zoom or not). I am pretty sure this is related to the camera's handling of focusing while taking video. The camera doesn't auto re-focus while shooting video - which when you think about it isn't too surprising, but this does limit it's use in changing focal length videos. I think this focus issue is also what limits the camera's zoom function....there must be some limitation within the camera related to distance and zoom so that it remains in focus while shooting and zooming. Despite this, the camera does still take good video, just don't be surprised when it doesn't auto-focus dynamically while shooting. This camera won't replace your auto focus video camera!
The image stabilization works very well and allows you to shoot in lower light without a flash.
The camera boots up and is ready to shoot very quickly. So fast it was hard to time....I'd have to say in roughly one second!
The super bright 3 inch screen is clearly visible in sunlight, so the lack of a viewfinder isn't an issue (this was one point I was concerned about).
The zoom is excellent, and even the digital zoom works very well! I personally hate digital zoom, but when at a bvaseball game it was cool to be able to zoom in on players across the field and see detail!
I do wish the camera had come with a simple for fitting case so when my wife puts it in her purse it wouldn't get scratched, but that is the only really major complaint I have.
In summary, this camera takes wonderful high resolution photos that can be blown up or zoomed in on to expand on smaller sections and also take very nice 720P high definition video. The audio quality isn't great, but for a pocket camera it would be hard to pack all of that in such a small form factor.
I highly reccommend this camera to anyone that is looking for a very easy to use, compact camera that shoots great still images and good HD video!
I bought the camera from ABT when they had their anniversary sale, so I was able to get it for less than their current MSRP. The camera is a little on the expensive side right now, but experts say it will come down in price soon. I bought it for my wife as a gift, so I wasn't able to wait! She loves it!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 340 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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