Cannon Powershot SD700, good camera?

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I hate, hate, hate, my Pentax Optio 5si that I bought 2 years ago so I am looking for a new digital camera. I have read good reviews about the Cannon camera, but does anyone have any personal experience with this camera? Besides DSLR, is there any better (better meaning quality of pictures, not blurry, etc) digital cameras that are compact?

 

[Anewman]

It maybe one of the best ULTRA compact digicam around, There are cameras with better feature sets for less money, with the SD700 you are paying extra for the small size.

The Canon S3 offers lots more zoom and other features like faster max shutter speed and stronger flash for a lower street price, but it is about 200% larger.
The SD700 is about the size of a deck of cards but offers a larger LCD(2.5 vs 2.0), but the LCD does not fold out like on the S3. The SD700 has got to be one of the smallest cameras with image stabilization.

Current Prices at Buydig.com
SD700 = $479
S3 IS = $426

 

[Greg K.]

I'm weighing getting that camera too, as a companion to my dslr.

My thinking: if you want something small, to fit in a fanny pack or purse or shirt pocket, that will take Canon-quality pictures under a wide range of lighting conditions, I think the SD 700 IS is a good bet. The pictures I've seen this machine take are impressive.

But: if you want something significantly larger, but a LOT more versatile, able to handle almost every situation imaginable, and offering you a fair amount of creative freedom, check out the S3 with IS. It's cheaper. And I suspect it may give you a lot more bang for your buck ... unless, of course, tiny deck-of-cards size is more important to you.

 

[rumblytumbly]

I love, love, love my SD700.

Don't know a thing about DSLR so can't compare but I love this little camera. It takes great pictures and it is easy to use.

It was a gift so I would not have spent that amount on a camera for myself but am so happy with it. I have had it for about 3 weeks.

I had a Fujifilm Finepix A303 before. I loved that camera but I love this camera alot more. The pictures are just great!!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I actually want a camera that takes clear, crisp, bright pictures that fits in a fanny pack or purse. I don't need all the options and extras because thats why I have my SLR (not digital!!!) So I just want a small compact, good picture quality camera. I think the reason why I hate my pentax so much is that the pictures come out blurry (probably because my hand shakes??? I don't know) so I thought the IS would be perfect if it would help me get nice pictures.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I have been looking at this camera too. How are the indoor pictures? I can only see shots taken outside, which look great.

I have an old FinePix from Fuji. It was fine, except I have started over the last few months to get a great deal of orange tones and even with the flash on all the time, it goes off when it wants to. So I think it's time for a new camera.

Locally, I can only find one store that carries this Canon camera.

 

[rumblytumbly]

I think the indoor pictures turn out great. I also love the video with audio. It is really good quality.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

It has a very clean ISO 400 so indoor pics will be great. It also comes with full-resolution ISO 800, and although the picture is noisier, it's very clean and faithful (no noise reduction used) for a camera that small.

To clean the ISO noise further, use a freeware from Imagenomic.com called Noiseware Community Edition.

 

[Dizzyworld]

Thanks Kelly.....so would this be a good camera for a person who is basically point and shoot? I take mostly family pictures and pictures of my 3 year old students. Not a lot of time to compose pictures with the wee ones. Fast little devils. Besides this camera, what else would you recommend that is small like this? I do like the Canon S2 IS, but it is almost too big for me to lug around. And I'm not sure if I would use most of the features. Any help would be appreciacted.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

For fast auto focus and taking the wee ones, you can only get it with dSLR.

for the price range, that's basically it. Beyond that is either Canon RebelXT or Nikon D50 (quite honestly, other than MP count, their quality are head to head), higher than that I strongly recommend Canon 30D (that's $1,200 body only + lens) or Canon 5D (it's about US$3,200 in Canada, body only).

Yes, you can use ANY dSLR as point and shoot. There is a 'green zone' which basically makes the dSLR turned into a point and shoot.

When I'm on vacation, I just use P mode, it's still point and shoot but at least I can play around with the ISO settings.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

PS: if the S2 IS is too big for you then the Pentax is definitely WAY to big for you.

 

[Dizzyworld]

Thanks for the response.

Pentex? Which one?

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Pentax ist*DL with Sigma 18-125 lens, about $650, or Pentax ist*DL with supplied kit lens for about $450.