It may be Canon's slimmest Digital ELPH, but it's selection of photo-friendly options is undeniably wide. From full HD movie capture to peak performance in even the most unforgiving shooting conditions, this digital camera is on the cutting edge of point-and-shoot picture taking. One-year warranty. Model SD780IS.
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Rating
I just purchased this Canon on a whim, earlier today at Best Buy. I have been tinkering with it for the majority of the evening. My previous SD300 is still working like a champ, however I have been considering a video camera for some time…after some peering at the video camera counter I wandered over to the point and shoot table… what initially drew me in to the SD780IS was its appearance on the display stand. The sleek matte-black body is very eye-pleasing…then I looked at the specs. and realized that it shoots video in HD! (1280×720) Then all the other attributes made me realize that it was time to update my “everywhere, anytime” camera.
I proceeded to check out some of the other Canon SD cameras. The SD960 became the other candidate…it has a little more glass(4x)zoom, over the SD780’s (3x)zoom. The SD960 has an appealing f2.8 apeture over the SD780’s f3.2. The SD960’s screen is more tailored for the HD video capture as it has a 16:9 ratio LCD panel. (Kinda nice for instant viewing ON THE CAMERA)
After some thought I went with the SD780 for these reasons:
1. The HD video capability is awesome and comparible with the SD960. It has a HDMI jack. The traditional 4:3 screen does not bother me, because the video is ultimately going to be viewed on a HD TV.(There will be an upper and lower bar on 16:9 playback through the SD780’s LCD).
2.The weaker 3x zoom is not a big deal as this camera is for general shooting(out w/ freinds, bars, random afternoon at the beach, mountain biking, etc.)and with this camera EASLIY fitting in my jeans pocket or camelbak, the portability is what gives me the opportunity to document those moments, that would otherwise be missed. The SD960 is a little bulkier(but still small). I do also shoot with a Canon 40D, accompanied with L optics, but the weight and bulkiness do not lend to certain shooting circumstances. (as mentined above)
3. The user interface on the SD780IS is like most (if not all?) preceeding SD cameras. While there is not much control in the way of shooting settings, feature buttons like flash override, AE lock, AF lock, and exposure compensation are present on the camera body. The SD960IS has two buttons and a jog wheel, which lend to swims in the menu. I’m sure the new interface on the 960 is intuitive, but I liked the 780 due to its similarity to my old SD300.
I am very happy with the results produced thus far with the SD780IS. The HD video is excellant, however it should be known that once recording you can only zoom digitally. Low light cabilities and sound in video mode are excellent. The stills I have taken look great. Also, to the budget-minded who are upgrading from older digital point-and-shoots, a class 4 minimum 4GB or 8GB SDHC card would be well suited due to the demanding memory of the 12.1 million pixels, and HD video. Also, most old card readers will not process the the SDHC cards so you may have to purchase a new card reader as well.
I have to mention it again…the small size of the Canon SD780IS is mind-blowing…and the functionality actually mirrors its beauty.
Rating
I’ve been using the new Canon SD 780 for about a week now, and I like it. I’ve been a Canon point-and-shoot fan for some time. In my opinion Canon has the best optics. I have a Canon G10 for higher-end photography and although it is a compact camera, it is not quite a pocket camera. I wanted something I could easily keep in my shirt pocket all the time and the SD 780 fits the bill perfectly. I find that I shoot a lot less if I don’t have a really compact camera available. The SD 780 is Canon’s smallest camera to date.
It’s easy to use and the Canon layout is excellent. The buttons are small and it may take a day or two to get used to them, especially if you have big hands. The HD video is really great and noticeably better quality than the 640 x 480 mode of my G10. My quibbles are few:
— 3.2 maximum aperture instead of the usual 2.8
— No optical zoom in the movie mode.
— Grainy images at ISO of 400 and higher. This is a problem with most point-and shoot cameras, even my G10.
Overall, considering the very small size, it’s a great camera.
Rating
OVERVIEW
Canon SD780IS is the perfect travel/everyday camera. It weighs a little over 4 ounces. The size of the camera is astonishing. It is smaller than my iPhone 3G and my wallet. I love the new 720p video recording HD feature on the 2009 Canon P+S line. The image stabilization for video/image stills is a winner. The clips are sharper and clearer than the clips from the Creative Vado HD and the Flip Video MinoHD.
PLAYBACK ON COMPUTERS
For video playback without choppiness on the computer, you need to have at least a Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz or higher processor on Windows (Vista/XP SP2/XP SP 3) or Core Duo 1.66 GHz or higher processor on Mac OS X (v10.4-v10.5)
MEMORY CARD
You should get at least 8GB Sandisk Extreme III SDHC (Class 6 or higher) memory card for the camera. 4000×3000 resolution images can quickly fill up your 2/4GB SD memory card.
CONCLUSION
+ Quick Continuous Snapshots
+ 720p HD Video Recording with Image Stabilization
+ Lightning Quick Startup
+ Ultra-Compact Point & Shoot Camera (Thin + Light Combo)
+ Beautiful Design
+ Great for Beginners (Very Easy To Use)
+ Bright LCD Screen
+ DIGIC IV Technology
+ Blink Detection
+ Can Edit Video Clips on the go
+ Scene Detection Mode works Flawlessly
– No Optical Zoom in Video Mode while Recording (You can Digitally Zoom)
– Monotone Sound in Video Mode
– Only 3x Optical Zoom for image stills
– View Finder is Useless
– Little Noisy/Grainy when Using Higher Than ISO400 but Acceptable
SCORE/VERDICT
09/10: Recommended
Rating
I’ve had this camera now for about a week. The main reason for this purchase is the 720p HD video feature. I’ve been playing with all the recent point and shoot camcorders such as the Kodak Zi6 and the Creative Vado HD. I also have the not-yet-released-in-the-US Canon SX1 which does full 1080p HD video. I have also tried the Sony T500.
The first thing you’ll notice is how small this camera is. To date, its the smallest Canon camera yet almost to the point that its difficult to handle. I’d call it Ultra-compact and this thing can fit anywhere. The button are more flush than any other Canon which makes button finding and feeling a bit cumbersome.
I wasn’t expecting much from this camera in terms of performance but it blows all other point and shoot camcorders out of the water. The colors are much more accurate and the video overall is much smoother. Part of this due to the image stabilization feature. The toy cameras do not have this feature which is a huge necessity for something so small and light. It handles low-light situations better as well. Search SD780 on youtube for samples. Make sure you click the HD button.
The photos are secondary to me but they can be good in the manual mode. Using it with higher ISO setting will introduce noise. Then again, these photos are much better than the point and shoot camcorders. These are actually usable.
So with the point and shoot camcorders around the $200 mark (MinoHD, VAdoHD, Zi6), for $80 more (SD780) you get something that is much better overall.
+ Made in Japan and much better build quality than the toy camcorders
+ Removable SD storage card
+ Removable battery (uses the common NB-4L)
+ Image stabilization
+ Usable stills
+ Canon optics
+ Ultra compact (2/3 the size of a MinoHD)
+ Easy to use .MOV files
+ Stealth Black color
The only drawbacks I can think of are:
– Cannot use optical zoom during recording (let’s hope this can be changed via firmware upgrade)
– Photos can be noisy and grainy at times
– Mono sound recordings
Rating
As many have already left HUGE reviews on this camera I will try to be quick about it, but I did have to review this camera. This camera is great. When I say that I mean it. I work for a camera store and everyday I’m reviewing cameras to people’s faces and when this one came out I took one look at it and the features and told my boss “Oh yeah, we’ll be out by tomorrow” and we were. It sells FAST. Why? Because it’s a GREAT camera.
The form factor can’t truly be captured in a picture, you have to feel this thing in your hand to know what everyone’s talking about. 9 out of 10 people I show the camera to decide to buy once they’ve held it. It’s small, it’s REALLY small. It’s just a sexy form. The 2.5 isn’t screen isn’t because they wanted to be cheap, it’s because they couldn’t put a bigger screen on there without making the camera a good deal bigger. Same for the 3x zoom.
The Digic IV processor and iSAPS technology means this camera is fast and accurate. It’s constantly focusing and letting you know what it thinks you want to take a picture of. It’s facial recognition is so fast and accurate, it can track someone running quickly across the screen with a box around their face the whole time. And it picks up faces on magazines, ads, anything that has a human face on it. The iSAPS is constantly changing the mode to better suit what you’re shooting and it’ll show you the mode you’re in while it’s doing it(upper left hand corner of the screen).
The 720p high-def video is the one that seals the deal. You know it’s fast. You know it’s accurate. You know it’s easy. But the video, always catches you of guard. “Wait you mean to tell me this camera smaller then my blackberry curve can take high-def video as well as pictures??” Oh it can do more then that. Canon always has a few things thrown into video mode for the fun of it, like color Accent, as in taking away all but one color. Allowing your friend in the red shirt to be the REAL center of attention. And seeing that on the big screen only makes the camera more interesting.
And I even sold myself on buying the camera, with it’s sleekness, speed, accuracy, and high-def I just couldn’t resist. I’m not telling you to get the camera, but if you do, you won’t be disappointed.
Rating
After researching ultra-compact cameras for 2 weeks, I had narrowed down my choices to this camera, the Canon SD880 IS and a couple of models from other manufacturers (though I knew in the end I’d choose a Canon). As with most electronic purchases I make, it was an agonizing process. Every camera had a feature that I wanted, yet none of them had everything that I wanted. I would have liked a bit more zoom, and other cameras have wider lenses. In the end, the three features that won me over were the amazingly small size, the ability to capture HD video at a resolution of 720p, and the HDMI out.
As for the performance, I couldn’t be happier. Many of the reviews I read before purchasing mentioned a high amount of noise, but in my experience it only occurs at higher ISO’s, is not very noticeable, and seems to be in line with other compact cameras that I’ve used, no more, no less. I would NOT let this be a determining factor if I were considering this camera.
This is my first camera with image stabilization and it’s works very well. On a recent trip I took over 500 pictures (and filled up less than 1/4th of my 8-gig card at the highest resolution), and not one of them ended up blurry. The AUTO feature has also proven to be much better than I had anticipated: it changes between 18 settings automatically, such as macro, bright sunshine, etc., and so far, it’s been right on the money. Another complaint that I’ve read is that viewfinder is useless. While it is quite tiny, I have actually used it, and I find it to be quite serviceable. At some point, a camera gets so small that it’s difficult to squeeze everything onto its surface area. Kudos to Canon for even including the optical viewfinder at all.
My complaints are few, and none would be a dealbreaker for me. The small size and smooth, symmetrical shape sometimes make it hard to tell which side I am holding onto when I take it out of my pocket. When attempting to push the power button, I will often realize I am pushing on the bottom of the camera. I have to actually look at it to tell what I am doing. Also, as stated previously, the HD video takes a pretty beefy CPU to play back smoothly. My PC is 4 years old and has a hard time keeping up. The easy solution to this is to play back directly to the monitor/TV with an HDMI cable. It seemed improbable to me that a video made with a camera this small would look good on a 55″ HD television. I was stunned at how sharp it looked.
The bottom line is that anybody looking for an ultra-compact camera is going to be extremely satisfied with this one. It doesn’t take the pictures that a digital SLR is going to, nor does it have the same features. But anybody looking at this camera realizes that already. I went to an arts festival last weekend and was AMAZED at how many people are lugging around DSLR’s these days. It seemed like every other person had one. When looking at performance vs. convenience and portability, I’ll take the SD780 any day.
Rating
PROS: Easy to use, Simple controls/menu, Nice features/settings, Bright LCD, Excellent image quality, Lightweight/Portable, compact volume
CONS: Poor Low-Light Performance, some noise in low light, tiny viewfinder, mini-HDMI to HDMI cable not included, SD/SDHC storage card not included
Amazon has the best price at under 250 bucks. Most sites are charging full retail since this camera is so popular.
High Definition video is very good at 720p. This will not replace a full size camera or the 5D Mark II for video quality. But, it is a lot better than most including the original Flip video camera.
An HDMI cable IS NOT INCLUDED with the camera. You will need it to watch HD video directly from the camera on an HDTV. I bought a 3 ft miniHDMI-to-HDMI cable online from Monoprice for 8 bucks including USPS first class shipping. They have quality cables for the lowest price on the Monoprice site.
UPDATE: I am very happy with the mini-HDMI to HDMI cables. They were so inexpensive that I bought 2 of these at 3ft long: one for the iMac, the other is for my travel bag. I bought a 6ft mini-HDMI to HDMI cable for the HDTV in the first floor family room. I should have gotten a longer cable since you have to control the video start/stop/next buttons on the camera. You have to get up often to start the next movie clip. I also bought a small 1×3/4inch miniHDMI to HDMI adapter to carry everywhere I take the camera which is everywhere!
UPDATE: The small cover that protects the miniHDMI and USB ports feels a little flimsy. The hinge stretches. I have to force it slightly beyond my comfort to insert cables. I can see this covering breaking off with a lot of use.
An SD storage card IS NOT INCLUDED. They are available at low cost, under 15 bucks, on the net. Check the Dealnews site for the latest sales. I used a 4GB SD high capacity (SDHC) card which will hold about 30mins of video.
Some complain 2.5inch is too small for the LCD. There is no place to put a larger 3inch LCD on this camera without making it a touch screen like the iPhone or increasing the camera size. Plus, 2.5 inch is common on a lot of cameras. I have no problems with it.
TINY VIEW FINDER: It was hard peering through the small hole. I mainly use the LCD screen about 95% of the time. So, NOT A PROBLEM.
Got this camera to try out the 720p HD, face/blink detection and other features. They all worked great.
I was surprised by the small size since I only saw this camera online and never tried it out at a store. It is slightly smaller than my average size business card and about as thin as a new deck of playing cards. I’m female, but, I never bought an ELPH-size Canon camera because they seemed too small. I was concerned I would not be able to comfortably operate the buttons or it would slip out of my hands. I don’t have that fear with the SD780. The brushed metal finish provides some friction. The buttons are placed well. Also, the wrist strap is always available as protection against dropping the camera.
SMART AUTO feature is great! I use it often to take closeup (macro) shots or when I don’t have time to adjust the settings. I hold the camera about 4 inches from an object and the camera self adjusts the settings. It amazing to watch it work. I partially press the shutter button to see where the camera is focused and move it to focus on my area of interest. The camera selects of the pre-programmed 18 modes to find the one that creates the best image.
As many stated, the images are superb thanks to the 12.1 mega pixel resolution, Digic 4, and the image stabilizer (IS) function. You should not live without IS unless you are into the artsy blurry pictures. It takes great pictures of kids who don’t sit still. Great if you don’t have steady hands. Images are crisp, clear and can be easily seen in the beautiful 2.5inch LCD.
I noticed the noise in some of the photos. Did not have too much problems with it.
The 3X optical is fine. Best for the photographer to move in or out to zoom/out on the subject matter and not worry about the camera lens zoom when just taking photos. Zooming during filming would be better. Hopefully, Canon adds this feature to future powershot ELPH models.
Overall, a great camera that is thin enough to hide in a small purse or pocket yet still deliver superb photos for it’s size!
(I have owned 7 Canon cameras including 5 digital cameras. I have used this camera for about 1 week.)
Rating
Size: this sucker is small. easy to carry around in your pocket.
Picture quality: I cant complain. Some people write about noisy photos, over saturation, washed out this and that, i just dont see it and honestly i think it makes people feel smart when they write reviews like that. to my eye, the pics look great. i am not a professional photographer so maybe thats the problem. if you are like me and are a regular consumer, i am sure you will be pleased.
HD movies: I was specifically in the market for point and shoot that did video well. let me say, the video in a brightly lit area is fantastic. hooked the camera up to my HD TV via mini hdmi and was amazed that this tiny little guy took such sharp video. in low light, the video can be a little noisy, but that is going to happen with any digital camera. that will even happen with a dedicated video camera, so no complaints from me.
Battery life: battery is great, once again, no complaints.
I think there is a reason that all the top selling camera’s on amazon appear to be Canon’s. This camera met all my expectations.
Rating
first of all, i cannot stress 2 things more:
–> read the manual before starting!!
–many people buy point and shoots for typical picture taking but neglect getting to know all the features, including several here that give you just enough room for manipulation that can produce magnificent results.
–key thing to remember….if you see the [DISP] symbol pop up on the menu as you scroll through your different settings along the bottom of the viewfinder, PUSH “DISPLAY”, as it opens an entire addtl menu of more options or adjustment settings! one of my friends who also owns a canon point and shoot was oblivious until just recently that he could “stitch” his photos or adjust colors b/c he never discovered the hidden options!
–> secondly, my use of this camera once again solidifies the one piece of advice i’ve received from pro photographers time and time again: if you have the eye, even point and shoot cameras can produce fabulous results comparable or even better than the next guy with the fancy SLR [ie my boyfriend! :)]
For the rest, i’ll try to be as concise as possible, but please keep in mind that i’m just an ordinary consumer–i don’t know much about electronics and/or photography, so if something i comment on seems really irrelevant and/or obvious, then sorry! 🙂 i’m just trying to point out stuff found significant or notable in comparison to my past experiences with other point and shoots.
also, I’ve posted an array of photos i took right after buying this camera…if anything, they should be enough evidence as to what a great product this is! (in the end, canon’s digital camera sensors never disappoint, despite how much others tried to steer me towards nikon!)
1. beautiful, sleek body that stirs up complements EVERY single time i take it out; however…
–buttons may seem a little small for big handed guys (i’m a girl w/small hands, and even sometimes the power button is a little annoying)
–actual menu buttons, however, seem very easy to maneuver
2. this little monster actually has a viewfinder….yay!!! don’t forget how important this is for when you’re standing out in glaring sunlight and can’t really see your LCD screen!
3. start up as well as capture speed is awesome…had absolutely no issues missing out on spontaneous and candid photo ops.
4. manual setting really requires conscious adjustment of ISO, as camera has a tendency to pick up blur with just hand held pics in normal cloudy daylight. however…
5. i’ve never seen a point and shoot take such beautiful night pics!!!
6. having the wide format option is awesome: it really made a 100% difference in many of my shots in terms of composition (although wish it was truly a “wide angle” type of effect…instead, black bars just chop off the original top and bottoms of your view)
7. video is great except frames-per-second gets noticeably jittery during quick movements by the subject
8. i shot the majority of my pics in “vivid” color, but this camera steals my heart by giving me additional opportunities to adjust color on the pic after its been taken (saves the edited pic as a copy)
9. battery life is great…i would take pics from day to night during my vacation, spending several seconds before each shot playing with composition, white balance and pushing the shutter button halfway (for focus) over and over again (vs just simply pushing the button), and battery still lasted 2 days.
10. 3X optical zoom is a little weak; however, not ever really a major issue from my experience…however, i DO wish optical zoom worked in video mode.
11. 3 parameters that i found myself adjusting most often for the best pics = ISO, light source (although seems like “cloudy” setting when outdoors always worked best, regardless of amount of sun), and color…also, sepia and black and white were very fun–often when the lighting was just too bright washed out colors, switching to sepia always miraculously captured textural details that produced just as beautiful of a picture
12. black and white mode seemed to be a little weak in its capture of contrast, depsite how much i’d try pointing around at different places for the white balance that i wanted.
13. rarely used flash in my pics; however, when taking outdoor daytime pics in which my subject was backlit, using the flash managed to operate effectively even when i was sure that i was standing way too far from my subject.
overall…i give this canon SD780 a 10/10, as it has by far been one of the best purchases i’ve ever made! i’m especially thankful that i had it with me during a vacation in which i had so many opportunities to capture more artistic images. it’s a relief to know it don’t need a big expensive camera to do that! hope this helps 🙂
Rating
I am a professional photographer that owns the Nikon D300 and Nikon D80 slr cameras for professional business. I bought this little camera because I was seeking a pocket size “everyday” camera that I can pull out when I need to and to take to social engagements where my other equiptment is too bulky and something I don’t want to risk. In reading some of the reviews, I think that this camera is getting either too good a review or definitely too bad.
People: this is a small pocket size point and shoot camera that has up to ISO3200, 12.1 megapixels and video capability all rolled into a product that can be bought for $200 on sale and taken ANYWHERE with ease. It is ONLY a point and shoot and NOT an SLR so therefore, does NOT take phenominal pictures that a $5000 SLR camera with expensive lenses would. It is ONLY a point and shoot camera so therefore when you HAVE noise up in the 1600 Iso range or in the video camera, having purchased this for this kind of money without expensive lenses should not come as a surprise even compared to all the other Camera point and shoots and its competitors.
My point here after owning this for 2 days but having owned a previous Canon point and shoot for 5 years before the Nikon slrs? Canon makes a PHENOMINAL product that does what its supposed to do in this tiny little portable package. If you want to make money off your photos? If you want to have pristine quality…go get an SLR and plunk down $1500 or more dollars on ALL the lenses and bodies and education that will make that happen. If you want a convenient cute little camera that gets the job done VERY WELL…THIS is well worth the money. As a professional photographer, this is my new everyday camera…the Nikon D80 is my backup and vacation camera..and the Nikon D300 is HANDS DOWN the “bread and butter” camera for there is NO comparison.
For the average person who wants a GOOD camera that does what it should IF YOU RESEARCH ALL the features and LEARN what this can do….THIS is your camera.