Canon PowerShot SD970IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Silver): Customer Reviews & Product Details

I have been very pleased with my recent purchase of the Canon SD970IS. The picture quality is great. I must say it does a lot of thing I will not every use. However I am super happy with the pre-set settings that are already installed. The 5 time zoom is great. I have had a canon with a 3 time zoom before this one. I can most diffidently tell a difference.

Amazing camera. Nice pictures ans colors. Incredible performance for a point and shoot camera. Very happy with this camera.

Just thought I'd post a quick warning on this camera. I just ordered it Tuesday and got it yesterday (Thursday) and am returning it today (Friday). I bought this camera because my wife accidentally got water on our Canon SD890IS this summer and it would no longer turn on. Fearing water, we then bought a Water Proof Canon PowerShot D10 figuring we'd be at the beach and such, so why not? Well, we soon found that while that was a great point and shoot for waterparks and outdoor shots in general, it was not nearly as good at indoor shots as the SD890IS was. So I looked into getting a new SD890IS and saw the SD970IS. Figuring it appeared to be the newer version of the SD890IS, I decided to get it instead. I knew going in that it did not have the optical viewfinder of the SD890IS, but I figured perhaps the increased megapixels, larger LCD and the idea that perhaps I might one day use its video recording if I saw Big Foot or something and didn't have a real video camera around might make up for it.

The problem is (for me) that this camera DOES NOT take good indoor pictures. Even in reasonably well-lit rooms, at night, the shots would either be blurry or yellow. It has a hard time finding a good white balance, and while perhaps you can finesse the settings to get a good-looking shot, I planned to use this on AUTO just like the SD890IS which always did an amazing job. I think the main problem here might be that the flash is nearly TWICE AS SMALL as on the Canon SD890IS. On THAT camera I could move my arm while shooting a running kid in a poorly lit room and get crystal clear pictures, but not on this. Even at night outside we would get better lit pictures than on our Canon 20D SLR.

Other issues I found (but was looking for having read other reviews here) are:
1) slow shooting speed - if you want to shoot kids, this thing is slow
2) noisy zoom - I did not try to shoot video, but I believe people who say they heard gear noise on footage
3) Beach Camera (who Amazon is using to sell) seems to have a 10% restocking fee. REAL Amazon purchases don't seem to have this, but I guess I should have read up more on it before buying.

I would definitely say get the SD890IS. Sure it is 10 Megapixels instead of 12, but you don't need more than 6 megapixels anyway, so don't buy into the hype. Both have the 5x Optical zoom, and the SD890IS is noticeably faster, takes great indoor pics, and outside as well, of course. I just ordered a new SD890IS, and can't wait for it to arrive.

We were going on a long vacation and I didn't want to carry my Canon EOS but wanted quality pictures. After reading online reviews, I purchased the SD970IS. Received camera quicker than expected and was up and running immediately after charging the battery. Fantastic picture quality using my HP C8180 printer. Since we had just purchase HDTV, the HDMI abilities was also a factor in the camera's favor. Get this camera, anyone can use it.

This is a great camera and I am loyal to the Canon brand because it has never steered me wrong. I use this as my portable compact camera, and a Canon 40D Digital SLR as my "professional" version. I purchased this Canon SD970 camera as a replacement to the Canon SD800, because it was lost after being lent to a family member. Oh well, it gave me an excuse to go camera shopping, and I was able to stop by the Canon booth at CES and try out ALL their cameras to find the one I liked the best--size, features, display, and hardware shape.

The LCD display is huge and crystal clear. Works great, even in direct sunlight. The display itself is completely flush with the back panel--there is no recess bump for dust, dirt, or grime to find a home, AND you aren't looking at a display that is recessed behind another piece of glass. There is no peephole viewfinder, but one isn't needed because the display is awesome. The zoom is quick, smooth and quiet.

You get a video mode, a programmable camera mode, and a full-auto camera mode. For the majority of pictures, you can live with the full-auto camera mode. The only real changes I usually ever make is to turn off the auto-flash. And that's because this camera works great in low and nearly no-light conditions.

Controls on the back are arranged great and easy to use. There is a dedicated button to picture review/playback, and its not small and hard to use.

It has both a 4-way directional button, and a surrounding scroll wheel.

Have I mentioned that the LCD display is crystal clear and large? Both both pictures and functional menus are easy to read.

No, I didn't expect a SD memory card to come with the camera. And if one did, I would expect to discard it because OEM's are not going to bundle a large memory card anyway. Since you are on Amazon, go and purchase at least a 4GB SDHD card, or wait until they go onsale at your local warehouse club. Speaking of which, make sure you are using a SDHD card. The newer SDHD cards have a much faster read/write speed, which will pay for itself in being able to take pictures quicker and navigate your photo album quicker because you aren't waiting for a slower SD card to catch up.

The charger is great. Its a small block that holds the battery that is plugged directly into an outlet. No cables or wires needed. Its only drawback is that its size will prevent you from being able to use an adjacent outlet.

It has a mini-HDMI connection for video output, and a mini-USB connection for transfer of content to your PC. No drivers needed, just plug it in and go. Data transfer speed is OK, but I don't use the camera's own data transfer via mini-USB. Instead I use the SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One USB 2.0 Reader/Writer (also found here on Amazon).