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

I bought the SD970IS camera after weeks of doing research online and physically going to electronic stores to view the cameras in person. The three cameras that I was choosing between were the Canon SD780IS, SD960Is and finally decided to buy the SD970IS and here's why:


When I started looking I first read reviews on cnet.com and amazon.com. Cnet.com gave all the models a good to very good rating, however they didn't like the price to feature ratio with the SD970IS but everything else was great. The retail price for the SD970IS is $379.99 and I guess based on that price I would have probably not bought it, but as always I researched the pricing online and amazon.com once again had the best price at the time which was [...]. At the time everyone else including buy.com, bestbuy.com and even ebay was selling it for close to full retail.

I previously owned a Nikon S50c and it worked fine it just seemed like a camera that you had to "baby" and didn't fit comfortably in your hands. The SD970IS is not as compact or slim as my old Nikon or the SD960IS or the tiny SD780IS but it can still be placed in a pocket. The most important thing is however that it feels great in your hand and doesn't seem fragile like the Nikon or the SD780IS.

I've been using the camera now for a couple of weeks and so far here's my list of pros & cons (very few):

PROS:
1. 3.0 LCD inch display with double the resolution of all three cameras.
2. HD Video is amazing with HDMI out
3. Picture quality is amazing including the 5x optical zoom and even the total 20x digital zoom is great.
4. Battery life is much better than any other cameras I've owned (approx. 250 shots)
5. "Blink" indicator that works great if someone blinks
6. The auto feature on the camera (I know that some reviews state that this function doesn't work very well, however I never take it off this setting because it adjusts to every shot automatically and I haven't had any issues with picture quality in this mode.)
7. Menu navagation is very simple and straightforward.

CONS:

1. Slightly bigger than I'm use to but still very compact
2. Noisy when zooming in and out (may be due to 5x optical zoom)

Nice photos but overpriced and limited movie functionality.

This camera takes very nice photos and had an incredibly sharp LCD display. I only used it in manual mode during the short time I had it, so I can't speak for the program mode although many have complained about it. I noted a few major issues (at least for me). First is that the camera has no optical viewfinder. I realize many point and shoots omit the optical viewfinder but that was a deal breaker for me. While the display is very bright, I still found it difficult to see it in bright light. Also, when shooting a moving object at slow shutter speed it is hard to follow the object as the display goes black. Last, my camera developed a dead pixel after only 2 days. I initially thought the dead pixel was on the LCD display but even worse, it was on the CCD imager! That means the stored photos had a red dot on them. I also had the dreaded lens error occur once.

Overall, I cannot recommend this camera. It costs twice as much as the SD-8900 and only offers a few limited features over the 8900. One feature is 720p HD video recording. The problem is once you start recording video, the focus and zoom are locked. You can use digital zoom but not optical. Unlike with still photos, the digital zoom quickly degrades the image when recording video. It makes it look worse than analog TV. Also, if your image is out of focus when you start recording, the whole recording will be out of focus. The only was to adjust focus is to stop recording, focus then start recording again. What were the engineers at Canon thinking??? This makes the camera pretty useless for video recording. Frankly, the recorded image wasn't that impressive even without using digital zoom. It looked as good as a DVD but not nearly as good as an HDTV signal at 720p. That said, the camera is primarily a still camera and it did take very nice still images and with 12MP, you can actually use the digital zoom and still retain good clarity.

My problem is there are many $200 cameras that do just as good a job as the SD-9700, so why pay $350?

One last note: I used to shoot weddings professionally using a medium format (6 x 4.5cm) camera, so I know about quality and sharpness. While everyone is touting huge megapixel numbers, the reality is that most people need no more than 6MP. 6MP will give you an 8x10 that will be indistinguishable from a 35mm print. In addition, the optics in most point and shoot cameras are the weak link, not the imager. You can have 20MP but if the lens is inferior, it won't make any difference. The only real advantage to more MP is that you can use digital zoom and/or crop the picture significantly while still maintaining excellent clarity. If you shoot weddings or product photography, a 12MP or larger camera is useful but then you wouldn't be using a point and shoot anyway, right?

Bottom line is I returned my SD-970 and purchased an SD-890. It has most of the features of the SD-970 at nearly half the price. It also has an optical viewfinder, which is invaluable when you are in bright sunlight.

Joe

I loved this camera for a year then the warranty expired and the lens stuck in the open position and it is not economical to fix. After doing some internet search for a solution I discovered this is a very common problem with dozens of Canon models, it is called error 811, there are entire websites devoted to just this problem. This camera is too expensive to only last a year, I have beautiful photos of the Italian coast, but I won't be buying another Canon.

June 26 2009: I rate this camera 5 stars. I love this camera. Excellent point-and-shoot camera for photographic numbskulls like me. It is intuitive. The buttons are fine. Bought it a couple weeks' ago, took it on a camping trip and it was exquisite. Still know only a fraction of what the camera offers and have to sit down with it and learn/experiment more. If I discover later that it has drawbacks, I'll edit this review.

I did quite a bit of research looking for a point-and-shoot digital camera to replace our old 2002 Canon Powershot G2 camera which still works fine after 7 years. I wanted a new digital camera, finally narrowing it down to either the Canon Powershot SD970 IS or the Sony DSC-T900.

GOOD THINGS ABOUT CANON POWERSHOT SD970

Surprised at how tiny it is but is big enough for fingers. Superb in low-light (a must-have). It is Macintosh-friendly (a must-have). Of the Canon Powershot ELPH lineup, the SD970 has the largest LCD at 3-inches (as do models 790 & 880); others have only a 2.5- or 2.7-inch LCD. Be sure to buy an SDHC card separately because the camera doesn't come with one, and in order to operate, there must be an SDHC card inserted (I got a 32GB SDHC card but you can get a 4, 8 or 16GB).

ACCESSORIES I BOUGHT AT THE SAME TIME

~ Centon 32GBSDHC6 32GB CLASS 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card

~ CANON NB-5L Equivalent Charger & Battery Combo for OEM PowerShot CB-2LX & SD790 / IS 890 IS

~ Sandisk MicroMate SD/ SDHC Memory Card Reader

~ Slim Version Kroo Camera case for Canon Powershot SD Series
(to knock around with) This case holds the camera in a protective shell and hooks onto a belt. (I got the "slim" version, whatever that is. A similar item is called "Kroo Camera Case for Canon Powershot Camera Digital Camera" without the word "slim" and has a different stock number. Probably somewhat different than the "slim," but I can't tell the difference from descriptions and photos on the Internet.)

~ Mountainsmith camera/gear bag Reflex II (size Medium) (6 x 4 x 5.5-inches) (holds all the above gear with room left over) (I love Mountainsmith products, having several.)

~ Sanyo Eneloop 4 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargable Batteries w/ Charger (for the charger)

~ Sanyo Eneloop 4 Pack AAA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries

BAD THINGS I READ ABOUT THE SONY DSC-T900 THAT SEALED ITS FATE

The Sony camera comes in a bunch of exterior colors but who gives a hoot what color the outside of the camera is? Silver is just fine. Exterior color is fluff; it's dumb for a company to put resources towards several exterior colors of a camera. I care about the innards. Multiple exterior colors: 1 strike against it. Sony doesn't care about Macintosh, period. Sony is for Windows people only. Sony keeps asking "What's a Macintosh?": definitely a major strike against Sony (as a brand). {Raspberry} Reviewers said the DSC-T900 is bad in low-light: another strike against it. Reviewers said that battery sucks: a fourth strike against it. Since it had four strikes against it, I didn't buy it.

This is the first time I tried Canon. I wanted to try different brands of point and shoot cameras and I've had a Nikon and Sony in the past. I thought it was time to buy a new one when my Sony of 4 years started to suddenly not respond appropriately. I mainly chose this Canon model because this is the only model that has the size proportion and screen that I like. It's true that it's noisy even if I already adjusted the volumes; but I tend to keep my camera on most of the time so as not to miss a nice shot whenever I'm out taking pictures, so it helps remind me to turn it off. I also find that there is a lag in response when shooting pictures unlike my Sony, that I've missed some good shots. However, when I do get the shots I wanted, the pictures look so good and the movie mode is wonderful as well. The function dial and some of the buttons are still a little confusing but I'm giving myself time to get acquainted with it a little more. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and if it gives me 4-5 years worth of good service, then the price is just right.