Posted to Digital Cameras 2009-08-29
The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS is the latest entry in Canon's highly successful ELPH line of compact digital cameras. It features 12.1MP resolution and a 5X zoom lens with image stabilization. The housing and button layout is ergonomically designed, with smooth, curving lines that fit the hands perfectly. The unit also features face detection autofocus, a Smart Auto mode which selects one of 18 pre-defined shooting modes based on the detected scene, and an HD movie mode. The display is a large 3.0-inch color LCD with 461,000 dots, a wide viewing angle and an anti-glare, anti-scratch coating. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.2 at the wide end down to f/5.8 at the telephoto end. The camera features a shutter speed range of 15-1/1600 seconds, and an ISO range of 80-1600.
PerformanceThe SD970 IS delivers excellent performance. The resolution is high enough that there is little degradation when using the digital zoom, which is a big plus. Pictures in most lighting situations are sharp and well exposed. Low light performance leaves something to be desired, but this is true with most any small-sensor compact digital camera. Shot-to-shot times are excellent, and the HD movie mode performs extremely well - even the sound quality is excellent. And there's an HDMI video output for viewing movies and pictures on your HDTV (you'll need to purchase the optional HDMI mini-cable for this, though). ErgonomicsThe SD970 IS gets high marks for its shape and the layout of the controls. The controls on the back of the camera naturally fit your right hand, and the user interface is very intuitive - you won't have to spend much time in the manual. The large LCD is easy to see even in bright sunlight, and the camera features a unique shake mode when playing back your images - simply give the camera a shake to advance to the next image. The camera also features auto-orientation when viewing landscape photos. SummaryThe SD970 IS makes an excellent choice in a compact point-and-shoot digital camera. It doesn't offer a lot of manual control, but takes excellent pictures in most situations when set to auto. You can adjust the white balance and colors, which you'll probably want to do in indoor settings. At its street price, the SD970 IS is a good value in a higher-end point-and-shoot camera. Pros
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