Canon PowerShot SD790 IS Silver 10 MP 3.0" 230K LCD 3X Optical Zoom Digital Camera

Almost perfect

Reviewed By: littleguy on 6/22/2008

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: I spent weeks reviewing the purchase of my next camera and finally chose this one. I am very happy with my choice.

Like all Canons, it has a great sensor with excellent color rendition and good noise properties. The image stabilization is a must-have for me and my wife, since we have shaky hands. Unexpectedly, I really like the scene settings, common to most Canons. They do a great job with exposure and white balance. I used the sunset mode all over the place in Sedona, AZ and got incredibly vivid, rich shots of the beautiful scenery there. I love the durable all-metal construction and the clean aesthetic. No glossy black plastic to show finger smudges. Face detection is great, and now includes white balance so skin tones are always rendered properly. The macro feature is incredible - it can take pictures 1" away from the subject. Very fast startup, shutter delay, frames per second, and flash recycle time. The wheel is quite handy for scrolling through hundreds of photos.

Cons: Noticeable barrel distortion at widest angle. I noticed this when taking landscapes at the Grand Canyon -- the horizon was noticeably curved when I framed it above the 1/3 gridline. I never noticed this on my previous Canon with similar wide-angle equivalent. Surprised to see it since the widest angle is barely considered wide-angle. Not enough of a con to keep it from a 5-star rating.

Other Thoughts: The only real thing lacking on this camera is a wider angle lens, which I was well aware of before purchase. Note that nearly all Canon models are in the same boat and lack the wider angle lens. If wide angle is critical (e.g. you take a lot of indoor shots), consider the Canon 870. But the all-metal construction, the clean aesthetic, and some software enhancements give this model the edge over the 870 for me (megapixels should NOT be a deciding factor).

I strongly recommend the Dolica 3" screen protectors for this camera. Get a few in case you screw up the installation. Since the screen is flush with the back housing, there's virtually no natural protection provided by the housing (unlike your eyes, which are protected by the protruding orbital bones of your skull). Not only does the Dolica product protect the screen well, but it is relatively very easy to install and is actually easier to wipe finger smudges off it than the bare screen.

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Worth every cent!

Reviewed By: Happy Owner on 4/5/2008

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

Pros: Beautiful 3 inch display, very quick, in camera red eye correction. Feels great in hands, the mode switch has been moved and feels better than on previous models. Image quality is exceptional especially low light when compared to non canon cameras. Battery life is amazing, I took 140 pictures on the first day and depleted only 1/3 of the battery.

Cons: Doesn't diplay beyond 9999 when indicating how many photos can be taken (I have a 16 gb sdhc). No optical zoom while video recording, just digital zoom (gets pixelated).

Other Thoughts: I reccomend this camera to anyone looking to spend over $300 on a compact point and shoot. Putting a protective plastic shield on the gorgeous 3 inch display is helpful as it is prone to scratching.

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Great Camera

Reviewed By: ArN on 2/5/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -Great point and shoot pictures
-Good battery life (350+ pics on one charge)
-Nice weight to it (doesn't feel cheapy)
-Not much bigger than my cellphone.
-Quick startup time (~1second)
-Quick read/write speeds
-Has more features than I know what to do with

Cons: None!

Other Thoughts: I'm no camera guru and I'm sure those who are could find problems with this camera and its features, however, ignorance is bliss (you don't miss features if you don't know about them or need them). Overall very happy with this purchase. I considered the SD1100 for it's price point but found this on sale for not much more. Most of the time i just leave it in auto mode and the pictures come out better than i could ask for. Night mode and high ISO mode work great too for dim light. Took a picture of a group sitting around a campfire at night and was surprised at the result - crystal clear image with nobody over or under exposed. Great camera for the price.

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very awesome camera

Reviewed By: Macy on 1/31/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

Pros: this camera is perfect. whether you are a beginner or are very good at photography, this camera will work for you.
it is easy to learn how to use, with, of course a lot of presets for people who don't know how to use exposure, shutter speed, etc. But it also has a manual setting wherein you can totally customize how you want your picture.
i have tried other cameras that are around the same price and none of them can compare. it has a wonderful image stabilizer so even when you are super shaky you can still get a crisp clean picture. the zoom is amazing, even in digital zoom you can get a picture that isnt grainy and has very crisp colors and lots of detail (assuming you have it on the correct settings for exposure and whatnot), it takes wonderful macro pictures and has a great digital macro setting with once again crisp colors and details. it also has some fun settings for color accent and color swap.
Great batt life also.
I would tell you more good things but I don't have anymore

Cons: People will always want to borrow your camera because it will own theirs :)

Other Thoughts: READ THE MANUAL. There are so many cool features, it really pays to read the manual and know how to use them instead of slowly finding out all of the cool things it can do over a long period of time.
Really, an awesome camera.
Nicely sized LCD, also, that gives you an excellent idea of what it will look like on your computer or when you print it out.
I haven't played around with the software included yet because i really dont have a reason too because i prefer to just use photoshop, but it looks like it would work reasonably well.

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Reviewed By: on 1/31/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: This is one the BEST camera I have ever used! I never liked to take pictures because they would never turn out right. rather it be blurry or just flash was too bright. This camera can make an armature take pictures like a pro. The camera handles my small shaking just fine with no blur. it has face finder (that's not something i was looking for but its a plus) the continuous setting works like a charm! overall just a good photographer newbie cam =)

Cons: The wheel to "scroll" through camera modes.

Other Thoughts: a scrolling controller on how sensitive the wheel is? maybe custom power up/down, picture capture sounds and power up/down images. rather then themes that are stock.

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