Canon SD800 or SD850?

[BridgetC]

Hi I'm new here. :) I see from the forum you get that a lot. ;)

After reading eleventy billion reviews and comparisons online, I am "basically" stuck between the Canon SD800 and the SD850 as a replacement to my two year old Casio Exilim.

I take mostly your standard middle-class-minivan-mama-type-vacation-and-kid-shots. But I do take a lot of them... sometimes several hundred a week. Indoor, outdoor, scenery, sports, etc. lol

How do I decide which camera is better for me? My brain is melted.

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Here are my specs from the "which camera should I buy" post.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

$250ish

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

Compact to subcompact (I carry it in my purse 100% of the time)

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

8.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

Standard

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

9

Do you care for manual controls?

Yes, although I'm generally ignorant about what I'm doing.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

Kids, vacations, sports, scenery, and LOTS of videos.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

No larger than 8X10 as a general rule.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

YES!

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

Yes, small children move quickly... usually towards traffic and sharp objects.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

Love Sony, but I'm loaded up on large capacity memory cards and don't want to switch to sticks.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

Canon SD800 or SD850, Panasonic Lumix DMC-Tz3 or Casio Exilim Z1080.

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

Image Stabilization would be extra nice. Wide Angle would be great too but I can live without it.

[David Metsky]

None of the cameras you mentioned have manual controls, and none excel at low light shooting.

When you say videos, do you mean short 10-30 second clips or longer more involved shots?

The TZ3 is an ultrazoom and quite a bit larger then the others on your list. You might want to visit a store and see if the size works for you.

The main difference between the SD800 and SD850 is that the 800 has a lens that goes wider (28mm vs 35mm) but shorter (105mm vs 140mm). The 800 is also a bit less sharp then the 850. Do you need the wide angle lens? From your description I wouldn't say it's essential for you.

In low light you'll need to use flash on all of these cameras. They'll all benefit from using P or M mode and setting the ISO and WB yourself. That's the limit of manual controls you'll have.

Based on all that I'd go for the SD850. I think it's still the best general purpose ultracompact out there.

[BridgetC]

Thanks David.

I did mean shorter video slips... like a max of a minute or so nothing "serious".

As for manual controls... it's not a requirement.

I did read that neither excelled in low light but thought I'd toss it out there. :)

I'll check out the TZ3 too thanks!!

As for the 850 I do like the idea of the wide angle lense but as I haven't had that before... no harm if I go without moving forward.

Thank so much for the input.