Canon PowerShot SD850 vs. SD1100

[euphoricmix]

My first inclination is that the SD850 would likely be the better camera. I will do a mix of indoor and outdoor shooting, action and still, and I want to have a camera that takes good pictures in low light settings. I have an Olympus E-Volt E500 Digital SLR and that is my one complaint is the poor indoor performance and that is mostly due to the under performance of the on-board flash. Any input you may have about these two cameras will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[David Metsky]

Neither of these are going to be great in low light. It's not a feature that you're going to find in any ultracompact camera, no matter which manufacturer. Of the two cameras you listed, both are quite good. I might go with the SD850 for the extra zoom, but the SD1100 has auto red eye removal which is quite nice.

[PhotoMaster]

The are very similar. I have the SD850. If you think your DSLR has bad low-light indoor performance, then well you'll be shocked out bad these are. Don't get my wrong, I love my SD850 but when it comes to low-light situations, quality is pretty bad. I used my DS850 to photograph a baby shower which was indoors in dim light, and it was terrible. Basically you can only take close range flash pictures, which isn't my thing.

[euphoricmix]

Does your SD850 take a picture when you push the button? With my DSLR it sometimes takes 5 pushes of the button to get a picture to take. The camera is attempting to adjust for the lighting and such and when it finally does take the picture it turns out good, but I am about ready to throw the damn thing against the wall. I am aware that a point-and-shoot leave a lot to be desired, I just want to be able to perform decent in low light settings.

Did you have the image stabilization enabled in "Shoot" mode, and the Auto ISO Boost option enabled when you took photos at the baby shower? Reading the review on DCRP it seems those really help to improve picture quality indoors.

I like the 35mm-140mm offered with the SD850, and if the only advantage that the SD1100 would have over the the SD850 being the automatic red-eye removal, I would have to side with the SD850.

Another comparison, the Canon PowerShot SD850 v. Olympus Stylus 1010, who do you think would win this toe to toe competition? Any thoughts?

[David Metsky]

These are not low light cameras. They are great in bright light, and the flash is adequate, but if you expect this class of cameras to perform in dim light then you're going to be sorely disappointed. I've had two SD-series cameras and in low light you just fire and hope.

No idea why your E-500 is having trouble taking shots when you click the shutter release. In low light it is probably hunting for focus, something you'll also see on the ultracompacts. There is some shutter lag in low light with these cameras; in bright light it is greatly reduced. You can help things by prefocusing (push the button half-way to lock focus before you're ready to shoot) in any camera.

I'd pick the SD850 over the Olympus 1010 because I like the picture quality of the SD850 in the conditions where I take most of my shots.