Canon SD1100, SD870 and SD890

[jedinite]

Budget

$200-325 - I really want a good value and a good camera. i.e. I don't want to spend $50 for slight upgrades I won't ever use but then again I will spend an extra $100 if they are really worth the features.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Looking for sub-compact camera, I'm comparing the Canon SD1100, SD870 and SD890 because I can't decide which is the best for me, but I prefer to stick with these ones.

Features

* How many megapixels will suffice for you?
8MP is min, because that is what is offered on the SD1100 and SD870. 10MP is nice but not necessarily needed.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Standard Zoom with suffice for a sub-compact camera. Though more zoom is nice, it is also not the deciding factor.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Image quality is a 10, I know I won't get the same image on a sub-compact as I will on an SLR, but I want the best image possible for the type of camera I am purchasing.

*Do you care for manual controls?
Manual controls are not really necessary for me on a sub-compact. If I want finer controls I'll go with SLR

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
For traveling, events, group shots.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Probably nothing more than 8x10 usually. Mostly the smaller 4x6 is what I'll print out most often. Having extra resolution is nice but it won't make much difference for the prints I want to do.

* Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Mostly a mixture of indoor and outdoor lighting.

* Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Mostly not a lot of action or sports photos

Miscellaneous

* Are there particular brands you like or hate?
I prefer Canon.

* Are there particular models you already have in mind?
SD1100, SD870, SD890

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Rotating LCD would be a nice feature. GPS location (for photo location) and WiFi support would also come in handy if they are available.

* Other Comments
I bought my wife a Sony T-9 years ago and it has served her well. I think the best thing about that camera is that it's so compact that it's convenient to always carry around and it takes decent pictures. I have an older compact Canon that I haven't used in a while. It's not a sub-compact one but a slightly larger and bulkier one, I forget the model number. But because the battery lacks charge most of the time and it's slightly broken (dropped it once) and it doesn't focus properly I need to replace it. I would like to replace my camera with something that makes it nice and easy for me to carry around to functions and trips and take pictures if my wife is not with me. Plus, I've always wanted a better image quality camera than my wife's. Her's is nice but I know that she's sacraficing some image quality for the form factor of the Sony T-9 but that's what she wanted - a little more style over substance.

I will eventually buy an SLR camera for ultra-high quality pictures and flexibility but for now it's not a priority because I know I wouldn't get a lot of use out of it since SLR's are less convenient to carry to everyday functions. I would like to know which of the Canon SD's is most recommended from you guys and to see which one fits my needs the best. I don't mind spending money on the more expensive model if I know the features and value is good but I don't want to spend too much if I don't have to.

A few more things I should add, I have read the reviews and I'm leaning a bit more towards the SD1100 or the SD890, but there was no full length reviews on the SD890, only Pricegrabber reviews. I would prefer a camera with a quick response. My old camera started to respond really slowly and it annoys me to miss out on those special moments because the camera takes a LONG time to snap the shot, so speed is one of those deal breakers if it's going to take 3secs for each shot. Thanks for everyone's input in advance

[AndyfromVA]

For reviews of the SD890IS see:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...S/SD890ISA.HTM
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_...n_sd890is.html
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Digit...Shot-SD890-IS/

[jedinite]

Thanks for the links Andy. Do you have any recommendations on any of the cameras or opinions about them? Or how about hands on experience?

[AndyfromVA]

From what I can tell, the photos from the SD890 look very good and if money were no object that's probably the one I'd pick. However, I have no personal experience with it.

[jedinite]

Adding SD770 to my watch list now

[David Metsky]

The SD870 has a wide angle lens but less reach on the telephoto end. If you want the wide angle lens and don't mind the loss of the optical view finder, then the SD800 is a good choice. The SD890 and SD1100 are much more general use cameras. There are only slight differences between the SD770/790 and the SD1100 besides the lack of a view finder on the SD790.

If you want wide angle, the SD870 (or the SD800 which has a view finder) is the choice. The extra zoom and optical view finder on the SD890 would be the selling point for me.

[jedinite]

To be honest, I find that I don't really use the optical view finder all that often. It's a feature that I might use 1% of the time.

But I did read the review for the SD790 and I'm going to expand my list even further. There seems to be a lot of great ultra-compact cameras from Canon it's just hard to decide which is best for me. It would be nice to have some feedback from people that own these cameras to give me an idea of what they like or don't like about the camera or what they might change about it.

1) Needs to be portable, the smaller it is the more convenient it is to carry around, thus the more I will carry it and use it. That's why my wife loves and carries her Sony T-9 around all the time, that's why she's gotten way more use out of it in a year than I've gotten out of my S50 in 5 years (we pretty much stopped using mine once she got her camera).

2) Want to take great pictures for a small camera, I don't need a lot of telephoto shooting or macro shots, but having clear and vibrant pictures when I'm traveling or out with my family or friends is a must.

3) Right now my top picks are SD770, SD890 and SD1100. Getting some feedback on the finer differences between these models would be nice. Yes I know SD770 and SD890 are 10MP cameras and the SD1100 is only a 8MP, but if I'm going for the 700 or 800 series I mine as well get the 10MP camera over the 8MP one right?

Again, thank you all in advance in helping me find the perfect Canon Ultra-Compact for me.

[David Metsky]

1) All these cameras are about the same size. I doubt you'll notice any significant difference between them.

2) All of these cameras have similar image quality. The SD890 might have a slight edge due the the extra zoom (it makes a difference even in casual shooting) but the other two have a slightly faster lens which will be marginally better in low light.

3) There's no really difference between 8MP and 10MP. If anything, the 10MP cameras may have worse image quality from jamming all those pixels on such a small sensor. Unless you plan on making poster sized prints I wouldn't worry about image size.

Given all that, I'd still go for the SD890 because I value the zoom and the optical view finder.

[KCook]

Here is a link to another thread that may help -

Pls,Help me find a digital camera!

Kelly Cook

[jedinite]

I checked out the form factor of the 700 and 800 series Canon SD point and shoots and I am leaning more towards the 700 series simply for the slightly smaller size. Anyone have any feedback to share about the 700 series camera? Other than the lack of optical view finder (I don't think I'd ever use it anyways so I won't miss it).