Canon PowerShot SD800 IS / IXUS 850 IS

As I live in Germany, I have the Euro marked IXUS 850 IS version.

I have to say that I was somewhat skeptical when we bought this camera. However, my wife had done her homework and we went to the camera shop with a short list. The salesman asked what our primary purpose was and narrowed it down to this one very quickly.

We bought this camera primarily to drag out to the mountains and on trips where the D50 isn't practical. As it turns out, I tend to bring this little guy about everywhere with me. I love it!

The photo quality, in my view, is fantastic! We bought an extra battery which has seen nearly no use. The batteries seem to last forever. I've taken nearly 400 pics without the battery dying. The stabilizer feature seems to really smooth out the photos and photo taking. Often, this camera gets pulled out 1/2 way up a mountain while mountain biking and even when breathing hard, it takes quality photos.

It's a nice looking camera, typical Silver in color with a well thought out design. The on/off button is flush with the top of the camera which helps keep you from confusing it with the shutter button. The shutter button is separate from the adjustment knob, which is on the back of the camera and easily accessible with your right thumb.

The view finder is good size and even with a scratch protector, it's clear and easy to see.

Only two small things come to mind that bother me about this camera.

1. I wish it had a little less slick surface. When you first get the camera, it often seems like it wants to jump out of your hand. After use, I guess body oils build up and that's not so bad now.

2. The 'knob' to switch settings, while it's very convenient, it's also easy to move accidentally. I have no ideas on how to better it, that's just a comment.

Now, to summarize, for people looking for a small "on the go" sort of camera, I can highly recommend this one. Get yourself a small hard-shell case to mount on your Camelbak or messenger bag and off you go. When you want to shoot, pull it out, push the on/off button and you've got a shot.

Honestly, a lot of things. Zoom, photo quality, the many internal features, software (which I like far better than the Nikon software), weight and overall ease of use.

Zoom - good, but not great! The optical zoom works well though but doesn't focus in the view finder until the shot is taken. However, most of the time, the shots come out very good.

Software - you get a bundle. You get software for Panos, for talking to the camera and setting it up (personalizing it), the editing software and the Image Browser. Online, there's more but you can read my Customer Service complaint about that.

Internal Features - Wow! You can do a lot with this. Black & White, B&W with a color highlite and so much more. I never get around to using most of what is there.

Battery life - seems to last forever. Enough said. When/if it dies and you don't have a spare, it charges quite quickly.

Shot time - other than night or low-light situations, this camera recovers quickly. By that I mean a small fraction of a second between shots. No complaints.

As I mentioned before:

Surface is a bit slick. Maybe some knurling where fingers 'normally' hold the camera.

Adjustment knob - Maybe make it a little less easy to turn.

Zoom - while I mentioned it in Strengths, I'd like to have had a bit more.

None

I've had no Customer Service related problems other than trying to register my camera. When you register for Canon on-line, you have to choose your country. I live in Germany and that choice gives you ONLY Deutsche language which has kept me from using the range of on-line services.

I sent Canon an email and in return got a 'form letter' email completely unrelated to what I was asking about. It aggravated me enough that I haven't attempted to contact them further.

This camera has a Jekyll and Hyde type of personality when it comes to performance. I've found the camera to be quite excellent when used under acceptable lighting conditions. But when it comes to indoor shooting, anything over ISO 400 with this camera is just flat out NOISY. Red Eye Problem has not been fixed (even with the red eye reduction set to on). The SD800 seems to have the same problems most point-and-shoot cameras have: weak built-in flash, subpar indoor shooting performance, and NOISE, definitely NOISE. I think most consumers expect SLR/DSLR results from a point-and-shoot camera. The SD800 IS is a fine camera, I just think that the price tag really sticks it to you because consumers like myself would like to think that you get what you pay for. In this case, I've tried the older models of Canon's Powershot ELPH line and found the image quality with those point-and-shoots to be far more superior than what I got using the SD800 IS. It's a great point-and-shoot camera for the sake of just that, just don't expect to be making many enlargements if you're shooting above ISO 400.

Under proper or decent lighting situations, the image quality is fantastic and sharp. Image Stabilizer works as advertised. Face Detection is sort've like a psuedo-bokeh producing effect in which all focus is on the face of your subject and everything else is secondary. Compact and very fast auto-focus

Really noisy when it comes to focusing. Anything over ISO 400 produces really NOISY images. ISO 800 is acceptable when use in conjunction with post processing software that removes noise (this is at the expense of detail however). As with many point-and-shoots, the SD800's built-in flash is not very strong at all, in fact, when using the flash while the lens is set at it's widest angle - the corners are dark (vignetting effect).

This camera was purchased to have something with me all the time, to catch what I'd been missing when the full-size DSLR (a D200) isn't practical to carry along or is too obvious (big camera means no candids). The SD800 meets those needs very well.

The deciding factor for this camera was that I thought I needed a viewfinder, but I soon found out that the LCD screen is the better way to go for a point-n-shoot.

My only significant complaint is the high noise with ISO over 100. Since most of my pictures are taken in lower light (early morning or the evening) and no flash, quite a few pictures have been full of noise or blur and therefore unusable. If you want low-light pictures, or don't want to use a flash, I'd suggest looking at the new 850, which is supposed to have better high-ISO performance..

Also, to get the best pictures from the SD800, you'll want to avoid the fully auto mode and instead use the manual settings.

Small enough to fit in the purse or pocket.
Very nice pictures for a point-n-shoot.
Simple to use.

Too much noise at anything over ISO 100.

This is the only small point-n-shoot I've used. I've used a Canon EOS 20D and Nikon Coolpix 8700. Currently I have a Nikon D200.

Not needed yet.

This is an amazing point-and-shoot camera. The lens is a bit different than other standard point-and-shoot cameras- it's much wider, almost like a wide-angle. But the best part about this camera is the Image Stabilizer. You can feel it working. I did a comparison to the SD630 (another nice point+shoot I own), and the SD800 ranked superior. The 2.5" screen is standard nowadays for these kind of cameras, and it works great in bright light too.

Image Stabilizer, wider lens than other point and shoots, lightweight of course.

A bit on the pricey side, but most definitely worth it.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

Not used.