Canon PowerShot SD700 IS
Digital Camera Review
May 30, 2006
- By Emily Raymond
1.8
The PowerShot SD700 IS, the first of Canon's trendy Digital Elph line to offer image stabilization. The camera also provides a 4x optical zoom lens and several improvements that are fairly new to Canon cameras. Its new 1/2.5-inch image sensor has 6 megapixels and is designed to suppress noise at higher ISO sensitivities. With an ISO range from 80-800, the Canon SD700 also has a larger ISO range than its PowerShot siblings. This model adds a 16:9 widescreen-optimized format and revamps the popular My Colors mode. While PowerShot cameras previous to 2006 included this mode only while recording, the new SD700 lets users add interesting color filters and effects in recording or playback. The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS was introduced in February and released in April for a retail price of $499.
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Picture Quality / Size Options 
(7.5)
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS has three compression sizes, all located in the Func. /Set menu: SuperFine, Fine, and Normal . Just below the compression choices is the list of image sizes. The following 4:3-formatted options are available: 2816 x 2112, 2272 x 1704, 1600 x 1200, and 640 x 480. There is also a widescreen-optimized 16:9 mode that shoots with 2816 x 1584 pixels. Sadly, there is no 3:2-formatted image size. This would have been helpful to the majority of users, who simply print 4 x 6-inch sheets.
Picture Effects Mode (8.0)
A My Colors mode, unique to the Canon digital cameras, offers lots of interesting color filters and effects. In the SD700, My Colors is available for the first time in playback as well as recording. The following filters are in the My Colors portion of the Func./Set menu: Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, and Custom Color, which is only available in recording mode. Unlike previous Canon cameras, the SD700 groups the really interesting effects with the scene modes. The Color Swap and Color Accent modes are not very intuitive, even though there are on-screen directions. Users can trade the color of a shirt for the color of the couch or accent their lovely eyes if they so choose. All of the My Colors modes are very cool, but users should play with them for quite awhile before recording anything of any meaning.
