Canon PowerShot SD700 IS First Impressions Review

by Emily Raymond
Published on March 01, 2006

Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour
Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options
Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion

 

Likes

- Adds Image Stabilization - Sleek and modern design - Nice LCD with wide viewing angles - Sturdy metal body - Slow motion movie playback - ISO 800 setting

Dislikes

- Inaccurate viewfinder - Expensive - Cheap plastic mode dial - My Colors mode not intuitive - Noisy auto focus

Conclusion
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS has some hits and misses. Its hits include the 4x zoom lens with image stabilization. The new stabilization system has three modes – continuous, shoot only and panning – that work well. There is a high ISO 800 setting that aids in low light and also helps to keep pictures from getting blurry; this is especially nice when coupled with the image stabilization. The SD700 has 6 megapixels on a newly developed sensor that was designed to suppress noise from the higher ISO setting. This appeared true in our initial look at the camera, but check back in a month or two for the full review to truly explore this claim. The camera body is a hit with its tri-color design and Perpetual Curve shape. It also has a durable metal body with a 2.5-inch LCD screen that can be viewed at almost any angle.

The Canon SD700 IS has some misses with a few features. Its metal body is great, but it has a tiny and cheap plastic mode dial that is hard to get into position. Its mode dial has what looks to be a manual mode, but its ‘M’ label is misleading as users cannot manually adjust the shutter speeds and apertures. The 4x zoom lens is fine, but the auto focus system inside it is quite noisy. The interesting My Colors modes are great to have in both recording and playback, but users still have problems implementing the effects. Canon included an optical zoom viewfinder on the SD700, but its inaccuracy and poor quality make it only a space waster instead of a functional viewer.

The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS will retail for $499 in April, which is a little pricy considering other models coming out this year. The SD700 is cool and its hits are bigger than its misses, but its price tag is still inflated compared to its competitors. When money is taken out of the equation, the Canon SD700 IS provides a lot of very cool features in a very attractive and easily portable body. It might be wise to wait it out a bit until the price drops and the value catches up to its features.