Digital Camera Review

First Impressions Review

Mar 01, 2006 - By Emily Raymond
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS introduces several firsts to the sleek Digital ELPH line. The starring feature of this digital camera is its optical image stabilization system. The 6-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD700 IS will sell for $499 in April.
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Model Design / Appearance
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS has a sleek design that features three colors on the body: ice metal silver, moonlight silver and ebony black. The sleek body is in harmony with the stylish Digital ELPH line. The SD700 has the Perpetual Curve design that was introduced on the SD500. It has a thicker right side that is curved like a moon for more comfortable handling. The metal body has plenty of highlights that make it attractive.

Size / Portability
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS is smaller than many of its Digital ELPH siblings. It measures 3.56 x 2.22 x 1.04 inches and comes with a wrist strap that attaches to the right side. It is very portable either on the wrist or in a pocket. The digital camera has more heft to it than anticipated, but it still isn’t heavy at all. The small SD700 goes flat when the lens retracts and the camera powers down. Sturdy plastic doors snap closed on the lens when powered down; this protects the glass from scratches and dings and makes the SD700 even more portable.

Handling Ability
The body is mostly flat, but its perpetually curvaceous frame is a bit thicker on the right side where the hand grips the digital camera. There is no real right-hand grip, but the thicker portion gives users a little more substance to hang on to. The SD700 wasn’t built for long photo shoots in the hot, dry sun. It is made for pulling out of a pocket and snapping a few shots before being stowed away again. With that concept in mind, Canon didn’t include too many features to make handling incredibly comfy. Portability beat out comfort this time, although handling is certainly not a pain.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
Everything is miniaturized on the Canon SD700. The buttons are small and squashed at the bottom of the back instead of being spaced out. The mode dial is incredibly small and impossible to turn. Okay, not impossible. But its side has tiny tag marks like the side of a dime, and it’s about the thickness of a dime, too. The cheap plastic dial protrudes only slightly from the right side of the camera, so users have to really dig their fingernails into the dime marks to rotate it. The mode dial doesn’t lock well into position either. It is like turning on a burner on a gas stove that has a single Low to High dial; there are no stops in the dial, so it’s easy to over-shoot and under-shoot.

There are few buttons on the camera body and most are adequately placed. The power button is located on the back instead of the top, though. This isn’t a huge deal, but it’s definitely different than most digital cameras. Several people who picked up the SD700 at the trade show immediately asked, “How do you turn this thing on?”

Menu
The menu on the SD700 IS is nearly identical to those on other Digital ELPHs. The Canon menus are split so that the frequently used options are accessed by pressing the Func/Set button, and the other stuff is filed under the Menu button. The menus are organized logically and there is always an onscreen instruction on how to take a step back, so if users push the wrong direction on the multi-selector, they don’t have to close and re-enter the menu. The Func/Set button accesses the following menu, which has live views.  

Shooting Mode
Manual, Digital Macro, Stitch Assist Left to Right, Stitch Assist Right to Left
Exposure Compensation
+/- 2 EV in 1/3 steps
White Balance
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
My Colors
Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color
Metering
Evaluative, Center-weighted Average, Spot
Compression
SuperFine, Fine, Normal
Image Size
Large, Medium 1, Medium 2, Small, Postcard, Widescreen

The above menu is from the “manual” mode, where the most options are available. This menu shortens in all of the scene modes to include the exposure compensation, compression and image size settings. In the auto mode, only the latter two options are available.
 
The rest of the menus can be found by pushing the designated Menu button. In the shooting modes, there are three tabs with different colored icons on them. The left tab is red and has a camera icon on it; the following is the menu from the recording tab.  

AiAF
On, Off
Self-Timer
10 sec, 2 sec, Custom (1-30 sec delay for 1-10 shots)
AF Assist Beam
On, Off
Digital Zoom
On, Off
Review
Hold, Off, 2-10 sec
Grid Lines
On, Off
IS Mode
Off, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning
Date Stamp
Off, Date, Date & Time
Long Shutter
On, Off

The yellow tab in the middle has a tool icon on it and represents the lengthy setup menu. It has a very long list of buried features.  

Mute
On, Off
Volume
1-5 steps for Startup, Operation, Self-timer, Shutter, and Playback
LCD Brightness
+/- 7
Power Saving
Auto Power Down On and Off, Display Off 10 sec-3 min
Time Zone
Home, World
Date/Time
Date, Time set
Clock Display
0 sec-3 min
Format
OK, Cancel
File Numbering
Continuous, Auto Reset
Create Folder
OK, Cancel
Auto Rotate
On, Off
Lens Retract
0 sec, 1 min
Languages
English, Swedish, German, Spanish, Turkish, French, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Thai, Arabic
Video System
NTSC, PAL
Print Method
Auto, PictBridge
Reset All
OK, Cancel

The blue My Camera tab is on the right and has the following options: Theme, Startup Image, Startup Sound, Operation Sound, Self-timer Sound, and Shutter Sound. The various images and sounds are the same that are included on other Canon PowerShots in the past year. There is plenty of howling, chirping, and beeping available at various decibel levels.
 
The playback mode menu has four tabs, two of which are the setup and custom tabs. The main playback menu is the first tab. 

Transition
Off, Fade 1, Fade 2
Slide Show
All Images, Date, Folder, Movies, Stills, Custom
My Colors
Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color
Sound Memo
Record (to 60 sec), Stop
Protect
Set, Cancel
Rotate
Set, Cancel
Erase All
Cancel, OK
Transfer Order
Order, Mark All, Reset

The final tab in the playback menu is specifically made for direct printing. It includes options to print, select the number and quality of images and prints, select all the images, clear all selections and change print settings. From here, users can order an index print or add dates and files numbers to the pictures. Overall, the menu system is quite lengthy and the split system may be a bit confusing for beginners. However, it is easy to navigate through with the multi-selector and a few practice run-throughs will turn beginners into experts.

Ease of Use
The Canon PowerShot Digital ELPH series is supposed to be easy to use and intuitive for point-and-shooters, and the SD700 IS succeeds in many ways. This digital camera has a designated print button, making direct printing easy. It also has automatic modes that limit options and keep things real simple. The Canon SD700 has a few quirks like the split menu system, but keeps its setup simple otherwise.
 
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