Canon PowerShot SD700 IS

Auto Mode
The automatic mode is represented by a red camera on the troublesome mode dial. If users can find its position, the camera is thrown into a technophobe-friendly mode. Only the image size and compression can be changed in the shooting menu, and there’s not much else to do other than point, zoom and snap the shot.

Movie Mode
The Canon PowerShot SD700’s image stabilization system comes in handy in the movie mode, where little jumps and bumps are most noticeable. The movies are recorded with monaural audio in 630 x 480 or 320 x 240 at either 15 or 30 fps. The faster frame rate makes movement look much smoother in the video. These resolutions also apply to special effects movies: Color Swap and Color Accent. The SD700 also has a Fast Frame Rate movie mode that records 320 x 240 pixels at a buttery smooth 60 fps for one minute. This is great for recording racecars and other speedy subjects, but watching it on a television screen will still look pixilated because of the lower resolution. A smaller 160 x 120 pixel movie size is available for emailing to the grandparents. It shoots 15 fps for up to 3 minutes. Regular movies have a limit of 1 GB.

The video quality looks great until the digital zoom is used. The 4x digital zoom is available, but should be avoided because it causes the image to degrade into a pile of colored boxes. Unfortunately, the optical zoom cannot be used while recording. The options that are available in this mode include white balance, color effects, frame rate, and size. Overall, the movie mode is decent and the effects are fun to play with.

Drive / Burst Mode
The burst mode on this Canon is one of the most impressive on a compact model. Canon included a DIGIC II image processor that claims speedier times and its 2.1 fps burst seems to be a result of that. While many compact digital cameras have the 2.1 fps burst, not very many have the SD700’s stamina. I snapped 27 shots in the continuous shooting mode before the camera ran out of memory; it may be able to go even more. The point is that the PowerShot SD700 is fast and can be fast for an extended period of time.

The burst mode can be activated by pushing the bottom of the multi-selector, which also cycles through the self-timer options. The self-timer can be set to take a picture after 2 or 10 seconds of delay and can be customized to delay for 0-10, 15, 20, or 30 seconds and then take 1-10 consecutive pictures.

Playback Mode
The playback mode has its own position on the mode dial, at the end so it cannot be over-shot. Pictures can be viewed one by one or in groups of nine images. Each picture can be magnified 2-10x with the zoom toggle. An auto rotate function can turn individual pictures the right way, so if users spin the camera around the picture will spin too so that the users’ view is always right-side-up. Pictures can be rotated manually in the playback menu too.

Pictures can be erased as single files or all at once, and can be protected from deletion altogether. Histograms and file info can be viewed when the Disp. button is pushed. In the playback menu, voice memos up to 60 seconds can be added and slide shows can be played, complete with transitions. When scrolling through pictures with the multi-selector, users can jump ten images or to the movies. Video clips can be played back at regular speed or in slow motion for the instant replay. They can also be scrolled through frame by frame for a better view of the top snowboarder face-planting into the snow. The movies can be cut in half and the beginning or end can be saved as a new file or can overwrite the longer version.

One of the new features on the SD700 IS is the availability of the My Colors modes in the playback menu. Previous models could only access the options before recording, but the effects can now be added in playback. On the whole, the playback mode is very thorough and makes users ache for more resolution on the LCD screen.

Custom Image Presets
The ‘SCN’ position on the mode dial houses 11 scene modes: Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Color Accent and Color Swap. Indeed, the latter two options are located in a slightly different space than previous PowerShots. Instead of being primarily located in the My Colors mode, they are found among the scene modes.

Changing the scene modes can be done within the Func/Set menu. Small icons appear on the menu, but the text appears on the LCD screen when scrolled over. Many of the exposure controls are automatic, but users can still adjust the white balance, image size and compression. The Underwater scene mode is a little plug for Canon’s optional underwater housing that can be purchased for the SD700.