Canon PowerShot SD780 IS

Resolution (15.18)

Overall, the Canon had excellent resolution, due mostly to very high sharpness test results. The resolution test looks at three areas of the camera’s image quality: distortion, sharpness and chromatic aberration. We shoot a standard resolution chart at three focal lengths, and from that analyze the various facets of the camera’s performance.

Due to its very high sharpness, the Canon SD780 manages to outscore all the other cameras in this comparison. The chromatic aberration is also slightly better than the others, and the distortion isn’t bad either. More on how we test resolution.

Distortion (7.46)

The SD780 had average distortion, consistently barreling rather than pincushioning. At 17.9mm, this was 0.24%, which rose to 1.4% at 10.6mm and maxed out at 1.7% at 5.9mm.

This is a little better than the Canon SD970, but lags far behind the minimal distortion of the Nikon S630.

Sharpness (22.75)

One area where this camera really excelled was in sharpness. Even though it had a tendency to slightly over-sharpen, it still did very well. Across all focal lengths, the images were the sharpest at the center of the lens, then softer outwards from that, before picking up again at the outer edges. This was most pronounced at the minimum focal length, where you get both the sharpest results, and the softest.

Chromatic Aberration (7.83)

The chromatic aberration follows a similar pattern to the sharpness. Lowest at the center, worsening outwards, and then getting slightly better at the extremities. Once again, it is at the lowest level at 5.9mm, but the highest occurs at 17.9mm. Over the entire area of the lens, the lowest chromatic aberration occurs at 10.6mm.

Quality & Size Options (6.50)

There isn’t a great selection of shooting sizes on this camera, and furthermore, there are no controls for image compression/quality. Unsurprisingly, given the simplified nature of the SD780’s controls, there is no RAW shooting mode.

Image Stabilization (0.55)

The camera didn’t do very well on our image stabilization test. The test is based around photographing at near 1/30 second shutter speed, with 100 lux illumination, which is pretty much what you’d find in a standard indoor situation. We test percentage of change from the image stabilization off, compared to it turned on. Under these situations, the SD780 managed a very slight improvement, but so little as to be almost unnoticeable. More on how we test image stabilization.

Stabilization Comparisons
Canon SD780 IS	Canon SD970 IS	Nikon S630	Sony DSC-T900
Stabilization Off
Stabilization On