Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

Connectivity
Software (6.75)
Like other Canon digital cameras, the PowerShot SD850 IS comes with the Canon Digital Camera Solution 30.2 CD-ROM. Options for Windows include:: ZoomBrowser EX 5.8, PhotoStitch 3.1, Camera Twain Driver 6.7, and EOS Utility 1.1. Support for Macintosh computers is available with the following programs: ImageBrowser 5.8, PhotoStitch 3.1, and EOS Utility 1.1.

The ZoomBrowser EX software has nice organizational touches to it. Users can search images by file name, date, and category. They can also attach ratings and comments to each image and search by those. There are basic browsing and editing features, too. There are three viewing browsers: zoom, scroll, and preview.

The short list of editing features isn’t as fancy, and many can be changed on the camera itself. There are generally more editing options in the camera’s Playback menu than in this software program.

Software is included to stitch images into panoramas. Overall, Canon’s included software is decent in most areas, but a bit lacking in terms of actual editing. For the point-and-shoot audience though, the software will work just fine for cropping images and posting them to blogs and e-mails.

Jacks, ports, plugs (5.25)
The SD850 IS accepts AV and USB cables in separate ports on the right side of the camera. Both ports are hidden by a plastic door that takes some finagling to properly fit into the camera body. The AV cable outputs monaural audio and has NTSC and PAL options so slide shows are compatible with international televisions. A power adapter fits into the battery compartment and its cable strung through a rubber cover on the door.

Direct Print Options (7.5)
The SD850 is PictBridge compatible and comes equipped with DPOF version 1.1. This allows users to create print orders on the camera and then transfer them to a printer to eliminate pushing the print button for each shot taken. Print orders are made from the print tab in the Playback menu. Users can select all images or print by date, folder, or category. They can also scroll through and select images and choose 0-99 prints for each. Canon flaunts direct connection to Canon CP and Selphy compact photo printers, Pixma photo printers, and other PictBridge compatible printers via the included USB cable. Once connected, users only need to push the print button on the back of the camera.

Battery (5.25)
This PowerShot has a skinny NB-5L battery that snaps only 230 shots before needing a recharge. If the LCD screen is turned off and the optical viewfinder is used, the camera can take up to 700 shots – but that’s without accessing the menus. The camera comes with a CB-2LX battery charger that takes just over 2 hours to charge the battery. The charger mounts on a wall and is fairly compact, which is nice. The actual battery life of 230 shots isn’t very impressive, though.

Memory (3.0)
The Canon SD850 IS comes with a 32 MB MultiMediaCard that can only hold eight full resolution images. There is no internal memory. Users will want to expand that tiny bit of memory with another larger SD, SDHC, or MMC card. The card fits into the same compartment the battery is in on the bottom of the camera.

Other features (3.5)
Sound Recorder – Located in the Playback menu, this can record audio for up to 2 hours at a time. The sound recorder’s audio can be switched from the awful 11.025 kHz to the clearer 22.050 kHz to the excellent 44.100 kHz. This works well and can be played back and erased in the Playback menu.

Play Sound Effect – This could perhaps be the single most important function on the camera. No, I’m kidding. This little feature is found in the Recording menu under the Set Print Button heading. Users can set the button to access features like white balance and exposure compensation, but there is also a choice to have the camera play a sound effect when the print button is pushed. When I set this button to play a sound effect and pushed it, it barked at me like a dog. This feature isn’t completely useless, though. I have a toddler that likes to push buttons that make noise, so he liked the barking button. And I appreciated the fact that I didn’t have 400 pictures of the floor to delete after he was done.

Stitch Assist – Users can stitch pictures from left to right or right to left with the assist modes in the "manual" exposure mode’s Function menu. The camera provides a translucent preview of the previously taken image so it’s easier to line up the next shot. The pictures aren’t actually stitched together in the camera, though. That happens in the included software once the images are downloaded to a computer.