Canon PowerShot SD870 IS

Viewfinder (0.0)
The older Canon SD850 has an optical viewfinder, but the new SD870 chose to omit it because its larger 3-inch LCD screen took up all the space on the back of the camera. There is simply no room for a tiny window. This isn’t a bad thing, because the optical viewfinder on the SD850 was small, blurry at the edges, and not very accurate. Users are better off using the LCD screen with its 100 percent accuracy, exposure preview, and larger view.

LCD Screen (9.0)
The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS has a 3-inch PureColor LCD screen that is improved from its predecessor’s version. The SD850 has a smaller 2.5-inch LCD, although the resolution is better because it has 230,000 pixels spread across less space.

The low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD has some of the widest viewing angles on any digital camera. It can be seen when held to the right or left of the eyes, or when held above and below. The SD870 is a great choice for concert-goers who like snapping pictures above the heads of the crowd.

The LCD has an anti-glare and anti-scratch coating, and while it seems durable it still catches glare from bright lighting. It could maybe pass as "glare reduction," but certainly wasn’t impervious to the lighting.

The display on the LCD screen can be changed with the designated display button in the lower right corner of the camera’s back , as well as with a few menu items. The display button leaves the screen blank or shows exposure and file information. There is also a Recording menu item that adds display features such as grid lines, a 3:2 guide, or both. In the Setup menu, the LCD brightness can be adjusted on a +/- 7 scale with a preview.

Overall, the Canon SD870’s LCD screen is large and has great resolution and very wide viewing angles. It works well for young concert-goers who snap pictures of the faraway band and crowd surfers, and also works for people who need a larger menu font and bigger view.

Flash (6.75)
The SD870 has the same weak flash included on its predecessor. It reaches 1 to 13.1 feet with the lens zoomed wide and 1 to 6.6 feet when zoomed in and the ISO set to auto.

Auto, on, and off Flash modes are found on the right side of the multi-selector. In the Recording menu, Slow Sync and Red-Eye Reduction flash features can also be activated.

The flash’s performance is not impressive. It leaves the corners of the frame very dark compared to the bright center. When possible, the flash should be turned off.

Zoom Lens (7.5)
The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS has a 3.8x optical zoom lens and an optical image stabilization system included on only a handful of the trendy Digital Elph models. The SD870 has a 4.6-17.3mm lens that is equivalent to 28-105mm in the 35mm format. This is wider than the SD850’s 35-140mm equivalent lens, although shorter.

Both digital cameras have optical image stabilization systems, as designated by the "IS" at the end of the camera’s model name. The Canon SD870 IS has Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning, and Off modes available in the Recording menu. Continuous runs down the battery quicker, and is the only option in Movie mode – as it should be. The optical zoom lens isn’t functional in Movie mode, but it’s nice to have the stabilization system to keep jitters out of the videos.

The wide lens does show some barrel distortion that is especially evident in Macro mode and with the 28mm focal length. It cannot be seen when the lens is zoomed out, though.

There is a small zoom ring around the shutter release button that controls the lens. When pushed, it can stop at seven focal lengths zooming in and out. The Canon lens makes an annoying electronic noise when it moves. Unfortunately, there is no graphic on the LCD screen to show the approximate location of the lens; most cameras have a graphic or at least show, for example, "1.8x" in order to show how much zoom is left before it maxes out. The lens also backfires a little when zooming out and settling on a focal length.

In case a little extra zoom is needed, there is 4x digital zoom – although it should be used sparingly, if at all. Digital zoom only increases the size of the pixels, eventually making subjects look like colored blocks. In the Recording menu, users can turn off the digital zoom or utilize 1.6x, 2x, or the standard 4x.