Canon PowerShot SD970 IS

Auto Mode

The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS offers two different automatic modes. The first is the full Auto mode that you can enter by setting the mode switch on the top to Auto. In this mode the camera takes care of just about everything for you. There are no exposure or focus controls and the Function Set menu offers only image quality and size options. If you want more control you can move the switch on top to Standard.

Full Auto mode offers users few options to adjust.

In Standard mode you find yourself in Program mode by default. Here the camera takes care of exposure for you, but every other control, including exposure compensation, focus, ISO, white balance, etc. can be adjusted.

Adjustments such as exposure compensation can only be made in Program Mode.

Movie Mode

The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS has joined the avalanche of cameras that are introducing HD video recording, in this case at a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 and 30 frames per second. We like that Canon went with the H.264 codec, which is more efficient than the Motion JPEG format you see on some other cameras. You can also record video at lower resolutions if you wish. When in movie mode you can adjust white balance and use Canon's My Colors feature, but that's about it. Canon has also added a mini HDMI port to the SD970 IS that will allow you to connect the camera directly to an HDTV to show off your videos.

720p HD video with HDMI out is a big upgrade.

Drive/Burst Mode

The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS offers a single burst mode, called Continuous, which takes photos at a maximum of one frame per second.

The SD970 IS offers a maximum of 1.0 fps.

Playback Mode

Playback mode on the Canon PowerShot SD970 IS can be entered by pressing the dedicated playback button just above the 4-way controller. Once in playback mode you can change the information on the display using the Disp button. You can move between photos using the 4-way controller or the rotating dial, with a pleasant transition effect. You can also zoom into a photo or zoom out to a thumbnail view using the zoom toggle. Your editing options in playback mode include rotate, red-eye correction, trim and resize. You can also apply Canon's My Colors effect in playback mode (see below).

You can get a lot of information about the photos you take.

Custom Image Presets

The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS has an interesting method of accessing your scene modes. Instead of having a specific scene mode available on the mode switch, the scene modes can be accessed via the Function Set menu when in Standard mode. By default you find ourself in Program mode when the mode switch is in Standard, but just enter the Function Set menu and below Program you'll find the long list of available scene modes. These include Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Creative Light Effect, Aquarium, Underwater, ISO 3200, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap, Digital Macro, Long Shutter, Exposure Zoom and Stitch Assist.

Scene modes can be activated in the Function Set menu.