Gizmodo Gifts

My wife got that camera for her dad for Xmas.. very slick looking camera with a ton of features.. I prefer the bulkiness of my S3 though

I chose the S5 over the SD850, but only because my wife is interested in learning more advanced photography. The 850 was in my cart for a few months, though.

How does it rate vs. the Sony w-series? The w-90 to be exact...

I picked this up on Black Friday for $280 @ Best Buy. I kept scanning the ads over the next couple of weeks for a better price and finally found it at Office Depot for $230! I grabbed the ad and headed back to Best Buy and they handed me $50 cash which I immediately blew on Guitar Hero III and Flash Gordon, Savior of the Universe Edition DVD...

I just picked this up for my mom. It's one very solid camera.

Anyone have a recommendation for a super slim P&S? Thinner the better. I want to replace my old Powershot with something that I can comfortably toss in my pocket.

I have relatives I'd knock off for this camera. It's been getting rave reviews everywhere. Too bad I've been a bad boy this year. Santa hates me.

is it better then the SD950?

@twoeightnine: Have a look at the Sony DSC-T200 or the T2. They're tiny and image quality is supposedly good.

I have been a fan of Canon Power Shots for years

Grabbed the 870IS at Circuit city for $279.00

I got it around Black Friday

This is a sweet camera. If you are looking for icing on the cake, be sure to also pickup an EyeFi card

I got the SD950 first. It has almost all the same features, but it's a 12.1 Megapixel camera. I decided I really didn't need that much and returned it for the SD850 instead, and saved about $125. Still a great camera for the price.

I'm not crazy about Canon... they have a problem with their lenses - esp. the mechanism that opens the lens. At least I was burned by it. Some error 18 or something like that.

Anyone know of a digital P&S with following spec?
- Usable high ISO mode (1600)
- manual / semi-manual mode that let you select shutter speed and/or aperture
- Movie mode in MPEG4 (much needed)
- SD card!

Not that great....

I have an old canon G3 that shoots at 300dpi at an image size of 2272x1704 (7.5in x 5.6in) and the images are clear and blow up to 12in x 16in no problem.

the SD850is shoots at 180dpi!!! at an image size of 3264x2448 (18.1in x 13.6in) the images are ok, but there is a ton of noise at any ISO greater than 80. The detail is lost in most shots...i think it has to do with the P&S processing. I don't think more megapixels is a good thing when it comes to P&S...why does anyone need more pixels on a P&S??? if you plan on enlarging a photo go with the canon S5 or G9...

@pipper: best camera review site... [www.dcresource.com]

@pipper: The only p&s that might give you usuable ISO1600 is a Fuji with their super CCD. Great picture quality and lenses, but the rest of the hardware is kind of in the so-so range...and almost zero manual controls.

@carriontron: Word.

I love Canon point and shoot cameras (I own the SD750), but I hate these ads.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with ads, obviously, but when you make a "content" ad it blurs the line between journalism and selling your soul to the devil (you'd be surprised how thin that line is).

It's obviously clearly marked as an ad, but if I want to read the press release on a camera I can go to the manufacturer's website. If I want a review (or a pantsing, for that matter), I come here. I don't come to gizmodo to read press releases thinly guised as reviews.

I can attest to the quality of Canon's SD___IS line. I had an SD700IS for some time and it was absolutely amazing. The optical image stabilization works like a charm, colors were rich & beautiful, and macro blew me away. I was afraid because it didn't have a lot of preset scene modes (like the Casio I had been using) but it turns out they're not needed, because it generally knew what to do. Plus, with Canon point & shoots you get fun features like the one where only one color shows up and the rest of the photo is black & white (I obviously forget what that is called).

But why is the shape so fugly?

SD800 and SD870 are better... wide angle lenses.

@tehronin: I originally purchased the Sony W90. Loved the size and feature set - but the pictures it took were noticeably lousy compared to my previous Sony DSC P200. I got Canon 850IS instead and have been very happy with form, features and image quality. One thing I miss, though, is the battery meter on the Sony LCD; Canon only gives low battery warning - though I have yet to see it since the life is quite long.

@twoeightnine: Casio Exilim EX-V8, which also happens to have a 7x optical zoom.

Also aside from Sony's T-series, see the Sony Cybershot DSCW90.

Agree w/ KOBE_NO_MEANS_NO.

Why waste your money on the SD850 when you can get the SD800 with a wider lens. The extra megapixel is useless for most people, but the wide lens will come in handy. Or spend a few extra bucks for the SD870 and get the extra megapixel AND wider lens.

Thanks. I'll look into them. For the most part I'm not looking for anything fancy, just slim. I have my 20D on me or in the car most of the time but I want something I can throw in my pocket while out at night. I just haven't found any good resources comparing thickness.

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TWOEIGHTNINE-

If you use the side-by-side compare at the dpreview (digital photo review) website, then you can see the physical dimensions of several cameras at once.

I was going to pick one of these up on the Paypal promo last month, but NewEgg pulled the offer before I could get in on it, and I ended up spending the money on Rock Band instead. I'll probably end up picking up one of these as my annual "Get what you really wanted" after Christmas purchase, since I'm getting sick of having half the pictures from my aging Olympus camera show up out of focus.

This camera and ANY Canon camera will kick the living crap out of any Sony. The Sony w-90 is crap! Its Flesh tones make it look like you are a whino. That is one thing that should never happen bringing up Canon and Sony in the same sentence. Thats like bring up Ford and Porsche

I just bought one of these for my wife for Christmas. We had our first Elph stolen from Disney in Florida, with all of our vacation pictures, (it was the last day of our trip). So be sure and download your pictures daily if you're on vacation!
I also own an S3IS... Call me a fanboy if you like, but Canon has made me a fan by delivering rock solid products.

I've been looking at Canon A-series cameras because they use AA batteries. They're more expensive, but I think the convenience of AAs is a big plus.