Digital Home Thoughts: Finally...A point And Shoot I Can Live With! The Canon Powershot SD800-IS Reviewed

Included Software
I'm only writing this part in the interest of getting the story out there, but I really can't say with any degree of certainty whether or not the included software is worth a damn. I'm a Mac user and when it comes to photo management, I use iPhoto. For editing, I use Photoshop CS2, and for Panorama building, I use Calico. In the end, I have no need for the software and it hasn't been opened. I will say that taking the USB cable and hooking it up to my Mac resulted in iPhoto popping up a mere two seconds later and offering to import my photos for me. Frankly, that's plug and play in action, and installing the software seemed a waste of time at that point.

Bottom Line
I like this camera a lot. When Jason recommended it, I decided it would be a good fit for me, and so far I haven't been disappointed with any of it. I would like some of the features to be more refined than they are, though.

For one thing, I'd like the video mode to use the 3.8x optical zoom and, somehow, I'd like to be able to record at a resolution higher than 640x480 seeing as the camera is a 7.1 Megapixel camera.

For another, I'd like more manual control. Honestly, I know situations where I'll need it and for those, I take my Rebel XT with me, however I always have my SD800 with me, so if I find myself in one of "those" situations, I'd still like to be able to compensate as needed.

I'm not thrilled with the charger; I'd much rather the battery charge in the camera, but I guess the benefit is that I can charge one and use another at the same time.

While I'm on the subject of battery life, though, I'd be seriously missing an important point if I didn't mention the ridiculously good battery life. At times, I've gone a week (roughly 150-200 shots with daily use) without needing a recharge (not that I'd know I needed one since the battery gives no indication of its charge level, but the camera still worked) and that's with framing every single picture through the LCD as well as reviewing them on the screen. That's impressive no matter how you slice it.

All in all, I'd recommend this camera to anyone looking for a step above the generic point and shoots that are out there. It is a bit on the pricey side, but I do honestly believe you get what you pay for. If Canon can convince me to use a point and shoot, they can definitely convince others. Buy this one without hesitation. Even though there are some annoyances, the good parts far outweigh the bad.

(You can see more of my SD800 shots including full-sized versions of the ones used here on my Flickr stream.)

Vincent M. Ferrari is a blogger, photographer wannabe, digital media junkie, and Apple fanboy from the Bronx, New York. His most famous accomplishment is canceling his AOL account which got him an inordinate amount of fame, something he still brags about to all his friends. When he's not taking down multi-billion dollar corporations, he's writing on his own blog, taking photos, and working on the show notes for the Twit.tv Network's iLifeZone podcast.