Canon PowerShot SD780 IS Digital Camera Review

The Canon PowerShot SD780 IS is a sliver of a camera that's light on manual controls, but small enough to be taken just about anywhere. It's a camera that anyone can pick up and use, and comes in a variety of bright colors. It has a 3x zoom lens, shoots 12-megapixel images, and carries a sticker price of $280.

The SD780 is less than 3/4 of an inch thick, and is slim enough to fit into even the tightest of pockets. Interestingly, Canon added an optical viewfinder to the camera. It's so tiny as to be almost useless, but at the same time, it's better than nothing.

One issue we had with the small body size is that all the buttons are minute, and sit flush with the body of the camera. This makes it very hard to accurately press them, unless you have absolutely tiny fingers, and we found using the four-way pad occasionally frustrating, due to pressing the wrong button.

Cameras that are low on manual control can sometimes go too far, and remove important settings. We were pleased that the SD780 keeps the option to manually white balance, and in addition to a large number of scene modes included one that allows you to manually set the shutter speed from 1-15 seconds.

Performance (read in-depth performance coverage at DigitalCameraInfo.com)

Overall, the SD780 performed well in our lab testing.  Its noise levels were around average, and it had a very high score in our resolution section in addition to excellent image sharpness. It also beat much of the competition in terms of video performance, with very accurate color, and decent sharpness. However, where the camera faltered was with color accuracy in still photos. This is usually a strong point of Canon cameras, and we were surprised to see the SD780 have issues with it.

Comparisons (read in-depth comparisons at DigitalCameraInfo.com)

We compared the Canon PowerShot SD780 IS to the more expensive Canon PowerShot SD970 IS, the 7x zoom-equipped Nikon Coolpix S630 and the similarly tiny Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900.

The more expensive Canon was noticeably larger than the SD780, but offer a 5x zoom lens, and a much easier control system. Comparing tested performance, the SD970 was better in color, image stabilization, shot to shot speed and video sharpness. The SD780 on the other hand, had lower image noise, better sharpness and video color (though this last one not by much).

The Nikon Coolpix S630 comes in at the same price as the SD780, and likewise lacking in manual controls. For its bigger size, it also has a 7x zoom which puts the SD780's 3x to shame. The Nikon had more accurate color and lower image noise, though the pictures weren't quite as sharp. The one area it really struggled in was video performance, where its lack of controls and standard definition resolution really hurt it.

Sony's slim point-and-shoot, the T900, is marked by its touch-based interface on the 920,000-dot LCD. However, the touch screen is on the inaccurate side, and can be frustrating to use. The T900 did perform very well in our lab testing, with very accurate color, an excellent image stabilization system, and high speed rapid photography. On the other hand, it over-sharpened images substantially and had issues with image noise.

For a more in-depth review, visit the Canon PowerShot SD780 IS Review at our partner DigitalCameraInfo.com