Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (Black)
Manufacturer: Canon USA Part number: 2086B001
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- While the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS doesn't have an optical viewfinder or manual exposure controls, it captures beautiful images with its wide, 3.8x optical zoom lens and ranks among the top compact cameras we've seen.
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CNET editors' review
Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (Black)
price range: $229.95
- Reviewed by: Philip Ryan
- Reviewed on: 08/29/2007
The good: Impressive performance and image quality; optical image stabilization; face detection.
The bad: No manual exposure controls; no optical viewfinder.
The bottom line: While the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS doesn't have an optical viewfinder or manual exposure controls, it captures beautiful images with its wide, 3.8x optical zoom lens and ranks among the top compact cameras we've seen.
Each fall a barrage of new cameras hits the market, anticipating the year-end holidays. This year's batch of Canons includes the PowerShot SD870 IS. From its model number, you might think that it's a follow-up to the SD850 IS, but with its wider-than-normal, 28mm-to-105mm, f/2.8-to-f/5.8, 3.8x optical zoom lens, it's really more of a successor to the SD800 IS. Aside from a step up to an 8.3-megapixel CCD sensor, a larger 3-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD, and Canon's new Digic III processor, there's not much different in the SD870 IS other than some nice cosmetic enhancements. Along with the new processor comes Canon's Advanced Face Detection, which can pick out up to nine faces in a frame and use the faces to set autofocus and exposure.
Possibly the saddest change with this new model is that Canon omitted an optical viewfinder from the SD870 IS. This was probably done to make room for the larger screen, but it's an unfortunate compromise. On the upside, Canon spruced up the look of the camera's back, making it almost identical to the back of the SD750. This includes the newer version of Canon's multicontroller pad. It's more responsive than the pad on the SD800 IS, and a raised ring around the edge gives it a better feel. Plus, when you rest your thumb in any particular direction on the pad, a graphic appears on the LCD to show you what you'd do if you press fully. This helps you to keep your eyes on the screen when you have to change a setting while shooting.
Probably the only real ergonomic flaw on the SD870 IS is that there's no convenient place to rest your thumb. So, while all the shooting controls can be accessed through buttons on the right side of the camera, one-handed shooting can be annoying as you're forced to put your thumb on top of the right edge of the LCD screen--thereby blocking some of what you're trying to frame in the picture. Though the camera's optical image stabilization (hence the IS in the name) should help keep things steady, you may welcome the use of a second hand, since the SD870 IS weighs in at a somewhat hefty 6.4 ounces, with the battery and an SD card installed.
As usual with Canon's Digital Elph cameras, you won't find any manual exposure controls. Instead you have to rely on the camera's exposure compensation if you want to tweak the camera's automatic exposure, or resort to one of the camera's 10 scene modes to handle out-of-the-ordinary shooting scenarios. Flash exposure compensation lets you control the output of the flash, so the flash doesn't overpower your subjects if you're too close--a nice touch that's not found in all compact cameras.
We were very impressed by the SD870 IS's performance in our lab tests. It took the camera 0.9 second to start up and capture its first JPEG. Thereafter, the camera took 1.6 seconds between subsequent JPEGs with the flash turned off, and 2.4 seconds between JPEGs with the flash turned on. Shutter lag measured a stunning 0.4 second in our high-contrast test and 0.7 second in our low-contrast test, which respectively mimic bright and dim shooting conditions. In our continuous shooting test, the SD870 IS captured 1.3 frames per second regardless of image size or compression.
The PowerShot SD870 IS yields very high-quality images with accurate colors and tons of detail, and which are very clean at lower ISOs. The automatic white balance does a very good job of neutralizing colors in different kinds of lighting, but with incandescent lighting, its images have a very slight warm cast. Some people prefer this, since it gives a natural look, as incandescent lighting does give off a warm glow. However, if you prefer a more neutral look in these situations, the tungsten preset does a great job of serving up neutral images.
Canon keeps ISO noise well under control through ISO 200. You probably won't notice much in the way of noise even when viewing ISO 200 images on your monitor, which tends to be more revealing of such noise than prints. At ISO 400, noise becomes readily apparent on monitors, but Canon's noise reduction algorithms manage to smooth it out so it doesn't take on that fine, snowy look that some cameras--including some older Canons--tend toward. Plus, most of this noise should become minimized when making inkjet prints. At ISO 800, noise is much more apparent and should show up in prints, but Canon does a good job of preserving some fine detail, and images show impressive shadow detail for such high sensitivity in a compact camera. Images at ISO 1,600 are very noisy with the SD870 IS, showing large, grainy noise. Most fine detail is lost, giving images a soft look, and a large portion of shadow detail goes by the wayside. Still, given that this camera has a small sensor, the results are somewhat impressive. The images may be usable for small prints, or for use at small sizes on the Web.
Canon's PowerShot SD870 IS is a worthy addition to the company's Digital Elph line. Experienced photographers looking for a pocket camera will lament the fact that the camera doesn't have any manual exposure controls, but if you don't feel the need to tinker with your camera's settings and aren't caught up in the pointless megapixel race, you'll likely be very pleased with this point-and-shoot.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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User reviews
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Good little camera, lots to offer. some flaws.
by fet123456 on September 7, 2007
Pros: Small camera, big 3" Screen, good pictures, good movie mode
Cons: Could use more zoom, and optical zoom during movie mode
Summary: I been looking for a camera for a month now, I bought the Sony T100, Panasonic TZ3 and Canon TX1 and returned them all, you can read why on their ...
Summary: I been looking for a camera for a month now, I bought the Sony T100, Panasonic TZ3 and Canon TX1 and returned them all, you can read why on their own reviews in Cnet.com.
I recently bought this camera and I guess I had to make some sacrifices, but got some good stuff in return. This camera is nice and small and to be honest the 3" screen is amazing. I guess I had to realize what I needed more, and when from there. I mostly use my cameras during snowboarding trips. So I need something small, and with a wide lens to get nice scenery pictures, plus it helps for the self portraits.
The camera is faster than the tx1, and it produces better result as far as picture quality goes, much less noise and sharper pictures. the video is pretty good except you can only use the digital zoom, and not the optical. this is due to amount of noise the optical zoom makes and the microphone would pick it up. The noise in the pictures is keep well under range, much much better than the tx1 and the t100, but not as good as the TZ3, but then again people complain that panazonic is pushing the limit with the noise reduction, and creating to many artifacts.
Low light performance is pretty good, the flash is somewhat powerful, better than the TX1. Colors are kept nice and strong during lower light situations and amount of detail is well kept as well.
The battery is nice and strong, it should be more than enough for 2 days or so, close to 300 pictures. The camera is light 153gr, somewhat small.
The BEST option this camera offer is the 28mm lens, it is simply the best. You can get better shots and get a lot more detail than a 35mm, I believe about 33% more detail in each picture.
Yes I lost the HD video but I more about pictures than video, although it would been nice to have the HD video as swell.
People complain about the view finder, to be honest this is why I bought this one instead of the SD800 IS, if you want a viewfinder get that one, it's the same camera. I personally love the 3" screen. Yes they could of left some of the plastics out of the camera, but it's not that bad, I bought the silver one in my opinion it looks better that the black one.
I guess between the 4 cameras I bought the only two I would consider are this one and the Panasonic TZ3, the only thing holding me on the TZ3 is the size of the camera and the lack of color accuracy in the pictures and the fact that you cannot even use the digital zoom in the video(but the again you get a 28mm-290mm lens, instead of 28mm-105mm lens).
here are some pictures for you to look at
http://www.flickr.com/gp/10297837@N05/096Rpe
I will try to upload the video later on.34 out of 36 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It DOES have exposure controls
by sergloewe on September 6, 2007
Pros: Size, image quality
Cons: More plastic used?
Summary: Why do you guys keep saying sd cameras don't have exposure controls? WIth this camera (as with any other canon elph or sd) if you shoot in manual mode ...
Summary: Why do you guys keep saying sd cameras don't have exposure controls? WIth this camera (as with any other canon elph or sd) if you shoot in manual mode you can compensate exposure, with the -/+ slider under the ironically named "Exposure Compensation" menu item .... Figures....
What you can not do is adjust shutter speed or aperture ...
Image quality is great for snaps, i.s. works great, etc... unfortunately, display quality control leaves a lot to be desired as it is my third with dead pixels. Also, not a fan of the excessive amount of plastic used around the frame.15 out of 16 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Glad I swapped the Sony DSC-t100 for this
by bramz on October 6, 2007
Pros: Killer screen, great low-light performance, wide angle
Cons: A bit thick, confusing navigation
Summary: This camera replaces my Canon SD20 (I've owned two of those). Cnet gave the Sony DSC-100 a slightly higher rating, so I bought one of those for $100 less. ...
Summary: This camera replaces my Canon SD20 (I've owned two of those). Cnet gave the Sony DSC-100 a slightly higher rating, so I bought one of those for $100 less. Without going into details redundant to other reviews, in my opinion this camera simply outperforms the Sony in what I consider an ultra-compact's most important role -- low-light, no-flash indoor shots. Much less grainy noise, and easier to set the ISO. I still get lost trying to navigate through the features, but in the end I end up with pretty good shots. As others have said, it is pretty plastic-y, but it's what's on the inside that counts.
9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Picture quality not as good as reviewed
by darrinjoiner on July 8, 2008
Pros: It was shiney, and has a great display.
Cons: Quality of picture not what I expected. Lots of grain when you close in. Indoor pictures were terrible. Zoom button is wrapped around the shutter button and feels horrible on your finger (I still prefer thumb zoom and finger shutter).
Summary: I bought several cameras (Canon SD870, 890 and SX100) trying to replace my old canon 2.1 MP camera and returned them all. I visit every camera review site gathering ...
Summary: I bought several cameras (Canon SD870, 890 and SX100) trying to replace my old canon 2.1 MP camera and returned them all. I visit every camera review site gathering info before I buy. Each time, the photos don't match up with the camera reviewers. I have yet to find one that rivals the quality of my old canon with increased detail. Seems detail (megapixels) = more grain. I find that the new canon powershots using the DIGIC 3 processor all suffer from the same problems. Flash photos are all over exposed, macro photos lack consistant detail, any low light photos are grainy. I am still waiting for a powerful compact camera that has a decent zoom (6x) and takes fantastic pictures regardless of the lighting conditions. Hey CANON, stop focusing on facial recognition and other gimicks, and really make a camera that takes great pictures.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Everyone I know assumes I have a dSLR when I take pictures with this camera
by maclover348 on September 15, 2007
Pros: big screen, wide angle, image stabilization, great pictures, easy to use
Cons: a bit heavier than similarly sized cameras
Summary: I used to always use a sony camera, but now I switched to canon and I'm never going back. the build quality is excellent, the features are great and ...
Summary: I used to always use a sony camera, but now I switched to canon and I'm never going back. the build quality is excellent, the features are great and easy yo usa, and the pictures are absolutely amazing.
10 out of 25 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Very happy with this camera.
by barrywrx on October 15, 2007
Pros: image quality,speed
Cons: price,I guess
Summary: I have been reviewing cameras for about 2 months,bought tz3(without reviewing it,high zoom, compact caught my eye) took it back researched cameras online,in store etc, I ...
Summary: I have been reviewing cameras for about 2 months,bought tz3(without reviewing it,high zoom, compact caught my eye) took it back researched cameras online,in store etc, I have used this one for about 3 weeks.I took over 220 pics and about 10 videos at a local autocross this weekend,battery still reading full,great pics.I am very happy with this camera no complaints.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The Emporer is really naked! Camera falls quite far from earning the hype
by Vampi74 on October 7, 2007
Pros: Large LCD, Easy to use controls
Cons: Picture quality is deeply unimpressive, Lacks crispness & vividness. LCD terribly grainy
Summary: I'm going to start by explaining why I purchased this camera in the first place. I've never written a review before but I felt I ought to do ...
Summary: I'm going to start by explaining why I purchased this camera in the first place. I've never written a review before but I felt I ought to do this so that people like me might be spared the predicament I am now in. I am quite far from an expert, but I do typically tend to take nice pictures & I take a lot of them. I like pictures that really have a lot of "kick" to them. Crisp, bright, vivid and really pleasing to the eye. (unless specifically going for softer focuses) My favorite & most frequent things to photograph are animals, people & quite often various Theme Parks here in Florida.
I had been deeply reluctant to switch from a film camera to a digital for a long time. Finally, two years ago I decided it was time & after much research here & other places, I decided on the Canon A620. I absolutely loved the camera. It was everything I could want & I didn't feel the slightest bit fearful anymore of trusting my precious memories to a digital camera. The pictures were crisp, so sharp & the colors were gorgeous & bright. I remember that I was impressed that almost any time I tried applying any settings like "instant fix" in various applications just to see what would happen, there was often no real change because they were great to begin with. After about a year & a half picture quality did seem to degrade. I was finding the need to apply sharpening fixes in software to make the pictures a little better & many of them still weren't too spectacular even then. It was possible the camera was "dirty" or something along those lines that a simple external lens wiping could not fix. After a good while of complaining about it, I did the dumb thing of trying to open it to see if I could clean the inside of the lens. Yes... clearly not a bright move. Although I was never able to fully open it because of a single screw that wouldn't budge, it did break. Not completely, but it was no longer really usable for my main camera. So, this led me to have to find another camera. That brought me here & again other sites looking for a good model to replace my A620 with. I was deciding between a few & ended up choosing the Canon SD870 IS. It did after all receive such rave reviews for picture quality (which is in my opinion above all else) not only here but other places, both by editors & people alike. I am now profoundly disappointed & I will admit very stressed out over the complete lack of quality & quite confused about where all the hype is coming from. Hence the reason I referenced The Emporer's New Clothes in my summary. I can't imagine why this camera would be so outperformed by a camera 2 years older by the same manufacturer. I have messed with the settings to try and make it better & as usual I have everything set for the best quality, but my older camera on just the most basic auto modes took beautiful pictures that really stood out. This one absolutely does not. Home printing on photo paper pictures taken with both cameras the differences & the unimpressive quality of the SD870 are also all too apparent, just as they were on the screen. I've also viewed pictures on two different computers using two very different moniters & resolutions to be sure. The pictures don't look all that sharp when you zoom in on the LCD itself in play mode & with an 8MP camera you should certainly be able to zoom in as little as I was while still maintaining full photo quality, IF it was there to begin with that is. This is a fairly pricey camera, for a point & shoot, possibly even if it came even close to living up to the hype it's been receiving, but given the reality of it it makes the price that much more upsetting.
Also, the LCD screen as others have reported is terribly, rather hideously grainy in picture taking modes. It is fine for playback, however. This isn't nearly as important to me as image quality, but it certainly is worth mentioning. So now, I am stuck with this camera, very unsure of what to do. Stores have rather ugly restocking policies which I would resent paying even if I could afford it for the reason that the camera not being even close to par is not my fault whatsoever. Other big problem is... if this is the "best" (SLRs aside) where does one go from there. The other camera I contemplated was the brand new SX100. Canon seems to think the quality shouldn't be any better on that one & it's so new there isn't much known about it, but one thing's for sure. I have some big decisions to make, a likely good fight on my hands at the store & at the end of the day, no camera I feel I can trust my memories to anymore.
This camera also isn't particularly fast either, as it boats. I think my A620 may have beaten it there as well. Granted, I am using only a regular SD card at this point & not a II. Still... it could be faster. Continuous shoot mode is so sluggish that it seems to me you'd be far better off just pressing the button at will, the normal way. I was counting at least a full 6 seconds in between shots. That isn't exactly what I'd like to refer to as continuous.
So, my bottom line is that I've been realizing in the past 2 days I've had the camera that I think I so badly WANT this camera to be wonderful, but it is simply anything but. It's not absolutely terrible. I've seen worse. Generally with friends that bought very cheap older cameras just for posting small, non sentimental photos in blogs, etc. I'm much more of a photo junkie than some of them. I'll even often keep bad photos filed because they are still memories & worth something, even if not the most glamorous ones.
This Canon SD870 camera feels just average to me. It may even be that at this moment for a point & shoot it's above average, just based on the status quo, but if that's the case, it's a rather depressing statement about the direction in which technology has gone. After all on this very site, editors have many times rated cameras in the 7-8 range (pretty much their best for P&S's) while they themselves state the image quality is mediocre, just ok or just "goood." It's a camera! Gagdets & extra buttons are nice & handy & I appreciate them on a camera that's already terrific, but if the pictures aren't great, I don't see where the rest matters.9 out of 21 users found this user opinion helpful.
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great camera but one flaw
by jcmann00 on November 27, 2008
Pros: great pictures, great quality for a compact camera
Cons: lens error
Summary: I bought this camera a year ago and I have loved it this whole time. It's taken great picutres in low light and shaking places. It was very reliabe ...
Summary: I bought this camera a year ago and I have loved it this whole time. It's taken great picutres in low light and shaking places. It was very reliabe during a few trips in Europe.
I loved this camera until I receiced a 'lens error' message. Apparently there are many cases of this happening to canon cameras. I googled it to see how to fix it and I may beable to if I take it apart myself (there's a guide online). I was told Canon will not fix this problem. If I can fix it then this camera is not so bad but it I can't it is now a $280 paper weight. -
very happy with the camera
by lazyboy5259 on September 14, 2008
Pros: great picture quality very fast long battery life
Cons: a tad larger then some small cameras and plasticy
Summary: I use to buy only nikon until i bought the sd800. then that was stolen so when looking for a replacement i settled on this one and i have not ...
Summary: I use to buy only nikon until i bought the sd800. then that was stolen so when looking for a replacement i settled on this one and i have not looked back. i bought my used and it did have the lens error problem which made me send it into canon to be fixed. however they were very nice on the phone and fixed it for free. i love the wide angle lens and that is why i bought it it is worth the extra money. once you have a wider angle lens youll never go back. also the battery lasts forever ive taken close to 300 pictures and it has dropped only a quarter of a bar. the start up speed is also very quick for the moments you really needa picture right then. again the goods far out way the bads by a large margin.
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Perfect camera except barrel distortion problem
by Heatherton on October 5, 2007
Pros: Stylish design , 3" screen, and bright picture
Cons: Barrel distortion
Summary: I discovered a problem with this camera after 2 days of owning it. For the first 2 days, I thought I bought a prefect camera. I really enjoy the stylish ...
Summary: I discovered a problem with this camera after 2 days of owning it. For the first 2 days, I thought I bought a prefect camera. I really enjoy the stylish look of this camera. It is small and easy to use. It has a big 3" screen and color quality is excellent. It always give me a bright picture. Until I discovered that all the pictures with buildings and interior walls, windows and doors got distorted. All the straight vertical walls had slight arch to it. A rectangular window will become a barrel shape window. This might because the camera has a wide angle lense. When I zoomed in the image, the vertical condition will improve. But it is still bothersome to me that the outcome of the image is not represent the real thing.
The other problem that I have this camera and my old Canon s400 is when the pictures are taken with flashlight, sometime I can spot 1 or 2 small bubbles of light in the picture. However, I major concern is the barrel distortion.1 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Canon USA
- Part number: 2086B001
- Description: From the very first glance, the smooth shape and bold lines of the stylish PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH signal that this is no ordinary camera. With 8.0 megapixels of resolution, an Optical Image Stabilizer and 3.8x optical zooming, the SD870 IS Digital ELPH boasts impressive specs as well as a host of convenient features. Face Detection Technology for worry-free people shots. A large 3.0-inch LCD to give you a perfect view of your scene. The Auto ISO Shift and ISO 1600 deliver brilliant images in challenging lighting.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Color Black
- Weight 5.5 oz
- Width 3.7 in
- Depth 1 in
- Height 2.3 in
Main Features
- Resolution 8 megapixels
- Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
- Sensor resolution 8 megapixels
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Effective Sensor Resolution 8,000,000 pixels
- Total Pixels 8,300,000 pixels
- Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in
- Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 800, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 80, ISO 1600, ISO 100
- Digital Zoom 4 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Aquarium, Beach, Portrait mode, Night snapshot, Foliage, Kids & pets, Underwater, Snow, Stitch assist, Fireworks, Indoor
- Special effects Color Accent, Color Swap
- Max Shutter Speed 1/1600 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 15 sec
- Exposure Metering Center-weighted, Evaluative, Spot
- Exposure Modes Automatic, Program
- Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- White Balance Custom, Automatic, Presets
- White Balance Presets Tungsten light, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Daylight
- Digital video format AVI
- Still Image Format JPEG, RAW
- Continuous Shooting Speed 1.3 frames per second
- Color support Color
- Image Stabilizer Optical
- Face Detection Yes
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 160 x 120
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory 32 MB Flash - SD Memory Card
- Floppy Drive None
- Image Storage JPEG 3264 x 1832, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 3264 x 2448, JPEG 2592 x 1944, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 2048 x 1536
- Flash memory 32 MB - SD Memory Card
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 4.6 mm - 17.3 mm - F/2.8-5.8
- Focal Length 4.6 mm - 17.3 mm
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 10 sec, 2 sec
- Additional Features USB 2.0 compatibility, DPOF support, Face detection, Audio recording, PictBridge support, AE lock, Digital noise reduction, FE lock, Resizing an image, Digital image rotation, Camera orientation detection, In-camera red-eye fix, In-camera movie editing, Histogram display
Camera Flash
- Effective Flash Range 1 ft - 13 ft
- Type Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Flash OFF mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Auto mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective flash range 1 ft - 13 ft
- Features Flash +/- compensation
Display
- Type LCD display - Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) - 3 in - Color
- Mounting Built-in
- Resolution 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Mode Mono
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB ( Mini-USB Type B ), 1 x Composite video/audio output
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
- Connector type Mini-USB Type B
Lens Systems
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Type Zoom lens
- Focal length 4.6 mm - 17.3 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 28 - 105 mm
- Focus adjustment Automatic
- Min Focus Range 17.7 in
- Macro Focus Range 3-60cm
- Lens Aperture F/2.8-5.8
- Optical Zoom 3.8 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Features UA lens