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Canon PowerShot SD970 IS Digital ELPH Digital Camera

(4 out of 5)

An ultra-compact camera with a little extra zoom power, a high res 3-inch LCD, and and HD movie mode.

Review by Jeff Keller | Aug 24, 2009 | + Share

The Canon PowerShot SD970 IS Digital ELPH is a very good camera for those seeking a compact camera with a large, ultra-sharp LCD, extra zoom power, and lots of point-and-shoot features. It offers lots of bells and whistles, solid build quality, a beautiful LCD, a 5X stabilized zoom lens, and an HD movie mode. The SD970 shares many of the issues of its competitors (highlight clipping, corner blurring, no optical viewfinder) and has a few of its own, specifically its lack of any wide-angle component. Despite having a few things that could use some improvement, the PowerShot SD970 (also known as the IXUS 990 IS) is a good choice for those who want a full-featured compact camera and don't mind having a lens that starts at 37 mm.

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Pros	Cons
Very good photo quality Compact, well-built metal body Optical image stabilization Ultra-sharp 3-inch LCD with good outdoor and low light visibility Lots of point-and-shoot features, including Smart Auto mode, face/blink detection, face self-timer, and more Effective redeye reduction feature i-Contrast feature brightens shadows effectively, in record and playback mode Can record HD movies at 1280 x 720 at 30 fps using H.264 codec HDMI output Good software bundle	Tends to clip highlights -- strong purple fringing at times Lens starts at 37 mm Corner blurriness can be an issue at wide-angle Slow-charging flash More manual controls would be nice Clunky Function menu No optical viewfinder Cannot access memory card while using a tripod No memory card or built-in memory included

Pros

Cons

Very good photo quality
Compact, well-built metal body
Optical image stabilization
Ultra-sharp 3-inch LCD with good outdoor and low light visibility
Lots of point-and-shoot features, including Smart Auto mode, face/blink detection, face self-timer, and more
Effective redeye reduction feature
i-Contrast feature brightens shadows effectively, in record and playback mode
Can record HD movies at 1280 x 720 at 30 fps using H.264 codec
HDMI output
Good software bundle

Tends to clip highlights -- strong purple fringing at times
Lens starts at 37 mm
Corner blurriness can be an issue at wide-angle
Slow-charging flash
More manual controls would be nice
Clunky Function menu
No optical viewfinder
Cannot access memory card while using a tripod
No memory card or built-in memory included