Copyright (c) 2009 Richard Walker

A camera can do so much for you yet it gets taken for granted so often. Something that captures your memories should be cherished, unless it's of bad quality. Your memories aren't pixilated, fuzzy, and blurry are they? Well, we're not talking about the bar in this hypothetical statement, but usually they aren't. So why on earth would you settle for a less than adequate camera? the Canon Powershot SD990 IS is more than adequate and it also beats it's predecessors like the Canon Powershot A590IS.

I'll tell you why; price. Everything is so expensive now, sales taxes are being issued on the internet more often, tons of people are getting laid off, it's all going to hell. Why buy a camera then, especially when a nice one like the Canon Powershot A590IS is so cheap? Well, simply put, we need to preserve the good memories to help us out of the bad ones. You can't do that with a $100 dollar, poorly constructed, mini camera. You need an excellent camera and it isn't even that heavily priced.

For $320 the Canon Powershot SD990IS will deliver amazing digital photographs with fifteen megapixels. FIF-TEEN. That is almost twice as much as the Canon Powershot A590IS, which has 8. Not to mention the face detection, an amazing recent new feature in most cameras. The face detector will even find the faces for you when you put it on self timer, amazing, huh? This camera is a steal in it's truest and most legal form. Ok, I can hear the skepticism from across the room; "I don't know what that means! I'm old!". Ok, ok, I'll slow it down for you.

The Canon Powershot SD990IS's highest resolution is at 4416 x 2480, that is the highest resolution this camera can go. Yes, that is very big, larger a normal LCD wide screen computer monitor. More proof? Alright, 4x stabilized digital zoom, meaning, you can take a picture of that pimple on your prepubescent son's nose and it'll be in 15 megapixel definition still. Still not convinced? Easy printing and Red Eye correction. The camera will fix red eye for you, and can print the picture at the click of a button.

The Canon Powershot SD990IS is a revolutionary, affordable and entertaining camera. It pushes the envelope with it's 15 megapixel and face detection. Be a professional photographer with 3 times less the price and make memories today. The Canon Powershot A590IS is good too if you're really on a budget but I wouldn't recommend it. Regardless, if you're going to buy a camera, go Canon.!

Clay

The 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD850 IS combines several classic features of the Digital Elph line with new perks garnered mainly from a new image processor. The Digic III image processor brings with it face detection technology that can recognize up to nine faces at once, as well as technology that reportedly keeps pictures cleaner. The SD850 IS had an initial price of $399, but can now be found online for about $50 less.

Canon PowerShot 850 compact camera - Image stabilizer

Compact cameras are more susceptible to camera shake from handheld shots, especially in low light situations. 70 years of Canon’s optical innovation have enabled the development of lens elements that are perfectly suited to the challenges of compact photography. The PowerShot SD850 IS employs Canon’s lens-shift optical Image Stabilizer technology to compensate for camera shake caused by unwanted hand movement. Enabling shooting at shutter speeds up to 3 stops slower than would normally be possible, the optical Image Stabilizer is particularly useful at full zoom or when using the 2cm Macro mode. The 4x optical zoom lens incorporates an Ultra-High Refractive Index A spherical lens to achieve a focal length range of 35-140mm without affecting the camera’s slim profile.

Canon SD850 IS camera - Face detection

“The PowerShot SD850 IS builds on the success of its award-winning predecessor with new technologies that will appeal to amateurs and advanced photographers alike.” Canon’s advanced DIGIC III image processor powers a range of functions related to Face Detection Technology. Face Detection AF/AE/FE automatically detects up to nine faces within a scene and optimizes focus, exposure and flash exposure accordingly. Red-Eye Correction in playback uses Face Detection Technology to search through captured images and remove any red-eye it detects. Users can also perform red-eye correction manually if needed.

Canon SD 850 IS - Pure Color LCD screen

The high resolution Pure Color LCD screens gives users a number of visual benefits. Colour tones have been enhanced by 30% for vibrant, true-to-life reproduction. The wide viewing angle of the screen is complemented by an anti-reflective coating, which makes it easy to compose and review images even in brightly-lit conditions. A scratch-resistant layer provides extra protection against knocks and scrapes. Settings for shutter speed and aperture are now displayed on the LCD during shooting. When using Auto ISO and High ISO Auto, the LCD will also display the ISO speed. These camera settings are now recorded as EXIF data for review in playback.

PowerShot SD850 camera - Movie mode

The Time Lapse Movie mode enables users to capture changing scenes - such as drifting clouds or a bustling city street - for accelerated playback as smooth VGA-quality movie clips. Captured at one-second or two-second intervals, a scene of two hours’ duration can be condensed to a fluid eight minute or four minute movie file. Users can also record standard VGA movies with sound at 30fps and QVGA movies with sound at 60fps. The PowerShot SD850 IS features a dedicated Print menu for quick access to direct print options. Full PictBridge support means users can print directly to any PictBridge compatible printer without the need for a PC. A Print/Share button allows one-touch printing and easy uploads to Windows or Mac systems.

Features:-

• 8.0 Megapixels

• 4x optical zoom 35-140mm (35mm equivalent) UA lens with optical Image Stabilizer

• Eye-catching design with Touch Control Dial

• DIGIC III with Face Detection AF/AE/FE and

• Noise Reduction Technology

• Red-Eye Correction in playback

• 2.5” high resolution Pure Color LCD

• ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift

• 18 shooting modes including Creative Light Effect plus My Colors photo effects

• 30fps VGA Movies and Time Lapse Movie function

• Shortcut button for instant access to favourite functions

Kenna

I own many digital cameras right now and have owned many others in the past so I have a lot of experiences with various brands and models and can offer you loads of advice based on my own experiences. Let me tell you a little about my current faves in case you're in the market for a digital camera but have no idea where to start looking.

I admit it, I am a Canon girl. I have had several other brands of digital cameras, but I have been happiest with my Canons. I now own a Canon Rebel Digital SLR and several lenses, a Canon Powershot Elph (SD 110), and a Powershot (SD850 IS) Elph, as well as two Panasonics and a Sony.

About a year ago, I bought myself the Powershot (SD850 IS) Elph. It was love at first photo. Not only is this digital camera compact and super easy to use, but the pictures are superb. I also love the ability to take video, which my Canon Rebel doesn't have. The SD850 IS is lightweight, but not flimsy. It also fits in my small purses and pockets of my jeans, which is nice. And the improvements over my older (but still good) Canon Elph 110 are impressive.

One of my favorite features, along with the ability to take black and white or sepia photos, is the Macro, or close-up function. I have taken hundreds of photos of bees on flowers, dew drops, ants, and shells. Several of them have been blown up and framed as art. This has little to do with my skill and much to do with the impressive quality the Elph brings. To see the veins in a leaf or pollen on the feet of a bee is amazing. I am constantly seeing new things that I would never have noticed with my naked eye. You really have to see it to believe it.

Another thing to mention about the Elph is that it is much more durable than I would have expected. I wear mine on a neck-strap, and sometimes it bangs into things when I bend over or lean to get something. Even after a year of my abuse, the thing is as good as new. It has also been dropped once and rained on twice. I use my Elph for shopping (taking pictures of items and prices so I'll remember details later), take pictures of online maps instead of printing them out, taking pictures of products I need to pick up at the store, and even as a flashlight one night walking my dog.

I love coming up with new ways to use it. It is also a valuable tool for insurance purposes. Take pictures of valuables, burn them to a disk, and stick them with important documents for an emergency. If there's a fire, you'll have proof of ownership. Also, if you receive a package that is damaged, grab your Canon Elph and take shots before you open the package. It's also great if you are in a fender bender.

My mother, sister, and uncle have all bought the same model after trying mine, and they love it, too. I have personally taken over 12,000 pictures with mine, and it is still going strong. (Yes, I take pictures everyday, and sometimes will take 600 or more at a party or event.) And you can believe the next time I buy another digital camera that it will be a Canon too.

I strongly recommend anyone in the market for a compact digital camera to give the Elph a shot. It is fabulous, and really isn't too expensive. As I said, you name a brand of camera, I have probably used it. The Canon digital cameras are top quality and the Elph is amazing. And fun! Get your hands on one and see for yourself.

Milo

The SD850 IS was first announced in May 2007 as a replacement for the Powershot SD700 IS. It constitutes only a relatively subtle upgrade.

Visually the SD850 is virtually indistinguishable from the older model, and there are only a handful of modifications to the specification of the camera. Most notably the sensor now records 8MP images instead of 6 and the resolution of the 2.5" screen has been increased to 230,000 pixels. The 'digital heart' beating in the SD850 is now the latest generation of Canon's imaging processor, the DIGIC III. With the new processor there come a couple of new features too: Face Detection and the useful Auto ISO shift option.

Features:-

* 8.0 million Effective pixels

* Widescreen (16:9) stills recording

* Canon's DIGIC III image processor, iSAPS, 9-point AiAF and Face Detection

* ISO 1600 and optical IS for flash-free indoor shooting

* 16 shooting modes

* Wide viewing angle 2.5" LCD screen (230,000 pixels)

* My Colors photo effects

* 4x (35-140mm equiv.) zoom

* 30fps VGA movies with time lapse mode

Design:-

# Front: - The front of the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS is branded on the left side with a textured metal Canon logo and a printed model name. The right side of the camera’s front is a little busier. The optical zoom lens takes up most of this side. The lens sits flat with the rest of the camera body until it is turned on: it then extends in three segments. Each segment has a shiny chrome ring around its edge.

# Left side:-The left side of the SD850 doesn’t have any features. There are dark, medium, and light silver panels and two tiny screws.

# Back: - The left side of the back features a 2.5-inch LCD screen surrounded by a darker silver-colored panel. The panel unifies the LCD screen with another viewing tool, the optical viewfinder, directly above it. To the right of the optical viewfinder are two small LED indicator lamps. Just right of these is a small power button with its own LED.

# Top: - The shutter button is on the top of the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS. It is mildly domed, outfitted in chrome, and surrounded by a zoom ring that hardly moves at all. On the left side of the top is an "Image Stabilizer" label. Beneath the label are five holes that make up the speaker grill.

# Right side:-The right side has a chrome wrist strap eyelet in the center that curves up ever so slightly. A niche beneath it makes stringing the strap a little less of a chore. Near the top is a plastic door held on by a thin rubber strip. It covers the A/V out port on top and the USB port on bottom. Behind it is a tiny space big enough for the tip of a fingernail to pry the door open.

# Bottom: - From the bottom, users can see the slight wedge shape of the SD850. The wedge is interrupted by the fat panel for the LCD screen. Near the right side is a quarter-inch metal tripod socket surrounded by little bumps to keep the camera from scratching on a tripod mounting plate.

Photo quality: - Photo quality was very good on the SD850 IS. The camera took well-exposed photos, with pleasing, accurate colors. Sharpness is right in the middle: not too sharp, not too soft (and this can be adjusted if you desire). Noise is minimal until you hit ISO 400, with the ISO 800 setting being usable for small prints (ISO 1600 on the other hand, is not). Purple fringing was not a problem. The negatives in the image quality department include noticeable corner blurriness and severe redeye, both of which are common in the ultra-compact class. While there's not much you can do about the blurriness (you won't see it in all but the largest prints, though), you can use the tool in playback mode to get rid of the redeye.

Performance: - Camera performance is excellent. The SD850 is ready to shoot in about a second, which is above average. Focusing times were very good, even in low light situations. Shutter lag wasn't an issue, and shot-to-shot delays were minimal. While the burst rate isn't terribly high, the SD850 can keep shooting at 1.3 frames/second until your high speed memory card fills up. Battery life was average in the ultra-compact group and, like all Canon cameras; the SD850 supports the USB 2.0 High Speed standard.

This camera is a great little convenient camera, which is able to be concealed easily, and taken about anywhere because it easily slips into a purse or pocket. It's a great camera for taking indoor portraits with flash, as well as outdoor photos. It is not good at stopping action.

Pictures of kids and pets running around will often be blurry because of the 1/60 sec. shutter speed. If you need to take low-light or action/sports photos, you would be better off purchasing a cheap DSLR. The only reason I don't give this camera 5 stars is because of the noise at higher ISO's.

Zackery

The successor to last year's successful entry-level PowerShot A460, the new 7.1 megapixel A470 model has undergone a striking external makeover, matched dramatically by a number of key internal enhancements. The PowerShot A470 is a stylish and compact model, that is available in four different color accents – blue, red, orange and gray – over a contoured metallic finish body that highlights the camera's new design and reflects the camera user's individuality, personality and taste.

The emphasis on the new Canon PowerShot A470 digital compact is on taking the hassle out of everyday image-making, while providing Canon’s hallmark design and manufacturing excellence. Canon leads the field in image quality because it relies on intelligent solutions, not quick fixes,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “The newly released Canon digital camera incorporates class-leading features to combat common problems like camera shake and subject blur, without sacrificing overall image quality.

With new Motion Detection Technology, Canon provides a comprehensive and intelligent solution to blur. Activated in High ISO Auto mode, Motion Detection Technology takes information from multiple sources - Face Detection Technology, scene brightness and subject movement. The Canon A470 then calculates the minimum boost in ISO levels (between ISO 80-800) necessary to compensate for that motion. The wide range of inputs and precision of the Motion Detection algorithms ensure that Canon’s system avoids trading reduced blur for an unnecessary increase in image noise.

The lens-shift type optical Image Stabilizer lens found in the Digital IXUS 80 IS and PowerShot A590 IS also contributes to low-noise images. It uses a moveable lens element – rather than a boost in ISO – to counteract the effects of camera-shake, with no accompanying increase in noise. This makes cameras with IS and Motion Detection Technology doubly effective against blur: Motion Detection Technology takes IS into account when calculating ISO levels, thus increasing image quality even further.

Face Detection White Balance and Face Select & Track are included in all four models, enhancing portraits and people shots taken in a wide range of situations. Face Detection White Balance sets the white balance for the face detection frame, in addition to the focus, exposure and flash set by previous versions of Face Detection. The result is portraits with natural skin tones, in all environments whether lit by artificial, natural, or mixed light sources. Face Select & Track follows a user-selected face around the frame, ensuring that the best results are achieved at the moment the photographer shoots.

Red-Eye Correction is enhanced for 2008. In addition to Red-Eye Correction in playback, each of the models now features automatic Red-Eye Correction in shooting. Auto Red-Eye Correction detects and removes red-eye as the user shoots, for natural, red-eye free images.

New AF Point Zoom allows the photographer to magnify the AF frame when the shutter button is pressed half way, so that facial expressions can be checked before shooting. AF performance in low light has been significantly improved to achieve focus in scenes at around one stop darker, so that users can now take excellent shots in low-light conditions where they would have been unobtainable before.

Canon PowerShot A470

• 7.1 Megapixels

• 3.4x optical zoom

• 2.5” LCD monitor

• Available in four colours

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