Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Deep Red)

PROS: Easy to use, Simple controls/menu, Nice features/settings, Bright LCD, Excellent image quality, Lightweight/Portable, compact volumeCONS: Poor Low-Light Performance, some noise in low light, tiny viewfinder, mini-HDMI to HDMI cable not included, SD/SDHC storage card not includedAmazon has the best price at under 250 bucks. Most sites are charging full retail since this camera is so popular.High Definition video is very good at 720p. This will not replace a full size camera or the 5D Mark II for video quality. But, it is a lot better than most including the original Flip video camera.An HDMI cable IS NOT INCLUDED with the camera. You will need it to watch HD video directly from the camera on an HDTV. I bought a 3 ft miniHDMI-to-HDMI cable online from Monoprice for 8 bucks including USPS first class shipping. They have quality cables for the lowest price on the Monoprice site.UPDATE: I am very happy with the mini-HDMI to HDMI cables. They were so inexpensive that I bought 2 of these at 3ft long: one for the iMac, the other is for my travel bag. I bought a 6ft mini-HDMI to HDMI cable for the HDTV in the first floor family room. I should have gotten a longer cable since you have to control the video start/stop/next buttons on the camera. You have to get up often to start the next movie clip. I also bought a small 1x3/4inch miniHDMI to HDMI adapter to carry everywhere I take the camera which is everywhere!UPDATE: The small cover that protects the miniHDMI and USB ports feels a little flimsy. The hinge stretches. I have to force it slightly beyond my comfort to insert cables. I can see this covering breaking off with a lot of use.An SD storage card IS NOT INCLUDED. They are available at low cost, under 15 bucks, on the net. Check the Dealnews site for the latest sales. I used a 4GB SD high capacity (SDHC) card which will hold about 30mins of video.Some complain 2.5inch is too small for the LCD. There is no place to put a larger 3inch LCD on this camera without making it a touch screen like the iPhone or increasing the camera size. Plus, 2.5 inch is common on a lot of cameras. I have no problems with it.TINY VIEW FINDER: It was hard peering through the small hole. I mainly use the LCD screen about 95% of the time. So, NOT A PROBLEM.Got this camera to try out the 720p HD, face/blink detection and other features. They all worked great.I was surprised by the small size since I only saw this camera online and never tried it out at a store. It is slightly smaller than my average size business card and about as thin as a new deck of playing cards. I'm female, but, I never bought an ELPH-size Canon camera because they seemed too small. I was concerned I would not be able to comfortably operate the buttons or it would slip out of my hands. I don't have that fear with the SD780. The brushed metal finish provides some friction. The buttons are placed well. Also, the wrist strap is always available as protection against dropping the camera.SMART AUTO feature is great! I use it often to take closeup (macro) shots or when I don't have time to adjust the settings. I hold the camera about 4 inches from an object and the camera self adjusts the settings. It amazing to watch it work. I partially press the shutter button to see where the camera is focused and move it to focus on my area of interest. The camera selects of the pre-programmed 18 modes to find the one that creates the best image.As many stated, the images are superb thanks to the 12.1 mega pixel resolution, Digic 4, and the image stabilizer (IS) function. You should not live without IS unless you are into the artsy blurry pictures. It takes great pictures of kids who don't sit still. Great if you don't have steady hands. Images are crisp, clear and can be easily seen in the beautiful 2.5inch LCD.I noticed the noise in some of the photos. Did not have too much problems with it.The 3X optical is fine. Best for the photographer to move in or out to zoom/out on the subject matter and not worry about the camera lens zoom when just taking photos. Zooming during filming would be better. Hopefully, Canon adds this feature to future powershot ELPH models.Overall, a great camera that is thin enough to hide in a small purse or pocket yet still deliver superb photos for it's size!(I have owned 7 Canon cameras including 5 digital cameras. I have used this camera for about 1 week.)

It's easy to get lost in feature lists and technical comparisons. I've done that with lots of devices, and certainly I could do so here. But my new-camera needs were fairly simple, and the bottom line is that this little gizmo fulfilled them all.My husband used to be a professional photographer, and he is still most comfortable with a camera that gives him a lot of control; he wants and needs an SLR, and he cheerfully will adjust F-stops to get a photo to look just-so. Cool; he can have a high-end camera. But I'm a typical snapshot photographer who merely wants to record her vacation photos. I don't pretend to be a good photographer; I just want to create pictures that aren't embarrassing.I want something simple enough to use without memorizing a manual, too. I like that I _can_ do more with the camera than the basics... but I especially like that I don't have to remember how to twist a lot of knobs.My needs were short and sweet: I wanted a camera small enough to carry with me that could make up for my weaknesses. (My 5-year-old Canon was too big to fit comfortably into my laptop bag, so I had to be really motivated to bring it along on a trip.) The PowerShot clearly fit the bill on the first requirement; it does literally fit into a breast pocket, so I actually have the camera with me. It's fast to turn on, too, so I can be fairly spontaneous.It's solid, so a klutz like me can drop it without worrying too much (not that I admit that I've done this already...). And - okay, this sounds dumb, but it matters - it's RED. So I can find it lurking at the bottom of my purse, otherwise known as The Black Hole From Which Nothing Emerges.Primary among my weaknesses (the photo-taking ones, let's not get too personal...) is a bad case of hand-shake. All too often, my pictures were out of focus, because I tend to move as I whack on the button. The PowerShot's image stabilization delivered admirably. I took 88 pictures on a recent trip, and the only pictures that are out-of-focus are because someone was actively waving his arms while he was talking.One extra that I appreciated -- and I would never had shopped for -- is the camera's ability to identify faces and focus on those rather than, say, the potted plant next to my subject. I can tell that the camera is doing a better job for me; certainly my first batch of photos has a higher success rate than anything I've done previously. That feature certainly has changed the way that I look through the viewfinder.I haven't used the camera for video; I have a Flip Video for that use, which is even more dead-simple than this. (Perhaps this makes me sound like a Luddite. In reality, I'm a software geek. But I don't care to be a geek about EVERYthing. I like convenience, too.)Weaknesses? Well, I do agree that the on/off button could be a problem for people with big fingers (though it's fine for me). And the place where I plug in the USB cable to connect to my iMac seems like it might be fragile. It probably is just fine; it just *looks* like I could break off that connector during a brain-dead moment.But man, I love this little camera. It's simple enough for me to use, but not so stupid that it gets in my way. That's just what I wanted -- and it might be exactly what you wanted, too.

Hi All,I love taking pictures, and I'm pretty good at it.Before I bought this camera, I had the previous version -very wonderful. I loved everything about it. It made great photos. Then in December I decided it was time to try the new generation, which to me sounded like it would be even better than the one I had. I was so excited!Well... I've really tried to love my new camera. Really. But nope, the love connection is just not gonna happen.The quality of the pictures is not good at all.The quality of the video is ok, but there is a lot of noise.What I hate the most about it, is that I have no control in the automatic mode. I know, it's automatic, d'uh, but sometimes I don't want to mess around with the white balance and such, so I enjoy just taking my camera out and taking an "easy" picture in automatic mode. This won't happen with this one. I love taking macro pics, and it just won't work well in the automatic mode with this camera. I missed so so so many good shots just because the camera couldn't figure out that I wanted to take a macro picture. It's so frustrating when that happens!The manual mode sucks too. Even after setting the colors, it looks crappy.Anyway, I feel like I'm talking too much now and I should probably get to the point...My point is: if you like the previous version, keep it!Or, if you don't care about taking nice pictures and just want to take "so so" pictures, buy it!.But for people who enjoy nice and good quality shots, this is not the camera for you.Now I'm trying to sell it so I can get another camera...! It even makes me feel bad that someone is going to buy it!Hope this helps!