BryanS
Veteran Member
Well, I gave the SD800 a big chance, but just couldn't get over some issues... they just bothered me constantly. I tried very hard to tolerate the shortcomings of this camera, but in the end, I just couldn't.
Here were the issues I had with the camera (in order of priority):
1. Most bothersome was the intense CA (blue fringing) in any high contrast area of a photo. I just can't stand fringing, and since it is mostly blue, removing or reducing it in a blue sky is nearly impossible. At first, I thought it was only slightly worse than the SD700, but after studying photos from both cameras, I'd say it's a pretty dramatic difference.
2. Photo softness. I just couldn't get a sharp picture of my children. Most photos lacked crispness. Again, the SD700 was better, but even that camera was not a superstar. At first I thought it was just me, but after days of trying to get a sharp image of living things, I gave up. It seems to want to focus on the background very often.
3. Face recognition. It's a good concept, and it appears on the LCD like it's working, as the little brackets follow faces around. The problem is that it doesn't work. When focus is locked on a face on the LCD, the actual image shows the background or some other object in sharp focus. It works exactly as well as AI/AF works... meaning it doesn't. What a disappointment, as this is a feature I wanted the camera for.
4. Soft corners at full wide. No, this didn't bother me as much as it has many, but there's no denying it being there. Yes, my SD700 had this problem on the right side, but I believe servicing would have corrected it. This is just a flaw.
5. Exposure problems. There's no doubt that the camera overexposes too often. And I just don't want to constantly change exposure compensation to keep up with changing light. The SD700 had a slight problem with this, but the SD800 is far worse. And the SD900 I tried displayed the same issues. Could this be a Digic III problem?
6. Flash exposure. It's not just bad, it's awful and inconsistent. Sometimes perfect, sometimes way too weak. Well, most of the time way too weak. And, yes... I did remember to change the exposure compensation.
7. The camera's build. It felt cheaply made, especially when compared to the SD700 that came before it. The battery door is so cheap, I think I've seen better quality on disposable cameras.
Yes, there were some things I liked (which I pointed out in my review), and I was particularly hooked on the 28mm lens. I had to have it. Too bad there wasn't another Canon SD camera with it... besides the SD80 which is bigger and no longer sold new.
Best Buy just put on display the new Panasonic FX07, and I was pretty pleased with its look and feel. And it has that 28mm lens, too. You guessed it, I bought one (a cool purple-ish color). Got a little less than $50 back for my trouble (the LX07 was cheaper). The woman mentioned that mine was the 3rd SD800 returned for similar reasons.
There are some negatives with the Panasonic, too, but I think I can live with them. Here's my short list (so far):
1. Pictures have some shadow noise when you pixel peep at full resolution.
2. High ISO is nearly as unusable as it was on the SD700/800/900. But at least the noise was uniform on the Canons, which could be addressed with Nosieware. This has some blotchy noise reduction put to the images. No worry, though, I seldom shoot at high ISO. And that blotchy noise reduction has a kind of cool look to it (just kidding).
3. My 4GB SD memory card doesn't work on the Panasonic. Darn! Anybody wanna trade me for two fast 2GB cards?
Then again, the 28mm is incredibly sharp even in corners. There is no visible CA of any kind. And the LCD has a much higher resolution with a nice plexiglass protection over it. You can even see what is in focus on the screen, the resolution is that much better... at least to me.
If you've got tips for me in here, I'd love to hear them. This is a fun new camera. I have to admit to being in a rut having owned 5 different digital Ixus cameras, and it's nice to have something new.
If only this new camera had noise performance similar to the Canon and took my 4GB card, I'd have absolutely no buyers remorse.
--
BryanS
Here were the issues I had with the camera (in order of priority):
1. Most bothersome was the intense CA (blue fringing) in any high contrast area of a photo. I just can't stand fringing, and since it is mostly blue, removing or reducing it in a blue sky is nearly impossible. At first, I thought it was only slightly worse than the SD700, but after studying photos from both cameras, I'd say it's a pretty dramatic difference.
2. Photo softness. I just couldn't get a sharp picture of my children. Most photos lacked crispness. Again, the SD700 was better, but even that camera was not a superstar. At first I thought it was just me, but after days of trying to get a sharp image of living things, I gave up. It seems to want to focus on the background very often.
3. Face recognition. It's a good concept, and it appears on the LCD like it's working, as the little brackets follow faces around. The problem is that it doesn't work. When focus is locked on a face on the LCD, the actual image shows the background or some other object in sharp focus. It works exactly as well as AI/AF works... meaning it doesn't. What a disappointment, as this is a feature I wanted the camera for.
4. Soft corners at full wide. No, this didn't bother me as much as it has many, but there's no denying it being there. Yes, my SD700 had this problem on the right side, but I believe servicing would have corrected it. This is just a flaw.
5. Exposure problems. There's no doubt that the camera overexposes too often. And I just don't want to constantly change exposure compensation to keep up with changing light. The SD700 had a slight problem with this, but the SD800 is far worse. And the SD900 I tried displayed the same issues. Could this be a Digic III problem?
6. Flash exposure. It's not just bad, it's awful and inconsistent. Sometimes perfect, sometimes way too weak. Well, most of the time way too weak. And, yes... I did remember to change the exposure compensation.
7. The camera's build. It felt cheaply made, especially when compared to the SD700 that came before it. The battery door is so cheap, I think I've seen better quality on disposable cameras.
Yes, there were some things I liked (which I pointed out in my review), and I was particularly hooked on the 28mm lens. I had to have it. Too bad there wasn't another Canon SD camera with it... besides the SD80 which is bigger and no longer sold new.
Best Buy just put on display the new Panasonic FX07, and I was pretty pleased with its look and feel. And it has that 28mm lens, too. You guessed it, I bought one (a cool purple-ish color). Got a little less than $50 back for my trouble (the LX07 was cheaper). The woman mentioned that mine was the 3rd SD800 returned for similar reasons.
There are some negatives with the Panasonic, too, but I think I can live with them. Here's my short list (so far):
1. Pictures have some shadow noise when you pixel peep at full resolution.
2. High ISO is nearly as unusable as it was on the SD700/800/900. But at least the noise was uniform on the Canons, which could be addressed with Nosieware. This has some blotchy noise reduction put to the images. No worry, though, I seldom shoot at high ISO. And that blotchy noise reduction has a kind of cool look to it (just kidding).
3. My 4GB SD memory card doesn't work on the Panasonic. Darn! Anybody wanna trade me for two fast 2GB cards?
Then again, the 28mm is incredibly sharp even in corners. There is no visible CA of any kind. And the LCD has a much higher resolution with a nice plexiglass protection over it. You can even see what is in focus on the screen, the resolution is that much better... at least to me.
If you've got tips for me in here, I'd love to hear them. This is a fun new camera. I have to admit to being in a rut having owned 5 different digital Ixus cameras, and it's nice to have something new.
If only this new camera had noise performance similar to the Canon and took my 4GB card, I'd have absolutely no buyers remorse.
--
BryanS
