why would the flagship Elph not have IS?

Can anyone explain why the flagship Elph (SD900) not come with the IS? The SD800IS, the S3 and the G7 come with it, so why not the flagship product? Either it's not good enough for the flagship, or the SD800IS is bad enough that it has to have it to compensate.

Any comments please?

I'm trying to decide between the G7, SD900 and the SD800IS.

Simple; marketing.

I'm sure the next version will indeed have IS.

Basically Canon thinks they are cleverly differentiating their "product" by withholding features in various models, trying to basically force people into eventually buying more cameras.

God forbid they make a model that has all the desired features. Then people might be happy with it and not look to buy a new camera next year.

Personally this marketing gimmick doesn't work on people like me. I won't buy interim cameras. I wait till I see exactly what I want, or very close to it.

Middle finger to the marketing a-holes Canon.

I couldn't agree more.Only way to outsmart them is to hold on to the previous camera for as long as humanly possible...until there is a BIG increase in IQ, performance, or features.

Martin Brice said:

Any comments please?

Click to expand...

Could it be simply because Ixus is all about being compact, and having a larger sensor and IS would not fit into the small body?

• Armand

Canon's practice of having as many camera models as possible, varying in features and small differences in resolution, is very confusing for consumers, and I doubt if they sell more cameras as a result of it. I mean, why bother having two cameras that are identical except one has 8MP whereas the other has 10MP (A630 vs. A640). All the expert opinion says that this difference in resolution is trivial in practical terms. Why not just pick the sensor that has the more optimal combination of resolution, freedom from noise, and dynamic range, and sell just that one camera. Why have 28mm, surely a desirable feature for all digicams, available on only certain cameras--and leave it out from the most expensive digicam (G7)? Why not have IS on all digicams (except the cheapest)? And given that an fold-out LCD is such a great feature, why make people choose between a camera that lacks this feature but has IS and a wider zoom range (G7) and one that has the fold-out LCD but has no IS and the zoom range is not as wide (A640). I'm telling you, if I were in charge of product development and marketing for Canon (Ha!) there would be half the number of camera models, with each model including all the desirable features possible at a given price. I bet you they'd sell more cameras.

Bob

Robert Deutsch said:

Why not just pick the
sensor that has the more optimal combination of resolution, freedom
from noise, and dynamic range, and sell just that one camera.

Click to expand...

If it turns out to actually be the sensor that costs the most, don't you see an interest in selling a lesser camera, equipped with the lesser sensor, at a lower price point?

• Armand

Good question, except the SD800IS and the SD900 are nearly identical in size.

Martin Brice said:

The SD800IS and the SD900 are nearly
identical in size.

Click to expand...

One has a larger sensor and the other one has IS, doesn't it?

• Armand

I agree with the comments posted! I believe camara manufacturers are complicating things for no reason. Try using the car manufacturers model, in my mind reducing the choices actually equates to more sales! Hey with all this confusion, I've kept my S300 for the past six years! Don't fix what ain't broke. In my case, it broke. :

Econo box = small point'n'shoot, no manual/extra features, simplicity at it's best, ex SD40

mid-range full feature = AA power, great lense, mostly automatic with some manual features, paying for flexibility not size, ex A-series

mid-range compact = ultra compact, pay for small size but good automatic features, pay for the compactness, ex Elph series

high-end = long lasting battery, awesome lense, IQ unquestionable, fully automatic, and full manual options, G series
ultra-high-end = anything SLR

In my opinion anything outside of these options only serves to confuse consumers. There is already enough confusion out there with the different manufacturers, it's hard enough to narrow the field by manufacturer, let alone to the specific camera. With Canon's current strategy, I will NOT purchase a new camera just because I want to keep up, I will buy what I need. Similarly how people used to buy 35mm bodies and handed them down to their children!

hhhmmmm You might be onto something there. The SD800IS has a 1/2.5 and the SD900 has a 1/1.8.

Does that favour the SD900? Am I interpreting the numbers properly?

Could the IS be used to compensate for ahhhhmmmm, sensor size?

Although the SD900 has a larger sensor, it also stuffs in a lot more pixes, thus negating most of the light gathering benefits. When it comes to image quality, the masses have grown accustomed to equating pixel number with quality. When folks finally learn that higher pixels counts don't necessarily imply higher quality, the camera companies will be forced to come clean. Every time I go to the camera section at Best Buy, Costco, Circuit City etc., what's the first question I hear a buyer ask?

"How many pixels does this have?"

Where's the g-d da--ed edit function on these forums?!

So would you recommend the 800 over the 900 then?

I'm trying to figure out if the G7 is worth carrying around the extra weight or is the Elph series has a comparible camera and if so, which one, the 800 or the 900.

From our short conversation, it seems like the 800 is the front runner to the 900. Would you agree with that statement?