Barell distortion - SD800 vs SD870

After reading every thread I can comparing these cameras and looking at sample photos, it seems like the barell distortion on the SD870 is worse than on the SD800. For all of you who have tried both cameras (in shots with the same focal length), what do you think? I know all about the soft corner issue and was prepared for that, but wasn't expecting the SD870 to have gotten worse than the SD800 in the barell distortion aspect of IQ, since the lens is supposedly the same.

I just want a ultra compact that takes decent photos that's easy for my wife to use. I like the SD870's WA lens, new interface with direct play button A little corner softness here and there I can live with. I also talked myself into accepting the loss of the VF (seems like just about every other manufacturer eliminated them anyway) since my wife doesn't use it. But, if the barell distortion is much worse, I may try finding a SD800 before they're all gone.

Yep - it's the same lens as the 800's - did you expect less distortion?! Return your SD870 and get an SD800 for alot less and be done with it. The only other camera with WA that has a decent lens is the larger Pan. TZ3 but it's processing to many leaves a bit to be desired. BTW the IQ of the SD800 may be a ted better due to less 1 less MP on the same 1/2.5" sensor vs SD870. The 870 as you know has a few more 'bells and whistles' but in the end the IQ is no better than the 800's from what I've seen and read... Matt

noonin said:

After reading every thread I can comparing these cameras and looking
at sample photos, it seems like the barell distortion on the SD870 is
worse than on the SD800. For all of you who have tried both cameras
(in shots with the same focal length), what do you think? I know all
about the soft corner issue and was prepared for that, but wasn't
expecting the SD870 to have gotten worse than the SD800 in the barell
distortion aspect of IQ, since the lens is supposedly the same.

I just want a ultra compact that takes decent photos that's easy for
my wife to use. I like the SD870's WA lens, new interface with direct
play button A little corner softness here and there I can live with.
I also talked myself into accepting the loss of the VF (seems like
just about every other manufacturer eliminated them anyway) since my
wife doesn't use it. But, if the barell distortion is much worse, I
may try finding a SD800 before they're all gone.

Click to expand...

Thanks Matt

I did not actually know what to expect. I just wanted to check that the level of distortion was in keeping with the norm for this camera and that it was not a faulty camera- if the distortion appears similar to your SD800 then I'll keep it.

In fact in London the store I purchased from no longer has the SD800 (ixus 850) available.

BTW I note you also have an S5IS which is something I am considering for more serious use and video functionality

Regards

Chand

Photofreak7 said:

Yep - it's the same lens as the 800's - did you expect less
distortion?! Return your SD870 and get an SD800 for alot less and be
done with it.

Click to expand...

No, as I stated I did not expect the distortion to be any different. I currently do not own either camera, yet, and I know the SD800 is cheaper. It's just harder to find. If I do go with the SD870, I will hold off a bit for the price to come down.

Photofreak7 said:

The 870 as you know has a
few more 'bells and whistles' but in the end the IQ is no better than
the 800's from what I've seen and read... Matt

Click to expand...

The bells and whistles are what makes the 870 something to consider. Otherwise I would "be done with it" and get the 800

Photofreak7 said:

noonin said:

After reading every thread I can comparing these cameras and looking
at sample photos, it seems like the barell distortion on the SD870 is
worse than on the SD800. For all of you who have tried both cameras
(in shots with the same focal length), what do you think? I know all
about the soft corner issue and was prepared for that, but wasn't
expecting the SD870 to have gotten worse than the SD800 in the barell
distortion aspect of IQ, since the lens is supposedly the same.

I just want a ultra compact that takes decent photos that's easy for
my wife to use. I like the SD870's WA lens, new interface with direct
play button A little corner softness here and there I can live with.
I also talked myself into accepting the loss of the VF (seems like
just about every other manufacturer eliminated them anyway) since my
wife doesn't use it. But, if the barell distortion is much worse, I
may try finding a SD800 before they're all gone.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sorry my last posting was to the wrong thread

I would be grateful if someone could just reassure me that the level of barrrel distortion of my SD870 as in the link below is normal and no worse than the SD800

http://siddhartha.smugmug.com/gallery/3469864/4/195151393#195155327

Many thanks

Chand

Fair enough - good luck which ever way you go. And I'm sorry if I came across in an argumentative way... Matt

noonin said:

Photofreak7 said:

Yep - it's the same lens as the 800's - did you expect less
distortion?! Return your SD870 and get an SD800 for alot less and be
done with it.

Click to expand...

No, as I stated I did not expect the distortion to be any different.
I currently do not own either camera, yet, and I know the SD800 is
cheaper. It's just harder to find. If I do go with the SD870, I will
hold off a bit for the price to come down.

noonin said:

The 870 as you know has a
few more 'bells and whistles' but in the end the IQ is no better than
the 800's from what I've seen and read... Matt

Click to expand...

The bells and whistles are what makes the 870 something to consider.
Otherwise I would "be done with it" and get the 800

noonin said:

noonin said:

After reading every thread I can comparing these cameras and looking
at sample photos, it seems like the barell distortion on the SD870 is
worse than on the SD800. For all of you who have tried both cameras
(in shots with the same focal length), what do you think? I know all
about the soft corner issue and was prepared for that, but wasn't
expecting the SD870 to have gotten worse than the SD800 in the barell
distortion aspect of IQ, since the lens is supposedly the same.

I just want a ultra compact that takes decent photos that's easy for
my wife to use. I like the SD870's WA lens, new interface with direct
play button A little corner softness here and there I can live with.
I also talked myself into accepting the loss of the VF (seems like
just about every other manufacturer eliminated them anyway) since my
wife doesn't use it. But, if the barell distortion is much worse, I
may try finding a SD800 before they're all gone.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Hey Matt, no probleemo. Sorry about flip replies on my part!

BTW I got mine on eBay - if you are comfortable buying there then there's good deals to be had. I also got 3 genuine Canon batteries to go with it - I have about $250 total invested in everything... Matt

noonin said:

Hey Matt, no probleemo. Sorry about flip replies on my part!

Click to expand...

Wow, nice deal Matt!. I think I'll pass on Ebay though. I'm a little paranoid about purchasing new cameras there. I did buy a wonderful Speedlite flash for my G3 on Ebay, but feel more comfortable buying a new camera from a store, especially since I've read a few posts from folks that had to return their cams because of lens misallignment.

I just purchased the SD800 from Amazon I was going to ebay but every SD800 on ebay states they are refurbished class 'A' which when I went to Canon's web site it actually talks about this as some sort of scam anyway SD800 for me I don't like the look of the back of the SD870 ... just me ...

--
Canon A640, A610, Pro 1, HyperDrive HD80
Energizer NiMh 2500 batteries !!!

I just noticed the price of the SD870IS is $370 before tax at circuitcity.com

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon-PowerShot-SD870-IS-8-Megapixel-Digital-Camera/sem/rpsm/oid/190718/catOid/-13062/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Hopefully it will go down some more later

Well, there is going to be some variation in these lenses, more than I would like in fact, so it's possible that you got a camera with a poor lens, or one with a bad lens/sensor alignment (which also seems to be a problem with the new Canon SD cameras). You could always try to exchange the camera for another sample and see if it performs better.

My SD870 exhibits a moderate amount of barrel distortion at wide angle, which drops off pretty drastically by 35mm.

While annoying that Canon just didn't design a new lens for the SD870 I look at it this way;

1. I usually use 28mm for architectural or landscape shots where the corners being softer isn't as much of a problem.

2. I'd rather have a handicapped 28mm than have no 28mm at all.

3. I like Canon cameras, they are easy to use and have good in-camera processing.

I usually just zoom my SD870 to 36mm and treat it as an SD850 with a bigger screen and easier controls. Then I go to 28mm if shooting macro (macro for some reason doesn't seem to work past 28mm) or shooting landscapes, etc.

Here's a 28mm sample for you to use in comparing barrel distortion;

noonin said:

After reading every thread I can comparing these cameras and looking
at sample photos, it seems like the barell distortion on the SD870 is
worse than on the SD800. For all of you who have tried both cameras
(in shots with the same focal length), what do you think? I know all
about the soft corner issue and was prepared for that, but wasn't
expecting the SD870 to have gotten worse than the SD800 in the barell
distortion aspect of IQ, since the lens is supposedly the same.

I just want a ultra compact that takes decent photos that's easy for
my wife to use. I like the SD870's WA lens, new interface with direct
play button A little corner softness here and there I can live with.
I also talked myself into accepting the loss of the VF (seems like
just about every other manufacturer eliminated them anyway) since my
wife doesn't use it. But, if the barell distortion is much worse, I
may try finding a SD800 before they're all gone.

Click to expand...

jmpage2 said:

My SD870 exhibits a moderate amount of barrel distortion at wide
angle, which drops off pretty drastically by 35mm.

Click to expand...

jmpage2 said:

I usually just zoom my SD870 to 36mm and treat it as an SD850 with a
bigger screen and easier controls.

Click to expand...

Interesting point.

jmpage2 said:

Then I go to 28mm if shooting
macro (macro for some reason doesn't seem to work past 28mm) or
shooting landscapes, etc.

Click to expand...

However, does this mean that you have to zoom every time you power the camera on? Somewhat defeats the 'P&S' nature in that case. Or can this camera 'remember' the zoom settings and restore them on power-on?

Thanks.

t.

Yes the camera does remember the previous zoom setting-therefore it remains at the 35mm setting if that is the last zoom setting used.

Chand

chand said:

Yes the camera does remember the previous zoom setting-therefore it
remains at the 35mm setting if that is the last zoom setting used.

Chand

Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? Mine doesn't...

©hris

cjones said:

chand said:

Yes the camera does remember the previous zoom setting-therefore it
remains at the 35mm setting if that is the last zoom setting used.

Chand

Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? Mine doesn't...

©hris

Click to expand...

Yeah, that would be a super-cool feature but I'm not sure it works that way. I got a chance to try one out for a few minutes today, and I'm not sure it does remember (I was testing several things and forgot to do a rigorous test). It is a bit difficult to test easily b/c this unit doesn't give any visual indication of the zoom level on the LCD (that I could see, anyway). I should have zoomed it all the way out, and tried to power cycle it then. But I believe tha tmost of the P&S cameras just 'reset' to the widest setting on power-on.

Still not sure though.

thanks.

t.

Apologies- I have just tested mine again and it defaults to the widest setting after switching off

Neverthless I could have sworn it remembered a previous zoomed setting when I used it on the weekend-unless I confused it with another of several cameras I was playing around with.

Chand