Lord help us all... I have a new camera. I have replaced my Canon SD400 with (brace yourself) the Canon SD1000. I'm not all about the new and the cool, it was just time to finally do something about the fact that the 400's display was cracked.
This brings me to the topic of reviews. Speroni spoke of reviewing media, so let me share a few words on something I am passionate about: cameras.
First, the bad... the official, branded, black leather Canon camera case. I stored my venerable SD400 in a sleek little hip holster (sleek in a "I'm Batman" way) but looks aren't everything. It had a very secure magnetic closure - a cross between a magnet and a snap that you usually see on purses. It was easy to access and secure, but the male end of the snap was on the case's flap, so whenever I drew out the camera the snap would drag across the camera, scratching it.
Since the Canon SD series has very spiffy metal cases - mostly stainless steel - I took to storing the camera screen-out so that the snap (lightly) scratched the front casing instead of mucking up the screen. All fine and well - except the female portion of the snap embedded in the case falls directly on the LCD viewing screen. At some point pressure was put on the case which cracked the screen. And I thought the purpose of the case was to _protect_ the camera. Did I mention this was an official Canon accessory?
Fast forward through a lot of procrastination and we get to modern times. I was given (by a very generous elf) the bestest of the best in the Canon SD line - the SD900. Yep, the best is numerically less than the "almost best" SD1000. Don't ask me. This 10 mega-pixel, titanium cased beast packed a flash that could match the instantaneous energy output of a blue dwarf star. This latter feature was actually a point of criticism - the flash would appear to wash pictures out a bit (but man would it help in fighting vampires).
The thing that turned me off was the size. With the 10 mpix came larger optics. With that came a curvier case than the SD400, but a noticeably bulkier size. Also, despite sporting a lightweight titanium case (so light-skinned I thought it was plastic at first), the specs say it weighs around half a pound. I got so far as buying a case for the 900 - mind you, the Canon cases are designed the same way still, so it was after market - and you knew when this bad boy was on your hip (as a friend pointed out, personal defense is an option when swung by the carry strap).
My specific deal to get the SD900 involved returning my old SD400 (his name is Charles) to Canon's refurbishing department for them to keep. Ultimately, nostalgia won out and when push came to shove, it was the sleek SD900 that ended up being shipped back. Call me a sap.
So, finding myself in the same situation I started, I bought outright the Canon SD1000 (well, the aforementioned elf did anyway). This is the good part of the review. I am thrilled with the SD1000. It is the same size as the 400, but with more flush screen and controls (not at all annoying - as it might first appear) it appears even _smaller_. After all, shouldn't new versions of technology be _smaller_ than their predecessors?
The feature-set is the best Canon has to offer. It has an automatic mode that will get you through most point-and-shoot situations. In low light or very mixed light situations there are "manual" modes you can use. In these you can control exposure level, ISO (up to 1,600 - of course it gets grainy at the higher settings), and coloring (not just sepia and B&W - it has full Photoshop-ish controls built-in). You can adjust lighting quality for various outdoor and indoor situations (this makes a world of difference in situations like "florescent").
There are pre-set specialized modes like "Indoor", "Snow", and "Fireworks". I am a personal fan of the "night snapshot" setting which both uses flash then instantly adjusts to capture existing light. This is meant for getting a clear shot of a tourist in the foreground of the Eiffel tower at night, but works for rich colors in all sorts of situations (if you have a steady hand).
There are other "way-cool" features - many not on the SD400. There is multi-target face recognition (anyone see the "your father isn't a horse's ass" commercials?) that goes so far as to assign the photo to the "People" category (yes, it has multiple categories like "Scenery" that you can tag photos with for organization). There are all sorts of timer settings - you can set a custom timer to wait 7 seconds then take 3 pictures. The details are everywhere - you can even choose the type of transition the photos do when flipping through the review mode. With this camera you will be doing a lot of "hey, come check this out" for a while.
Let's get down to brass tacks though - how well does it take pictures? Image quality is excellent - I trust Canon above all other brands in this department. I'll go head to head with any other brand on the quality of point-and-shoot photos. The flash is ample, without being overwhelming (flash intensity settings would be nice). I don't have much detail in this all-important area of review, that's because this camera (as the 400 before it) just shoots great photos - in all sorts of lighting conditions (especially if you know how to use manual shooting modes).
The SD1000 is a 7 mega-pixel camera, which is more than ample for me (and if you are reading this - more than ample for you too). While I don't need more pixels, it does have one side benefit - a digital zoom that you can use. The swan at the top of the post was shot beyond the 3x optical zoom - it was maxed out to about 12x. The viewfinder saw the swan as a blurry mess at that zoom level, but the resulting picture speaks for itself.
I shoe-horned the camera into an equally sleek looking Lowepro Napoli 5 camera pouch. It also has a magnetic closure, but no exposed metal parts and nothing but posh padding to caress the camera when it is holstered. Did I mention the Canon brand case is still designed the same (defective) way?
I don't know what "compact point-and-shoot" is supposed to entail according to the professionals, but the Canon SD1000 gives you point-and-shoot "plus" in a sub-compact package. If you are looking for a digital camera and have $150 (as of now) - then you will not be disappointed by the SD1000. Nay, I guarantee you will be thrilled with this quality camera.
Oh, and this development means good things for frosty moments from a photo-blog perspective (get it - "development" - what would you all do without me?)...
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