It may be the slimmest Digital ELPH Canon has ever created, but the impact couldn\’t be bigger. The PowerShot SD780 IS Digital ELPH captivates the senses with bold saturated colors and a daringly original design that matches the intensity of Canon\’s most innovative camera technology. Even when picture-taking conditions seem pretty unforgiving, you\’ve got Canon on your side. Plus, you\’ve got an advanced DIGIC 4 Image Processor with evolved Face Detection Technology and the Face Detection Self-timer for extraordinary control and performance. This technology finds and tracks the faces of moving subjects until you\’re ready to shoot, then delivers perfect focus. In addition, exposure, flash and white balance are compensated, so that faces exhibit natural skin tones and backgrounds are properly exposed. The camera also makes it easy to enjoy HD movies (and still photos) in beautiful high definition (1280 x 720 pixels) on your HDTV with a mini-HDMI connector for direct connection to a high-definition monitor. You\’ll enjoy the HD experience with no degradation of image or audio in the signal, plus the ability to display up to 130 still images at once. So the shots you used to miss are the images you\’ll now be sharing, and the movies you never took before will be HD unforgettable. Focal Length - 5.9-17.9mm f/3.2-5.8 (35mm film equivalent - 33-100mm) LCD Monitor - 2.5-inch TFT color LCD widescreen with wide viewing angle, Approx. 230,000 pixels ISO Sensitivity - Auto, ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600 equivalent Continuous Shooting - Approx. 0.8 fps Compression Mode - Still Image - Exif 2.2 (JPEG); Movie - MOV (H.264) Storage Media - SD/SDHC Memory Card, Multimedia Card, MMC Plus Card, HC MMC Plus Card Number of Recording Pixels - Still Image - up to 4000 x 3000 (Large); Movie - High Definition - up to 1280 x 720 (30 fps) Video Output - NTSC/PAL Dimensions - 3.43 (W) x 2.15 (H) x 0.72 (D) Weight -more info
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
(4.5 out of 5) (4.5 out of 5)
(3.5 out of 5) (3 out of 5)
Great Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good product from what I have seen of it and the pictures it takes are nice to look at.
Only 1 word - Disappointing
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I had high expectations from this camera. Great reviews, great brand name, 12 MP, HD video recording, HDMI etc…so many features but I’m disappointed at the results of this camera.
Not sure if it is the piece I received, but the quality of pictures and video is very bad. The video was very grainy…the pictures didn’t live up to the expectations. My old 4MP Nikon coolpix did a better job than this. There are not many cameras out there for ~ $220 which have all these features, so I chose this camera. Returned it after a week of use. Tried in various surroundings - indoor, outdoor, hd video etc…nothing is good.
1 star to camera. 5 stars to Amazon for promptly processing the refund.
Excellent Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is great. I used it on a recent trip where I was on a tour bus and i was able to get quick shots while the bus was moving. The pictures came out perfect, as if i was standing still while shooting them. The only issue I’m trying to figure out with the camera is why it gives pictures of people a different color tone (sometimes orange or red). I’m not sure if this is a result of the flash or the settings. Overall I’m satisfied with the camera.
Canon PowerShot SD
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with the quality and performance of my camera. It is compact, easy to use and takes great pictures. Service received from Amazon is wonderful as well.
Great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Compact camera that takes great pictures. I was impressed by the quality of the pictures, even when taking photographs in motion. The video is also great, even after zooming. I am really impressed.
Very comfortable, good Flip replacement, fast, good images
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
If you are thoughtful about quality of your photographs and plan to shoot things like sporting events in a badly lit gym, you probably won’t want the SD 780 as your only camera. Then again, you wouldn’t want any point-and-shoot as your only camera. On the other hand, if you need something to take on vacation, or something to have in your back pocket when you are outside with your kids and don’t want to miss anything, or are looking for an alternative to Flip, you can’t go wrong with the SD780.
Already an owner of a large DSLR coupled with a heavy lens, I was looking for something that would 1) produce acceptable pictures under regular conditions, 2) replace a Flip cam for shooting video, 3) always stay in the pocket in that unassuming way a good cell phone does, and 4) cost under $300. I’ve looked at and tried pretty much the entire Digital Elph line-up, and also seriously considered a Lumix because of their awesome wide angle lenses, but ultimately decided SD 780 was pretty much what I needed.
I’ve owned the camera for a couple of weeks, and here are some first impressions.
1) The video is great — much better than the old non-HD Flip. It seems that I shake the camera more than Flip because of its design, but, and that was a nice surprise since you can’t see it in the product shots, the Elph has a tripod mount. The file sizes are an order of magnitude larger, however, so stock up on a decent and fast (class 6) memory card right here on Amazon for about $15 for 8 Gigs.
2) The image quality is what you would expect from a camera of this class. Pictures are great in a perfect light, and not so great in all other light conditions. I haven’t seen a point-and-shoot that performs otherwise.
3) Given a choice between a couple of random extra features and smaller size, I would always go for the size. None of these extras make your pictures look significantly better, but a constantly bulging pocket is a major annoyance. This camera is very small. I have large hands (I’m 6′2″), and the small buttons haven’t been a problem. The camera is also very pleasant to hold and look at.
4) Fast start-up time. Shutter lag is ok. There are other point-and-shoot cameras with much higher frame-per-second numbers. If you are considering one of those pocket-sized Lumix cameras, Lumix are slower.
5) The other non-Elph camera I looked at was a Canon Powershot SX10IS with the crazy 20x optical zoom (28-560mm equivalent). The SX10IS is bigger, more expensive, and doesn’t have HD video, but if you are into stuff that requires powerful zoom, SD780 won’t cut it.
On the downside, the lack of manual controls is a complete waste. Also, does anyone ever use that tiny optical viewfinder on this thing? And why can’t they name their cameras in a way that doesn’t remind an alphanumerical soup?
Overall, SD780 is great at what it’s been designed to do. Manual controls and even a slightly wider lens would’ve earned it five stars in its class.
Excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera it’s amazing the size omg I love it it’s small and can be kept anywhere even your pocket. Recording my favorite HD very good quality. Although recorded videos are super heavy to upload to YouTube. Overall I’m loving this camera
DON’T TRUST THIS SELLER
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Unfortunately, I ordered my camera from this seller and it never arrived! I usually have nothing but trust for most of the sellers on Amazon, but this one is not worth the risk. Now I have to go through the trouble of getting my money back… so I have no idea how good this camera is. Happy camera hunting!
LOVES it
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I love this camera - it’s tiny, it’s sleek and it takes fabulous pictures. The picture quality is great and the focus is wonderful - it takes just as good pictures up close as it does farther away. It also does really well with shooting in motion. I recently went on a trip to Maui and took pictures from the car and they were great. I used to have a Nikon Coolpix and I’ve definitely become a Canon convert. My only complaint for this camera is that it doesn’t take pictures fast enough i.e. there is a slight lull in between when you press the button and when the picture is taken and when you can take the next one. There is an option to have it in a faster shutter mode but the pictures aren’t as focused. I’m not a photographer so this is too complicated for me - i just need a camera to point and shoot and take great pictures. Even with the slower picture speed, i LOVE this camera.
SD780IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is an upgrade from my SD100. First off let me talk a little bit about what I’m comparing this to. The Canon SD100 was the first of the digital elph cameras and at the time it was very small, sleek and had a relatively high (3.2MP) resolution for a camera that size. Then, 10 years went by.. It took great pictures and was bulletbroof, I can’t remember how many times I’ve dropped it in snow, mud, sand etc and the thing would not die! So it was apparent that I needed a new camera, just by looking at friends photos they took with a modern point and shoot camera.
I settled on the 780IS rather quickly, just going for the current $250-$300ish Canon elph. 12.1 MP is enough, can’t see needing more than that for the next 10 years at least. We’ll see though. I like how fast it powers up and the intuitive menu, that is still similar to my old SD100. The picture quality so far is great, I’ve been using it for a lot of nature shots and I’ve found I don’t have to use the saturation setting as much in photoshop. It is also much lighter than the SD100, so better for backpacking and snowboarding and biking and anything else where weight matters. Going to Utah in a few months so I’ll really put this baby to the test. Can’t wait!
A great purchase!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera takes amazing pictures! I’m an amateur photographer at best but was able to capture a spectacular sunset that was chosen for a national website! This camera is small but powerful and very user friendly. I couldn’t be happier with it.
Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was really impressed by the pictures and the HD video I was able to take with this camera. I purchased this as a replacement for my older SD800is which I thought took great pictures. The only thing I would have liked to see was a bit more zoom, the camera is so small that if they made it slightly larger to accomadate more zoom it still would have been a smaller than average camera. It has an HDMI port but they do not include the cable you need to connect it to your tv out of the box. Those are only minor annoyances, I would definitely reccomend this camera to anyone looking for a compact that takes great pictures and video.
Disappointing Image Quality
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Based on all the great customer reviews, I was excited when this camera arrived. It is extremely small but has a nice overall feel of quality and looks pretty cool. One gripe I have with the built is that the camera/memory card door is a bit flimsy and seems to be made of cheap plastic in stark contrast to the rest of the body. It wobbles slightly which may be minor for some, but it was enough to bother me.
I have small hands but this camera seems almost a bit too small at the expense of usability. The position of the flash is annoying and if you don’t remember to keep your fingers well out of its range you’ll cast dark shadows onto the picture. Some buttons are so tiny that you need to use your finger nail to push them.
But what ultimately made me return this camera is the soft focus, even in bright sunlight. Since the zoom is very modest I thought that the large number of megapixels would allow me to crop liberally. Unfortunately, this is not possible due to the soft focus and frequent purple fringing. I prefer sharp crisp images but was not able to find a setting which would please me.
The video is great if you don’t point at a light source, but that feature alone was not enough to make up for the disappointing image quality.
I wish Canon would stop churning out crappy camera models at an idiotic rate and just focus on making great quality again.
Compact and nice featured camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
When I was shopping for a new camera, the wish list included a small camera with good photo quality, HD video capability, and good performance on auto mode (I prefer not to get deep into camera settings). I’ve owned this camera for about a month now, and I am happy with the performance and features of the camera. The size is small and it is light so I always put my hand into the camera strap to make sure I don’t drop it. Photo quality is great–I haven’t gone into the manual settings yet, but the auto setting results in great pictures. HD video (720p) is my favorite feature. If you have a large and fast memory card–I have a 16GB class 6 SDHC card–you can take long video clips. I am able to take hours of high quality video without changing cards. The resulting video files are big but that’s the nature of HD video. I like being able to record in HD rather than blurry VGA.
Overall, this was a great purchase. I’m happy with the results.
Small Wonder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is amazingly small, stylish, and takes great photos in low light. We have a SONY DSCW55 and a Nikon Coolpix S4, the Canon is our best digital camera for portability, ease of use, and of course the finished product - the photo. The image stabilize is great and the time between snaps is not excessive. Highly recommended.
Perfect for vacations
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Bought this camera from Amazon, came quick. This is my third digital camera, my first was purchased in 1999. This camera is compact, I actually used the Video much more than taking photos. For best results, you should use Windows Media Play, download all the appropriate software at http://www.afterdawn.com to view .mov files, very smooth video. Quicktime application did not do such a good job. I have Dual Core 2, with 2 gig mem on my laptop. Canon did not include Mini-HDMI to HDMI, so I had to buy one for $11 from Amazon. I highly recommend the 16G SD with this purchase, it will record about 1.5 hr in 720P HD video. that is all that you will need. I played with the manual settings, but auto mode is really the way to go, results were great. The photos appear to be a bit soft compare to my current compact camera. You should also buy a flexible, bendable, mini-tripod with this camera.
Canon PowerShot combined with near garbage amazon shipping
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
First things first, amazon.com sucked big time in shipping this order. Within an hour after I ordered, the status was changed to “items shipping soon”. That status remained for 8 days and they never shipped camera. Finally after contacting their customer support, it was shipped. Thus, it took more than 2 weeks before I had this one in my hand. From my personal experience with amazon.com for last couple of orders, “free super saver shipping” the status will change to “items shipping soon” within no time after you order so that you can’t cancel the order. Than you keep waiting and waiting and you will be really lucky to get your order within 2 weeks. Amazon shipping UUHHHH!!!!!!
About the Camera. Its absolutely great camera. It’s a great point-n-shoot camera but has many features of DSLR i.e you can go creative to great extent. HD video from this camera is also really nice. The color, contrast, sharpness, saturation is really good. I highly recommend it anyone looking for simple intelligent point and shoot camera.
Canon powershot DS 780IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I had a Sony digital camera which I absolutely loved, but it was big and bulky and I wanted a smaller camera that was easier to take around–something I could just slip into my purse. My daughter had an older version of this camera and loved it, and the reviews on line were really good, so I bought it. Well, the size is definitely a plus. It is nice and small and fits easily into my small purse, even with the case I bought with it. Without the case, it can fit into my jeans pocket. However I am very disappointed in the video part of the camera. I realize it takes HD video, and that HD takes up more space and takes longer to upload, so I turned the HD off, since I mostly want my video clips for uploading onto the computer and do not care if they are in HD or not, but even lowering the size, it takes SO LONG to upload even the shortest video clip (1-1 1/2 min. clip takes a good 8-10 min or longer to upload) that its almost not worth it. Taking videos also totally drains the batteries. I bought a second battery, that I keep with me all the time. Since I love taking videos of my grandson to send to relatives on the computer, unfortunately this camera is not really what I want it to do. So unless I am doing something wrong when I am uploading (don’t know how I could possibly be tho!) then I am disappointed in that part. As for the digital pictures though, they are great. So I will most likely keep the camera. Now I am looking at possibly buying myself a small video camera to supplement this camera. Any thoughts anyone?
Great little camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great little camera, great quality pictures, best outdoors. Have already purchase a second as a gift. If you are looking for a small camera with great quality, this is the one.
love at first shot
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this camera! And when I first opened it was expecting the usualy canon elph size but its even slimmer and is a perfect pocket camera. The black matte finish is amazing and makes it look so expensive. I have always been a fan of the quality of pictures that canons produce and this was no exception. I have used sony’s cybershot, fuji slim camera and others and this by far gives the superior shot every time. the picture always looks so clear and amazing unlike some other small digitals that give a little grainy look. It has great features for photo taking and special effects. The HDMI is a great plus and HD video. I definitely would recommend this camera to everyone!