Pleasantly surprised at video Quality
I've used lots of digicams. My initial impression of the SD780IS is that it does a great job for its size, and my Made-in-Japan version seems sturdy and well-built.
There are plenty of good reviews here about the PQ of the still shots, so I won't comment there, and I'm not much of a photographer anyway.
But for the video, I'm very impressed. I've tried 3 or 4 different still cams that do HD video, and so far the Canon rules them all. It beats the video from my main digicam, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. Although the TZ5 lets you zoom while shooting, it inevitably loses focus while doing so. So that's a wasted feature.
In contrast, you cannot zoom on the Canon while shooting, but you can pre-zoom before hitting the record button. This trade-off in my opinion, is worth the far better video quality of the Canon. The color is true and there is a lot less noise and graininess than the Panasonic. Just make sure you disable the digital zoom.
Don't expect miracles for video from any still camera. My only expectation was respectable video quality under optimal (i.e. daylight) conditions. No still camera will ever replace my HF200 as a camcorder, but for spontaneous daylight clips, this camera is great to have in my pocket.
2009-11-13
A very small but very powerfull Point-And-Shoot Camera!!
You would not need all it's 12 Megapixels but it's good to have them for zooming into details and cropping of the picture after you took it.
The picture quality is just perfect. Easy to use and very quick.
The zoom could be bigger but it's more than enough for your everyday shooting situations and even a little more.
I just like it and that's why we bought a second one for my wife. And she loves hers too. Especially how small it is.
It really fits into every pocket and you can have it always handy.
HD Video, can you believe it. Perfect quality. The audio is decent.
It's hard to spoil a picture with this camera!!
2009-11-11
