Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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123 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So far so good, 4 Jun 2006
I received my IXUS 800 IS and Selphy CP710 printer the day before going on holiday so I had little time to experiment before putting them to use.
My previous camera was a Casio EX Z4, which produced excellent photos in bright sunlight but tended to produce grainy images with a purple fringe around foreground subjects in low light. Whilst the Z4 was reported to have a fast start up and shutter response time, it was hard to capture action shots. With the Z4, I would say that 25% of the pictures were poorly focused.
I waited for the IXUS 800 IS to come out as a number of my friends and familty have other IXUS models, ranging from the 50 to the 750 and all found them to be high-quality cameras that produced good results. I was told by a camera shop that the Image Stabiliser was worth waiting for to improve the sharpness of action shots, shots using the zoom and shots in low light, and so addresses many of the concerns I had with the Z4. They were right!
I took 134 pictures on holiday. I need not worry about not having time to experiment as the camera is very simple to use, either with its point-and-shoot option, the pre-sets or the manual mode. Only two of the pictures were less sharp than I would like - both being action shots of the kids in the pool with the evening sun. Some of the pictures taken with a flash are a little dark, which I think were using the zoom, so to be expected. The shots taken at the maximum 4x zoom in daylight were as sharp and clear as the ones with no zoom. The low light shots are all clear with no fringe or ghosting around the foreground subjects. All in all I'm very impressed with the ease of use and the quality of the images in all conditions.
When I returned home, I printed a selection of the pictures on the CP710 directly from the camera onto 10x15cm Canon photo paper. The prints looked sharper than the same prints from my HP Photosmart 7960 printer on HP Premium Plus Photo paper but the colour was not as bright. Shots taken on the beach in bright sunshine looked like they were taken on a dull day in comparrison. I then printed the same images from my PC to the CP710. The prints were much brighter than the prints made directly from the camera and thus overall superior to the HP 7960 (which has 8 colours of ink and many more DPI than the 3 colours and the 300 DPI of the CP710). I have sent a question off to Canon Support to ask if there is any way of improving the brightness from the camera and I await their reply. [Update - Canon did reply but their response did not really help, so I always print from my PC, which is not a problem.]
The only other downside of the camera I can think of is that it does not have a battery power level indicator, so there is no way of telling how much power is left when you leave home. This is not a major problem so long as the battery is put on charge every few days.
Overall, both the camera and printer are proving to be an excellent buy so far. Roll on the next holiday!
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102 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CANON IXUS 800 IS + Advanced manual., 4 Sep 2006
This is a great camera. Not exactly as small as my previous PENTAX S4i, but the quality of pictures and video is outstanding. Even my wife (the non gadget type)is impressed. A shame as she and my daughter now have taken over this little gem.
Just one thing was annoying. No ADVANCED MANUAL was included in the box. According to AMAZON's efficient helpline something that has happend before. They kindly offered a complete replacement. This is not necessary as you can download ALL manuals in PDF from the CANON USA website. Don't go to the CO.UK as it will link to a site that charges. Free CANON PDF manuals are at www.usa.canon.com. Follow the link to CONSUMER. BTW the IXUS 800IS is identical to the PowerShot SD700 IS.
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225 of 229 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marked improvement over IXUS 750, 22 Jun 2006
So what goes on, the IXUS 750 was 7.1 Mega pixels and the new IXUS 800IS is only 6.0!? Well don't worry about it, the key to the previous sentence is the "IS" the image stabilisation system. The good and the bad.
The Good
Stunning sharpness of the pictures compared to the IXUS 750. The 7.1 mega pixels was great with the 750, but the real problem was trying to take advantage of them without a tripod. Not so with the 800IS, every available pixel is exploited even without a tripod. The major problem with the 750 was blur, as with most compact digital cameras today. It is fine having 7.1 Mp but if you can't use them due to blur then they are useless. I found, even with extensive experimentation (ISO levels, AiAF, AF, ways of bracing the camera, etc), that on average 1 in 5 pics with the 750 would be blurred free handheld. My partner, who has the steady hand of someone who could defuse bombs or carry out brain surgery, could manage 2 in 5 blur free. The blur would become even worse if the zoom was used. The 800IS on the other hand manages 9 out of 10 shots blur free. In addition you can make full use of the increase in zoom range (x4), when handheld. You can even take blur free macro shots one handed at full reach with ease. OK I'll stop banging on about that now.
The battery life of the 800 is much improved over the previous model.
It is ever so slightly smaller and lighter, and I do mean slightly.
The resolution of the LCD has been upped to a reasonable level now, which was a failing on the previous model.
The ISO range has been increased but this is really of limited use (see the bad).
Improved macro range. The macro mode is now quite stunning for a compact camera allowing you to take sharp shots from 2 cm handheld. Again the IS allows the use of telephoto macro mode as close as 40 cm without a tripod.
As before, the My Colors feature allows you to play with contrast, saturation, sharpness and colour balance to some degree.
The few manual adjustment allowed are very useful for acquiring the shots you want in difficult conditions. Although as always with the IXUS range more manual adjustments would be nice (e.g. aperture/shutter speed priority).
Continuous shoot mode speed is excellent (as 750), with a little over a second to wait between shots with a fast SD card.
Button placement and function is generally fine, but be careful not to place a finger over the flash.
In short, it is a very easy camera to take very good quality snaps with.
The Bad
The extended ISO range is nice but noisy at the high end. So yes, you can have faster shutter speeds in low light condition but the noise your pics will gain, at the ISO800 setting, may not make it worth it. (The image stabilisation probably helps more with usable low light shot than the increase in ISO range). Having said this, if you are happy to spend time post processing to remove the noise from the shot, you may find the high ISO settings are useful.
On the noise front, I can't point at any specific evidence but I got the impression the fully automatic mode tended toward using higher ISO settings than the 750 model. So the low light pics seem a light noisier than the IXUS 750 produced when fully automatic, but I could be imagining it. You can always select the ISO in manual mode though.
The flash is not as strong as the previous models, which can take a little getting use to. It is however good enough, 3m instead of 5m say. Still reasonable compared to competitors though.
There is, as before, a little chromatic aberration (purple fringing). The 750 and 800 seem to handle it in slightly different ways though. This may be due to the sensor chips involved or the different optics or both. The 800 seems to be better in high contrast situations and worse in low contrast situation.
There is some barrel distortion in wide angle macro mode. Worse that the 750 but then the range of the macro is better, 2cm (800) compared to 5cm (750).
As with the IXUS 750 I feel the landscape shots could be a little sharper, but a mainly automatic compact camera can only do so much.
Red eye is a problem but can be remove post processing.
To round up.
If you are a mega pixel fanatic and just can't cope with the thought of a loss of 1.1 Mp, think about the following. Will you miss the 1.1 mega pixels of the IXUS 750? Well if you love to carry a tripod with you every where you go perhaps. However, the point of a compact camera is it is compact, which tripods are not. To be honest it is very hard to see the difference in pixels between the 750 and 800 when you zoom in on a shot. This is probably due in part to the x4 zoom compared to the old x3 in shots when using telephoto. However, even without the extra zoom the 800 would be the better option because there is no point in having 7.1 Mp if you can't take easy advantage of them. I'll take a 6.0 Mp shot over a blurred 7.1 Mp shot any day. In the end, I think the x4 zoom covers any short fall in Mp anyway.
The image stabilisation system is a major improvement over the previous model allowing you to take full advantage of the cameras abilities, even taking into account the reduction in mega pixels.
Is it worth the extra money? Oh yes! Will I happily live with this as my compact camera? Certainly!
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