Canon PowerShot SD960IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch LCD (Gold)
- 12.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints
- 4x optical zoom; 28mm wide-angle lens
- HD movie shooting capability plus HDMI output
- 2.8-inch widescreen PureColor LCD II screen; Face Detection
- Compatible with SD/SDHC, MMC/MMC Plus/HC MMC Plus (not included)
Canon PowerShot SD960 IS 12MP Gold Digital ELPH Camera Experience top-notch photography firsthand with the Canon Powershot SD960! A 12.1 megapixel CCD sensor lets you take beautiful digital images that will last you a lifetime. The zoom lens lets you get closer to your subjects as you watch the action unfold on the 2.8″ LCD display. A variety of scene modes lets you shoot moments the way you want. Lightweight and compact, the SD960 is perfect for vacations and spur of the moment magic! Specifications 12.1 megapixel CCD sensor 2.8″ TFT active matrix LCD display Lens: Zoom Aperture: F/2.8-5.8 Focus type: Automatic Focal length: 5mm – 20mm Focus range: 19.7″ (min.) – 2-50cm (max.) Zoom: 4x optical/digital ISO sensitivity: ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO auto Shutter speed: 15 sec. (min.) – 1/1600 sec. (max.) White balance: Custom, Automatic, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light Flash type: Built-in Flash modes: Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light Flash range: 1ft – 13ft Exposure modes: Program, Automatic Exposure compensation: ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps Shooting modes: Frame movie mode Scene modes: Snow, Beach, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Aquarium, Fireworks, Underwater, Kids & pets, Digital macro, Portrait mode, Stitch assist, Night snapshot, High sensitivity Image effects: Sepia, Vivid, Vivid Red, Color Swap, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Color Accent, Black & White, Positive Film, Darker Skin Tone, Lighter Skin Tone Self-timer: 2 sec., 10 sec. Image formats, still: JPEG Image formats, video: H.264 Supported Flash memory: MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card (not included) Interfaces/connections: 1 USB, 1 Composite video/audio output, 1 HDMI output Software: Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ImageBrowser, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ZoomBrowser EX Battery: Canon NB-4L lithium-ion rechargeable battery Dimensions: 2.1″H x 0.9″D x 3.9″W Weight: 5.1 oz. Warranty: 1 year
List Price: $ 279.00
Price: $ 239.99
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960 vs. 970 vs. 780,
My old tiny Casio Exilim 5 MP camera died- I loved that thing because it was so tiny and I took many more pictures because it fit in my pocket- and I had to get something for my trip to France. First bought the 970 thinking, ooh, 5x optical zoom. For someone used to ultracompact, that thing was huge and I didn’t notice much difference between the 5x and the 4x or 3x zoom. I returned it and got the 960, which I stuck with. It is much smaller than the 970 though bigger than my old camera (won’t fit in pants pocket too comfortably), but the wide-angle zoom makes a huge difference to the photos. I travelled with someone who had the 780, and we frequently traded the same shot with both cameras, and the picture quality was much better with the 960, though it is larger than the 780. The controls were easy to navigate, the viewscreen very wide/ large on the 960. The video quality is amazing. Aside from the size, the only downside was that it is a little slow to take repeat shots in action situations. However, the motion control is excellent and you can take shots while jogging without blurring. Sadly, I lost my new 960 at the airport (thankfully, I had downloaded the photos). I decided to replace it with the 780 because I’m not a photographer, thought having the very small camera would make up for the difference in picture quality. After 250 photos on the 960, and 2 days with the 780, I miss the wide-angle zoom and am considering getting another 960. It’s not that much bigger than the 780, and the picture quality difference is significant.
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|Great Still Images, Excellent 720P for the price,
The true market for this camera is someone who wants to have one device that is compact, shoots excellent quality pictures, and has the capability of capturing 720P HD movies.
It’s a Canon, so the image quality is a given. Tons of examples on Flickr if you simply search for “canon SD960″ or “IXUS 110″. Colors are true, not highly sharpened, low chromatic aberration, and rich with detail. Do not, however, mistake this power of the DIGIC IV processor to be perfect and free of noise at high zoom or ISO above 400. Compared to its class, however, the results are just great for the price point.
But the odds are you are looking at this camera not just for its stills ability, but the fact that it can also shoot HD movies.
So how does the HD perform. Here, the optical stabilization and optical zoom make this a far better choice than it’s nearest hybrid competitor, the Flip HD. The Flip is a fun, very easy to use device, but the lack of image stabilization in camera makes the output very choppy and prone to a “jello” wobbling effect. The Canon has a much smoother output. A strong performer in low light (but expect more noise) and a really excellent result in natural light. For samples, my best recommendation is to search Vimeo — they have the best HD streaming of uploaded videos, and looking at results on Youtube (even if “HD”) doesn’t do the camera justice.
In practice, Mac users will be happy to see that iPhoto can handle the whole offload process — stills and movies. Launch iPhoto, turn on camera and load what you’d like. The movie files are H.264, and can be quickly edited in iMovie or Final Cut.
One worthy note on shooting movie and zoom. You frame your shot and set focus with a half push of the shutter button. Press all the way to record. Once you start recording, you are set at your original zoom level and can not use the OPTICAL zoom to pull closer. Instead, the camera uses DIGITAL zoom to get closer. In practice, I found this did not produce a terribly degraded result, but it is worthy noting before you purchase the camera.
Mono mic on the camera, which pics up sound very well — even on the crowded/noisy streets of NYC.
The cheaper Canon SD780 is very nice also if you are looking to save $50. The newer jog wheel and extra zoom, however, was worth the upgrade (IMHO).
Budget for one of the 8G or 16G SDHC cards sold on Amazon for 50+ minutes of HD recording. And probably worth buying a 3rd party second battery to have on hand.
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|Wanted to upgrade, instead I got great HD video with blurry/purple fringed AUTO mode pictures.,
Unfortunately after 30 days of review and over 1000 pictures later I am returning this camera.
As an avid Canon user (Canon AE-1, S500, and S550), I decided it was finally worth the effort to upgrade out of the world of slow compact flash and go with the latest and greatest. What I found was a major disappointment.
PROS:
-Size of the camera is great for your pocket. It slips neatly away and is easy to retrieve.
-When pictures are clear, they look great for a point and shoot.
-I enjoyed using the wheel interface along with the actual UI that is on the camera.
-The HD movies were great both on the computer and played directly to my 46″ Samsung LCD
-Transfer speed to the computer was very fast, especially since I am comparing it to my last camera that was the S550.
-Battery life was great as well as compared to my S550. At least twice as much use from the 960.
-The HD video constantly adjusted the white balance during capture which was very nice.
-Screen was clear and well integrated into the body of the unit.
NOTE: I didn’t hear any strange sounds when zooming in/out using the movie mode (during playback).
CONS:
-Bright daylight images would show purple fringing around diffuse edges such as hair, trees, water, etc… Was made even worse if zoomed.
-In AUTO mode the camera constantly thought it should go into MACRO mode and pictures consistently were blurry. This was even worse at night, and absolutely HORRID if you gave the camera to a 3rd party to take a picture. 3rd parties usually don’t use the method where you hold the button halfway so the camera can figure out what’s going on. So feel free to instruct that 3rd party if you like and then you *MIGHT* get a clear picture half the time… and at night you might get 1 out of 10 that are clear. Even some of the daytime pictures that did not display the MACRO mode in AUTO came out blurry.
I’m so disappointed in this camera since I had such high hopes for it. I researched for at least 8 hours over a period of 4 weeks before I made my purchase. The Canon SD960IS suffers from great ideas implemented without the final touch that would make it worthwhile.
Take my review with a grain of salt; however, I would steer clear of this one until they fix the CCD so it doesn’t have nasty purple fringing (which my s500 and s550 never had) and when they fix the firmware in AUTO to go back to manual macro mode.
About me: I am not a professional photographer; however, I would consider myself very capable. I have developed my own pictures, when I was shooting black and white, in my own darkroom. Also, I am the person that is always called by friends and family when they have a technical question. If I wanted to take slow pictures where I have to think about shutter speeds, exposures, f stops, etc.. I’ll gladly go by the Canon Digital SLR and take the time. This purchase was not for that. I want a camera that I or anyone in my family can take halfway decent pictures without thinking too much about it. At this point my S550 did a much better job.
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