In short, this is a good camera in a small package that gives excellent results! I wanted a small portable camera with HD video capabilities that I could take with me when I do not want to lug around my DSLR (Canon 40D + lens), and this little gem fits the bill perfectly.
This camera replaced a Canon PowerShot SD780IS (black) which I returned because of the constant sound noise (HUM) while recording video. Rather than risk having any other defect SD780IS with the same subject (many seem to report hear noise / HUM), I decided to upgrade to the latest Canon PowerShot SD1400IS (black). I am glad that this camera has no such problems with audio when video is being recorded.
The picture quality on the SD780IS and SD1400IS is about the same and on par with what one should expect from such a small ultra-portable camera. Going from 12 MP to 14MP has a sink which sensor is the same size and the results are very similar. I have placed several pictures of flowers under "customer images" in Canon PowerShot SD1400IS 14.1 MP (black) and also uploaded several 100% crops of each shot, so Pixel Peepers can see the details, give this camera.
Let me make clear that anyone who believes that this camera will produce anything near the quality of a DSLR deceive themselves. There is no way that this small of a package (3.6 x 0.7 x 2.2 inches, 4.6 ounces) can produce the same picture quality as a DSLR. If the picture quality if critical, would be better considering the Canon PowerShot S90 10MP Digital Camera, but you will lose the HD feature some portability and spend more. When I want extreme quality, I take only my Canon 40D + lens with me and shoot in RAW.
Auto mode is smart, and I think there is more going on behind the scenes than you might think. If you take the same image (same ISO settings, lighting, shutter, etc.) in Auto and then in Program mode, the results are similar, but I think the auto mode to win almost every time. I have no way to confirm this, but the auto mode seems to have different compression algorithms depending on the subject and can give a less noisy images at high ISO than the programming mode. Inside shots are fine, but I wish I could make an ISO range of forcing the Auto mode does not exceed 400 ISO.
Tip: If you get blurred images, you must remember that the minimum focal length is much less then 5cm at 28mm and much more 50cm when zoomed to 112mm. So if you try to get the camera close to the subject, be sure to measure your zoom / subject distances correctly otherwise your item becomes blurred. Perhaps it would have helped the 1 star reviewer.
Final points to note:
First there is no viewfinder, and frankly was small viewfinder on the SD780IS worthless, so I will not miss having one. The LCD screen is bright and works well on bright days.
2nd There is no optical zoom while recording video, only digital zoom, so you must decide on a zoom length before you start shooting. This is a non-issue for me as many people overuse the zoom, and normally would have been better to just play a static image instead of making me dizzy with shaky-cam + zoom at the same time.
Bottom line: This is a fantastic pocket camera that can be decent images with HD video recording as a bonus. It is small enough that it will be everywhere, making it possible to capture that special moment. I would highly recommend it to anyone, as long as they realize the limitations of ultra-compact cameras. I hope that this review is helpful.
Update: I forgot to mention that you should be sure to get no less than a "Class 4" SD Card (Class 6 would be even better) to prevent any video issues (lost images, etc.)
Update 2: Still love this camera after six weeks of use, I particularly like HD video capability and use it all the time. The. Mov video files makes it easy to import into Apple's iMovie to edit and produce great results. At a recent event, I could get some very nice pictures in low light without flash in AUTO mode. I was really surprised at the quality achieved in such tough conditions. The best results were not to zoom too much, because there is less light there is (f-stop change when zoomed). If you experience blurred images, try to zoom smaller and closer to your subject.
Update 3: I just ran over the recent release of Canon PowerShot SD4000IS (Black) 10 MP, that was just released, and the list price is currently more than SD1400IS but the new 10MP Backlit CMOS sensor are very promising for reducing noise is common in sub-compact cameras. The SD4000IS also have HD video capabilities, plus stereo sound and can zoom while shooting video with a new "Super Slow Motion" video feature and a faster f/2.0 lens. It will be interesting to see what users think of this new camera in the coming months. I hope that this update is helpful.
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