SD870IS or SD750

[telles75]

My Canon SD300 just died on me so I want to get a new point and shoot camera. Being a Canon follower, I have a Rebel Xti with 3 good lenses, I actually reduced my choices to the following 2 cameras:

SD870IS($389) and the SD750($269 Blacks)

As I said before this is just a camera I will use to take to parties or for quick shots. Whenever I want to take good pictures I actually use my Rebel.

The SD870IS is a newer model and has 1 extra Megapixel, but I am unsure if the IS feature actually is worth the $120 difference between the cameras. I really do not care about the 1MP difference (7 or 8MP are same good to me).
On the other hand the SD750 is smaller so I can still use my leather case from my SD300 which I like so much :)

So anyone having experience with these 2 cameras, is there any big difference in Image Quality? Does the IS really has a big difference in IQ? Is it worth to spend the extra $120 for the SD870IS even if it's bigger?

Thanks a lot for your comments!

[rage_rman]

The 2 cameras are very similar and not. The SD750 actually has a 28mm wide lens. Here is a little chart I made for you.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/ragerman/SD870750.jpg

[Jon]

Um . . . The 870 has a 28-105 mm equivalent lens; the 750's range is 35-105 equivalent. Both have IS, so you're paying for the pixels and the zoom. Both are DiG!C III, so I don't expect major differences in performance.

[rage_rman]

Both have IS, so you're paying for the pixels and the zoom.
SD750 does not have IS....

[Jon]

I stand corrected. Since neither has an optical finder, you're going to be stuck holding the camera out in front of you - go for the IS. If you can use an optical finder, your camera will be much steadier pressed against your forehead with your elbows tucked in. Arms out in front so you can see the screen is a recipe for shake.

[ducko]

I purchased the 870IS several months back when it came out. You can actually get it for $299 at costco right now. It's a phenomenal point and shoot camera. It's the best one I have ever had. I have had lots of point and shoot cameras and this one tops them all. It's portability and functions make it an awesome pocket camera. I take it out with me all the time. The bad thing is that I take it in my pocket so much that the screen has many damaged pixels now. I do have a screen protector but it isn't one of the schot glass types. It still takes great pictures though.

[telles75]

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys. I went to Best Buy and tested both cameras for a while. Even though the SD750 is smaller and thinner; I found that the IS on the 870IS actually works pretty nice. Like I said before an extra Megapixel is not something I really care that much and the wide angle 28mm can be practical sometimes but is not a selling point for me. Anyways, I decided to bite the bullet and get the SD870 paying the extra $140 for the IS feature mainly. The IS is very useful for zoomed pics and also a big helper in the movie shooting mode.

You are lucky to pay $299 at Cotsco in the US; I live in Toronto, Canada and here the best deal I got was CAN$388 (plus 14% taxes). It sucks since the Canadian Dollar is stronger than the US Dollar nowadays, so I would have pay CAN$297 for the cam in the US with cheaper taxes! But all in all the hassle of paying shipping, duties and brokerage fees is not worth it, plus the Canon Repair Shop is 2 miles from my office so in case it breaks it's better to have it purchased locally, I guess.

PS: I was playing a bit with the SD870 last nite and wow is a huge step from the SD300 both in still IQ and movie IQ and low light performance. And that 3" LCD is just gorgeous. No need for viewfinder; if I want one I just switch to my Canon Xti :)

[telles75]

By the way Ducko I get all my screen protectors from http://www.screenpatronus.com . They are custom made protectors for cameras, GPS, etc... Very high quality plastic that does not have adhesive but sticks really solid by electrostatic. The one on my Rebel XTi is still scratch free for 1 year and the one on my TomTom GPS is perfect as well.

I would highly recommend the protectors these guys make.

[ducko]

Congratulations on your purchase. you won't be let down.

Thanks for the heads up on the screen protectors. I'll give them a go.

[Transonic]

The 2 cameras are very similar and not. The SD750 actually has a 28mm wide lens. Here is a little chart I made for you.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/ragerman/SD870750.jpgI guess not many people have bought the SD870 yet. I just got my sister an SD750 but it's a birthday present and she doesn't know yet. :lol: BeachCamera has the SD870 for $299 shipped and that deal is looking pretty good to me now that I know the differences between the 2 cameras. I'm probably gonna end up getting the 870 now that I see the side by side comparison. My SD630's been through a lot and even though it's a great P&S I'm probably gonna upgrade for Christmas. Thanks for the info.

[defwhig]

How does the SD850 IS differ from the SD870 IS? It's quite a bit cheaper.

[mven74]

How does the SD850 IS differ from the SD870 IS? It's quite a bit cheaper.
bigger screen on 870 but no view finder. FL on 850 is 35-140mm, 28-105mm for the 870

[gamarada717]

Newegg.com has the 870 for 305 shipped, and a nice bundle package for people who might be new to photography for 50 dollars. Includes 1g SD card, tripod, case, some other junk too. Not bad for a starter kit.

[darktiger]

I got the 870IS from Circuit City for $299 and love it. I was deciding between the 870IS, Panasonic fx55/lx2, Canon G9. And the 870IS was my choice, love this camera.

[javanutsy]

Just placed an order for the SD870 from Amazon for the wife. She's always complaining about not having a lens wide enough with her old SD200. The SD870 looks like it will fit the bill nicely.

[jmckell]

Newegg.com has the 870 for 305 shipped, and a nice bundle package for people who might be new to photography for 50 dollars. Includes 1g SD card, tripod, case, some other junk too. Not bad for a starter kit.

I am thinking about picking this ip for my wife. She complains about how hard it is to use mt DSLR.

[ooo]

I just moved onto a dslr but if I were to choose between the two cameras I would definitely go for the 870IS. The wide angle + the is is two very important things that I wish I considered before buying my P&S. I hate shooting with my flash so often my shutter speed is 1/30, 1/8, 1/10. I can hold it pretty steady and it'll look fine for a 4x6 print but it would of looked better with IS. Wide angle is always useful. I hate having to take multiple pictures of a building and putting them together in photoshop.

[sixsixfour]

i just received one from B&H. ordered an extra Canon battery and a 2GB Extreme III card with it. its my gift to my brother this xmas as im tired of the fact that he (as well as everyone else in our household) still uses those disposable P/S cameras when he needs to take a pic of someone/something.

did a lot of research and the wide angle capability, above all, is nice. for me this matters most as i know this will most likely be used to shoot reverse shots (i.e the user will aim the camera at himself and his friends) as well as coffee shop shots. i tested the unit I got to make sure it was working and the closeup digital macro is very good.

[jmckell]

I pulled the trigger on the 870IS.

I can't wait for Christmas now.

[telles75]

I am very happy with my purchase. I don;t use the viewfinder and the 870IS delivers nice image quality and video quality as well. The IS makes a big difference. I am glad I did not opted for the SD750 or SD850

[tadrscin]

Has anyone tried taking any action/sports shot with the 870? I'd like to get a better P&S to take riding and get some good mtn biking shots as I'm too afraid to take my 30D on a ride.

[telles75]

I like my 870IS a lot but as any compact point and shoot is not good for Action shots. Focusing is not fast enough and shots come out a bit blurry. Just my 2 cents.

[tadrscin]

I'm just looking for the best one I can get. I have a Casio EX-S600 which does OK, but it's limited to an ISO of 400 which just isn't high enough to give me acceptable shutter speeds in the woods. I was able to get some OK shots the last time I used it at North Shore, but the fastest shutter speed it would ever shoot at was 1/60th. At least with an ISO of 1600 I would've had a shutter speed of 1/250 which I could live with. These don't have to be fantastic shots, but if we're doing 5-6' drops I want to be able to capture them good enough that you can see what were doing. Are there any limitations to what modes you can use when set to ISO 1600? I tried an Olympus Stylus 1200 and Casio EX-V8 and both had severe limitations on what other settings/features you could use at the high ISOs. With the SD870 it sounds like you can have the IS on all the time. Is that correct? That was another of the limitations on the other 2 cameras. I want to avoid the need to pan most of the time as I want to be able to capture both the rider and drop/jump size clearly. I love panning shots, especially with off-camera flash, but that's not an option when we go to places like the Shore and Whister. How well does the Auto ISO Shift work? It sounds like paired with the IS, this camera is capable of taking some good shots in less than ideal lighting conditions. One other question I have with the SD870 is how fast it can be ready to take a picture from the time it's turned on. My Casio takes at least 10 seconds which cost me some really cool shots last year. A couple of reviews I read said it's about 1 second and a shutter lag of about 1/10th of a second when pre-focused without flash. Unless there are some serious limitations in the combinations of features that are usable, this sounds like it will do better than any other P&S that I can find. Specifically if I can at least have the ISO set to 1600 with the IS on, I'd be happy. If I can use the Exposure Compensation with ISO 1600 and IS on, I'd be really happy. I can overcome the inherent difficulties of using a P&S if I can at least get a usable combination of features. I do need to have a compact so that it fits in a pouch on my CamelBak and it won't get damaged or hurt me when I crash.

[Flyingavanti]

Just bought my Dad a SD850 at Costco for only $229.! Almost want to replace my SD500!