SD 870 IS: P&S wide angle elph-volution
A true wide angle that fits in your pocket and sports a mature set of features

"If you don't mess with success, success won't mess with you" seems to be the moral Canon learned when they radically altered the triumphant G series. Certainly it had to be painful, but not as much as if you'd significantly change your most popular line of cameras. So, with the SD870 IS we are facing elph-volution instead of relph-volution.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS shares the perpetual curve front of its predecessor, the SD800 IS. This time there are two options: silver and black. We tend to favor the highly contrasty black version (pretty much the same way we did with the SD1000) although most people seem to like the chromed version.

Ergonomically it is very comfortable even without any real grip. The back is slightly recessed to accommodate the thumb. Using the SD870 with a single hand is a little tricky but by no means impossible, we found it very comfortable using both hands.

Side by side, they share pretty much the same design, which is extremely good. The SD870 IS is very small and stylish, yet beefy. These Digital Elphs seem like luxury items and, actually, they are. Although Canon chose a silver tone for the SD870 body it doesn's seem like a cheap silver digicam. Although we loved the champagne finish and the dark gray from previous models, the semi-matte aluminum finish on the SD870 looks very fancy.

Going wide

The SD870 IS is not an average ultra-compact P&S. The focal length provides real wide-angle starting at 28mm at the wide end (35mm equiv.) and has a tele end of 105mm. This feature alone justifies buying the SD870 instead of any other ultra compact in Canon's line. A true wide angle is really useful for tight interiors, better landscapes and full-family group shots. We'd like that the 28mm wide end would be the standard for digital camera.

On the tele side, the optical zoom is a moderate 3.8x.

Look ma! No optical-viewfinder!

If the front is practically the same as the previous Digital Elph models, the back and top are telling a totally different story. First, there is a big 3" LCD monitor that is way better than previous screens. It is not only a matter of size, but it is brighter and colors are more vivid. To have such a big display the optical view-finder was sacrificed. To be honest, having an optical view-finder is supposed to be a good add-on, but it's not much of a loss with poor & tiny optical finders that are really difficult to use. Screens are improving, so having a tiny little hole doesn't seem to be as critical as it used to be. The 3" display on this new camera is perfectly visible even under under direct sunlight; the only trade off is lower battery life.

Button layout

Another result from the big screen is a very different button layout. First, there is no round mode dial. We really disliked it on the SD800 IS. Having a dedicated "play mode" button is way better. Now you'll find a selector on the top for normal shooting, scenes and movie. The new ON/OFF button is much easier to reach than the recessed switch on the previous versions. These may seem like little details, but in comparison they improve the usability of the camera quite a bit.

The placement of the 4 way round dial, MENU and DISP buttons have changed. The new multi controller is a nice surprise. It seems like an ordinary Digital Elph controller, but when you put your finger over it, you'll see a graphic appearing in the display that is a great visual aid when shooting in the dark. The direct print button may be programmed for such useful direct commands such as record movie, exposure compensation white balance and more. We use the shortcut button for exposure compensation.

The overall interface of the SD870 IS is pretty much the same as with all PowerShots: it is easy to use and very familiar.

In shooting mode now you can see the remain battery power (at last! why did Canon's guy take so long for such an obvious feature?) and the ISO setting, shutter speed and aperture chosen by the camera. The face detect is supposed to be improved, although we didn't find a significant change.

New features

Digging into the menu you'll find more reasons to like this wide angle P&S: Auto ISO shift detects if you can reduce movement by pumping up the ISO setting automatically; that's quite good. The self timer allows you to choose the delay time but also the number of shots. The Focus Check in the review info is great to see if your focus is sharp and accurate.

With such a pint-sized shooter camera shake is a big issue. The optical Image Stabilizer is pretty good and now there is a panning option for moving subjects. We don't see any difference from the continuous and shoot only IS mode, the manual says that the shoot only mode is better, though. We now feel the Image Stabilizer as and indispensable feature for this kind of really small cameras.

Although you don't have creative modes, there are 10 scene modes and a competent white balance handling. Movie mode is isn't mediocre yet it is pretty average: 640x480 30fps movies and digital zoom only.

Macro mode is good (although we miss Super Macro mode) as well as stitch mode.

Performance

The SD870 IS is pretty snappy. You won't lose shots due to camera delays. Don't expect ultra fast response. Continuous mode is, however, slow. It improves with lower resolutions but forget about taking this little shooter to the stadium or the racetrack. By the way, with a flash so close to the lens, red eyes are a problem, yet the red-eye reduction on the Play mode is easy to use and actually very effective.

Although the screen is bigger, battery life is the same as the SD800 with 270 shots per charge, although the previous model had a 600 shots using the optical view-finder exclusively (ouch! that tiny hole was useful, after all!)

Image Quality

Our SD800 IS always seemed to be a problem: we found images had halos -as if the lens would be dirty-. We always felt that the image quality was compromised. Although this new Digital Elph seems to have the exact same optics, it is obvious that the new 8.0 mega pixels sensor is better, and that shows in resolution size, quality of image and noise behavior. We didn't find the previous image problems.

We always feel that stuffing 8 mega pixels in a small 1/2.5" sensor would hurt the image quality. It was surprising that the SD870 IS images are actually better, and that includes lower noise. Images are overall finer, not incredibly, but worthier. It is very clear that the Digic III processor has been fine tuned.

ISO sensitivities and noise issues

Most compact cameras begin to tremble when we arrive to this point on our reviews. Many usability and style wonders have proven to be bad performers at high ISO sensitivities. It was quite a surprise to see better performance of the SD870 IS shots at high ISO levels. Hold your horses: it is not time yet to start a party and chant Kool & The Gang's "Celebration". We found that the noise reduction algorithm has been improved. Chroma noise is more fitting and the processor is less aggressive with luminance noise. The overall result is superior to higher level cameras such as the S5 IS or the G7.

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (100% crops)
ISO 80	ISO 100ISO 100
ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600

The noise war isn't over. ISO 1600 is still detestable with meager detail and still has come chroma noise. But ISO 400 is surprisingly good and even ISO 800 is usable in 4x6 prints. This is quite a surprise: better images and there's an ISO 400 that you can actually use plus Image Stabilizer with a 28mm wide end: That's not your average digicam.

That’s it for the techno babble. How does the SD870 IS feel?

Let's be clear: the SD870 is a Digital Elph, so you won't find any creative modes such as Av, Tv or Manual modes; all you can do is adjust the exposure. Once you get used to the idea that this is an ultra-compact P&S, you'll appreciate this as a very fine camera. Quality built is extremely good, design remains a fashion statement, usability is great, LCD monitor is big and precise. Resolution is big enough to print letter sized photos and even larger sizes. Image quality is very good for a tiny camera with improved noise handling and accurate -yet rich- colors and reasonable detail. All these plus a true wide angle 28mm camera that you can fit in almost any pocket except jeans pockets (BTW, those jeans are a tad too tight for your own health!) This is the kind of camera that you will carry with you all the time.

The bottom line