Quick Review: Canon SD780 IS Digital Camera

Not wanting to lug my DSLR along for the trip to Seattle, I did some research on a point-and-shoot digital camera to take its place. I needed a camera that would not only competently shoot video, but would also take high-quality shots. Oh, it had to be under $200, too.

I finally decided on the Canon SD780 IS. It's a small form factor point and shoot, sporting a 12.1 megapixel sensor. The main feature that drew me to it: 720p 30fps video. Video was the main feature I had to have on any camera I bought.

Since I do video for a living, I'm usually a bit skeptical of anything that claims to deliver HD performance for under a couple grand. Smaller cameras can certainly get the resolution needed for HD, but there's usually a subpar lens that takes the quality (and color) down.

The SD780 IS being a point shoot camera helps it immensely in the lens department. It sports a 3x optical lens and not some plastic fixed lens like other low-end cameras. This really helps it in with color reproduction. However, this camera's video function isn't perfect.

The video quality in low-light (anything that's not outside or lit up like a fire) is pretty bad. It's certainly watchable, but it's not HD quality by any means nor does it rival even the low-light performance of my Canon HV20 HDV camera (which is pretty bad). But, with ample lighting, this cameras really blows me away.

It's 720p picture (H.264 @ 24mb bitrate) looks crisp, clear and doesn't show much in the way of artifacting. The colors are almost spot-on, albeit slightly blown out in areas of high contrast. It's certainly more than adequate for those wanting to shoot some video, but do not want to carry around a full sized HDV or XDCAM rig. At the same time, don't expect it to rival those formats because it falls short in control (not much for manual control in video).

The video function of this camera gets an 8/10. The photo quality does actually look comparable to my DSLR, so it gets a 9/10. Samples below: