700IS vs. S80

[bosshogg357]

I'm considering my next camera purchase. I have the S30. I am looking at the S80 vs. the 700 IS. I am curious as to what anyone has to say about the pros and cons of one or the other. I see that the 700 IS has anti-shake and an underwater mode.
Your advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[CompuDude]

Depends on how serious you want to get with uw photography. The 700 has no manual controls worth speaking of. That said, you can take some pretty great shots without manual controls.

If you're a serious photog and will want the freedom to play with aperature settings, shutter speed, etc. to have good fine-tuned control over your shots, you'll want the S80. Note that even if you don't know what I'm talking about, if you get the S80 you'll have the option of using auto mode for now and learning manual stuff later. If you get the 700, you're full-auto for the life of the camera.

But you can get some great shots with full auto. So in the end, it depends mostly on what's most important to you.

 

[Eric2]

Hi All

I’m also interested in hearing any thoughts and tips on using the SD700IS for underwater photography. I would especially love to see some underwater pics from the SD700IS if anyone has some.

I’m of to the Great Barrier Reef in September and I’m planning to do quite a bit of snorkelling and learn my PADI. My girlfriend has recently purchased the SD700IS and we thought it would be nice to get some underwater pictures. Originally I was planning on buying the S80 which I’ve seen some very good results from but it now seems silly to buy another camera if the picture quality is comparable to the S80? I know it doesn’t have a wide angle but wondered if the IS helped to get sharper results? Although the 700IS is mainly a point and shoot camera there is a manual mode were you can change some basic settings. It also has a underwater mode, be interested to know if this works.

Thanks

 

[CompuDude]

Hi All

I’m also interested in hearing any thoughts and tips on using the SD700IS for underwater photography. I would especially love to see some underwater pics from the SD700IS if anyone has some.

I’m of to the Great Barrier Reef in September and I’m planning to do quite a bit of snorkelling and learn my PADI. My girlfriend has recently purchased the SD700IS and we thought it would be nice to get some underwater pictures. Originally I was planning on buying the S80 which I’ve seen some very good results from but it now seems silly to buy another camera if the picture quality is comparable to the S80? I know it doesn’t have a wide angle but wondered if the IS helped to get sharper results? Although the 700IS is mainly a point and shoot camera there is a manual mode were you can change some basic settings. It also has a underwater mode, be interested to know if this works.

Thanks

The Canon underwater modes mostly set the white balance to give more natural color balance underwater, so your pictures aren't quite as blue. Manual white balance will give you more accurate results, but the UW setting does a decent job if you don't want to mess with the manual setting. I use the UW setting and like the results.

The only manual settings the 700IS has is exposure. Manual controls are usually referred to as controls for aperature, shutter speed, and ISO, which many cameras deliver, but not the 700IS, nor any others in it's series. The S80 has manual controls, as do most of the A series cameras. The SD series cameras do not have any significant manual controls.

 

[thelawgoddess]

the cozumel photos in my flickr are taken with the 700is. (if you click on photos, the camera info is displayed in the details.)

 

[Taxgeek]

The SD700 is pretty good. It has a couple of irritating features though - see my post in the "All Purpose P&S" thread up in the general photography forum. If you need to get a camera anyway, and can stand the slightly larger size, I'd get the S80. If you were going to get the s80 maybe just to take better pics than the sd700 will take, then maybe you would want to wait as the sd700 is pretty darn good - you can always buy the s80 (or an A series) later anyway, no?

I have some pics I took last weekend testing out my sd700 for the first time - pm me your email address and I'll send them. I'd post them but I haven't uploaded them to a server.

 

[thelawgoddess]

i have to agree about some annoying features. i had the s410 before the sd700is, and the s410 was a phenomenal little camera that took stellar photos. the sd700is has more optical zoom and megapixels, but i don't think the photo quality is quite as good as the s410 was. i also think the ergonomics on the sd700is were not very well thought out - the location of some of the buttons makes one-handed use rather clumsy at times, but i still think it's a good camera. and while the macro mode on the sd700is is not as good as it was on the s410 either, the macro mode is better than i have seen on other similar type cameras. if only they made the sd series shoot raw ...

 

[CompuDude]

The S80 has been discontinued for quite a while. Used cameras are fetching more than the new originals cost, when they were available, because it is a GREAT camera and Canon has yet to replace the model. No one really understands why they discontinued it.

Anyway, my point is, don't hold up hopes of an S80, I wouldn't buy one due to availability issues, as good as it is. Wait for the replacement to come, eventually, or check out other models.

I would choose the SD800is if I was looking for a good, compact P&S and needed to buy today. If you want manual controls, look to the A series until Canon gets around to replacing the S80 with something comparable.