Canon ELPH SD780IS

The Canon ELPH SD780IS is another superb camera from the PowerShot family of cameras, it follows on from the success of the SD880IS.

This is a camera that is beautiful to look at and comes in either gold, black, silver or deep red. Good looking gadgets are the way forward and this will surely go down as a design classic. The ELPH in the name is a reference to its size, (and the other cameras in the family), as it is small yet powerful.

Looks aside, does this camera actually the job it's designed for and does it do it well? The answer is absolutely YES!

It may be small, but great things can often come in small packages and this is no exception; with its 12.1 megapixel, 3x optical zoom picture taking ability, you can capture plenty of the smaller details in any photo and produce poster-size prints.

Blink detection and red-eye correction are incorporated into the photo-taking process along with image stabilization and the excellent Face Detection technology which not only tracks the movements of people before the shot is taken but can recognize when another face enters the frame such as the photographer themselves, so they don't have to be left out. No more rushing into the shot after setting the camera on a timer.

The Canon SD780IS sports a 2.5-inch widescreen PureColor LCD II screen for easily viewing your subjects and getting things just right before you take the shot, it works well in low light situations too.

All of the previously mentioned functionality is great, particularly in such a beautiful and small device, but what really sets this camera apart from many others is its ability to record video, HD (High Definition) video! This also has image stabilization and the camera includes a HDMI output for direct connection to your television.

If you are mainly into taking still pictures then a 4GB SD/SDHC card will do fine, obviously the bigger the better as those highly detailed pictures will use a quite a bit of space. For any decent length video you'll need to go as big as possible such as an 8GB card.

MMC cards up to High Capacity MMC are also compatible and it's worth noting that older SD card readers may not work with SDHC cards, so keep that in mind if you prefer to remove the card to a separate reader rather than connect the camera via USB.

Running costs are low for the Canon ELPH SD780IS as replacement batteries and additional cards are a few dollars and there is a choice of cases to protect your camera, which may be worth the investment if you carry it around with you a lot.

Overall, great camera, great price and a gadget that should give you years of reliable service as it's made by the tried and tested Canon brand.

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