Canon PowerShot SD880 IS Review

The Canon Powershot series has been a rage for a couple of years now for its excellent performance at an excellent price. Canon continues to churn out digital cameras in this lineup and Canon Powershot Sd880 IS belongs to the same category. It is priced between the budget and premium segments offering something to both of them.

Canon Powershot SD880 IS specifications :

• Dimensions : 3.7″ x 0.9″ x 2.2″
• Weight : 5.5 oz
• Resolution : 10 megapixel
• Image Stabilizer : Optical image stabilization
• Light sensitivity : Upto ISO 3200
• Optical zoom : 4x
• Digital zoom : 4x
• Focal length : 5mm – 20mm
• Min. shutter speed : 15 sec
• Max. shutter speed : 1/1600 sec
• Flash memory : SD Memory Card
• Other features : Face Detection, PictBridge support, In-camera movie editing,
  Motion Detection technology, Camera orientation detection
• Battery : Li-ion rechargeable battery
• Approx. price : $299

The dimensions of the camera are small and can easily fit even small pockets. The camera packs in a 10 megapixel sensor and has Digic 4 image-processor. The camera has solid build quality and good grip when held in the hand. It can be operated with one hand too. The buttons are ergonomically located on the right and top side.

The camera has 16 scene modes to choose from, this includes the Panorama mode too for stitching photos together. You can also buy an additional casing to use the camera underwater and make use of the mode ‘Underwater’. The Automatic mode is good and delivers good results in most of the conditions, something amateurs look out for.

The camera records video in the H.264 format as opposed to widely used MPEG JPEG format. The maximum resolution it can record video at is 640 x 480. The camera lens has a wide angle even with its small dimensions. It also has optical image stabilization which has become a necessity in point and shoot cameras. The 4x optical zoom is low and we expected something better.

The performance of the camera is good, thanks to the Digic 4 processor. The camera takes just 1.2 seconds to shoot first image and 1.9 seconds for subsequent shots. Shutter lag is 0.4 seconds in bright light and 0.8 seconds in dim light. Flash reduces shot-to-shot time considerably to 3.2 seconds. The display does a good job in both bright and dim lighting conditions and has a good viewing angle too. The image quality is truly amazing and pictures turn out crisp with good detail and sharpness. Fringing, however, is an issue with the camera.

Pros :

• Small dimensions
• Good display
• Optical image stabilization
• Wide-angle lens
• Great image quality

Cons :

• Low optical zoom
• Fringing problem

Final Thoughts

The Canon Powershot SD880 IS combines style with performance leading to a great product. It has everything right from small dimensions to good display to great performance. Canon could have gone with better optical zoom and done something about the fringing problem too. But each camera does have its downsides. Overall a great camera that will sell in large numbers.

Rating : 4/5