Canon PowerShot SD850 IS review 2008

The good: Great performance and image quality; solid image stabilization; face detection.
The bad: No manual exposure controls; on/off button a bit awkward; noisy images at ISO 1,600.
The bottom line: The Canon PowerShot SD 850 IS has just about everything you'd want in a point-and-shoot.
Specs: Digital camera type: Compact; Resolution: 8 megapixels; Optical zoom:

General

* Product Type
* Digital camera - Compact

* Weight
* 5.8 oz

* Width
* 3.5 in

* Depth
* 1 in

* Height
* 2.2 in

Main Features

* Resolution
* 8 megapixels

* Sensor resolution
* 8 megapixels

* Optical Sensor Type
* CCD

* Effective Sensor Resolution
* 8,000,000 pixels

* Total Pixels
* 8,300,000 pixels

* Optical Sensor Size
* 1/2.5 in

* Light Sensitivity
* ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO auto

* Digital Zoom
* 4 x

* Shooting Modes
* Frame movie mode

* Shooting Programs
* Snow, Beach, Indoor, Foliage, Aquarium, Fireworks, Color swap, Underwater, Kids & pets, Color accent, Digital macro, Portrait mode, Stitch assist, Night snapshot

* Special effects
* My Colors, Color Swap, Color Accent, Creative Light

* Max Shutter Speed
* 1/1600 sec

* Min Shutter Speed
* 15 sec

* Exposure Metering
* Spot, Evaluative, Center-weighted

* Exposure Modes
* Program, Automatic

* Exposure Compensation
* ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps

* White Balance
* Custom, Presets, Automatic

* White Balance Presets
* Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (daylight)

* Digital video format
* AVI

* Still Image Format
* JPEG

* Continuous Shooting Speed
* 1.3 frames per second

* Remote control
* None

* Color support
* Color

* Image Stabilizer
* Optical

* Remote Control
* None

* TV Tuner
* None

* Video Capture
* AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 160 x 120

Memory / Storage

* Flash Memory
* 32 MB Flash - SD Memory Card

* Floppy Drive
* None

* Image Storage
* Super-fine JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 11 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 18 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 3264 x 1832 : 39 - With 32MB card, Super-fine JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 8 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 14 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 29 - With 32MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 11 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 20 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 41 - With 32MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 18 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 32 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 64 - With 32MB card, Super-fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 29 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 52 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 99 - With 32MB card, Super-fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 111 - With 32MB card, Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 171 - With 32MB card, Normal JPEG 640 x 480 : 270 - With 32MB card

* Flash memory
* 32 MB - SD Memory Card

* Supported Flash Memory
* MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card

Lens System

* Type
* Zoom lens - 5.8 mm - 23.2 mm - F/2.8-5.5

* Focal Length
* 5.8 mm - 23.2 mm

* Lens Construction
* 5 group(s) / 7 element(s)

* Lens Manufacturer
* Canon

Additional Features

* Self Timer
* Yes

* Self Timer Delay
* 2 sec, 10 sec

* Additional Features
* AE lock, AF lock, FE lock, Safety zoom, DPOF support, Direct print, Auto ISO shift, Face detection, Audio recording, Auto power save, Built-in speaker, Histogram display, PictBridge support, In-camera red-eye fix, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital image rotation, Digital tele-converter, Interval shooting mode, Digital noise reduction, In-camera movie editing, RGB primary color filter, Display brightness control, Camera orientation detection

Camera Flash

* Effective Flash Range
* 1.6 ft - 11.5 ft

* Type
* Built-in flash

* Flash Modes
* Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction

* Red Eye Reduction
* Yes

* Effective flash range
* 1.6 ft - 11.5 ft

* Features
* AF illuminator

Viewfinder

* Viewfinder Type
* Optical - Real-image zoom

* Color support
* Color

Display

* Type
* LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color

* Mounting
* Built-in

* Resolution
* 230,000 pixels

Digital Player (Recorder)

* Type
* None

Microphone

* Type
* Microphone - Built-in

Connections

* Connector Type
* 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB

* Expansion Slot(s)
* 1 x SD Memory Card

Lens Systems

* Auto Focus
* TTL contrast detection

* Type
* Zoom lens

* Focal length
* 5.8 mm - 23.2 mm

* Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera
* 35 - 140 mm

* Focus adjustment
* Automatic

* Auto Focus Points (Zones)
* 9

* Min Focus Range
* 19.7 in

* Macro Focus Range
* 2-50cm

* Lens Aperture
* F/2.8-5.5

* Optical Zoom
* 4 x

* Zoom Adjustment
* Motorized drive

* Lens construction
* 5 : 7

* Features
* UA lens, Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield

Miscellaneous

* Carrying Case
* None

* Cables Included
* 1, 1 x A/V cable, USB cable

* Included Accessories
* Wrist strap

* Min Operating Temperature
* 32 °F

* Max Operating Temperature
* 104 °F

Power

* Power Device
* Battery charger - External

System Requirements for PC Connection

* Operating system
* MS Windows ME, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows 98 SE, Apple Mac OS X 10.1.5 - 10.3

* Peripherals
* USB port, CD-ROM drive, SVGA monitor

Battery

* Supported Battery
* 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )

Software

* Type
* Canon ImageBrowser, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ZoomBrowser EX

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