January 15th, 2009 by 
nhatgnat
Canon PowerShot SD790 IS Image Quality
Digital image quality is a combination of lens quality, sensor quality, exposure metering, and image processing. In good light the PowerShot SD790’s lens produces a nice, crisp image and the metering is right on in most situations. Wide shots are a bit soft on the edges, as you can see if you look at the large version of the Olympics stadium photo at the beginning of the review. For tricky shots exposure compensation (available in the M mode) will help you dial in how light or dark you want your photo. Optical image stabilization helps keep photos sharp in dim light and allows you to keep the sensitivity low for better image quality.
I compared the Canon PowerShot SD790 IS images to some other digital cameras including the 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD850 IS and another 10-megapixel pocket camera – the Panasonic Lumix FX35. Up to ISO 400 the SD790 IS is a clear winner with less noise than the other cameras and natural color and contrast. At ISO 800, the SD790 IS starts to slip, with noise becoming obvious and images starting to lose color saturation and contrast. At ISO 1600 and 3200 the Canon SD790 IS images are super noisy and have very little contrast or color saturation. To be fair, those high ISO settings will help you get the shot in poor lighting conditions. But the image quality will be poor – I’ve yet to see a point-and-shoot camera that looks good at ISO 1600. I would avoid going over ISO 400 with the SD790 IS unless you absolutely have to. But at ISO 400 the noise is reasonable and the large file size means it won’t show up in normal-sized prints (up to 8.5×11). If possible, select the sensitivity (ISO) yourself and try to keep it at ISO 400 or lower.
To summarize, the Canon PowerShot SD790 IS image quality is comparable to other Canon point-and-shoots I’ve used before. But I don’t think Canon has done anything ground breaking with the SD790 IS. The only noticeable improvement over other point-and-shoots I’ve used is the increased resolution and improved noise control at ISO 400.
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Click on thumbnails to view sample photos.
Canon PowerShot SD790 IS Sample Gallery >>
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March 1st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Canon PowerShot SD790 is such a popular product. I just discovered that I can get one as low as $135 at http://www.woya.com/products/canon_powershot_sd790_is_10mp_digital_camera_with_3x_optical_image_stabilized_zoom_751468
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 am
this camera is great i love it so much. thxs god for making the people who invented it.
April 21st, 2009 at 4:58 am
This camera is a great disappointment. It is impossible to take beach pics. in sunlight due to the funky viewfinder. It is also very noisy and inconvenient taking nature shots. it was purchased by my wife for a B-Day present and I am not willing to disappoint her by returning it. Also, I don’t need the video cam function, play it to your TV function, record sound function. This is NOT a worthwhile tool for what I’d like to do.