One of the Better Efforts

Author's Rating:

Pros: Best lens for a P&S, wide angle ability, good focus and images

Cons: LCD looks like it's from the 90's!

The Bottom Line: 
Except for the LCD, this is the best P&S Canon makes today.

Author's Review

Overview
Canon's latest digital Elph model may be their best P&S camera ever. It's certainly better than the G10 or G11 and costs less. This is a tiny credit card sized camera with a 3" screen. The screen actually ends up with a 2.5" viewable area. It weighs in at just over 5 ounces.

Optics
24mm to 120mm is an impressive range, and while you'll see some distortion (especially at 24mm) this is a very nice range. Images are sharp enough to make pleasing 8X10 prints. This is the best P&S lens I've seen from Canon. At 24mm you have a VERY wide image compared to other P&S models. The image stabilizer works well.

LCD
This is a weak point. It's not very bright or crisp and easily washes out in bright light. With no optical viewfinder you may struggle to compose your shots. Going wider with the lens will help, but you'll find yourself struggling at times. It's also a touch screen and of lower resolution than it should be. Canon would have had a home-run if they made the LCD better.

Focus
This is a winner. It focuses very well and in less light than the newer and more expensive G11. It's also quite fast.

Lag
No one is making a P&S camera that really acts like a DSLR, which is why I own 3 DSLRs. If speed and shooting action is what you need buy a DSLR. The 980 is quick, but it's not a DSLR.

ISO range
Ever important, the new Elph is actually not bad up to about ISO 400.

Handling
Ergonimically this is a bit of a dud. Power control is too small and the lousy under-spec'd screen really holds the camera back.

Flash
Reasonable with a real range of about 12 feet, but at 24mm the flash isn't quite up to the area coverage!

Features
Good movie modes, touch screen and some fairly average scene modes. It's all stuff you've seen before.

Summary
The lens is WIDE and the image quality is superb for a P&S. By comparison this is a superior unit to the G10 or G11 and I think the images are better. It's tiny and light making it an ideal travel camera. If Canon improves the LCD I'll be very happy! And if they find a way to squeeze in an optical finder...even a tiny one....I'll be happier still.