Canon PowerShot SD970

The PowerShot SD970 IS becomes the twelfth Canon compact digital I've reviewed for this site, and the previous eleven have established the line as generally providing good image and color quality and overall decent performance.

The cameras seem to follow a measured but steady progression of feature upgrades and improvements as technology advances, rather than opting for a dramatic "break the mold" departure from past practices such as Casio's EX-F1 and its 60fps still shooting ability. Whether by accident or design, Canon's recipe must work as the company claims to have moved over 22 million units worldwide in the first 10 years since the ELPH nameplate reached the market in May 1996.


The SD970 IS looks to continue the trend. A gently sculpted metal body housing a 5x optical zoom with optical stabilization, 3.0 inch monitor, 12.1 megapixel sensor, 1280x720 HD video capability and Canon's current generation Digic 4 processor positions the camera with all the right stuff to compete in its class. Will the SD970 IS live up to the expectations of it created by its predecessors? Come along as we find out.

BUILD AND DESIGN

With its cigarette pack/deck of cards shape and size that is virtually a universal constant for compact digitals in the 3 to 5x zoom class, the SD970 IS at a distance could easily pass as an offering from any number of manufacturers. Closer examination shows the all-metal body is solid and appears well put together.

New users will be forgiven if at first blush it appears Canon has left off a means to attach the provided wrist strap to the body - the attachment point sits flush on the right end of the body between the HDMI and AV ports, but it's easy to overlook.

A metal tripod socket reinforces the overall impression of robust design and build.

Ergonomics and Controls
With a 3.0 inch monitor dominating the camera back, Canon still managed to locate four control buttons and the control dial back there as well, but the layout is well designed and spaced so conflicts are virtually nonexistent. The index finger of the right hand falls naturally to the shutter button in either horizontal or vertical shooting formats, and the other fingers of the right hand pose no problems to camera components.

The same can't be said for the left hand, depending on your hold. For me, the left index and middle fingers sitting atop the camera body feel more secure, and that tends to be my natural grip. On the SD970 IS the flash sits at the front upper left corner of the camera body, and I find my middle finger positions itself partially over the flash in most cases. A simple "left thumb on the bottom and index finger on top" hold fixes the problem, so if that happens to be your natural grip, no worries. Folks like me who tend to put a lot more fingers into the hold may need to get used to adjusting that a bit.

More and more compacts are coming out with controls that allow the user to start shooting video by means of a single button push from any shooting mode. The SD970 IS doesn't have that feature per se, but there's a handy work-around: the camera allows the user to "register" certain camera functions to the direct print button on the camera back that can be called up with a single push. If you only register video, you can start recording by pushing the direct print button no matter what shooting mode you're in. A second push of the direct print button or full push of the shutter button stops recording.

Menus and Modes
The SD970 IS proved straightforward in its presentation of shooting options: a three position mode switch atop the camera body allows the user to select auto, shooting or video modes.

Auto mode uses Canon's smart auto technology that "intelligently selects the proper settings for the camera based on 18 predefined shooting situations".

Shooting mode requires the user to access an internal menu to select from 19 shooting options, including program, portrait, foliage, snow, beach, sunset, fireworks, creative light effect, aquarium, ISO 3200, indoor, kids & pets, night snapshot, color accent, color swap, digital macro, long shutter, zoom blur and stitch assist.

Video allows capture of movies in HD 1280x720 (30 fps) or Standard Definition: 640x480 or 320x240, both at 30 fps. Limits are 4GB or 29 minutes 59 seconds for HD and 60 minutes for SD. As I mentioned above, you can initiate video capture via the direct print button if the video option has been registered to that button.

Shooting and setup menus can be accessed via the menu button; when in a shooting mode, pressing the function button brings up a menu of any available user-modifiable settings for that particular mode. Even for someone unfamiliar with Canon compacts, a little surfing with the menu and function buttons should make things fairly clear, even in the absence of the user's manual.

Display/Viewfinder
The 3.0 inch LCD monitor boasts a 461,000 dot composition and is adjustable for five levels of brightness, but even so, it can be difficult to use for image composition in direct sunlight. Monitor coverage is 100%. There is no viewfinder