I'm trying my hardest to get a new digi cam...I've narrowed it down, I think, to either that:

Canon SD1000 or

SD 800 IS.

The 800 is give or take about $100 more, and I basically want to know, from someone who knows more about digicams on TWW than me (which is a lot of you) if there are any big differences between the two...ie, if it's worth $100 more.

7/16/2007 1:30:24 AM

Seriously, go look at the Sony DSC-W90, DSC-W80 and DSC-T20.

They are a full class above the SD1000, and better than the SD800 IS. The SD700 IS is better than the 800, and it's the previous model!

Go down to a Best Buy or camera shop and just compare. You can get the DSC-T20 for ~280, the W90 and W80 are ~270 and ~225 respectively.

Canon makes great DSLR's, but Sony makes the best ultra-slim out there by far. If you had the $$$, I'd say take a look at the T100 and W200 too, but they are up in the 400 dollar range.

7/16/2007 3:44:28 AM

^ agreed


plus the Sonys usually have Zeiss lenses, which are some of the best money can buy.

7/16/2007 7:32:00 AM

i've got an sd1000 i'd sell you pretty cheap.. i've barely used it but its too late to return it now and i'm wanting something different

7/16/2007 7:44:26 AM

while i can't vouch for the ultra slim cam's, i have owned a sony dsc-p73, p93, and now a h5 and i've loved every one of them

7/16/2007 11:10:52 AM

those canon's are some of the best on the market, definitely get the IS though, which the 1000 doesn't include..

7/16/2007 1:58:54 PM

i just got the SD 800 IS a week ago. i like it a lot, but i did hear the 700 was a little better. the only thing that bothers me is to get to the playback mode, you have to rotate the mode dial rather than push a button. so i'm constantly rotating the dial from shoot to playback to shoot to playback. i'm used to pressing a button instead. sure, it's a small difference, but i feel like i'm going to break the thing rotating so much

7/16/2007 2:03:14 PM

shiat....well thanks everyone for your advice...I'm still confused though. I've got tech savvy people on both sides (sony and canon)

OK, well let's assume that I go with Sony....I probably wouldn't go with the T100 or W200 because considering that I've been some what managing with a bulky old olympus 1.3 megapixel camera, I just don't think I need something as fancy as those....but....as far as I'm concerned, I'm treating the W90, W80 and T20 as if they were the same price. So....which then would be the best?

7/16/2007 2:38:09 PM

http://www.dpreview.com is your friend

Specifically, http://tinyurl.com/2ftpsn

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 2:47 PM. Reason : side-by-side link]

7/16/2007 2:43:42 PM

Image quality differences between the W & T series anyone? I would assume the smaller lens would be a step down in some aspects, but seeing as my last two cameras have been destroyed after dropping them on the extended lens...

I just read the above & while I don't know the difference in the lens specifics listed. It looks like the T20 won't record audio in movie mode. which is a deal breaker for me

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 3:03 PM. Reason : *]

7/16/2007 3:00:11 PM

The W series is newer but has fewer features. The T series is older but has more features (for the models we are talking about).

I've read a LOT of reviews on the W200 and W90, and the T100 and T20. I've been considering these guys for a while, and it's basically come down to whichever one is the better deal when I finally commit to buying one.

Anyone that tells you the Canon is technically better doesn't know what they are talking about. It's cheaper (the 1000 anyway) and doesn't have nearly the build quality or feature set of any of the Sony cameras. If you are *really* price consciouse, it's not a bad camera, but I think its worth the 100ish dollars more to get the Sony.

7/16/2007 3:04:50 PM

It's nice to see someone who knows wtf they are talking about actually endorse a Sony product. I get irritated at the whole "I hate proprietary technology so therefore Sony sucks" argument.

7/16/2007 3:24:50 PM

I do hate proprietary products. But it's just that much better

And their memory sticks are finally cheap as hell and in line with the same prices as SD/MMC/CF cards. I do hate the damn cables, but at least they are included with the camera, just dont lose them!

7/16/2007 4:00:32 PM

^^

Hell even I've owned a sony camera

7/17/2007 8:25:40 AM

Yes, Sony is good.

But how about Panasonic? Heard some of their latest models are really really good, packed with features, and not too expensive. And Panasonics come with Leica lenses, which are some of the best, like Zeiss.

7/17/2007 9:40:24 AM

i can vouch for panasonic leica lens quality, though mine isn't a compact...quality is amazing, and as this is my second panasonic camera, i can say that they consistently have (imo) one of the best features/prices out there

7/17/2007 9:46:26 AM

^ and ^^

the build quality and lens quality on their compacts is awesome. What kills all the panasonic compacts is the internal image processing. You get hazing, weird sharpening, and just plain dull raw images. They aren't BAD, certainly better than the Canon compacts, but being the same price points as the sony cameras (actually a little more in some cases), they just dont quite measure up in terms of IQ. Featurewise they are badass though

7/26/2007 3:29:12 AM