the Canon PowerShot SD960

At first glance, the Canon PowerShot SD960 IS is your typical point-and-shoot, featuring the easy-to-use controls, smooth navigation, and basic operations most casual shooters expect. Although the SD960 is not your stepping-stone into DSLR photography, it is strong enough to give you the big picture with a 12.1 megapixel sensor and a chiseled and sleek design.new PowerShot cameras that offer an array of photographic options for the entry-level consumer right up to the photo enthusiast. Whether on a family vacation, swimming in an ocean or out for a night on the town, the new line-up of PowerShot digital cameras enable consumers to customize their photographic experience to their personality with color, style and features galore. Most PowerShot cameras for 2009 feature Canon's exclusive DIGIC 4 Image Processor, with proprietary technology which accounts for the camera's higher performance levels, including improved signal processing speed and higher image quality. This new chip paves the way for a host of features including Canon's new Smart AUTO. Smart AUTO intelligently selects the proper camera settings based on the specific shooting conditions of each scene, ensuring that all images are accurately focused, exposed, stabilized and white-balanced before the shutter is even pressed. Using data derived from Canon's Optical Image Stabilization, Genuine Face Detection and Motion Detection Technologies, Smart AUTO automatically adjusts a multitude of settings including brightness and hue, during various shooting situations. Another enhancement available with select PowerShot models is Blink Detection Technology, which uses the Face Detection function to display an icon after shooting with a warning that someone's eyes were closed (such as when blinking) during shooting. Unlike other systems which prevent users from taking a photo, Canon's Blink Detection Technology lets users know immediately whether there's any need to reshoot the image, thus providing a far more intuitive experience. A third technological advancement with select PowerShot cameras is Active Display, which is used for quickly switching between images during playback. Instead of culling through a long line of images, via a control dial, Active Display advances pictures simply with a gentle shake of the wrist, making the viewing and sharing of pictures more fun and enjoyable. 'The power of the Canon PowerShot series is its ability to enhance consumers' enjoyment of photography through its unique combination of ease-of-use, affordability, and personalization,' said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. 'We are excited about this year's PowerShot line-up because Canon's cameras are loaded with advanced technologies and design options, thus enabling consumers to have the ultimate photographic experience.' The elegance and beauty of the Canon PowerShot SD960 IS Digital ELPH Camera epitomizes the ELPH series persona. The camera comes in four subtle hues, including silver, blue, pink and gold, and is equipped with a simple button layout, wide-screen 2.8-inch PureColor LCD II screen, new Active Display and an improved user interface which will intrigue both new and experienced consumers alike. Additional features include Smart AUTO, Blink Detection Technology, 12.1-Megapixel resolution, wide-angle lens (28-112 mm equivalent) and 4x Optical Zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilization. Like the SD960 IS Digital. I LOVE IT ALOT

Terrific little camera, perfect for vacation

I purchased the Canon PowerShot SD960 IS as a birthday gift for my husband. Our much-loved Canon PowerShot SD800 IS disappeared a couple of years ago, and my husband thought he'd never find another camera he liked as much... at least, not one we could afford. So I was nervous about buying him a different model. I needn't have worried. I gave him the SD960 IS at the start of our recent vacation, and he fell in love with it immediately. He likes it even better than our previous model.

My husband wanted a very small, lightweight, point-and-shoot camera that took great pictures in a variety of situations: portraits, indoor shots, outdoor shots, landscapes, close-ups of flowers/birds/etc., and action shots. And he really loved the Stitch Assist feature on our older model, which allowed him to take three consecutive shots with slightly overlapping framing and end up with a single, panoramic view of the subject matter. The SD960 IS does all this and more!

It's very small (only 0.87" thick), sleek and lightweight (5.11 oz.), yet it feels nice and solid. With 12.1 megapixels, favorite photos can be enlarged nicely. The default "Smart Auto" setting does an amazing job of adapting to a variety of shooting situations, automatically choosing (surprisingly accurately) from among the 18 shooting mode presets. You also can select your preferred mode manually. All the ones we have tried have worked extremely well. For example, during our recent trip to Washington, D.C. we went to the National Train Day event at Union Station, which included (among many other things) an operating model railroad display. Some of the cars were moving pretty fast, and the shots were coming out blurry as a result. As soon as he switched to the Kids & Pets mode, which is designed for shooting active subjects, the remaining photos of the moving trains came out perfectly. The battery life seemed pretty good to us.

The auto focus and face detection features are surprisingly good, as is the image stabilization. The focal range isn't especially wide (it's the 35mm equivalent of 28-112mm). However, the 4x optical zoom can be supplemented by the 16x digital zoom capability. There also is a macro setting.

There is no viewfinder (which we never used on our previous camera anyway). The gorgeous, vibrant, 2.8" LCD (with a 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio) makes framing shots a breeze.

Although we haven't tried shooting video with this camera yet, the SD960 IS offers 720p resolution high-def video capture and image stabilization.

There isn't room here to cover all the additional cool features of this camera, but Digital Camera Review has a good review that covers most of them.

There are a few things about this camera that we didn't love. The shutter lag, generally quite short, seems to vary quite a bit (on our particular camera, at least). This can make shots that require precise timing (like the model railroad trains coming around the bend in the track) a bit difficult to capture. In lower light shots, the images were a bit noisy/grainy. The images shot with the default settings are a little too saturated (but there is a Neutral setting option that tones them down and makes them more natural).

Overall, though, my husband and I are absolutely thrilled with this camera. If you want a lot of precise manual controls, this may not be the camera for you. But if you want great, well-focused shots without doing a lot of work, you probably will love this little camera.

Best little camera ever!!

My fiance bought me a blue Canon PowerShot for xmas last year and I loved it so much that I bought him a matching silver one this year. I love this camera, it takes excellent sharp clear pictures. I can point it 2 inches from an object and get a flawless picture every time. There are many features, the ones I use most often are probably the basics, such as macro etc. It takes an SD card, which is very handy. I am not a photographer, but I sell items on ebay and etsy.com and I use my canon PowerShot for all my photos. The camera is small and lightweight but it feels solid. There are also some neat accessories such as a waterproof case to clip on over the camera so that you can take it underwater to shoot photos! Great camera for a great price if you get it on ebay. The blue one we bought at Fry's and paid over $300 for.