Canon PowerShot SD960 IS

The 12.1-megapixel PowerShot SD960 IS ($329.99 list) is Canon's first, and the only model in its latest Elph line to get a widescreen LCD. This slick little point-and-shooter still gives you the option to take pictures in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, but the 2.8-inch LCD, with its wide 16:9 aspect ratio, makes it much easier to frame your shots. It wouldn't surprise us to see widescreen LCDs become standard fare on digital cameras, as they are becoming in laptops, monitors, and HDTVs. Apart from its screen, the SD960 is extremely fast and records dazzling HD video that you can easily output to an HDTV, but Canon's typically bulletproof reputation for high-quality images has developed a few holes with this model.

The 5.11-ounce SD960 sports spiffy rounded edges and comes in five colors (blue, green, silver, pink, and gold). It measures 2.1 by 3.9 by 0.9 inches (HWD), making it a bit shorter and thicker than a BlackBerry Pearl and slightly larger than the $279.99 Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. The new interface is straightforward and attractive; it's similar to the one used in previous PowerShot models, but its higher-resolution text is crisper, and it adds animations to the menus along with cool transitions between images when you're in playback mode. Navigating the menus is a breeze with the camera's easy-to-manipulate scroll wheel, which is flanked by large Play and Menu buttons. The zoom and shutter-release controls are also nice and big, which makes framing and shooting pictures simple. (Check out this video for a detailed look at the new interface.)

The 28mm lens is wider than those on the SD780 IS (33mm) and SD970 IS (37mm), which results in a shorter focal length and consequently the ability to fit more into your images. The lens provides 4X optical zoom with a focal range of 5mm to 20mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm to 112mm), with maximum f-stops at f/2.8 and f/5.8.

The SD960 is very responsive: It can boot up and snap its first picture in an average of just 3.7 seconds. You don't have to wait long to take your next photo, either—on my tests, the camera averaged just 1.8 seconds between shots. On the Shooting-Digital.com shutter lag test, the SD960 averaged a mere 0.45 second between shutter press and image capture—you'd be hard put to find a faster point-and-shooter. To compare, the SD 780 IS averaged 0.50 second, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T500 upped the count to 0.73 second, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 would make you wait 0.85 second to get your shot.

To gauge image-quality factors in the photo lab objectively, I use the Imatest testing suite, which revealed that the outer regions in the SD960's shots were dramatically less sharp than the centers. Images averaged a terrific 2,108 lines per picture height, but while the resolution at the center averaged 2,447 lines, it was only 1,078 at the upper left-hand corner and—even worse—only 374 lines in the upper right. The corners also showed high levels of color fringing. When framing shots with this camera, you'd want to keep subjects as close to the center as possible or you'd wind up with uneven pictures.

To measure noise, I photograph the gray section of the X-Rite Color Checker and then use Imatest to measure the image for colors that don't belong; any color captured in that image is considered noise. The SD960's results were adequate. Like the SD780, the SD960 showed less noise than the previous generation of Canon PowerShots, including the SD790 and the SD1100 at a high ISO of 1600. Hence pictures taken indoors and at night without a flash won't show too much graininess. Noise levels were average between ISO 80 and ISO 200 but higher than average at ISO 400 when compared with other point-and-shoot cameras.

Shots outside of our lab, both indoors and out, were okay. At first look, colors were well balanced with or without the flash, but closer inspection showed that the outer regions of images were softer and had color fringing, when zooming in. Hair, faces, and flowers in the outer regions of the image were also blurry, especially when compared with similar shots I took with an SD780. ( See the slideshow for an example .) Since the two cameras are equipped with the same sensor, I suspect the SD960's wide-angle lens is the culprit here.

Like the SD780, the SD960 records HD video at a 1,280-by-720 progressive resolution at 30 frames per second (fps). Video looks huge and spectacular when compared with the smaller, standard-definition footage the previous generation of PowerShots produced. Videos are saved as MOV files, for which you'll need Apple's QuickTime for viewing on your PC. The SD960 is one of few compact models with a mini HDMI-out port on the camera itself, so you can send audio and video directly to your HDTV with an HDMI cable. The HD-video-capable Samsung NV24HD and the Sony DSC-T500 require that you dock the camera in a cradle, which contains the output. Canon gets extra points for squeezing the port (along with a mini USB) onto the SD960, but we wish it supported Consumer Electronic Control, a feature found on the Samsung and the Sony cameras that lets two HDMI-equipped devices talk to and control one another. (You can use your HDTV's remote to control the camera, for example.)

The Canon PowerShot SD960 IS excels in some ways. But given the camera's price and Canon's track record of stellar images, overall, we were a bit disappointed. If you're looking for a less-expensive Canon camera that can record HD video, the SD780 knocks $50 off the SD960's price—and doesn't suffer from the image problems the SD960 has. But you won't get the 16:9 LCD. If you're willing to spend more, Sony's $400 Cyber-shot DSC-T500 can record HD video. It comes with a sprawling 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD, and it takes better pictures. We like the SD960 IS for its speed, excellent battery life (I got over a week of heavy use on a single charge), and its on-camera HDMI port, but its so-so images detract from the total package.

Source : http://www.pcmag.com