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Camera gear: Canon SD870 IS

by Nick Smith 9th January 2008

Canon SD870 IS camera I've been working my way "up" Canon's digital SLRs in recent years - I started with a 300D, then a 20D, and last year a full-frame 5D.

However my latest camera is a tiny compact that only weighs 165g. I'm hoping to use it on multi-pitch rock routes, as well as in the mountains where lugging a full-frame SLR + multiple lenses just isn't practical.

The SD870 isn't perfect, but it is 8 megapixels, has a decent wide angle lens (28mm equivalent), fits in a jacket pocket and produces good quality images at low ISO levels. On the downside, it doesn't have a RAW mode, has no optical viewfinder, relatively poor battery life (270 shots), no manual control of aperture, slow shot-to-shot times (1.7secs) and lots of noise at high ISO values. Some of these problems are common to all digital compacts, but it will still be a shock after the luxury of dSLR's!

I'm taking it on an ice climbing trip soon, so that will be an interesting test of how practical it is "in the field", and the sort of quality I can expect. I'll also be taking along my trusty 5D with 24-105mm 'L' lens, but I expect I'll be leaving that brick at the base of the climbs.

Update 25th January: The camera performed well during the trip - it fits easily in a jacket chest pocket, and although a bit fiddly, I can just about operate it with a thin pair of ice climbing gloves on. Exposure and colour balance is pretty good considering the difficult conditions in the mountains (it certainly did much better than the Panasonic TZ3 and Nikon P50 compacts we also used during the week). A little bit soft in the corners, but that is to be expected on a 28mm lens. You can see the gallery Jagged Globe Alpine Ice 2008.

Read more: DPreview.com review
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