Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (known as IXUS 860 IS in India) got pretty good reviews on all the major sites except at dpreview, where it was only Recommended and not Highly Recommended. But reading the last conclusion page of their review didn’t point anything that would classify this camera as only Recommended. Plus, my good IRC friend ‘boomie’ said that he chose and ordered the same model a couple of days earlier.

Camera’s homepage

Below is a video review by Gordon of CameraLabs:

Camera Labs wrote this in their review:

From the first moment you pick up the Canon SD870 IS, it’s clear you’re dealing with a quality product. It feels well built and comfortable to hold, starts very quickly, offers decent wide angle coverage and boasts a huge screen which looks great in use. Photographic enthusiasts will miss full manual control, but then the SD870 IS does a great job in automatic. The slow continuous shooting, lack of a live histogram and relatively coarse zoom steps will also annoy some, but won’t bother the majority. And as for that touch wheel? We may not have got on with it, but it could work just fine for you. So the biggest issue facing the SD870 IS is really its higher price. It comes in more costly than most rivals including Panasonic’s Lumix DMC FX33, although in its favour it does have a large 3in screen.

DCResource wrote:

Though it’s not perfect, the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH is a very good choice for those who want an ultra-compact camera with a wide-angle lens, image stabilization, and a huge LCD display. It takes good quality pictures quickly, with an easy-to-use interface and plenty of point-and-shoot features. It remains to be seen how the SD870 compares to its closest competitor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55, but standing on its own, this PowerShot is a camera that I can recommend.

Imaging Resource wrote:

For those who love photography, it’s the Canon SD870 IS in particular that stands out among Canon’s current digital ELPH pocket cameras. Sure, the Canon SD870 has a big 3-inch LCD screen, optical image stabilization, face detection, and high ISO; all the current “must-have” features are there. But the Canon SD870 IS is most appealing for its 28 – 105mm lens. Finding any digital camera with a wide angle view of the world is rare no matter what size camera you choose, but finding one that you can slip into your pocket: now that’s a rare gem. Though the Canon SD870 IS exhibits a little more distortion than normal at wide angle than the 35mm lenses on most pocket digital cameras, it’s more surprising how little corner softening there is. It seems to be pushed out to where it affects only the far corners, with the rest of the Canon SD870′s image relatively sharp. To sweeten the deal the Canon SD870 IS’s 8-megapixel sensor serves up images that print well at 11×14 inches from ISO 80 to 400; and even the ISO 1,600 images make a good 4×6. You’ll find more of what you want from a digital camera in the Canon SD870 IS, a great pocket digital camera for people who know the value of a wide-angle lens, and don’t mind a 3-inch LCD and image stabilization thrown into the mix.

Steve wrote:

Bottom line – it seems like Canon continues to impress us with their diminutive Digital ELPH line of compact consumer models. I loved every minute that I used the SD870 IS, and definitely recommend this model to anyone who is in the market for a high-quality, pocketable digicam that takes outstanding photos, and offers blazing fast performance. With 8-megapixels, a huge 3.0-inch LCD, Face Detect AF, Optical Image Stabilization, and a durable body design, the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH will be a tuff model to beat for this holiday season, and all at a reasonable price of US$399 or less, I feel it offers a great value for such a capable digicam.

pcmag wrote:

With its outstanding image quality and features such as the 3-inch LCD and wide-angle lens, the SD870 is hard to beat at this price. It’s both more affordable and of better quality than the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70 and DSC-T2 models. In the end, the lack of optical viewfinder is minor, considering the performance and image quality you get from such a small camera.

DigitalCameraReview wrote:

If you are looking for a cutting edge P&S with the latest features—this camera has a lot to offer. While I don’t find it as stylish as other models, the Canon SD870 IS is extremely user friendly, has numerous auto settings for almost any condition, has convenient buttons for easy camera navigation and performs well for its class. I would feel confident taking this camera on out with friends or to my Dad’s 50th birthday party—because of what it can do for its size and because the SD870 will do most of the thinking for me in situations when I can’t, don’t want to, or don’t have time to. The IS adds to its versatility and convenience—you can take close ups of small insects, use it indoors at a nightclub and capture shots that would otherwise be completely blurry without a tripod.

During my research, these were the other cameras that I considered before striking them off:

• Panasonic Lumix FX33
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

I took live help from #photogeeks IRC channel of Freenode when I was not clear about few technical terms.

I checked the prices at pricegrabber.com and saw that butterflyphoto had it cheapest at $290. boomie, my friend, who was buying it for me called them up to find out how soon they can deliver (Reena’s friend will be leaving on 13th, so it’s necessary that the camera gets delivered within 3 days) and was kept waiting for 5 minutes only to be told “You’ve called the wrong department”. The representative didn’t even have the courtesy to transfer to the correct section. My friend then called up another online store, BuyDig. These guys’ phone kept ringing on and on, but no one would pick up. So finally we decided to go the Amazon way since Amazon was had an assured delivery date of 12th for an extra $12.96.

I know that Amazon has an affiliate system wherein if a visitor buys a product through my Amazon affiliate store, I make 4% commission. So I quickly set up a aStore at http://astore.amazon.com/canonsd870-20 and asked boomie to buy through this. I chose the silver model, although Reena said later that she liked the black one (costlier by 4 or 5 dollars).

The final price is $309.96. If I had time, this would have been $297 ($306.96 minus cost of expedited S&H). I made $11.88 from my “indirect self referral”

$310 translates to Rs. 12,300 as of today. Now, compare this price w/ that in India. Rs. 24,000 as per compare india. A digital camera costs double its US cost in India!! Ridiculous, isn’t it?

I will receive the camera from Reena’s friend in a week’s time. Can’t wait to start taking photos w/ this! And before I conclude this post, here is a dpreview forum thread on tips and tricks on SD870 IS that I’ve bookmarked.