Canon PowerShot SD790 IS - Features
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As previously mentioned, the Canon PowerShot SD790 IS is a 10 MP camera with 3x optical zoom. The lens on the camera is good, but not really anything to boast about. These qualifications set the SD790 near the top of its class, but not quite at the pinnacle.
Two of the great new features offered on the SD790 IS are actually fairly standard for higher quality cameras. The first is face detection, which automatically picks faces out of the picture you are about to take and focuses in on them. It can also optimize the colors and balance levels of the photo so that the faces will look their very best. This technology is very convenient and non-invasive. If you allow your camera the time to actually identify the faces, you will most likely notice a large improvement in the quality of your photographs of your friends and family.
The other feature that Canon is touting for the SD790 is image stabilization. This is almost a must-have in the modern world of technology. The idea is that almost everyone shakes their hands at least a little bit while they are taking a picture. The image stabilization technology will cancel out some of that shaking for you. The end result is that your image will come out significantly clearer and crisper, providing for better quality.
Although the SD790 does offer a movie-taking mode, there are several limitations that severely mar the usefulness of the function. First of all, while you are recording your video, you cannot use the optical zoom function of the camera. There is no really good reason why; you are just not allowed. However, the biggest issue with movies taken with the SD790 is that when you pull them onto your computer and play them with Windows Media Player, there is a watermark on all of your videos. The watermark is the product of the JPEG-encoding codec that Canon uses. Canon has acknowledged the issue and with any luck will release an update for the camera to correct the issue in the near future.
There are plenty of other features offered by the SD790 that all combine to offer the consumer a pretty good package for a middle-of-the-line price tag. Most users will not use half of the features at their disposal, but if you are looking to get a little more out of your camera and to make your pictures that little bit better, then you may be happy with all of the auxiliary features of the SD790.
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