Review of Canon Sd950

Ah yes, the Canon SD950. Having owned many digital cameras over the years, I sometimes try something new but always end up gravitating back to Canon's SD series. In size, quality, sturdiness and handfeel, they are simply unparalleled by any competitor or model. Now comes the SD950 - Just recently announced and rolled out to replace the SD900. Always skeptical and obsessive in doing research before making an electronics purchase, I decided to try out a friend's SD950 he kept recommending. I definitely wasn't disappointed - I ordered it the next day. After a few weeks of daily use and abuse, I'm ready to provide a proper review of Canon's SD950

Note: To view this review in full with camera+sample photos, please visit Canon SD950

The first thing you notice about the Canon SD950 is its appearance and size.

The SD950 comes titanium clad with chrome accents, making it not only extremely rugged, but also visually pleasing with its smooth matte silver finish.

Add that to its size - The dimensions measure only 1.1 inches deep, 2.4 inches tall, and 3.8 inches across. The camera roughly measures up to be the same size as a deck of cards - Quite small for a compact digital point and shoot that's loaded with such powerful features.

The camera is extraordinarily robust for its paltry 5.8 ounce weight, providing for an excellent handfeel. Have you ever held a camera and gotten that light and tinny sensation, like it could crumble in your hands or shatter when dropped? This is definitely not so with the SD950 - And it's light enough to fit into a shirt pocket without burden. Additionally, the camera has well placed grooves and ridges for a secure handhold, and the shutter button is intuitively placed (are you reading this Pentax?) where the index finger rests, allowing for one handed shooting with ease. Overall the action and use of the SD950 will suit even the clumsiest hands, both large and small.

Clearly, the most important aspect of a digital camera is picture quality and power. This camera has both more thoroughly covered than an OJ Simpson trial

(Bad joke, I know)

It's baffling that this tiny camera somehow shares a sensor with its much larger cousin, the digital heavyweight Canon G9, making it the beefiest sensor out of any SD. At a whopping 12.1 megapixels, the clarity and resolution of photos - taken by a simple point and shoot - is unmatched. The photos I took were not only vibrant in color and crystal clear, but had such a high resolution that I could practically print out posters with top notch clarity and detail. This is upgraded from the SD900's already impressive 10 megapixels. At 12, you can't really get much higher, nor do you need to. After investing in this camera, I'm going to kick back and rest assured that I won't need to replace it for a long, long time.

As far as shutter speed goes, Canon once again has me impressed, considering the massive resolution of the SD950. Without focus acquired, I averaged .44 seconds. With focus acquired, I shot within .1 seconds. Unless you're trying to freeze bullets midair, this should be good enough for anyone. 5 shots taken back to back were accomplished within 2.5 seconds. Brilliant, even for fast action sequences.

A downside to all this power is its effect on battery power. The advertised battery life is approximately 240 shots - The amount of shots I took in my experience hovered within 10 shots of that level. This is enough for a full day of shooting, a few days of intermittent shooting, or a few weeks of sparse shooting. Although this is disappointing compared to the rest of the SD950's features, it is still fairly average for cameras in its class, and I found that on a practical level it didn't really affect me. I've never been in any situation, at home or abroad in which I came close to shooting that amount without being able to recharge. If so, I'd probably spend a few bucks on a backup battery. For most use (like an event, vacation, etc) this shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Other notable features:

In case you're wondering where "IS" comes from in the product name, it means Image Stabilization. This is an amazing mechanism inside the camera itself - If you're shaky with your hands, or in low light conditions, the lens actually counter-gyrates within the camera in order to cancel it out and mitigate any blurriness. Truly a marvel - this has saved whole albums from getting screwed up when shot at night and in other unfavorable conditions.

The zoom is better than practically every camera in its class, only getting beat out by cameras that specialize in zooming (but lack in other practical features). The Canon SD950 can hit up to 3.7x optical, with another 4x in digital. Nice.

Other features:
Digic III Processor (Top notch, pioneered by Canon)
Red-eye Correction (No more turning your friends into vampires)
Face Detection Technology (Automatically detects, frames, and focuses on faces in group and portrait shots. I love this feature - there's nothing more awkward than having a group stand in place for an hour while your camera tries to focus!)
80-3200 ISO range to suit any shooting condition
Shooting modes: Auto, Manual (for more presets, adjustments), Scene (11!) settings for any shooting situation, Movie mode (with time lapse! this is a lot of fun). I was pleasantly surprised at the clarity and definition of this little camera's films
230,000 pixel LCD screen: Provides an excellent preview with virtually 100% image coverage, and 15 brightness settings.
Oldschool viewfinder: So glad they provided this! So many digital cameras skip this feature, which is priceless in situations of glaring light, or god forbid an LCD screen outage

Conclusion:
Having researched point and shoot digital cameras extensively, you cannot find a higher quality point and shoot, especially for a price tag that's shockingly modest for a newly released powerhouse. The Canon SD950 blew away any previous camera I've owned, as well as any competitor I researched, with its unparalleled 12 megapixel rating, image quality, and clarity. Given its specifications and my personal experience with it, I can't help but write out what appears to be a glowingly optimistic review. Kudos to Canon. If you're looking for a rugged pocketsize camera you can take anywhere, but don't want to sacrifice even a shred of quality in the process, this is a no-brainer.

Bad news:
Battery life isn't anything to write home about, comparing roughly to other cameras in its class

Good news:
Top of its class Megapixel rating
Unparalleled image quality and clarity
Above average zoom
Immediately noticeable sturdiness and construction quality
Optical Viewfinder
Image Stabilization
Modest pricetag

For several sample photos, as well as closeups of the camera itself as well as purchasing information, please visit my blog below