Help me choose a new Point and Shoot

November 19, 2008

I'm in the market for a small P&S camera. I already have a DSLR and have decided that I'd like a camera that is 1) small enough to fit in my pocket 2) takes decent photos and 3) can do the occasional video that is easy to upload to common services (Flickr, Youtube, etc.).

I first looked at the Canon G10 because I loved that it could take RAW photos but after seeing it in person it is definitely way too large. I'm now deciding between the Canon SD1100 IS and SD870 IS.

SD1100 IS:

  • Cheaper
  • Smaller and lighter (barely)

SD870 IS:

  • Wider lens
  • Larger LCD

I love the wider lens on the SD870 IS; sometimes you just cannot back up enough. It would be especially nice for those shots where you stick your camera out in front and hug your significant other. But the SD1100 IS is really cheap.

What would you do? I'm leaning towards the SD870 IS at the moment.

Update: I bought the SD1100 IS. I found out the SD870 IS has some funky touch controls that didn't sound great to me and the next model up was too expensive for what I'm looking for. I also discovered that the SD1100 IS can do timelapse movies which sounds like a blast.

Update again: I refused delivery of the SD1100 IS because there was a sale on the SD880 IS. It was more expensive but I think it's worth it for the features: 28mm lens, next generation processor (Digic 4), larger LCD. The SD880 cannot do timelapse for some strange reason; maybe Canon will enable it with a firmware update later. I'll have it sometime next week.