Canon PowerShot SD880 IS (silver)
Manufacturer: Canon USA Part number: 3197B001
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Simply put, the Canon PowerShot SD880 IS is an excellent point-and-shoot camera.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Canon PowerShot SD880 IS (silver) price range: $749.99
- Reviewed by: Joshua Goldman
- Edited by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 10/28/2008
- Released on: 02/01/2008
The good: Excellent photo quality for its class; optical image stabilization; pleasing interface and design; wide-angle lens.
The bad: Mode dial spins a bit too freely; button positioning might bother some users; very noticeable fringing.
The bottom line: Simply put, the Canon PowerShot SD880 IS is an excellent point-and-shoot camera.
At the time of this review, the Canon PowerShot Digital Elph line featured no fewer than 10 models--not even including lingering older models--so deciphering what makes one better or different than another gets tricky (here's our succinct breakdown). The 10-megapixel PowerShot SD880 IS Digital Elph is the follow-up to the popular SD870 IS, and what a worthy successor it is. It's capable of producing truly excellent pictures for a camera of its size and it has nice components for a sub-$300 model including a wide-angle lens and optical image stabilization. There are a couple weaknesses, but nothing that keeps it from being an excellent point-and-shoot camera.
At 6.3 ounces and measuring 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.9 inch deep, it'll fit more comfortably in a pants or coat pocket than a shirt pocket, but it's by no means big. Compared with the SD870 IS, the SD880 IS has the latest version of Canon's image-processing engine, Digic 4, jumps from 8 megapixels to 10, and offers a few more scene modes. The 4x f2.8-5.8 28-112mm lens is a highlight of the camera; the wide angle is so nice to have on a camera this small, and it's a tad longer zoom than on the SD870. It also records video using the H.264 codec instead of Motion JPEG.
Scene modes are plentiful--16 in all--and include Stitch Assist for panoramas and Underwater for use with an optional casing. Shooting mode lets you go fully automatic with some minor adjustments, or drop it into Program AE, which gives you control for exposure compensation, white balance, tone, and ISO.
The directional pad is pretty standard; instead it's the thumb dial that adds interest here. In SCN mode, the dial is used for rifling through your options. It's also used for swapping between Auto and Program in Shooting mode and tone control in Video. It works well, but you can barely feel stops when spinning the dial making it just a little too easy to switch out of whichever mode you want. The dial can be used for navigating Menu settings, too. Overall, I like the key design and wheel, but I can also see it confusing new users to the point of frustration.
The buttons have a pillowy, convex shape, which is not only attractive, but makes for unmistakable presses. The Print/Share button can be turned into a shortcut key to access one of nine shooting functions.
As for performance, the SD880 IS is fractionally slower than the first-rate SD870 IS. Time to first shot is 1.2 seconds and you can shoot again in 1.9 seconds. Shutter lag was great; just 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.8 in dim. The only marked decrease in speed is if you're using the flash: the shot-to-shot time extends to 3.2 seconds, which is a generally slow time and nearly a second longer than the SD870 IS. The typical burst speed is a respectable 1.4 frames per second. The 3-inch Canon PureColor LCD II performed well in direct light and has a wide viewing angle.
More impressive than the SD880 IS's speed is the picture quality. Colors were always natural and vibrant. White balance was accurate and pictures showed good detail and sharpness at ISO 200 and below. Also, if you take a lot of landscape photos, note that the SD880 IS is prone to fringing. Video is better than average considering it tops out at 640x480.
Worth noting, too, is Canon's new Intelligent Contrast setting (i-Contrast) that theoretically just opens up shadow areas. It can be applied either automatically when you're shooting or after during playback. I recommend using it only in playback as more often than not it lightened the entire image, not just dark areas. In playback you can apply the effect in gradual levels as well and create a copy, whereas the camera decides on the level if you shoot with it on.
There's plenty more to talk about with the Canon PowerShot SD880 IS, but it only reinforces how good a pocket camera it is. If the SD870 IS was on your short list, the SD880 IS is definitely worth the small additional investment.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Time to first shot | |
Typical shot-to-shot time (flash) | |
Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Shutter lag (dim) | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
User reviews
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great camera with noise issues
by canon_sd880_user on October 25, 2008
Pros: Starts up really fast. Autofocus is quick and accurate under all conditions. Servo-AF allows for action-photography. The 3" LCD is gorgeous; it allows you to zoom into your shots and scan through the entire picture. Controls are ecellent too.
Cons: Noise performance is bad in low-light conditions. Noise reduction seems to kick in really early too. Pictures are not as crisp as I hoped for. They also took off the time-lapse which was present on its predecessor, the sd870.
Summary: In several respects I really like this camera. It's fast, focusing is never an issue, and colors come out really nice. The excellent controls make it fun to play ...
Summary: In several respects I really like this camera. It's fast, focusing is never an issue, and colors come out really nice. The excellent controls make it fun to play with, check the results of your shots and enable you to display quick slideshows. It has a time-zone option, allowing your photos to be marked with the local time when you're travelling. It has improved face recognition, and an auto-shoot function that is triggered by the recognition of an additional face - nice when you need to make a photo that should include yourself. The timer can also be manually set from 1 to 30 seconds during which 1 to 10 (theoretically) shots can be made.
As far as actual picture quality is concerned, it seems that they improved the quality of the lense (less barrel distortion, less corner softness). I have no complaints there. The only problem (as usual nowadays) is noise performance. I don't have the old model but considering the reviews on the sd870 it must be a better performer than this camera. A crime shame. They only slightly increased the sensor size on this camera to increase the number of megapixels by 25%. I can easily see noise on indoor shots at ISOs as low as 250 without doing 100% crops.
They took off the time-lapse which may have to do with the fact that they put in the DIGIC4 processor. The time-lapse option was a neat movie-function that will be missed by many users. I hope they can put it back in with a firmware upgrade but I don't know if that will be possible.
Although Canon addressed some issues on the sd870 with this upgrade, I'm not sure if the sd880 is really an improvement over its predecessor. It probably may perform better under some circumstances, but noise issues make it less of an allrounder. I see the price of this camera drop really fast in online-shops and it's not even that much more expensive than the SD870 anymore.13 out of 14 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Pictures for a Great Price
by DennisandLaney on November 18, 2008
Pros: Size, Picture Quality, Screen Size, Button Placement, Scene Modes
Cons: Size makes it difficult to keep this camera perfectly still for night shots.
Summary: We bought the Canon SD880IS mainly for travel as we have and regularly use a Nikon D80 with 18-55, 55-200, and 70-300mm lenses. The SD880IS' screen is big and bright ...
Summary: We bought the Canon SD880IS mainly for travel as we have and regularly use a Nikon D80 with 18-55, 55-200, and 70-300mm lenses. The SD880IS' screen is big and bright in all light levels and it is obviously much more portable than the D80 with 3 lenses, remote flashes, etc. To test it, we took both cameras to watch the recent Space Shuttle Launch. The photos produced with this camera were almost as good as those produced with the Nikon at the same focal length (about 110mm is full zoom on the SD880IS). That says a lot, considering the SD880IS doesn't have many adjustments beyond the 12 scene modes. All in all, this is a great Point and shoot camera.
9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera
by Buddha1987 on November 23, 2008
Pros: Large view screen, it is great tp play with the ISO value for night shots, takes sharp pictures with great quality, compact, light, powerful zoom.
Cons: The control dial is a little too easy to move and can move by accident when taking a picture, screen shows fingerpirnts easily.
Summary: Excellent camera at a great price, bought it for a trip to Disney with the kids and it took great pictures in all lighting, day or night. I would by ...
Summary: Excellent camera at a great price, bought it for a trip to Disney with the kids and it took great pictures in all lighting, day or night. I would by this one again.
7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good camera for the money
by revwhitten on November 21, 2008
Pros: Colors better than the older Canons (reds not so hot)
Video can be shot without changing to video mode by setting the quick-print button to videos
Shorter lens for a 4x zoom creates less complications
Tons of pre-settings and easy manual settingsCons: Not as quick as the SD700-IS
Noise reduction causes lack of fine qualities in low lightSummary: As far as bang for the buck, this camera is definatley worth a look. Granted it's not a high end SLR, but it is a solid camera that's ...
Summary: As far as bang for the buck, this camera is definatley worth a look. Granted it's not a high end SLR, but it is a solid camera that's easy to use for the beginners while having alot of adjustments for the advanced user. It's not as quick as my old SD700-IS mainly in dark light. It will focus then there is about a 1 second delay. I've seen similar results in some others in the SD series. In well lit areas there is very little lag from auto focus to exposure. Details suffer a little bit with the noise reduction software in the camera, but it is a 10 megapixel camera and those details would only matter when you are looking at it' 100% on you computer screen. It will take 4x6's and 8x10's without any problems. For the price, this camera is definately worth it. The only thing I see that my old SD700-IS had better than this camera is the slight delay in shots in darker light. As for everything else this camera has better features. It has face detection/AiAf, red eye reduction and fix inside the camera, and a really neat and useful feature is you can program the quick-print button to do a number of things. I set mine to video so I don't have to switch the programing switch at the top. It has been VERY useful to make a video right away without losing the seconds that I would have missed by switching the toggle switch. I recommend this to anyone. But I also recommend people doing their own homework because different cameras accompany different needs. As far as a good solid quick access camera that produces great photos, this camera accomplishes that. It's not a high end SLR, and to compare it to one would be rediculous. But this little guy can hold it's own against most point-and-shoots!!
6 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A Great Travel Camera!
by HerbieK on December 12, 2008
Pros: Big and Beautiful LCD. Many shooting modes to enhance shot. Image stabilization lets you turn flash off for most shots. Wide angle lens, yet a usable digital zoom (up to about 7X). Small, yet well built with a nice heft and feel. Good battery life.
Cons: No viewfinder. A little small for my hands, although my wife thinks it's perfect.
Summary: I bought this camera to use while traveling. I got tired of lugging around a bag with my Canon S3 IS, lenses, filters and adaptors. The wide angle lens is ...
Summary: I bought this camera to use while traveling. I got tired of lugging around a bag with my Canon S3 IS, lenses, filters and adaptors. The wide angle lens is much better for getting tall subjects, yet with 10 MP you can go past the 4X optical zoom and go up to about 7X with the digital zoom and still get a good shot. If you want a great shot and a camera you can drop into your shirt pocket, this is the way to go!
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Canon never fails
by jzin on December 27, 2008
Pros: -Excellent specs
-wide angle
-IS
-longer zoom
-good NR
-good night shots
-Canon lens
-good processorCons: -very little manual controls
-little control over flash output
-noise above ISO400
-premium price for CanonSummary: I have used Canons, Fujis, and Panasonics and I must say Canon never fails with their excellent picture quality, colour reproduction and night shots.
Panasonic may be good on paper (...Summary: I have used Canons, Fujis, and Panasonics and I must say Canon never fails with their excellent picture quality, colour reproduction and night shots.
Panasonic may be good on paper (and good on price) but their colours and esp night shots are really much to be desired.
For now, I will be a Canon man3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Amazing, Really worth it.
by SilverGeek on October 3, 2009
Pros: Super big screen. Long zoom. Great picture quality. Great video quaility. super apealing and sexy. Great sunset feature. Outstanding features. ETC.
Simply amazing. Best camera I've had.Cons: A little fat. The right side has a slight rise.
Summary: I would buy this if there isn't a newer product but if you find it for a less that 250 price I would buy it... canon lasts longer than ...
Summary: I would buy this if there isn't a newer product but if you find it for a less that 250 price I would buy it... canon lasts longer than Olympus and fujifilm, or samsung and kodak. I hate sony. Get canon. I love it.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera and Great Price
by rsivanan on August 8, 2009
Pros: The wide angle lens and the 3 inch screen and image stabilizer
Got a great deal at Future Shop in Canada $250 for camera, white Canon case and 4GB sd cardCons: nothing at all
Summary: Excellent
Summary: Excellent
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Perfect purse & travel camera
by messecity on July 15, 2009
Pros: Absolutely love the size and durability of the camera and the quality of the photos. Having a camera that can endure a lot of business travel and be conveniently located in my hand bag is a tremendous plus.
Cons: When the camera is turned off, the landscape setting is automatically reset to the default. This is fine when I have turned off the camera intentionally, but annoying when the camera auto shuts off as a power saving feature.
Summary: For anyone who likes an SLR but doesn't want to heft a large camera around, this pocket-sized version is a great compromise.
Summary: For anyone who likes an SLR but doesn't want to heft a large camera around, this pocket-sized version is a great compromise.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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the best in the class as far as point & shoots go
by PRiNCESS_hehe on March 25, 2009
Pros: overalls specs-10 mp, large lcd screen, optical image stabilization, digic 4 image processor, pretty okay zoom 4x, wide angles lenses
pretty easy to use.definitely do not to read the manual, although alot of shortcuts will be explained, which is niceCons: pricey for a point and shoot...but so worth it :)
Summary: try one of the demos at a store and you'll probably see why it's such a great camera :)
Summary: try one of the demos at a store and you'll probably see why it's such a great camera :)
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Canon USA
- Part number: 3197B001
- Description: It's so easy to capture the magic of every moment when the SD880 IS Digital ELPH comes along for the ride. There's a terrific sense of creative options for your photographic sense with a wide range of shooting modes and a wide-angle 28mm lens - all because your camera sees the world without limits. Of course, it's a stylish point of view from a camera that merges up-to-the-moment performance with the art of impeccable design.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Width 3.7 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 2.2 in
- Weight 5.5 oz
- Enclosure Color Silver
Main Features
- Resolution 10 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 10,300,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 10,000,000 pixels
- Light Sensitivity ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO auto, ISO 3200 (2Mpix)
- Digital Zoom 4 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Snow, Beach, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Aquarium, Fireworks, Color swap, Underwater, Kids & pets, Color accent, Digital macro, Portrait mode, Stitch assist, Night snapshot, High sensitivity
- Special Effects Sepia, Vivid, Neutral, Vivid Red, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Black & White, Custom Effect, Positive Film, Darker Skin Tone, Lighter Skin Tone
- Image Stabilizer Optical
- Max Shutter Speed 1/1600 sec
- Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
- Min Shutter Speed 15 sec
- Exposure Metering Spot, Evaluative, Center-weighted
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Face Detection Yes
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (warm white)
- Digital Video Format H.264
- Still Image Format JPEG
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 320 x 240
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory 32 MB Flash - SD Memory Card
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
- Floppy Drive None
- Digital Storage Media None
- Image Storage Normal, Fine JPEG 3648 x 2736, Super-fine JPEG 2816 x 2112, JPEG 2272 x 1704, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 3648 x 2048
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 1 ft - 14 ft
- Features AF illuminator
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 5 mm - 20 mm - F/2.8-5.8
- Focal Length 5 mm - 20 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 28 - 112 mm
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Auto Focus Points (Zones) 9
- Macro Focus Range 2cm
- Lens Aperture F/2.8-5.8
- Optical Zoom 4 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Lens Construction 5 group(s) / 7 element(s)
- Lens Manufacturer Canon
- Features UA lens, Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Additional Features AE lock, FE lock, DPOF support, Direct print, Face detection, Audio recording, Histogram display, Exif Print support, PictBridge support, In-camera red-eye fix, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital noise reduction, Highlight point display, In-camera movie editing, RGB primary color filter, Display brightness control, Motion Detection Technology, Camera orientation detection
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Built-in
- Display Format 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Technology Electret condenser
- Microphone Operation Mode Mono
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Software
- Software Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ImageBrowser, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ZoomBrowser EX
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows Vista, MS Windows XP SP2, Apple Mac OS X 10.4 or later
- Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Battery pack, Battery charger, SD Memory Card, Wrist strap, USB interface cable, A/V cable
- Cables Included 1, 1 x A/V cable, USB cable
Power
- Power Device Battery charger - External
Battery
- Supported Battery Canon NB-5L
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
Product series
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Canon PowerShot SD880 IS (gold)
Manufacturer: Canon USA
Specs: Ultracompact, 10 megapixels, 4 x, 3 in LCD display, 32 MB - SD Memory Card
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Canon PowerShot SD880 IS (silver)
Manufacturer: Canon USA
Specs: Ultracompact, 10 megapixels, 4 x, 3 in LCD display, 32 MB - SD Memory Card
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Canon USA
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Canon USA products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://estore.usa.canon.com/
- Address:
One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, NY 11042 - Phone: 516-328-5000
- Email: mediacontact@cusa.canon.com
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