CANON POWERSHOT A1000 IS

A Point-and-Shoot Winner for Beginners

At $199 the A1000 IS is the least expensive 10-megapixel camera Canon has released this year. Despite its low price, it's an excellent pick for those who prefer to shoot using auto settings. In Easy Mode, the camera delivers crisp images. Make no mistake, however: Images from this camera aren't on a par with those from higher-end Canon models. But the A1000 IS's image quality edges out comparable (and pricier) cameras. such as the Casio Ex ilim z250.

Though it looks a bit larger, at 2.5 by 3.8 by 1.2 inches (HWD), the A1000 IS is actually slimmer than its 8MP predecessor, the PowerShot A580—and it's a bit sleeker, too. The A1000 IS features a 4X optical zoom lens and a focal length oft> 2mm to 24.8mm. This camera also has some new buttons (one that combines the Playback/Shoot button and another that serves as a dedicated face detection button) and color options (blue, brown, gray. and purple). The 2.5-inch LCD has 115.000 pixels, about half the number you'd usually find on a display this size. Still, the screen's brightness and contrast are decent. You also get 17 preset shooting modes.

In testing, the A1000 IS showed quick boot and recycle times. I was impressed by how little noise and distortion there was in its photos, except those taken at higher ISO settings—if you stick withtlte camera's automatic settings, you won't have a problem. Image stabilization and face detection work wells and the A1000 IS's video is fluid and cleat recording at a resolut ion of 640 by -180 at 30 frames per second.

In short, this entry-level camera excels at the basics: "Easy Mode' shooting, sharp images. And speedy performance, all at a very good price. With all this value, it easily earns our Editors' Choice for best low-cost point-and-shoot model.—PJ Jacobowitz



PC Magazine January 2009

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Canon PowerShot SD990 IS

Quality and beauty in a small body

THE $399.99 CANON POWERSHOT SD990 IS packs a lot of power and beauty into a small body. Boasting a staggering 14.7 megapixels, this shooter is everything an amateur photographer could dream of.

The SD990's curvy body is both attractive and strong, Weighing 5.6 ounces, it's a tad on the heavy side, but for what it packs inside the body, we can't really complain. The camera's interface is easy to navigate on the 2.5-inch LCD. All of the buttons and dials are located in convenient, easy-to-find locations. We would have liked the power button to protrude from the body a bit more, to make it easier to push.

Power-up time is a speedy 1.3 seconds, and shutter lag is virtually nonexistent. Shot to-shot time could be a bit better at 3.5 seconds without flash and 5.3 seconds with flash. But if you want to shoot quickly, just switch the camera into Quick-Shot mode; you have to use the optical viewfinder instead
of the LCD to flame shots, but shot-to-shot time drops to less than 2 seconds.

The SD990 produces crisp and clear images in all kinds of light, even with the flash off, and the 3.7x optical zoom allows for a great deal of flexibility when shooting. Pictures we snapped in a moderately lit restaurant at night came out clear as day, and color representation was amazing. All hues were
impressively blight and properly saturated.



Images got a bit noisy at ISO 800 and above. The optical image stabilization performed respectably, especially in better lighting.-Jonathan Rougeot

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Computer Shopper January 2009

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Canon Selphy CP770

Snapshot printer is a mini photo lab

THE 3.2-POUND CANON SELPHY CP770 portable snapshot printer is a solid choice for those who print more than the occasional photo at home. It has some quirks, but once you see its image quality, you may never go back to a traditional inkjet printer.

The $149.99 CP770's dye-sublimation printing module nestles into the top of an oblong bucket that stores the AC adapter, paper trays, ink ribbon, and paper. The larger tray
accepts 4x6 postcard paper, and the smaller tray handles stock about the size of a business card. A memory-card slot and a Pictbridge USB port allow for printing without a PC.

Buttons for navigation, the menu, back, and printing are on top. The 2.5-inch LCD shows fuzzy images and limits them to 2 inches, thanks to menu icons. Still, navigation is easy. The menu lets you correct red-eye, convert a color photo to black-and-white or sepia, enhance the contrast and color depth, choose borderless prints, and print more than
one image on a sheet.

Prints are true photo quality. Details were flawless, flesh tones accurate, and colors vivid without being over saturated. Because the postcard media isn't the same aspect ratio as the photos from your digital camera, however, you'll lose half an inch. But the top coat protects the photo from water and helps it last up to 100 years in an album. Prints take about 1 minute and 15 seconds each, which is okay but not great.



You'll spend a hefty 28 or 33 cents per print, depending on the kit you buy. Also, other portable snapshot printers offer larger LCDs and support 5x7-inch output.
Nonetheless, we're still enamored of the Canon Selphy CP770. We love the bucket concept for portability and the near-flawless image quality. —Jamie Bsales


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Computer Shopper January 2009

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CANON EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSI

Rebel Without Compare





The Canon EOS Rebel XSi is the fourth in Canon's Digital Rebel series and worthy successor in the lineage that sparked the prosumer D-SLR revolution. This version has 12.2 megapixels (up from 10MP in the XTi), an image-stabilized kit lens, a larger LCD display, Live View, a new control scheme, compatibility with Sd and SDHC cards, more battery capacity, and a new color scheme. Add to that the same great performance as its predecessors delivered and you have a new Editors'Choice.

On that outside, you'll notice a few changes in this new Rebel. Gone is the silver trim in favor of all black. The LCD is a bit larger (3 inches, 230,000 pixels), and the column of buttons to the display's left has been removed. Also, the new Live View system lets you accurately frame shots with the LCD without looking through the viewfinder, a boon to macro photographers. What has remained is the very thorough menu system, which shows you ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, focus type, exposure compensation, battery life, image size, and more. A particularly pleasing feature is the dust reduction system, which incorporates a vibrating filter that shakes dust away from the camera's sensor.

The included 18mm-to-55mm kit lens (which now has optical image stabilization) takes exquisite photo. Colors were well balanced, focus was sharp, and daytime shots rarely showed any fringing. But if you want to take your photography to the nexe level, opt for the 55mm-to-250mm image-stabilized lens ($299 list). A complaint we'd had about the XTi, a somewhat weak flash, seems to have been resolved.

In our testing, the XSi showed excellent boot and recycle times of 0.6 and 0.8 seconds, respectively, though shutter lag, at 0. seconds, was more than we'd like. Wide-field images showed a touch of barrel distortion. I also tested the XSi's continuous shooting speed in "burst mode." The initial burst, in Fine JPEG format, netted 23 images in 6.6 seconds, or 3.5 images per second, more than an image per seconds better than the XTi's (slightly longer) burst.





My quibbles with the EOS Digital Rebel XSi are minor and don't detract from its high quality and the features Canon has added while keeping the price in check. Though other manufactures have tried, none have kept pace with the XSi in its combination of price, performance features, and image quality.- Tony Hoffman

PC Magazine November 2008

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canon canoscan 8800f

Fast, Accurate Photo Scanning

Canon's recipe for the 8800F seems simple: Start with the previous generation-the CanoScan 8600F-as the foundation, boost the scan quality, replace th elight source with LEDs, and, unfortunately, raise the price by about 20 percent. The result is a scanner that does an excellent job with photographic prints, does a reasonably good job with film, and just misses out on earning an Editos'Choice.

Like the 8600F, the 8800F offers 4,800-pixel-per-inch (ppi) optical resolution and similar scan speeds. One noteworthy limitation, however, is that the 8800F can scan only four slides or two six-frame strips of 35mm film at a time.

The Twain driver of the 8800 offers Simple, Multi-Scan, and Advanced modes; backlight and color correction; and features for restoring color and removing dust and scratches. Scan quality photographic prints was excellent-and actually a bit better than what you get with the current Editors'Choice, the Epson Perfection V500 Photo. Scan quality for film, however, was not as good as that of the V500. The 8800CF's LED light source gives it a fairly consistent scan speed, resulting in a zippy 8 to 12 seconds for scanning a 4-by-6 at 300 ppi and saving the scan as an uncompressed TIFF file. For slides, it took 20 seconds to prescan, and 1 minute 11 seconds to scan one slide at 2,400ppi. But the lack of an automatic document feeder (ADF) means it's not great for office use.



Although the 8800F doesn't offer enough to replace the V500 as our Editors'Choice, it is worth considering.-M. David Stone

PC Magazine November 2008.
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Canon PowerShot SD890IS

Excels at zoom and photo quality



CANON'S $399.99 POWERSHOT SD890 IS, which performs competently and features a 5x optical zoom, will appeal to buyers who are looking for a long lens in a short package.
The 10-megapixel SD890 features a 2.5-inch LCD and Canon's DIGIC III image processor. The len'zoom range is impressive, but it would be better if Canon gave it a little more range at the wide end. The camera offers optical image stabilization, which helps reduce blurring from camera shake (particularly at the longer end of the zoom range).
The user interface on the SD890 is good but not exceptional. Nevertheless, compared with most point-and-shoots, the menu system is intuitive and relatively easy to navigate. THere are no manual exposure controls, but casual users won't miss the omission.
The camera started up in about one second, and shutter lag was minimal. Shot-to-shot times with the flash off averaged 0.5 second; with flash, they were often as long as 2 seconds. Without the flash, the SD890 performed about average compared with the competition, but with the flash, it was slower than many comparable cameras. The camera's autofocus was fairly swift, though it did slow niticeable in low-contrast and some low-light situation.



The SD890 takes very good photograph. At low ISOs, the images were sharp and gave a natural color rendition. Outdoor shots had accurate, properly saturated color, though images were sometimes slightly soft. Most shots using the flash were properly exposed and quite acceptable. Noise was very low until ISO 400 and higher, when the images started to soften and noise crept into the image. -John B. Stafford.

Computer Shopper October 2008
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Canon Pixma MX7600

Canon Pixma MX7600
An almost-perfect inkjet MFP

CANON'S $399.99 PIXMA MX7600 all-in-one inkjet costs a pretty penny, but you get a best-of-worlds printer that delivers both laser-quality text and inkjet-quality photos thanks to its new clear ink technology. We've never seen an inkjet print text this well, and its photo printing abilities are also worthy of praise.
The MX7600 will scan, copy, and fax, and it can perform autoduplexing on print jobs. The front of the unit includes a multiformat memory-card reader, and media inserted into the reader is also available to any PC connected to the printer, either locally or over the network. It also features a PictBridge USB port on the front for downloading photos from digital cameras.
You can use the printer's 1.8-inch LCD along with the well-designed control panel to control printing tasks. Though the display provides intiutive instructions, it's very small and a bit difficult to read.
In our tests, both color and monochrome prints looked amazing, thanks to the clear ink applied before the colored ink. The Pixma's text output was surprisingly good, with razor-sharp edges and text that was legible all the way down to 3 points. In our color test pattern we detected no flaws whatsoever.
In our print speed tests, the MX7600 fared well, printing our 10-page document of photos and text in 1 minute and 46 seconds. It was fast with photos too, churning out 4x6 in just 38 seconds and 8x10 in 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Overall, the MX7600 is an excellent all-around printer. It's expensive, but worth it.-J.N.
source: Computer Shopper September 2008.
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