Customer Reviews

Canon Powershot SD450 5MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(120)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I bought this to replace SD400. I thought SD400 is perfect, and the perfect just got better. Here are the highlights of my opnion

Pro (Common with the predecessor SD400)
* Superb image quality (this is also agreed by dpreview.com). Image quality is not just mega pixel, but also the clarity and sharpness. Canon cameras produce less "noise" than other brand. In case you don't know what noise in photography means, it looks like random sand grain on a low-light photo
* FAST! Much faster than Sony (turn on, shoot, and zoom)
* Despite its small size, it has many shooting modes (e.g. portrait, night), including manual
* It can stand on a flat platform for a timed self portrait (some super compact camera can't)

Improvement from SD400
* 2.5" screen as opposed to 2"
* Timezone feature. Now it is easier to set the time when you travel. No need to wait until the 0th second of the next minute to press OK.
* Guide line option. When enabled, you can see the screen divided into 9 equal rectangles. It is particularly useful when shooting geometric object (e.g. a painting at a museum)
* It tells you the shutter speed when you half-press the shutter if longer than 1/60 seconds. This is useful information under low light.

Cons
* Movie files are not compressed enough

I recently bought this camera as a replacement for my worn-out Pentax Optio S50. Overall, I have been pleased with the Canon though it has a few little problems.

Pros:
-Very rapid turn-on and shoot time (about 1 second)
-Short time between shots. There is a feature that you can select where you can hold down the picture-taking button, and it takes one photo about every .5 seconds until you release the button.
-Good control of manual features; you can take photos while using the function menu. The menu is displayed on the side and bottom of the screen.
-Optical viewfinder. One of the biggest reasons why I bought this camera was because it had an optical viewfinder. Most very portable cameras do not. Optical viewfinders are not for everyone; they are basically only good if you take a lot of photos and you worry about the battery. Obviously, buying an expensive spare battery negates this issue.
-Nice movie features. Even though it is not MP4 so the compression isnt great, the movie works great. On the issue of compression, storage capacity is getting so cheap anyway it doesnt matter; i dont think anyone needs to be filming 1hr documentaries or something. Anyway, there are two movie settings: the 30 fps is fine, and you can zoom while filming. There is an even better (though more space-using) 60 fps for faster subjects. One nice thing about the video is that you can still do different light settings; and in fact the camera adjusts light settings automatically.
-Small. As small as any other compact camera, though the lens extends unlike some other ones.
-Buttons work well. They seem to be in the right place, press well, and just feel very good. Some cameras have very annoying buttons.

Cons:
-Battery level unknown; I havent figured out how to know how much more battery life I have left.
-Night settings TERRIBLE. This is probably my biggest problem. If you use either the autocamera settings or the night photo settings, they simply do not work. You need to manually adjust the ISO and Exposure level.
-Manual settings a pain. When you change a manual setting they stay that way; there is no reset. so you have to go through all of your manual settings to figure out what you have.
-Zoom a pain. The zoom function is clunky and inexact. You spend a lot of time trying to get the zoom level you want.

I can't say this is the best camera out there; obviously, there is no perfect camera, it's just a matter of picking what strengths you want and accepting whatever faults you can.

This camera is amazing! I would recomend it to anyone that wants a great camera for a great price. Overall, the cameras pros highly outweigh its few cons.

Pros
-Easy to operate
-Small, compact size and it looks great!
-Big LCD screen at 2.5" It seems so much larger than the SD400's 2" screen. 1/2 inch really makes a difference!"
-Takes photos quickly, sharply and accurately
-Great photo quality at ISO's under 200 (400 max ISO)
-Many different scene/shooting modes that are usuful for all kinds of moments
-Videos look great

Cons
-Grainer images at ISO 400, although it's not bad
-Flash can be overpowering at times
-Video files are very large

Obviously this camera's ability to funtion and take great shots is very high, and as you can see, this camera has few things that are dislikable. I would recomend this camera for any person, regardless of age or experience. It's a great camera, and wheter you want to take artistic shots or take pics of family and friends, I would recomend this camera over any other.

Also, check out my customer images to see this great camera in action!

I wanted a digital camera for years, but kept myself restrained to a budget until I saw this on sale and decided to order it. I've had it for over a month now and I love it. Know how you buy a new toy and you're really excited about it until it finally comes in and then you kind of forget about it? I'm still really stoked about having it because it's just that fun to use. Owning it actually inspired me to learn a lot about how to take pictures properly.

Pros
-Small and stylish will be sure to turn heads
-Strong metal body so that it won't break should you hit it against a wall or drop it
-EASILY fits into your pocket
-The 2.5" screen is gorgeous and the size is just right (it can get super bright should you need it to)
-Software couldn't be easier to use (it'll even rotate your pictures that are vertical automatically in the browser, and you can set it to save these rotations)
-The gimmicky extra modes are super cool (color accent to make everything b&w except for one color, color swap, positive film, etc)
-Surprisingly little noise at ISO 100 and ISO 200 (at least in the instances where I've used them)
-Very simplistic navigation on the camera with very few buttons to confuse you and nice little pictures on them
-The panoramic picture mode makes taking wide shots really easy
-It can go pretty fast, which means that you won't miss the moment you really want to capture (especially if you hold down the shutter button halfway to focus it ahead of time)
-It comes with an A/V cable right in the box, which is better than what most cameras tend to provide, and the slideshows that are built-in for you to show family and friends is real nifty
-Pretty much perfect for the point-and-shoot photographer who wants something ultra portable
-When you rotate the camera in playback, it'll rotate your picture view as well!
-Flash is too obvious on the picture if the object is too close to you
-Unbelievably sharp photos with very little fringing, particularly in natural light and outdoor environments

Cons
-Could use some more manual controls (I wish I could control the shutterspeed)
-There is no battery life indicator until you only have a few exposures left on the battery, though it's supposed to last 150 exposures (I haven't counted, but that sounds about right)
-Red eye, which is a problem and each and every ultracompact digital camera out there
-Movie mode sometimes a little grainy

False Cons (where I disagree with others)
-It's really not that bad for night shots if you know what you're doing as I've taken several good ones at a night concert I went to; you may not want to use the night snapshot mode, but if you go into manual and fiddle with the exposure value and up the ISO you can get pretty decent brightness out of it
-Manual settings are pretty easy to use and discern since they all appear right on the screen without having to scroll around
-Movie files actually do compress rather well
-It's pretty good for moving photos if you just hold the shutter button halfway since then it'll go faster and it'll tell you if you're shaking (you can also hold it closer to your body to reduce that, or just get a portable tripod)
-That guy who complained it's too slow just didn't read the manual because obviously he didn't hold down the shutter all the way, I've almost always had extremely fast captures

I would recommend getting at least 512 MB memory card. I delete pictures off of mine when I don't care much for them later on and just keep the stuff I'm willing to show other people, and I still haven't reached the limit of my 512 MB memory card's memory. You should definitely get a case for it, I got the PSC-90 and I think it's great (only protects the camera though, no extra storage, but very stylish). DEFINITELY buy a screen protector for the LCD, and don't cheap out on it because the screen is pretty sensitive and a scratch on it would likely pain you to see. You may want to invest in an extra battery pack as well, though I haven't.

In sum: not perfect, but after doing some research, I stick by this being the best ultracompact on the market, and perfect for point-and-shoot amateur photographers like myself. I'd give it 5 stars, but I have a few cons that I'd feel guilty to let go of and give it 5 stars. I'd prefer 4.5 stars, but oh well.

This is a beautiful little camera, images are great, easy to use, a sheer joy.
I looked at the 550, but thought it was bigger than I wanted and 5 MP is fine ,sooo, it was the 450
Am using a SanDisk 512 MP II card, the camera is lightening, images are wonderful, the instruction book is fairly good, I just got it last night, took over 100 pictures today, we had a really nasty fog here in NYC, the 450 captured it beautifully.
I have seen some remarks about short battery life, I used the lcd for half of the pictures and shut it off for the other half, battery still hot.
Alot of these cameras with large lcd displays do not have an optical viewfinder, if you shoot with the sun in back of you, the screen is impossible to see, not with the Canon, use the optical viewfinder, a few others have done this, but Canon has the best one, I wear glasses and have no problem seeing thru it.

ok, the pluses, all
negatives, none

I got the Powershot SD450 as an easily pocketable replacement for my 3-year old Kodak camera. I also considered the SD550, but the SD450 is noticeably slimmer and lighter. The 2.5" LCD is impressive and mine is still scratch-free after a week in my pocket without a case (just keep it separate from keys and coins). I like the quick startup and the battery has been fine in my use -- a few dozen pictures per day plus some review. The camera has a nice feel in the hand and unlike some other small cameras the buttons are reasonably sized. Just a couple of minor complaints: the autofocus beep cannot be turned off without silencing all of the camera sounds, and I wish the flash could be disabled by default rather than needing to be changed each time the camera is turned on.

First I should qualify myself. I've taken three years of photography in High School and College... I've got a 14"x14"x20" box full of just negative film, and a 250GB hard drive nearly filled with 3.2mp and 5mp pictures. I've done photography for friends (or friends of friends) weddings, birthdays, etc. I'm by no means a professional... but I do know what I'm doing.

Three days before I left on a two month trip to Europe I impulse bought this camera [Canon's SD450] because it was much faster than my JVC Everio MC500. While the JVC takes great 5mp pictures as well as DVD quality video... and is absolutely tiny... this camera did far better with focusing, night-shots and above all... speed. My JVC takes 13 seconds to start up for both photos and video... whereas the Canon SD450 takes less than two seconds to go from pressing the power button to being able to take the first picture.

Half way through my trip I ended up sending my JVC home; I just never used it... but I took over 2800 photos (all of which are on my website if you want samples) using the Canon... and some of them are wall-hanging quality. The biggest reason why I love the SD450 is that I can pull it out of my pocket, turn it on, adjust settings, and take a picture within 5 seconds. Some of the best candid shots I've EVER taken were with this camera.

And once I figured out how to do long exposures (didn't bring my manual) for my night-shots... it opened up a whole new world. It takes AMAZING night shots with a lot of color depth. I'm used to using film at night... but this camera has convinced me that CCD technology has finally progressed enough to allow for lower light levels! I think I'll ditch the JVC, and my next purchase is going to be the Canon Rebel XT. Canon rocks.

I got this as an upgrade to our SD300, which is also very good. The main features I like are:
-Large LCD: this is great for the kids as they like to watch themselves right after filming.
-Movie mode: seems quite good, especially for such a small camera.
-Form factor: very small and portable. Fits in any pocket. Well, maybe not that little pocket within a jeans pocket. Any normal pocket though.
-Solid build: seems a little better than the SD300.
-Picture quality: I take mostly snapshots at 5x7. Sometimes 8x10. For these sizes it does a nice job. Even the macros seem ok. If you want higher quality you probably have to get a bigger camera.
-Included software is also very good.

I bought this camera for normal day to day events, like going out camping, skiing, to the ocean, vacations, casinos, concerts, graduations, sports, parties, etc in mind. The things that sold me to the camera was the fact that it:
- Tiny (fits in my pocket)
- Big LCD (see what I am shooting)
- Great resolution (need that, easily print superb 8x10 pictures)
- Rechargeable battery (will save me money in long run, battery life depends a lot on how much you use your LCD, flash, etc... Alkaline AA battery runs out juice fast. The battery the camera comes with can take up to 150 shots, even though I've never used it to a point where it's fully dead)
- Instant on (can take a picture under 2 sec)
- Video recorder (even tough I don't plan on using it as a video camera, its good to know its there)
- Easy to use and navigate, self timer
- Continuous multiple shots (take continuous multiple shots within a fraction of a second. I found this to be really useful, when taking a group picture, in a game, or a moving object)
- Uses SD Memory Card (due to its heavy acceptance in many electronics, SD Card can have multiple uses, and are cheaper and easier to find)

I did look at many other camera's including sony cybershot's, casio exilim, HP's M series, etc... wasn't sold to it, either they weren't priced right or didn't have one or the other feature.

Overall, I think its well worth the price (I paid $349 for it, but now with a $50 price break to $299 it's a steal). So if you are like me, don't really know a lot about digital cameras, besides the basics, and just looking for something that is sleek, compact, easy to use, and takes a great pictures, I would recommend the Canon SD450.

I have always been a big fan of Canon cameras for their awesome picture quality. This camera did not turn me down either.

Firstly, I was looking for an ultracompact/compact camera, and I was almost going to buy the Sony DSC T-9. I read several reviews online and a lot of them were very encouraging. That camera is smaller than this, however I opted for Canon because of the following reasons.

Sony DSC T-9 does not perform equally well in night-light as the Canon SD450. Also, it does not have a viewfinder which is definitely useful as one of these days you are definitely going to remain with low battery and some precious pictures to take. Also, to me, buying the Sony camera would mean not just high initial cost but also high lifetime costs. It's got its own proprietary (data + audio-video) cable, which if I lose it will be a problem replacing it. Plus, the memory stick pro duo media is expensive--I would end up spending lot of money for these cards.

Canon on the other hand was cheaper by 100 bucks, SD cards are cheap and the data cable used by Canon cameras is one of the most data cable in the market. Now, let me evaluate the Canon camera after taking about 200 pictures with it.

Let me tell you I am just an amateur point and shoot camera enthusiast. I wanted a compact camera so that I do not find it embarassing carrying a big camera all the time, and (my girlfriend says I am very hyperactive about taking pictures) I should have a camera in my pocket which I can take out in a second and capture those precious moments. Compact cameras will always have the 'shaking' problem and a not-so-strong flash. Yes, this is what I get with my Canon too, but given my ultracompact requirements, I would say this is the best camera for the price and features in the market. (Plus, Canon picture quality always rocks!)

The cool features I enjoyed were: The Burst Mode: I was able to take about 12 pictures in 7-8 seconds in the burst mode (using a Transcent 80X SD Card). I like taking pictures of me and my girlfriend (holding the camera towards us on my own), and the burst mode proved quite useful.

The One Color mode: This is a fantastic feature. You can swap colors, or you can pick a color, and the camera will only highlight that color and leave the rest of the picture black and white. This is a very cool feature and you will enjoy playing with it.

Plus, there are several other modes, and I used the Beach mode while I was in Virginia Beach and the pictures came out totally fantastic.

On the negative side, the buttons on the camera are very small, because the LDC is 2.5" (which is great!), and it is a small camera. Anybody with even slighly big fingers will have problems in navigating through the menus using the small buttons. Also, since it is a small camera, for certain modes the 'shaking' problem will exist--and the camera gives you a red blinking icon on the screen when the camera is shaking or the settings are not good for the picture. So, you do know before taking the picture itself that it's not gonna turn out to be good. Other than that, thhe camera is cool.

Overall, this is a great buy and trust me, I researched all over the internet to buy a good camera, and I am happy with my choice (considering I wanted to go with a small size camera only). If you are fine with a bigger size, consider Canon S80--it will not disappoint you. And beware, there are several online stores which will offer you the camera at a cheaper price but when you look at seller reviews from independent websites you will get to know the real picture and sad stories about how people ran into problems with their purchases.

Also, buy a high speed SD card. Using the Canon software and my 80X SD card, the pic transfer from my camera to the computer was extremely extremely fast.