In typical Molly fashion, I returned my anniversary gift. My poor husband every year, err… every HOLIDAY goes out and buys me a fantastic gift. And what do I do? The crap of a wife that I am RETURNS IT. Thank God I am having his 3rd child and now really will have to pay if he leaves me (muhahahahha).

Anywhoo – for our 11th anniversary he bought me a Louis Vuitton hand bag thingy. I just am not a Louis gal – and I know my friends would curse me if they knew that I returned this – but thankfully and hopefully they do not read this blog.

What does Molly buy with part of her return money? Another camera. Ha. I was going to buy a Flip Mino, but upon further investigation I thought – why not buy a Canon point & shoot that also shoots HD video. So that is what I did. Such a nerd – a camera over a Louis. Sad. Sad. Sad.

I ended up with the Canon PowerShot SD780 IS I’ve had it for a few weeks now and love it. First- it’s a CANON. The Best Buy dude tried to talk me into some other brand that I am sure was cheaper and had all these niftier features – but I am a tried and true Canon loyalist (hoping this changes). 2nd – it’s RED! 3rd its small and works better than the iphone camera. The SD780IS is the cheapest that offered the HD video option.

Usability:

The camera is very easy – my 6 year old has used it both video and for photos and has had no issues.

Display:

2.5 inch LCD screen

Battery:

RECHARGABLE! A camera without a rechargeable battery is PAIN!

Video:

Since this my main use for this camera – I have to say I am impressed. The only thing I wish it has was a flip out USB plug like the Mino. Other than that I am satisfied with the video quality.

There are some fun video color features. You can shoot with various color features such as black and white as well as color accent.

Photos:

Let’s face it, this is a point & shoot camera. I own and shoot regularly with my Canon 40d. This photos look nothing like what I get from the 40d – nor would I expect them to! It shoots 12.1 megapixels

The zoom offers a 3x optical/4x digital 12x combined zoom with optical image stabilizer system.

Shooting modes: Auto, Program, Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater, ISO 3200, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap, Digital Macro, Long Shutter, Stitch Assist, Movie

Photo effects: Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Custom

Self timer: Activates shutter after an approx. 2-sec./10-sec. delay, Face Detection Self-timer

Where to buy:

I bought my camera at Best Buy. 2 reasons:

1. I had a $15 gift card

2. I couldn’t wait to purchase

Pricing:

Amazon seems to have the best cost at: $207. I paid $229 (hey remember I had a $15 gift card that made it a little cheaper than this!)

In short:

The Canon SD780 IS is a great simple camera at a fair price. You will get great video and a good point & shoot. Plus its compact enough to travel every where with you. You’ll never have a OMG WHERE IS MY CAMERA (or CAMCORDER) again as long as you carry this puppy!