Some of the things I learned about using the Canon SD700

Viewfinder - tiny but usable in a pinch such as when the LCD is difficult to see or when you need extra to brace it against your face to help prevent camera shake.

LCD - not difficult to see at all, except in the strongest of light when the sun is directly overhead. The LCD has a high gloss surface. Information is easy to read.

Noise - noise has much improved over the S2 and other cameras I’ve owned. ISO 800 leaves a lot to be desired though it is usable in certain lighting conditions. I use ISO 400 often. Images hold detail rather well even at high ISO numbers. Programs such as Neat Image help reduce noise and I use Qimage for prints.

It should be noted that I always reduce images for web presentation and rarely make prints larger than 8×10.” For other requirements, I use a digital single lens reflex camera.

Continuous mode - doesn’t work as well continuously without a high speed memory card. It pauses after about 4-5 shots and doesn’t resume until images are written to the card.

Focus - By default, the SD700 is set to AiAF (artificial intelligence autofocus). In this mode the camera automatically selects between nine AF frames on which to focus according to the shooting conditions.

I turn AiAF autofocus OFF so only the center AF frame is used. The center frame lets you focus more precisely, where you want it and more quickly.

Battery - According to Canon, you get approximately 240 images with the LCD monitor on and 700 with it off. They claim you get six hours of playback time. Battery charges in 90 minutes.

Keep the battery cap that came with the original. The cap has a notch and can be positioned so you know whether a battery is charged or not.

Video - Video quality is good though not as good as my Canon S2. A high speed card is recommended for smoothest shooting at highest frame rate and quality settings. The focus is fixed so keep this in mind when shooting video.

You can not use the optical zoom during recording so set it before you begin. You can use the digital zoom but image quality suffers. The more you zoom in, the worse the quality.

Other stuff:

Adjusting image parameters - increase or decrease sharpness, contrast, saturation, skin tone and individual colors:

In “manual’ mode: Function > My Colors > Custom Color. Hit he Menu button and scroll the increase or decrease any or all parameters.

Change LCD brightness: hold the DISP button down a few secs and the LCD will change to its brightest level. Hold it down again, it will return to the previous level. When shooting in dark lighting, the LCD brightens automatically.

Macro mode - Macro mode works best when the camera is set to the widest angle. If you zoom, focus will be difficult, sometimes impossible. The SD700 has VERY shallow depth of field. If you need more depth of field, pull the camera back from the subject, shoot and crop when processing.

The SD700 has small bumps on the bottom and its left side so the it can be placed on a level surface. Handy in a pinch if you don’t have a tripod and set it on a level surface.