B and I own one Canon sd960is. It’s a 12.1 megapixel digital camera that we use for candids and also to shoot 1280×720 HD video for her web site, bryci.com. It’s easily the best compact digital camera I have ever owned/used. It shoots clean images and the video is unreal. Seriously, in the past the rule was… you want a camera? BUY A CAMERA. You want to record video? BUY A VIDEO CAMERA.
So we did. We went and bought a Canon HF10 HD video camera. Amazing little camera… but get this shit… the sd960is shoots BETTER VIDEO. No joke. Weirdest thing.
So Canon comes out with a new model called the Canon sd970is. We went and bought one tonight. We took it back inside an hour. It was that bad.
DO NOT BUY ONE.
Wow, what a piece if shit. Seriously. They made the screen bigger, they made the camera heavier, it makes all these weird little noises and chirps/gears noises etc.. very strange. I had shut the sounds off, this was the camera itself making these weird noises. The focus wasn’t crisp, the video was dull… it was not good.
So, my advice to you…
Best Buy in the States or Canada or Future Shop in Canada… and BUY A CANON sd960is. The 960is is still available and it’s $100-$150 cheaper than what we bought ours for last year. We just bought a second one tonight, we paid $279 Canadian for ours and yes, it is worth every fucking penny.
BUY THIS FUCKING CAMERA. seriously.
Canon did upgrade the 960is to the 980is, but they didn’t change anything really, the quality is the same, the camera looks the same, oh wait, it’s close to $100 more. Yeah, fack that. Buy the sd960is. You will thank me.
Easily the best video quality from a small camera I have ever used, and I have used a lot in my area of work. 
Here’s a tiny video that Bryci did of her at the tanning place… this was shot with the canon sd960is. Simple camera, very, very kick ass camera. BUY ONE.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
New Canon commercial!
Seriously though…great video for a camera that’s under $300 and a compact/point and shoot, I’ll have to check one out in person.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Yo James the Canon Powershot SD780 IS has the same 720p video quality as the SD960 IS and can be found for $199 online.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:36 am
Sadly, that’s not true, I wish it was though man.
We bought one awhile back, ended up taking it back the same day (that’s how bad it was) and getting the 960is. That’s when we first bought the 960is in the first place, this was about 8 months ago. The 780 is so bad it’s dumb. It’s noisy, the picture quality isn’t very crisp in comparison to the 960is, the sensor on the 780 is smaller than the 960is. The video quality is close but again, smaller sensor so not as crisp. Lower mb throughput overall. The 78o actually has you thinking to yourself…. ok… is stands for image stabilization… but what does it stand for on the 780? Idiot Sonly? (idiots only) I Suck? Improbable Success? Ignorant System?
The sd980is on the other hand, is the newer model of the sd960is, this can be found for around $280 + shipping/taxes etc. It’s identical though to the 960is, they didn’t change much of anything between the models. Sort of a … why mess up a good thing philosophy. Thx for posting tho Danny! Haven’t seen ya around man!
November 20th, 2009 at 1:50 am
Hmmmm….I’ve been comparing video samples from alot of digicams that shoot 720p HD on Vimeo and Youtube and Canon is pretty much tops.Some vids are shot better than others so maybe thats where the difference is.I’m gunna take a more closer look at their video quality.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Great little camera. High quality shots and very good video. Perfect size for a shirt pocket or purse. Took it to Norway last month and shot over 800 photos and 60 videos. Only used Nikon D80 when I needed wide-angle in close quarters, like inside buildings or narrow streets.