Digital Home Thoughts: Canon Powershot SD890 IS Review

"Whether human or camera, it's always hard following in the footsteps of a popular sibling, and the near-universally well-liked Canon PowerShot SD850 IS is a harder act to follow than most. Rather than simply bump up the resolution and zoom range for the SD890 IS--it's now 10 megapixels, up from 8, and 5x zoom, up from 4x--Canon chose to redesign the camera as well. The result is an almost completely different--and ultimately not as satisfying--compact point-and-shoot. With its thick 2.3-by-3.8-by-1.1-inch body, the 6.5-ounce camera can slide somewhat comfortably into a loose pants pocket. The SD890 IS sports a much curvier design than its predecessor, including a gently sloping front where you grip the camera."

What I have been hearing about the SD890 IS over the last few weeks seems to be confirmed by this article. People seem to be generally disappointed by the usually solid Powershot series by Canon. Don't get me wrong, it still takes great pictures, but the camera is disappointing in a lot of small things that add up to why it is getting a relatively mediocre 7/10 in many reviews. For example, the camera frip has become a lot smaller, it has shown poor shot-to-shot performance, it has a small LCD, an awkward design and it does not support optical zoom in movie capture mode. I feel that when one is spending over $300 for a camera, all these things become important. Time to pass on the 890 and wait for the 895?