The Canon Powershot SD790 IS finds itself among a too crowded market of ultra-compact digital cameras which produce better images than this one. It seems like in its quest for producing a tiny low-cost digital camera, Canon compromised too much on image quality this time. The vignetting at wide-angle is truly horrible not excusable on a modern camera. Noise levels destroy detail pretty fast with signs of noise starting at ISO 200. In low-light, it is so destructive than even ISO 100 images are overly soft.

 

The Canon Powershot SD1000 IS, the SD790's lower-resolution sibling, does better while remaining nearly as small. The larger and higher resolution SD950 IS does quite a bit better at the expense of pocket space. On the other hand you get a longer zoom, an optical viewfinder and higher resolution movie-mode.

 

Other superior ultra-compact competitors include most Fuji F-series such as the Finepix F40, the Finepix F50fd and the Finepix F100fd. These cameras feature better image quality and good speed of operation. Neither of them is as sturdy as the SD790 though, so priorities must be chosen.