Digital cameras forum: Deciding Between Sony Cybershot T100 and Canon Powershot SD

There is not much information available about either camera.
Neither has been reviewed by the professionals yet.

Here is a link that shows the specifications:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_sd850is%2Csony_dsct100&show=all

Note the red stars.
That is the rating given by the owners of the cameras.
Right under the red stars is a link to "owner's opinions".
Click that link and see what owners think.

There are so few opinions listed for the Canon SD850, that you can not really draw a conclusion. There is one bogus listing where some guy rants and raves about the shortcoming of the camera, but the camera he is describing is not a SD850, because he gripes about a wide angle lens that the SD850 does not have.

There is usually a crack pot or two in owner's opinions.

But there are enough opinions for the Sony T100 that you should get a feeling for that camera.

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My recommendation is to avoid the Sony Cybershot if you are going to use your camera for mostly indoors.

I made the mistake of getting the Sony thinking it was great-all-around camera. Nope, I noticed that the pictures looked fabulous on the lcd and the overall design feature is just great. But it just comes down to how your pictures look good on the computer and print. Guess what? The pictures are grainy and cheap looking. Not what I expected.

If you are planning to use it mostly outdoors with a lot of light, then it takes incredible pictures. Indoors, look for a Canon Powershot instead. I recommend the SD800, SD850, or the SD900. They take amazing pictures.

Dear Just,
I just got the Canon several days ago and have played with it enough to know that it's the best SD thus far. I also have the Sony T-100 and it seems to focus more quickly and accurately. The Sony works better in good light. The Canon takes better shots in low light situations. Both take amazing videos with excellent sound and you can zoom with both in the video mode but the canon seems to take a bit longer to focus. The Image Stabilization on the Canon works better than on the Sony. Both have execellent battery life.

The reviewer that stated that the Sony pictures look cheap and grainey is doing something wrong.

I know this isn't that helpful but in this case, both cameras are really good. This is actually a situation in which you can't go wrong either way. I use the small cameras when I don't want to carry around my Nikon D80.

I would get the Canon 850 IS. I think it would be best for what you want to do. It's somewhat easier to manipulate the settings. The Sony requires that you go into the menus which is harder to do quickly. With a 1.5 year old, you don't have that kind of time!

Good Luck!

Check out this comparison of the two items:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_sd850is%2Csony_dsct100&show=all

You're right, the Sony looks better designed and it's OK to choose a product on that basis if they both produce about the same image quality. I personally don't like the lens protruding from a point and shoot camera but I purchased the SD850 IS as a second point and shoot and because I like the color swap creative feature that Canon cameras have. The Sony produces remarkable images, focuses fast and takes some amazing macros. The Canon is just somewhat better in low light and indoor situations.

This will be a hard decision because both cameras are really good. Go to a retailer and try out both. Also, I've had the SD700, SD750 and the SD900 and the SD850 IS is quite better than all the above except for the SD700 which it replaces.

Good Luck!

Hello Snowprincess,

I'm looking for a camera with higher than 3x zoom capability and am leaning toward the Canon SD700. Since you have this camera I'd like to hear what you have to say about it vs the Sony T100 which has less zoom. You say you're leaning more toward the Sony now due to image quality but how does it compare to the Canon SD700?

Thanks for any input you can offer.

Lisa