The Canon 870 is the successor to the 800 that I bought before the Peru/Chile trip last summer. The 800 was Canon's first compact with wide angle. The wide angle and the image stabilizer were my key motivations in the purchase. I formerly used a 2002-vintage S30.
The 870 has 8 megapixels vs. 7 for the 800. I shoot at 5 megapixels in exchange for Canon's feature that extends the telephoto zoom range a bit if you lower the megapixels.
I think Canon made a mistake going to the 3-inch view screen on the 870 vs. the 2.5 inch screen on the 800 while removing the viewfinder. The new screens are brighter, but in snow glare I still prefer the viewfinder.
The 870 has 8 megapixels vs. 7 for the 800. I shoot at 5 megapixels in exchange for Canon's feature that extends the telephoto zoom range a bit if you lower the megapixels.
I think Canon made a mistake going to the 3-inch view screen on the 870 vs. the 2.5 inch screen on the 800 while removing the viewfinder. The new screens are brighter, but in snow glare I still prefer the viewfinder.