Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue) (OLD MODEL)

I have been a loyal Fujifilm camera owner for as long as I can remember. I have always loved their cameras and the ease of use. When searching for a new camera this spring, my friend insisted I branch out to a new brand. As difficult as it was (I hate change!) I purchased this camera. I LOVE IT!!! For the same price range, this camera trumps the other camera I was looking at. Tons more features! At first these features intimidated me, but Canon makes it easy! The menus use lots of pictures and simple words. So the photographer dummy I am doesnt get confused. I want to point...and shoot...then print. I am not taking fancy pictures or looking to make poster prints. I have 4 kids, and just want to capture the moments. This camera is great! But even if you ARE an expert, this camera has enough features to keep you satisfied. The BEST feature is how QUICKLY it turns out! Almost instant! Within a blink of an eye the camera is on and ready to take pics. Just as quick between pics too!! My old camera must have had a 5 second delay at least! And the zoom!!! The zoom is amazing! Crystal Clear pictures at full zoom...no joke!!! My old camera got grainy once I hit the digital zoom level. It looks blurry on screen, but once you load it to your computer you see that its crystal clear sharp and crisp! As if you were right next to the object. I couldnt believe it!! The camera is very small too! Fits in my back jeans pocket so i can carry it everywhere! Its less bulky than my cell phone! Weighs about the same as my cell phone too, even with the battery in. Great camera! I am glad my friend talked me into this one! Amazon offered the best price around (By $30!) so I got a great deal. I am very pleased! The next test is to see if it will stand the test of time. My FujiFilm cameras all lasted a long time and took a beating! (One still works and is now my daughters camera) I hope Canon is just as sturdy. Like I said, with 4 kids... things get dropped! :( Highly recommended camera! No surprise why Canons are rated the #1 consumer camera around!

I got this camera a little over a month ago. I still have a lot to learn. I like to try and play around with buttons and features before reading the manual. I still haven't read a lot of the manual so this is just from experience. Cannons are excellent cameras. The only reason i decided to replace my older cannon was because I am getting married, going to Hawaii and I wanted something a little newer/better for the trip of a lifetime. My old cannon still works fine and i plan on keeping it as a backup. Ok- on to my review. Battery life is excellent. I had the camera for over a month, used it a lot (especially playing around with the new features) and finally just had to charge the battery. I bought a spare battery so i never missed a shot. The flash is great- I seem to always have red eyes in every photo when a flash is used - this one is one of the better red eye reductions. I only had red eyes in about half the shots (which for me is great) There are a ton of different options as to how you can take your photo, (indoor, outdoor, beach, sunrise, color swap, fireworks, pets, kids etc etc) I thought this was neat, but according to my friend who is an artist, this is just a gag they use to sell more features. If you put your camera on "auto" it does all of the same things. I haven't experimented enough to say if this is true or not. I love the size of the screen - its definitely larger viewing then my old cannon however it still has a viewfinder - which i find important when owning a camera - sometimes in the dark, using the big screen is useless, you can't see anything on it, or sometimes when you ask other people to take a picture of you - they are not used to using a digital camera yet- this allows them to use the viewfinder like a regular camera and take a decent photo. Also if you god-forbid drop your camera on vacation and the screen breaks, you have a back up till you get home (i've seen this happen to people) Transferring photos to my iphoto program in my mac is really simple, just plug in and it goes! I have only played around with the video function a bit. I think it seems fine. If i wanted to take really nice videos i would use a video camera, but for an on the spot use- this is a great little video camera too! Thats all i can think of for now. Cannons never disappoint in my experience!

As a travel writer I spend a lot of time at Walt Disney World, and Canon PowerShot Digital Elphs are the most common cameras I see. Families seem to love them, because they're so easy to carry and operate. About the size of a deck of playing cards, each of these "pocket cameras" really do slip right into a pants pocket, and their rectangular designs make them easy to grip. Best of all, they all take good photos. (How do I know? Because I've actually gotten to use every one of these models. Nearly every day guests ask me to take photos of them with their own cameras, which most often are Canon PowerShot Digital Elphs.) Here's my breakdown of the ten bestselling Digital Elph models. Any of the first six are superb choices: 1ST PLACE: SD1100 IS (The camera on this page) An update to the SD1000 (see below), this 2008 8MP beauty adds image stabilization, a slightly longer zoom (38-114 mm), another MP of photo size and a small indent on the right side for a better grip. Plus it comes in colors! My daughter has a blue one and uses it every single day. During school days the image stabilization made a real difference in her on-the-bus shots. With that heavy of use hers has gotten scratched up a bit, but the marks are small and hardly noticeable. 2ND PLACE: SD870 IS The ELPH to buy if you want a wide-angle lens. Slightly thicker than the SD1100 IS, this 8MP model doesn't have an optical viewfinder which makes it tough to use in bright sunlight, otherwise there's little not to love. My husband uses one as a comp camera, to compose shots for the travel guide "The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World." 3RD PLACE: SD770 IS Just released in May, this 10 MP model is, in a way, an update of the SD1100 IS (see above). I rate it lower because it has a plastic body and doesn't come in colors. On the other hand, it has a longer battery life than the 1100 and features an improved LCD screen that is very easy to view. As for photo quality, I can't tell the difference. 4TH PLACE: SD950 IS There's a lot to like in this 12.1 MP camera. First off, it's gorgeous. The body, though a little thick, is titanium. An upgrade to the SD850 IS (see below), it has a 3.7x zoom lens and adds manual controls as well as the ability to stitch together panoramic images. The only reason I don't rate it higher is the price. 5TH PLACE: SD890 IS Want a long zoom lens? Here's your baby, a 10 MP model with a 5x zoom. Also has the new bright LCD screen and all the other 2008 Canon goodies. The most expensive Canon PowerShot ELPH. 6TH PLACE: SD790 IS With the same 10 MP image sensor and 3x zoom lens as the SD770 IS, this new model stands out only for its larger 3-inch LCD display and, as a result, lack of optical viewfinder. The rear controls are different, too, with a flatter design that uses fewer buttons. 7TH PLACE: SD1000 In my opinion there's no reason to buy this 7.1 MP model. Released in 2007, it's been replaced by the SD1100 IS (see above). The SD1000 is a fine camera but it doesn't have image stabilization, a key feature of the 2008 lineup. 8TH PLACE: SD850 IS The ancestor to the SD890 IS, this 8 MP Elph combines a 4x zoom and 8 MP photo size with an image stabilizer. Every button, dial and switch has a quality feel. Slighter larger than the other models here, it is a little tougher to pop in and out of your pocket, but if you have larger hands it may be just what you are looking for. 9TH PLACE: SD800 IS This 7.1 MP predecessor to the 870 doesn't focus well at its edges when set at its widest angle. Still, it's good training for someone who wants to compose like a pro. 10TH PLACE: SD750 The 2007 PowerShot flagship offers a light meter that adjusts for facial brightness, 17 shooting modes, some first-rate movie features and red-eye correction -- features that were innovative a year ago but are common in Canon's 2008 models. No image stabilization; no optical viewfinder.

I bought this camera to take on short trips when my DSLR is too bulky. For me, image quality in a camera like this is less important than ease of use and sheer portability. This PowerShot is exactly what I wanted in a camera like this. The images are nice, the camera is quite small and very light. It is just small enough to comfortably fit into the front pocket of my jeans. The flash and zoom aren't perfect, but this IS a point and shoot camera. I don't have any complaints about the photos from this camera. The rechargeable battery is great and charges quickly. My previous point-and-shoot had a terrible shutter delay. This camera does a nice job of taking the image right when I press the button. It's not quite as responsive as my DSLR, but still very good. This one does take short movies, but the quality is not great. Don't buy this thinking you're going to take lots of home movies. It's good in a pinch or to capture something random, otherwise, skip the movie feature. Recommended for the family on the go.

The very camera + 8gb sdhc card + spare lenmar battery that I had ordered 9 days prior, and USPS, as always, drops it off on my front door step, on a busy street, for the entire world to see. Imagine this... It's 4:08pm, I'm in my hotel room 40 miles away from home relaxing. My girlfriend is a bridesmaid doing her thing with the bride. I just finished kicking off my shoes, putting things away in the room, and wolfing down a huge chicken sandwich. The wedding is scheduled for 6pm and will be taking place on a yacht in Newport Beach, CA. As in a boat that will be floating away from the dock at 6pm sharp. Meaning you had better be on time for this one!! Well imagine my disgust, when I decided to hop on mobile web 2.0, and login to my amazon account to check shipping status. USPS tracking sucks by the way, and best as I could tell, it would be here on Monday, not today (Saturday). NOPE! The magic words appeared right there on my cell phones tiny 3x2 inch screen..... DELIVERED. YAAAAAOOOUUCCCHHH! Boats departing in 1hr 52 minutes, I'm 40 miles away from home. What would you do? You guessed it, turbo mode ENABLED. I was dressed and on the road in less than 2 minutes! Needless to say I made excellent time, while simultaneously obeying all traffic laws. When I finally arrived at home, I was ecstatic to see the package sitting on my doorstep! It probably didn't sit too long, but believe me when I say this, in my neighborhood it would not have lasted long, certainly not overnight till the next afternoon! Well, NO TIME to familiarize, aka play with toy. I tore open the amazon package with the force and gusto of 100 rats. Strait to the charger & battery, I know what needs to be done. The charger & battery are on the wall, and I'm changing into my suit which I brought with me from the hotel. Sweat beads were building, and before long I had a full on sweat-a-thon on my hands. Unbelievable! A 15 minute charge is all I was able to muster. It was time to leave now, or I'd be left standing at the dock! I Grabbed the camera (8gb card inside) and the charger + battery pack off the wall. No time to be neat, all this stuff goes in my pockets, LETS GO ALREADY!!! Luckily I was able to plug the address into my nav phone, which was a total life saver on this day. However, I was 30 minutes away from the boat and not in a good position to make it on time. At this point I was really starting to worry. 5:58pm and I'm stuck in horrifying traffic on Pacific Coast Hwy, just having got off the freeway, I was less than a quarter of a mile away!! It was at this point that I began to pray, you know the one. The "Dear Lord I'll do anything if...." prayer. Yeah that one. Well the Lord answered my prayer on this day. Even though I pulled into the wrong driveway. The driveway I was supposed to turn into was the previous one!!! I pulled into parking, and was VERY surprised to see my girlfriend pulling in right behind me! HUH! I beat YOU! WOW. So I helped her bring on board some parting gifts, and even though I was one of the last ones there, I was one of the first on the boat. Made it, unreal! There's still another dilemma here however, and this is I'm stuck with a camera I don't know anything about! Oh well, AUTO mode, and pray that "Point and Shoot" MEANS Point and Shoot! Luckily the layout of the camera is very user friendly, and it only took a few seconds to realize the basic functions of the camera. I also decided not to turn on the camera until it was time to shoot, because of the short charge time. One thing that did kinda irk me was the fact that red eye reduction is not set by default factory settings. So The night ended up with quite a few red eyed pics. The red eye could easily be removed in photoshop CS3 though. After going through the images the next day, I was extremely happy with the quality of the images. I left the camera in full auto mode that night, and will let the pictures speak for themselves. I was also very suprised that I took nearly 150 pictures on such a short 15-minute charge. I hope you enjoyed reading about my little dramatic experience, and hope you enjoy the pictures produced by this wonderful LITTLE camera. [...] The free print offer from shutterfly should come in handy!

This is a solid little camera that can provide excellent image quality under the right conditions. But it has two glaring deficiencies: 1. No fill flash option in auto mode. (There is a fill flash option in manual mode, but it's not easy for the casual user to find.) There's red-eye reduction, of course, and you can turn the flash off completely or let the camera decide when to fire it. But with the camera in auto mode, you can't tell it to fire the flash on every shot, regardless of what its sensor thinks. Major bummer when you want to photograph a backlit subject. 2. Shot-to-shot time is agonizingly slow, and focus time isn't especially speedy, either. This is a problem when, for example, you want to catch quick snaps of the animals you see on Disney World's Kilimanjaro Safaris. Ask me how I know. I'm sure this is a fine camera for people who want to photograph landscapes, still lifes, and posed portraits. For candid shots of subjects in motion, it's not so great.

I bought this as a replacement camera for my wife, and so far, both of us would agree that it was well worth it. The camera is very easy to operate, produces stunning pictures for such a small camera, and is just plain fun to use. It has several modes to work with, but we mainly stick with just shooting images. We currently use a 1 gig card to store the pictures, and so far that has been more than adequate. For those that shoot a lot of photos before emptying the card may want to get a bigger one though. For casual home use though, the 1 gig has been more than adequate. The only nitpick I have regarding the memory card is that putting it back in takes a little extra effort for someone like myself who has big fingers. It's a very minor thing and should not be a discriminating factor as the camera overall is superb. Canon tends to produce some very nice small cameras, and this one is no exception. So far my wife really likes it and has been using it quite a bit to shoot general images she probably would have passed on with her previous camera. Like all gadgets, read the directions first as that will make it easier using it. Overall, we're both very impressed with it and would highly recommend it to anyone needing a small and dependable camera that takes outstanding images.

I bought this camera for my trip to India. I spend a lot of time doing research in rural villages, so I needed something robust enough to handle multiple lighting conditions, something rugged enough to handle the heat and humidity, and something small enough so I can take photos without attracting people's attention. So far it has held up well. When there is good ambient light, the pictures come out crisp and clear. However, it tends to get grainy and washed-out in lower light. The start-up time is great, taking me just about a second between removing it from my pocket to actually taking a photo. I got an 8gb Kingston (class 6) memory card, and the Digipower BP-CN4L Replacement battery to use as a backup. The camera is very intuitive to use, and I like the color-swap manipulation and time-lapse video features. What I particularly DISLIKE is the flash. The default is for it to always switch to 'Auto' whenever the camera is turned on. In my work, the flash attracts too much attention, and so I constantly have to manually switch it off every time I turn the camera on, which could be up to 80+ times a day. Very annoying. Another con is the flimsyness of the battery/memory cover. Even a vague attempt to make it seem sealed from moisture would go a long way. If these are not deal-breakers for you, then I'd say go for it.