CANON POWERSHOT DIGITAL ELPH CAMERA

Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

I just received the SD750 for my birthday (thanks Mom & Dad!). I’ve had it for several days and have taken over 3 hundred pictures and tons of video. It now replaces my old Canon S400, which was a replacement for my antique Canon S110. I’ve remained true to Canon because I can see the amount of work they have put into making each new generation of cameras “that much better.” First, the colors are so much crisper on the SD750 than in prior models, although some tweeking may be needed, you can always find a setting to capture the color you are after. Second, the video quality is outstanding (at the highest setting, that is), and Canon finally took off the 3 minute cap to video recording to allow for longer videos. Also, at the highest setting only, you can zoom in and out while recording video. I love the 3 inch display that incorporates a shifting orientation so the picture is always upright. I do wish that the camera came with a more powerful optical zoom… but I imagine I’ll get that with the next generation. And in the end, I have to emphasize, that this camera takes OUSTANDING pictures. That’s what a camera should do, after all. Now for a quick rundown of improvements from previous models (for you Canon loyalists):
- Much improved color
- Faster picture taking and faster everything
- Extended video capacity (to however much memory ya got)
- Large LCD to appease the instant gratification generation
- Overall improved picture quality (clarity, color saturation)

A few small camera quirks outside of picture quality… the jog dial in back (trying to emulate iPod) is not the smartest addition and the “play” button is a little hard to hit at times. Overall, I definitely without hesitation recommend this camera.

Canon Digital Elph Accessory Kit 4 for Canon SD630, SD750, SD1000 and SD430 Digital Cameras

It is good to get the case and strap for the price that other places sell the battery only. Unfortunately, a spare battery is pretty much a necessity for the camera. This case is pretty nice for carrying it around. It fits the camera tight, so is not a “travel” case. It isn’t made to fit a spare battery or charger. But, I’ve found you can jam a spare battery in there with the camera. You do have to completely remove the camera to take a picture though and the battery will fall out while you’re at it. The strap is pretty nice, but the camera gets heavy around your neck after just a short time.

Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

For a point and shoot camera, this little gem packs a lot of advanced features. It’s definitely not a DSLR but it’s sure convenient when you want to conceal it and carry it with you in your pocket. 

Pros: 
1) Red-eye correction. No more red-eyes! It automatically fixes them. 
2) Image stabilization. Will correct your hand movements but will not stop action. 
3) Face Detection. Automatically finds and focuses on faces, and sets the proper exposure. 
4) LCD Screen. The 2 1/2 LCD screen is very high resolution. 
5) Lots of choices concerning picture quality and color. 
6) Image and video quality are very good for such a small camera. 
7) Optical viewfinder. Many cameras do not have this. It comes in handy when you do not want to use the LCD screen such as in theaters. 
Auto White Balance is much improved over the older Digic II processors. 
9) There is a manual setting where you can treak your photo settings. My preference is “Positive Film,” “ISO 100,” “+1/3 exposure,” “flash on.” The photos look fantastic. 

Cons: 
1) Noisy pictures with ISO settings over 200. (Pretty much what you get with any point and shoot camera.) Auto setting usually selects ISO 200, which is a little noisy. You’re better off to go with ISO 80 or 100. 
2) Lens is wide enough for most purposes but it’s definitely not a “wide angle” lens. There is some barrel distortion on the short end, meaning that straight lines, buidings, walls, etc, appear a little curved. 
3) Battery/SD Card Door can slide out and pop open easily. 
4) Cannot chose aperature or shutter speeds manually. 
5) No battery life meter. The LCD screen only displays a “low battery” warning. 

Bottom Line: 
This camera is a great little convenient camera, which is able to be concealed easily, and taken about anywhere because it easily slips into a purse or pocket. It’s a great camera for taking indoor portraits with flash, as well as outdoor photos. It is not good at stopping action. Pictures of kids and pets running around will often be blurry because of the 1/60 sec. shutter speed. If you are needing to take low-light or action/sports photos, you would be better off purchasing a cheap DSLR. The only reason I don’t give this camera 5 stars is because of the noise at higher ISO’s.

Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Before I took the family on a Disney Cruise to the Carribean, I shopped for a digital camera. I spent many nights reading reviews from various sites, compared prices vs features, size, megapix, accessory cost, memory card price,etc. I narrowed it down to a Sony Cybershot vs the Canon. I can say that I am not a pro photographer in any sense, but I enjoy snapping “tourist” photos and ones of the family so one day when I am senile I will remember. THIS CAMERA TOOK FANTASTIC PHOTOS, FOOEY ON THE NAYSAYERS. The only reason their pictures turned out blurry is because they cant hold their hands still! 

WHY I’M GLAD I DIDNT BUY THE SONY: 
Sony memory cards are a rip off (try pricing their high-speed ones versus regular SD high speed), their spare batts are a cha-ching, and their fragile LCD’s are complained about a lot. Even though the Canon camera itself costs more than the Sony camera did, the Sony accessories would have cost me more than a fully loaded Canon w/ accessories! I’m sure the photos would have been nice also, but the features on the Canon are better and I have a higher megapizel camera for an overall cheaper cost of ownership. 

CANON’S COOL FEATURES! 
1. Besides taking gorgeous, rich, color photos, I spent a few minutes reading the manual. If you set it to SCN scene mode, there are a ton of pre-programmed modes that compensate for every setting, beach, night, indoor, close-up plants, and even fireworks. I played with the various modes and I easily figured out which was best for the picture about to take. The Disney cruise ship did fireworks from it and the pix are awesome. Cant wait until the 4th of July! 
2. Super fast 1 second, ready to shoot time from the pocket. Didnt miss a single action moment! 
3. Photostich- allows you to take panaramic photos left, right, up and down, then the included software automatically pastes the pictures together! It rocks! 
4. Battery life was fantastic. I wasted my money on the spare battery (which was a generic Digipower from Best Buy and it died after 20 shots!) I used the camera all day, took photos and motion video and used up the 1gb storage space and the battery never died that day. 
5. I bought a 1GB high-speed SD card for it from Fry’s and I took motion videos with this camera! They play back in Windows media player and I emailed those out; people thought it was from a camcorder! I owned a Panasonic D-Snap and promptly sold it after my trip to Australia last fall. Wish I took the Canon there instead! Make sure you buy the high speed SD cards not a super Sunday sale cheap 512 card for $59! A 1gb high speed is about $80-$100. Also, dont forget to do a low level format 1st! 
6. Their included software is a little cumbersome to learn, but it works well once figured out. Just wish it had more editing features in it instead of having to use an external software for advanced editing. 
7. LCD can be seen at 50% level even in full sunlight & zoom was decent for a compact dig cam. 

CONS (IF ANY) 
I dont really have any true complaints, but to be fair here are some. Why pack a 32mb SD card? That’s worthless, it holds like 7 pictures, Canon ditch it and lower the price instead! Dont like the flappy door thing covering the USB jack, seems cheesy. Camera can get slippery, use the hand strap at all times, thats cheap insurance! 

Hope this review helps, I know I appreciate the other reviews people posted here, it helped me make the right decision for an investment that costs over $700 with all the accessories.

Canon Powershot SD550 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Beige)

I like this little digital camera. It does everything a point and shoot digital camera should do and more. For me, a point and shoot camera should be small and light so that it can conveniently go with me everywhere. That’s the power of any point and shoot camera actually. It goes with you in your daily life and subsequently you get shots that you could not get with other larger cameras either because it would be too conspicous, or too inconvenient to carry with you. This is the snapshot ethic. I’m a professional photographer and I carry this little pocket camera with me everywhere because I can’t carry my pro SLR with me all the time and not have it feel like a burden on my shoulder. 

You might be tempted to instead buy the cheaper and slightly older Canon SD500 since it has the same megapixel rating and looks very similar. There are however some pretty good improvements in the SD550: 

-a larger LCD screen (very nice) 
-better movie mode (SD500 put an annoying hissing/whining sound into the movie) 
-better battery lid latch design 
-better internal software (the display actually displays words and symbols such as “continuous mode” “single shot” “Macro” and not just the symbols alone. 

A NOTE ABOUT CASE COLOR: 
The SD550 comes in both Silver (called Grey on the box) or Champagne Gold. You will need to inquire with the vendor what color they stock or if you have a choice. Some of the vendors may be a bit useless in this respect so watch out-you may end up receiving a case color that you did not want. In my opinion, the Champagne Gold color is very ugly. Silver is much more attractive, even if you have to go to a local store to buy it. 

This camera is easy and fun to use and I can even shoot a long movie (up to 20 something minutes at the lower resolution with a 1GB card). Some cameras (Casio) only let you shoot a short 8 second movie. The movie mode is quite usable with quality video and audio. 

Another cool feature is that the automatic orientation sensor works when you are reviewing images. Try reviewing images and rotating the camera around-the image will always stay right side up on the LCD screen! 

To conclude, I am happy with this camera because it does everything a small point and shoot digital camera should do, yet it is quite small, light, feels sturdy (metal case) and has very pleasant ergonomics both with regard to the layout of the controls as well as to the on screen menu functions. Color, sharpness and resolution are all impressive for a camera this size.

Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

I did all sorts of research on the SD600. I had made up my mind that the SD600 was the camera for me. The SD1000 is the newer kid on the block and therefore did not have many reviews. And that is why I am here today. The SD1000 is the newest version of the SD600 with a few additions. Those few additions make this camera AWESOME. I love the ISO choices. I was zooming on my local Calif. freeways at around 80mph and decided to take a few shots of passing signs out my passenger window. At the high speed the ISO caught such great detail that I could clearly read the sign later at home. That means that despite the small size the camera filtered out the shake of my hand, the shake from the road, and compensated for the fast movement. The color options are very much the same as other Canon Powershot models. MACRO is so much fun to play with on this camera. The button layout is easy to figure out. Lighting options like White balance are a button push away. With the Face Detection option on you are sure to get a great photo of the family. I have been playing with it none stop for over a week. Get at least a gig for memory. The only downside that I have found, and it is a minor one, is that when the battery warning comes on it means that you have 1-2 more pics and then it shuts off. I ordered another battery ahead of time and it was worth it. The batteries charge in about 30-40mins. This is a great camera. If you are thinking about the SD600 step up and get the SD1000. You will not be disappointed with it.

Canon PowerShot SD700 IS 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Image Stabilized Zoom

Quiet Operation Yields Top Quality Photos and Nice Videos. 

I’ve used my SD700 IS for several days now. Before receiving it I was concerned about the reviews on Amazon that talked about the noisy video problem. However, the first reviews were written before the camera was released in the US. So I crossed my fingers. I got my camera from Crutchfield. (By the way, their custom service was excellent!) 

I have been unable to reproduce the noisy video problem. My videos are *not* noisy and sound good (for a camera of this size). I will say that if I turn up my computer’s volume as loud as it will go…THEN there is some ambient background noise. But the volume is extremely loud at that point and I expect a tiny microphone to have some noise when played back at such a high level. For normal video shooting and playback, my SD700 sounds just great. I’ve tested it with an without the image stabilization activated and the videos do not have any excess noise. Also, my zoom is quiet! Anyway, my experience with the camera obviously differs from others’. Not sure if that helps you or not. 

As far as the picture quality, I am also happy. Most of my shots so far have been indoors in the evening using the flash. Color saturation is fine and flash coverage is really good. (I’ll upload some examples if I get a chance.) 

Hindsight being 20/20, I’m not sure the image stabilization is something I needed. With a flash, it really isn’t necessary and I’ve been an amateur photographer for many years so I know how to hold a camera. I’m sure the IS will be handy if I’m ever in a situation when I’m taking photos from a moving car, or letting someone else use the camera. But if I had to make the purchase all over again I’d probably get the SD600 or SD630 and save a few bucks. 

It has a slew of settings including ISO 800, focus lock, flash lock, custom exposure and slow shutter setting. So although it lacks aperture and shutter priority there are still plenty of adjustments I can make in order to get a good shot (though this hasn’t bee necessary so far). 

PLUSES: 
1. Looks beautiful and feels very solidly made when holding 
2. Fast startup, fast refresh (I’m using a SanDisk 1GB Ultra II SD card) 
3. Image Stabilization. 
4. Quiet operation. 

MINUSES: 
1. Does not come with a case. 
2. Does not have aperture or shutter priority modes. 
3. Does not record MPEG format (video) or RAW (photo). 
4. At close to $500, it’s a bit spendy.

Canon PowerShot SD900 Titanium 10MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I consider myself a photography enthusiast and a bit of an electronics geek. I love looking at the latest and greatest gadgets and often end up telling myself that I HAVE to have them especially when it comes to digital cameras. I’ve owned 3 sony digital cameras all of which were pretty popular models (p10, t7, n1). Although my sony cameras were always very sleek and stylish, they always fell short when it came to taking pictures of my cats and of the children I work with. If you know cats and kids, then you know they NEVER stay still. My pics often came out blurry and the settings always had to be adjusted to take a decent picture. A forced flash always had to be on in order to catch a decent pose and the color of the picture would never look natural. I also thought the newer sony models would solve these problems but after my 3rd sony, I only saw minimal improvement. I was a bit hesitant to switch brands but after fiddling with a couple of canon’s from friends, I decided it was time to switch. 

After having this camera for about a month and a half, I don’t think I can ever go back to a sony. To say the SD900 is awesome would be an understatement. It is by far the most versatile camera I’ve ever used. It takes beautiful pictures in low light, indoor, and outdoor settings, but what sets this camera apart is that it takes great pictures of constantly moving objects like cats and kids in these backdrops as well! The colors are rich and natural, not washed out by the flash like my sony cameras. The images are crisp in detail and even in light distribution. With the high ISO setting on the camera, you can take beautiful indoor shots without a flash that no other camera can handle. The battery life is good and the lag between pushing the button and actually having the photo take isn’t bad. There are faster cameras out there that are quicker in response time but the quality pictures I keep getting from this camera is more than enough to overlook this. 
My sony n1 took great video but often had a hard time keeping focus on the subject matter. It would constantly go in and out of focus and make it difficult to watch sometimes. The SD900 totally blows the n1 out of the water when it comes to taking quality videos. The videos are crystal clear even when cats or kids are running around wild which is something I never experienced with a sony camera. 

I still prefer the sony interface and screen layout. Maybe that’s just because I’m so used to it. The canon doesn’t have the battery indicator that tracks battery life down to the minute nor does it have the storage gauge to let you know how full the memory card is at all times like the sonys. It’s a bit annoying at times to not have these features but its no deal breaker. 

Overall, it’s a great camera. It’s a little bit on the expensive side because its canon’s top of the line model. If you want something cheaper but don’t want to give up the stellar performance, you should go with the SD630. I had that camera and after playing with it for a few weeks, I was thoroughly convinced that it was time to be a canon believer. I now see the light. If you want to see some of the awesome things the sd900 can do, view customer images and you’ll see pictures of my cat that i took way up close. Keep in mind that these photos were not cropped or altered in any way by photo software. If you try to take a picture this close up with a sony, all you’ll get is a blurry image. I hope this review was helpful and that you’ll join me and all the other converts to the canon promise land.