Canon PowerShot SX100 IS

After using this camera for a longer period of time, I have a bit more to say about it than my initial review. While I originally touted the manual controls, I found that they were not as useful in real world situations as they were while simply getting to know the camera. This camera performs well in daylight, but shots requiring a flash will drive you nuts because of the long recycle time.

The Good:

* Compact size with great zoom (best feature)
* Great color (in good lighting)
* Flash is easy to control (doesn't fire when you don't want it to, a problem I've had with many other cameras)
* Nice LCD
* Comfortable grip, better than a mid-size pocket camera
* Easy to use
* Manual controls are easier than other compact cameras

The Bad:

* Flash can take up to 10 seconds to recycle, not good for people photos (for example, if you shoot a photo of a friend and find that it needs more light, you pop up the flash and have to wait 10 seconds before you can take another photo. most people find this wait time annoying.)
* Dead batteries leave the lens halfway retracted (making it risky to transport the camera until fresh batteries are installed)
* High ISO is too noisy (common with compact cameras, but I've seen other compacts that do better than this one when it comes to noise)

Overall opinion:

At this price point, the good mostly outweighs the bad here. If you are looking for a camera for travel, this gives you a long zoom, and thus a lot more freedom in what you can shoot, than a standard 3x zoom, without the bulk and weight of larger cameras and DSLRs. If your photography consists of mainly people, at all hours of the day and indoors, you might want to avoid this camera as it will feel too slow to get the shots you want. If your photography does NOT consist of mostly people, then this camera should work great.

You can ignore any review of a point and shoot camera based entirely on the presence or lack of a viewfinder. There are plenty of cameras with viewfinders and plenty of them without. If you really want a high end Canon with a viewfinder, stop reading and go look at the G9, the S5IS, or the A650. Most people who shoot with this type of camera don't even use them, and for people with strong glasses prescription, like myself, they are so small they are absolutely useless. With a P&S viewfinder, you don't even get the true picture. What's actually going on the sensor is what's on the LCD. The new models are so bright you can see them in almost any light. Most even have way to boost the display if needed. Viewfinders are a nice feature but only one of many.

I have tried out this camera in stores and plan to buy one. The scroll wheel makes it very easy to adjust settings, like to change ISO for example. Ergonomically, it's large and curvy, like a mango, very comfortable to hold, even if you have big hands. The buttons are big and in the right places. It isn't small enough for a shirt pocket, but it is still quite portable. It has a large sensor, which means those pixels are bigger and hold more color information, giving you better pictures. My only gripe is that it doesn't start at 28mm (wide angle); that's not a deal killer, but for indoor, family shooting, I'd prefer Wide to 8x over Normal to 10x. Most people would take 10x over Wide. Teens and Twens looking something sleek & sexy to take clubbing, this isn't it; the SX100 is sensible shoes in a stylish world.

I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants a easy to use point & shoot that takes great pictures; to anyone who wants a P&S than can do manual/aperture/shutter priority but can live without RAW; to anyone with a touch of arthritis/carpal tunnel or anything else than makes gripping and manual dexterity a challenge; and to those who really want a G9 but can't justify the extra $200.

I bought this camera last week and I've take over 200 photos and a couple of movies. This camera is great for some one like me who wants the point and shoot options and settings but still likes to dabble in the manual world and play with doing it myself. I've used this camera to shoot pictures of my niece at the park, at the aquarium and on a carousal. The face recognition/ picture centering feature and the image stablization is great and allows you to capture images with out blurring. The aquarium pictures were amazing, with very clear detail and perfect lighting. The movies were clear with out shaking and the sound was pretty good. I also like that this camera allows me to use 2 AA batteries of any brand in case I get stuck somewhere with out any power.

Whether you are an experienced DSLR owner (as I am) looking for a compact second camera or you are someone looking to upgrade from your old point-and-shoot digital camera, the Canon PowerShot SX100IS is a well designed compact camera that has a lot of rich features at a very reasonable price.

I've been using my Canon Digital Rebel (DSLR) for several years and am very pleased with it. However, I have become increasingly aware of how bulky it is, particularly when I want to go places where it's inconvenient to lug around - like going hiking. So I set out looking for a smaller pocket-sized camera that had as many features as I could find comparable to my DSLR.

Being a fan of Canon cameras I limited the field to the PowerShot G9, the PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS, and the PowerShot SX100IS, all Canon products. The G9 is promoted and priced as the best of Canon's non-DSLR cameras, although from the reviews I've read it is more appreciated for its look and feel than for its performance. It is an 12.1MP 6x optical image stabilized zoom camera that can shoot RAW images. In comparison, the SX100IS is an 8MP 10x image stabilized zoom camera that doesn't shoot RAW. (I've shot RAW using my DSLR and don't find it necessary to get great photos.) The SX100IS has almost all of the other features of the G9, is about the same size, but weighs a lot less.

The S5 IS is an 8.0MP 12x optical image stabilized zoom camera. It looks a lot like a DSLR but doesn't allow for swapping lenses, and it can't shoot in RAW. It has very similar features to the SX100IS but is considerably bulkier and weighs more.

Even though all 3 cameras live up to Canon's reputation for taking great shots, I chose the SX100IS over the G9 because it had a higher optical zoom capability, weighed a lot less and was about $200 cheaper. I chose SX100IS over the S5 IS because it is more compact and lighter, and is about $80 cheaper. (Also, the SX100IS' 10x optical zoom is pretty amazing in its own right.)

The SX100IS has almost as many features as the other 2 cameras at a considerably lower price. I particularly like the Macro setting (which allows me to take really close-ups shots of ferns and the like on my hikes), and I like the manual focus capability for when the situation is such that the auto focus won't work properly. Also, I find that the lack of a viewfinder isn't bothersome. In fact, in some instances like when I'm playing around with white balance, I can get a preview of how the exposure changes on the 2.5" LCD screen, which isn't available on my DSLR.

Since purchasing the SX100IS about a month ago, I find myself reaching for it more often than I do my DSLR. For my money and for most of my needs, this camera is superb.

I already have a SLR digital Rebel, but it is too big to carry to some places. So I was looking for something small, light and with enough features to keep me, a SLR buff, interested.

My wife wanted a sleeker, colorful and tiny camera. I felt that we needed a more jack of all trades model. So I looked for a good optical zoom (10x), and as much manual features as possible. I ended up with three cameras: a Sony, a Canon and a Panasonic. It didn't take much testing to see that Canon was superior in every aspect.

The menus are simpler than Sony's. The physical buttons are better placed and bigger than Panasonic's. The only thing that I will miss is to have wider lens. Both Sony and Panasonic have wider angles, good for that classic auto-photo with your friends in a club.

Other than that... My god. This camera is amazing. I didn't need the manual to figure the commands out. Everything is where it is supposed to be. You just navigate and the commands just appear in context of what you are selecting. So, if you are in full auto, you won't find controls for Manual Focus and flash. But if you change to other programs, these options are there.

The manual commands are great. The manual focus is almost perfect and the ISO options work perfectly. I prefer the way they built the flash: it does not open automatically when the camera needs it. It asks you to open. I hate when the flashes keep popping and opening without my consent. And also it is one more feature to break somewhere down the line. I like the idea of just opening the flash myself.

In the end. It is a little bigger than the models my wife wanted, but being an amateur photographer herself she didn't need much time to see that, for a few fractions of inches more, we had a better deal.

Oh. I almost forgot. The biggest problem, really, is the downtime between shots. These cameras need to be faster. It makes me crazy when I need to take a shot and I just have to wait while the microprocessor is working. Come on, guys. You can make it better.

Other than the speed issues... Great package. Amazing colors and lens. Almost perfect camera.