Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Blue 8.0 MP 2.5" 230K LCD 3X Optical Zoom Digital Camera

Reviewed By: on 7/10/2008

Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: This a fairly small point and shoot camera. It fits comfortably into the hands of a 6' man. Due to the many different options available to you you do feel like you are getting a much better camera for the price you are paying.

The documentation and is spot on and provides a good tutorial on understanding all the camera's functions.

This is not an enthusiast camera. If you are looking for a very respectable point and shoot camera this is a very very nice one. If you want something more professional this is probably not the camera for you.

It has a pretty fast off to ready to take a picture feel so it's pretty easy to have it ready for a picture.

Cons: It uses a proprietary Canon battery. They run $35-$45. If you want another you'll have to purchase the battery or a Canon "kit."

You aren't able to power the camera via usb or from a wall connector and so you must take the battery out, charge it and then carry on.

Like most camera's the view screen and a metal ring on the front can display finger prints and become scratched. It does make it look less attractive after some usage (though this is unavoidable).

Mentioned below but it did come with only a 32mb memory card. Depending on the quality of the picture it will not last very long (Superfine = 8 x 4mb pictures, etc).

Other Thoughts: I've been very satisfied with this camera to date. I did purchase a case for it and when I'm not taking pictures it lives in it's case.

I really didn't even think about the 32mb card because I bought an 8gb at the same time. It was helpful that someone mentioned this because a 32mb won't last more than 8-10 pictures. I usually take pictures using the super fine setting. An 8gb card gives me ~2200 pictures. Just keep that in mind when selecting your cards.

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I like it

Reviewed By: Nate on 7/16/2008

Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Compact and stylish
Fast load times

Cons: Video in general:
1. No zooming while filming, whats up with that?
2. Video files are very large MJPEG format. High quality is 2GB per 15 minutes, more bandwidth than HDTV but for a 640x480 image! Mpeg4 or Mpeg2 compression would have been nice.

Other Thoughts: Picture quality is subjectively good. I dont have tools to objectively test the picture quality but if I cared that much I would buy a DSLR, not a point a shoot.

I was really surprised how quick it loads. It can go from off to on to a picture in 2 seconds, nice!

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Excellent

Reviewed By: Wave on 4/30/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -Short Shutter Lag (even with flash). Not quite DSLR speeds, but very fast for a point and shoot.
-User interface is superb. I've used several digital cameras and this has one of the best.
-Small, lightweight.
-Takes excellent pictures. Color is vivid, and every one very clear and focused.
-Awesome point and shoot camera.

Cons: -Discontinued. If you find one, buy it. The replacement model is likely just as good and has higher resolution. But remember more megapixels does not mean a camera is better than another.
-Very slight bending on extreme bottom corners of image. Most camera's have a barrel effect to some degree anyway. This one has more than the Lumix did, but less than the Nikon Coolpix 5900 I had before that. It's barely noticable unless you know what you are looking for.

Other Thoughts: I was looking for a fast (short shutter lag) point and shoot camera and bought a Panasonic Lumix FS5 (?) 10 mp that supposedly was *very fast* and recommended by several friends and also had great reviews. It wasnt. I did *alot* of research before and then again to replace it. After deciding a DSLR was the way to go, I stopped in a local camera shop and the guy showed me the SD1100 as a "complementary" camera to the DSLR (a carry everywhere point and shoot). I bought the SD1100 from NewEgg after playing with it in the camera shop. After a couple of months I can honestly say, it has a very short shutter lag, takes excellent pictures. There is some slight bending on the extreme corners but it is barely noticable. Overall Iv'e only deleted 1 pic (out of ~200) that came out blurry in many lighting conditions. The Lumix was almost a 1 in 3 for deletion. Excellent camera.

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3rd elph, still loving them

Reviewed By: JS on 4/16/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: these cameras just keep getting smaller and smaller and better and better. the viewfinder is nice and big. image quality is great. i couldn't be happier.

Cons: none that i can think of

Other Thoughts: i'm not a photographer, just your average joe who looks for the best price:features ratio, and i found it here. i got it with the 4GB card and a case combo for an extra $20 (note: the last time i bought a card was in 2002 and it was perhaps $150 for a 64MB card!)

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Hmm

Reviewed By: Mark on 4/15/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: My Wife and Son love it.
Takes great pictures of standing still people and objects
takes great shots without the flash
poweron and shutter are acceptably fast.
small package (fits in pant pockets or on your belt)

Cons: - Auto focus struggles on moving people (walking included, running..don't bother),
- weak flash (fades past 10 ft)
- I end up taking 2-3x more pictures with it because I know I'm going to pitch 1/2 of them.

Other Thoughts: If you buy this camera, just don't expect it to perform like a dslr....it aint. But for standing still snaps and scenery, it will perform well for most people.

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