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

for the sice the quality is great but the camera needs a little bit longer to be ready again than I was used to.
Also the small battery is holding up about 4 hours so you should buy a 2 one just in case.

This camera takes excellent pictures and has good battery life! I am going overseas to Bolivia soon, and it will serve my needs perfectly for documenting my adventure.

It does take the occasional blurry picture in dark lighting, but it's quality is still better than your average "point-and-shoot" camera. Unless you are willing to get something that is considerably larger and more manual, this is really pretty darn good.

Especially if you can get it "new (used)" from Amazon for under $200. Then I'd say the deal is incredible.

Advantages:
1. Small, Lightweight, Pocket Size
No excuse to not take it with you. Excellent for travel. Never miss a photo.

2. Excellent Picture Quality
High resolution; can crop image and maintain detail.

3. Real Image Viewfinder
Great for action shots e.g. panning kids sledding on a snow covered hill. Viewfinder is great for photographing in bright sunlight when the LCD is difficult to see. Camera is always more stable, less blur, when using viewfinder vs. LCD screen.

Must Have Accessories:
Buy a 2 or 4 GB SD card. Get a small, Samsonite zippered case ($ 8) to protect the camera while traveling with camera in your trouser or jacket pocket.

Features You Have to Learn to Use:

Auto setting for everyday photos

Night setting for flash photos of people in low light buildings. If not set to Night, the background is dark/black = high contrast. Setting to Night lightens the background scenery = better contrast

CM manual settings:
Set color to Positive Film for rich, saturated colors

Reduce exposure for sunsets

Portrait setting = soft effect for portraits

Photostitch = essential for pictures of landscapes, wide buildings, etc.

How to Zoom Beyond 3X Optical Zoom:
Don't use Digital Zoom. Turn it off on the menu unless you want crappy, low resolution photos. Instead, take very sharp, highest resolution photos. For outdoor photos in bright light, use CM manual setting with ISO set to 80, and SuperFine, Large files. This will produce the sharpest, highest resolution photo. The jpg file is larger and sharper than you'll ever need. Use software to "zoom" 2 or 3x by enlarging and cropping the photo. It's like having a camera with a 6X optical zoom lens.

Limitations:
1. The major limitation is low light photography. The camera sensor cannot collect enough light to take excellent pictures in low lighting such as in a cathedral. The high ISO settings produce poor quality, very grainy pictures. If you carry a tripod or monopod, you could overcome this limitation. But who does that with a pocket camera?

2) Flash is for relatively short distances, but it's good enough for family photos.

3) The wrist strap has hard plastic sections. The hard plastic can press against the LCD screen while the camera is in your pocket and permanently damage the screen.

4) There is NO pocket-sized (credit card sized) documentation listing all the menu options, at least the frequently used settings.

Conclusion:
Overall, it's an extremely powerful, low priced, extremely versatile camera packaged into a tiny, lightweight case. It takes great photos. You can't go wrong with this camera. A slightly better camera with Image Stabilization for better, hand held, low-light photos is the new Powershot SD1100. Image stabilization is a must have if you want to take photos in cathedrals, museums, etc. I bought the SD1100 for my wife.

Got the camera about a month ago, we have a larger Canon, I just wanted something pocket-sized to take pics of friends. So far, it's perfect! Easy to use, easy to carry, great pictures, definitely a good buy.

I bought this camera to replace another Canon that I owned that got destroyed when it got wet. That older digital took fabulous photos. This one takes horrible ones. They almost universally look grainy especially if using the flash or the zoom. If I could do it all over again, I would most definitely NOT get this camera. Thank goodness that I have a new Canon SLR as well. However, that one doesn't take pictures as well as the one I had before it either. Obviously, Canon's quality is going downhill - say downhill.