Canon PowerShot SD1200IS 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Dark Gray)

I just got this to go to Costa Rica and take pictures. My previous camera took horrible pictures, and had bad picture quality. I had just got back from a trip from Germany and did not have that many great pictures, and wanted a better one. This camera has great picture quality, is small and easy to carry around. The settings are easy to use and there are no mysteries where and how the camera is used.

I have a Canon Powershot S2IS. the camera is less than 2 yrs old. While taking a picture it shut itself down and the lens stayed open and an E18 error came on the screen. After some reseach and googled 40,000 complaints for this design flaw. I now have a $500 paperweight. Canon will fix it for $150 plus parts or offer to let you purchase a refurbished camera starting at $199. A class action suit was filed against Canon. I will never buy another Canon product. Im very unhappy.

This is a nice camera. We are still testing it and so far, it has presented very good quality. It's a bit heavy for a small camera, but I guess that means that it is built well. The screen is pretty fast when turned on/off. The devices are very easy to understand, however,it is always important to read the manual to better use the camera's settings. A lot of times the reason why we don't get the results we expect is because we don't know how to use the camera properly.

We purchased the Canon SD1200 IS camera and Canon WP-DC20 underwater housing for it to use for a dive vacation in Bonaire. The housing was very easy to use, and very light and easy to carry (there is no need for any weight system). We did not have a strobe, and had no problems with light issues. Very sharp photos and realistic colors. Both seahorses 1 foot away, and squidd 10 feet away, came out sharp. Just put it in Manual "Underwater" mode (select DISP to find this hidden selection) and drop it in the housing.

I gave the SD1200 camera a 4 star as the size is almost too small and hard to handle outside of the underwater housing, and annoying whirring noise whenever in Auto Mode used on land. Will use my older Canon SD800IS for non-underwater use (I love that camera). I would consider purchasing a different camera/housing combination with a larger display if I did it again, but definitely happy with Canon and the WP-DC20 underwater housing.

We got this camera for my daughter for Christmas after my fater-in-law raveda about his SD1000. I cannot figure out how this camera has so many great reviews?! Are their expectations THIS low? We have a 9 year old inexpensive point and shoot that takes better photos! If everything is perfectly still and there is excellent lighting, this camera will take a decent photo. But I'd guess 90% (or more.. it's rare for us to get one that's not) of our photos of people are blurry. And the flash is worthless. It WAY overexposes pale skin tones. I'll upload some of our average photos with this camera later. I expected much better picutre qualit for one hundred seventy dollars. Our camera phones take better pictures. For what it's worth, we don't use auto mode as per other reviews, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. We did go to the store to look at this camera before we purchased and it handles well and pictures seem good looking at the lcd. But when you get them off the camera, they suck. I really enjoy photography and thought maybe my daughter could join me, but it's fairly pointless with this camera. :( I won't ever buy another canon camera and will encourage anyone thinking about it to borrow this one before they decide if canon is the brand for them.