Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)
by Canon
Our Price: $408.99
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: CanonRelease Date: 2008-02-15
Model: B0011ZK6PC
Color: Blue
Product features:
- 8.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 16x 22-inch prints
- 3x optical image-stabilized zoom
- 2.5-inch PureColor LCD II monitor
- Face Detection; Motion Detection Technology automatically reduces blur
- Captures images to SD memory cards (not included)
- Serif PhotoPlus X3
- Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]
- Transcend 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card with USB 2.0 Card Reader TS8GSDHC6-S5W
- Aperture 3
- Maximal Power FC300 CAN Universal All In One Rapid Travel Charger for Canon Battery (Bronze)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)
Customer Review: Awesome for the lazy novice - as long as it is working
Summary: 5 Stars
Update: As of June 6, 2010, my beloved camera went kaputt with the "lens error, please restart" message that apparently is not uncommon in the Canon Elph series. Since this is out of warranty I'm going to try some of the fixes recommended on the internet, but I'm not hopeful.
In general, this has been a great camera. As with most compact point-and-shoots, it struggled in indoor or twilight conditions when not using the flash, but it took fantabulous pictures in the outdoors and in reasonably well-lit rooms. The flash also worked well in terms of properly exposing most shots indoors. I also appreciated that the video quality (VGA video with monoaural sound) was pretty good for a camera of this generation, and the sound was clear. The camera video adjusted well to lighting conditions with a slight delay. You can't use the optical zoom once you've started recording.
If I buy a new camera, I'm going to get something with a bigger zoom (7X or 10X), HD 720p video, and the ability to use the optical zoom while shooting video. If the camera performs as well as this one in other areas, I'll be pretty happy. I would lean towards Canon if I hadn't just experienced this "lens error" problem, which I find annoying.
Just got this camera for a vacation trip (before the big price cut! bummer.) Spent the last two weeks taking well over 1000 photos on a 4GB card. Have never had my own digital camera before, but have used my friends' cameras and also purchased a Canon A630 for work about a year ago and use that occasionally. Basically, I'm the kind of user who never really wants to "think" about the picture I'm taking and expects the camera to figure out the right settings so I can just press the d--n button and get a great shot. Thus the Auto-mode on a camera is 10 times more important than all the "scene mode" options, because 95% of the time the camera is going to be on auto, and by the time I remember that a scene mode might be more appropriate, it's too late anyway.
From that "lazy novice" perspective, this is an awesome camera. It did almost all the thinking for me, and just allowed me to point 'n shoot. People, buildings, boats, skies, ocean, insects, sand, friends -- pretty much everything came out without any adjustment.
Comments on pics: I'm slightly red-green color blind, so I can't comment on the color fidelity of the shots, but these are all adjustable on the computer afterwards anyway. Focus was fantastic, with two exceptions: once when I needed to pick one non-centered boat to focus on in an array of boats at various distances, and I hadn't bothered to learn how to pick and lock focus from the manual. And should have used the "infinity focus" lock to take pics/video of a show in a dark theatre where flash was forbidden and the auto-focus assist lamp couldn't find the stage 50 feet away. This was the only time I got a series of blurry shots. I did use the "night snapshot" mode a lot to take pictures at night. That was my one concession in my expectation that the camera figure out everything. A couple times I turned the flash off because the flash was too close to someone's face and kind of flattened his skin tones and natural shadows.
I also want to point out that I have very unsteady hands, and I made little or no attempt to keep the camera still when I was shooting. Not sure whether the image stabilization feature or the high ISO capabilities kicked in here, but I very rarely got a blurry shot unless both the camera and the subject were in rapid motion. [Update June 2009: I finally figured out that when I'm shooting people in motion (e.g. daytime street scenes) I just need to turn on the "kids & pets" scene mode, and then no more blur...] Very happy. And never saw significant noise in my photos, although I'm not particularly sensitive on this issue.
Comments on ergonomics: small camera, lighter than my smartphone, fit into pocket. Pretty easy to hold in one hand and take photos. Slightly slick surface left me worrying that it would slip out of my hands, so i often used the wrist strap.
My one wish has to do with the zoom range of the lens: it's not very wide at one end, and I often found myself inconveniently backing up to take pictures of houses. And the 3X telephoto end won't get you close up to that sea otter you spot out in the ocean surf. The Panasonic Lumix TZ series is fantastic in both of these areas, but I really didn't want to sacrifice the Canon idiot-proof simplicity, compact size, and great auto-focusing capabilities.
Comparisons to other cameras I've used or played with: It's faster and smaller than the Canon A570IS I bought for my parents 6 months ago, although the A570IS is easier to hold steady because of the big grip. Personally I would have preferred to use AA batteries like in the A570IS, but the battery life on the SD1100IS is great so far and the charger is tiny and light, so easy to pack for a trip. I think the IS image stabilization feature is critical for shaky hands and casual on-th-go one-handed shots, which gives it an advantage over amazing cameras like the A630. We use the A630 at work to photograph everything from building problems to new member portraits, and it's great but heavy as a brick and triple the size of the SD1100IS. I do love that articulating LCD screen, tho'. It was impossible to take discreet snapshots of people on the street with the SD1100IS -- chalk it up to pointing a pink camera in their direction, directly at eye level. With the articulating LCD you can pretend to be just fiddling with the camera while getting great spontaneous shots of your friends.
All in all, a brilliant camera for someone who really does NOT WANT to learn about technical issues of doing photography. Plus, at the current price it's a total steal, over fifty bucks less than I paid at the camera store just three weeks ago, and that was on sale!
More Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue) reviews:
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Description of Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)
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