Canon PowerShot SX100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

I have used this camera for one month and will comment on my observations. First the zoom lens is superb. It works smoothly and is easy to operate. I use it all the time. The pictures at full optical zoom (10X) were crisp, detailed and clear. The color was bright, warm and true to life. I found myself saying, "Wow, wow, wow. I can't believe how great these pictures look ". They are superior to the ones I take with my Canon S2 1S. One brght and sunny day, I took some pictures of a near by river and pedestrians who were at least 100 yards away. I used the digital zoom to enlarge the pictures 40X. They were surprisingly good..again couldn't believe it. However, on a gray day this was not the case. The pictures were pixilated and of poor quality. However, the 10X optical zoom pictures were always excellent. The superb image stabilization system contributed greatly to the quality of the zoomed pictures. My Canon Powershot SD 1000 is a wonderful pocket sized camera but at times frustrated me because it only has 3X optical zoom without image stabilization.The macro setting of the SX100 IS is superb and easy to use. The picture quality caused more "Wow, I can't believe how good they are." Some of my most exciting pictures have been in the macro setting.The camera is small enough to fit in my pants pocket albeit with a noticable bulge. I have been carrying it this way for the past month even though I have a carrying case for it. I wanted a camera with a decent zoom lens to carry with me on most days. It works but it is definitely not as portable as the Canon Powershsot SD 1000. I don't mind the increased size because I love the zoom. Thus far the unprotected LCD screen has not been damaged in my pocket. The screen itself is good size, easily cleaned and scratch resistant. The screen in no way reproduces the fine quality of the pictures as seen on a computer or when printed out. The screen has fewer pixels than the SD 1000 screen. This is not a problem for me. There is no viewfinder but the screen works reasonably well for me in bright sunlight.The camera has a solid feel which I like and is relatively easy to hold steady for zoom shots. The battery and SD card cover at first felt a bit fragile but on repeated use it seems to work just fine.The movie function is average at best. The low resolution movie setting takes poor quality movie that are unacceptable to me. At the high resolution setting the movies are o.k. You can zoom during a movie but it goes out of focus. If I want a close up movie shot, I zoom first in the camera mode and then switch to the movie mode and shot the movie. The results are o.k. My Canon S2 1S zooms while shooting a movie whichI like.I have not used the manual controls so I can't comment on them. I have use the programed shooting modes for evening and inside shooting etc and they work just fine.This is a great camera albeit not perfect. For me, the picture quality is it's greatest asset. It is a pleasure to give it a 5 star rating.

Bought this because all of the rave reviews I read here about the Canon SX100IS!First the good things:The few pictures that I took looked great and the zoom was wonderful. IS worked like a charm even after I shook the camera on purpose to TRY and create a blurry picture, but couldn't!Now the reasons I returned it:I hated the "wheel" on the back of the camera. While trying to spin it I would always end up clicking it and end-up somewhere else, total design flaw!I hated the feel of it. It felt like cheap plastic and did not feel sturdy in my hands. Always felt like it was slipping out!But the reason I returned it was because of the battery life, or lack there of. I used the batteries that came with it all of about 45 minutes. I then replaced them with re-chargable ones that came with the "accessory pack" ,that I bought from Amazon, and got about 5-6 minutes with those. Put the other set in and only got 2-3 minutes with those! Went and bought a brand new pair of lithium AA's and only got 20-25 minutes with those.WHAT GOOD IS A CAMERA IF YOU CAN'T TAKE PICTURES!!!Unacceptable. I returned to Amazon awaiting my refund!Bottom Line: This camera felt cheap and not sturdy in my hands. Battery life was a joke and not acceptable.

Can't really say enough about this little gizmo. All we wanted was a relatively nice point and shoot, but ended up with so much more! I upgraded to the Canon SX100IS from an old Olympus. I liked the Olympus, but love the Canon. I looked at the ELPH series for their compact size, but was disappointed with their meager zoom. I decided to forego the slim design for a better lens and have been impressed every step of the way!! I've mostly taken photos on the auto setting, but also messed with the speciality settings, i.e., night shot, beach, snow, etc. Taken numerous movies, inside and out. Everything has turned out way better than expected. Clear as a bell. I caught a photo of a coyote on the north coast bluffs of Santa Cruz at an estimated 50 yards with the 40X digital zoom and could not believe my eyes at the image quality. Definitely like the manual flash - wasn't sure if I would, but realized just how often I had to turn the flash on our old camera OFF to get a decent shot. The Image Stabilization system seems to work very well. The face recognition system is great too...easy to turn off if you don't want it. All settings and menus easy and user friendly even for a novice like myself. I really like the software that came along with it too - way better than iphoto. I have tried using some of the camera's SLR characteristics like manual focus and shutter speed and that's pretty easy too, though I'm sure someone with more experience could make better use of those features. Pretty durable...I dropped it and freaked out that it was ruined, but it didn't even get a scratch and works perfectly. Really like that it takes regular AA's - in a pinch, you can find batteries anywhere.OK, so it can't be ALL positive, right? Well, if I must pick a few things I don't like, one would be the function selector wheel - it's sometimes hard to turn it without pushing it's buttons too, if that makes any sense. I've resolved that issue by just not using the wheel, but just using it as a button. The fact that it only has 2 AA batts is nice for weight, but not so nice for longevity. I did experience a couple of blurry action shots of people sledding down a hill, but most were fine...I think it was just user error. That's about it for negatives.Overall, my experience with this camera has been beyond expectation. For portability, ease of use, number of features, quality of lens and images, it is just what I wanted. Happy birthday to me.