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.

This is my first Digital Camera, and I am very happy with it. Ive had it for about 2 months now. It takes extremely sharp detailed pictures, which can easily be cropped and blown up and still retain their quality. The zoom is great, 10x optical and 40x if you add the digital zoom, although i normally wont go past the optical unless there's good lighting. It takes great pictures both indoors and out, but when indoors you will have to use the flash very often, unless the room is well lit.The video quality is not the greatest, but a very nice feature to have. You can zoom optically before you hit record, but can only zoom digitally while recording. The battery life with AA Alkaline batteries is very poor but with NiMH Recharbales it's great. I only get about a half hour of on time and 30 pictures off of one set of Alkaline batteries. Take everyones advice and get 2 sets of NiMH Rechargeable batteries off the bat they work wonders. I get over 200 pictures and several hours of on time from one charge. I bought Sony Quick Battery Charger with 4 AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries as a pack and works great. The camera is very self explanatory and easy to use out of the box, and with a little reading the advanced options are easy enough to get the hang of. Some people were saying that when you change memory cards the batteries fall out, but that hasn't been an issue, if u get a large 2G or 4G sd card you wont have to change them very often, and just be careful. The one and only thing i don't like about this camera is the long delay between shots when using the flash. When using the flash it takes 5-8 seconds to recharge before you can take another shot. I don't know how long this recharge period would be on other digital cameras. However its not a very big deal and all of the other great things about this camera make up for it ten fold. A great camera well worth the money.