Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD (OLD MODEL)

The Canon PowerShot SX130IS was my first camera, and it still one of my favorites. It has the power and features available in larger, pricier cameras but the portability to go anywhere, and it's quite resilient to damage.So, then -- list time:PROS:-Compact and portable, will easily fit into a pocket.-Excellent Zoom, puts my Eos Rebel T3i to shame. Doubles for a pair of binoculars now and then.-A Macro function, which is a special point of interest for some. It won't match dedicated macro lenses or cameras, but having it certainly makes a difference in your photos.-Around 9000 other features. Not literally, but this camera can handle a good variety of challenges and be set to perform quite a lot of functions, from portrait to landscape shots.-For its price point, it takes good photos and video. Pricier cameras would take better photos and video... but you would have to go more than double on the expense for that to happen.-There aren't any weird tints to your photos with this camera.-Runs on two AA batteries, which is great when you're traveling.-Having a wrist strap, while common to many cameras, is still a pro when the camera is small enough to fit in one hand.-You can control the entire camera with your right hand.CONS:-You better have a lot of AA batteries. Battery life, depending on use, can range from 3-7 hours... unless you are taking photos very quickly or taking video, in which case two hours would be impressive.-Ten minute video length, max -- you can take as many videos as your memory card allows, but none of them will be longer than ten minutes.-If dust gets into the (irremovable) lens (it will,) you will know. And may the force be with you in trying to remove it on your own.-Some people won't find the video or sound quality up to snuff. Additionally, trying to play a video on some computers will often necessitate a download of the Combined Community Codec Pack. Windows doesn't like MP4s, for some reason.-It's a little slow, especially under low-light conditions.-The LCD screen is built-in to the camera -- it doesn't flip out.-It's also your viewfinder.This particular Powershot is my favorite of the series. It's never let me down, it can go anywhere with me, and it lets me photograph moths and landscapes with equal success. It has a myriad of features, and most of them aren't novelty gimmicks. Especially for it's relatively low price, this is both a great travel-camera and an excellent beginner camera. It won't disappoint you.

My old camera (a high-end, for the time, Olympus digital that we bought on clearance)is about 8 years old, so I figured I needed a new one, as the tax refund came in and we were preparing for a rare family vacation with my inlaws (including my niece and nephew, the two most adorable toddlers in the universe).I originally was looking at the SX30IS... which has more heft and overall is certainly a higher level camera... but as much I drooled over that one, when I compared the 30 to the 130, I decided it just wasn't quite worth the ~$200 price difference for my needs.The good:Batteries: it uses double-A batteries instead of a proprietary battery pack (so for $20 for a set of Eneloop rechargeables, I've got all the battery power I need, easily carried anywhere, instead of having to purchase an extra proprietary pack). With only two batteries at a time, I got around 300 shots on one set of batteries, and easily stuffed two additional pairs in my camera bag or purse at any given time.Photo quality: after a week in the caribbean, I've been able to compare the photos produced by my SX130IS, My sister-in-laws SX20IS (the prior modes of the SX30IS), and my husband's uber-DSL (Nikon D90).... and I am very pleasantly surprised to tell you that my photos definitely show nicely in this comparison.Portability: While larger than the little rectangle pocket cameras, the size of the 130S is still a nice small portable size--much easier to tote around than the larger SX20/30IS.Features/Settings/software: While my previous camera had an auto mode, I used it only rarely, usually preferring to select the modes myself. But the "auto-detect" mode on this camera takes the auto setting to a new level, auto-detecting which mode it should be, and giving good information about what that is, for making photo-taking as quick as possible when I just didn't have time to futz with it. As I was often trailing 2 toddlers, this was a really nice feature, that came in very handy, and worked surprisingly well.I did a quick read of the quick-start manual before we left on the trip, and from there, I found the controls intuitive and easy to follow.Video: I took lots of short videos of the kids being kids. I am thrilled at how well the zoom-while-filming works--past cameras has trouble keeping the focus caught up, but this camera performed brilliantly in that aspect. I posted one of the HD videos online for my in-laws, and my gadgethead/amateur videographer Father-in-law thought it came from my husband's high-end HD video camera.The bad:Someone else mentioned a speck of dust getting inside and settling on the lens. I'm sad to report I ran into this also. If I look closely as some of my photos, I do see a slight blur in that location--but I have to magnify and look closely for it. Like the other reviewer's experience, my speck fell back off the lens after a day or so. I'll be keeping an eye out to see if it comes back -- if it becomes a recurring problem, my opinion of the camera will drop drastically.The lens cap: is one of the self-retracting caps. It's spring loaded, so just throwing the camera un-protected in a smaller purse is a bad idea -- the cover could get pushed to the side and allow dust or scratches on your lens. You definitely need some kind of protective camera case, even if just one of the small built-to fit ones. (I have a small shoulder-strap camera bag that easily fits this camera in the main cushioned compartment, with pockets for a couple spare memory cards, a handful of batteries, and even a couple credit cards and cash, so I can just drag it out instead of a purse.)Viewfinder: I like having an oldschool viewfinder to save battery, and because it helps me focus my mind on the subject and framing. This camera sadly doesn't have one -- only the LCD screen. But the screen is large, vivid, and easy to use. And battery life really hasn't been a problemOverall, I'm very pleased with this camera so far. It would be fabulous for anyone who wants to take great point-and-shoot photos out-of-the-box (instead of messing with settings), and still allows a lot of functionality for those of us who occasionally do want to choose just the right settings to create a specific composition.