CanonPowershot SD300 4MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

First, I am not a professional photographer. I *am*, however, an enthusiatic amateur, who has taken pictures for 25 years, with a variety of cameras, including SLRs. I am the proud owner of a Canon S230, Canon G1 and Canon G2. We got the Canon S230 because it was very small and took VGA quality movies (ie, 640 x 320 movies), which look good on a TV screen. We lost the S230 and needed a replacment, therefore we got the SD300. What a difference!!! This camera, the SD300, surpasses them All! I have used this camera extensively for a month now. Like the commericals for the old TV show, the 'Six Milliion Dollar Man', this camera does it 'faster, better, longer'! I chose this over the SD400 as my favorite camera website, [...], thought the SD400 had 'soft' images. I also looked at the SD500, but thought that the smaller size of SD300 camera was better for me (and cheaper to boot!)What I liked:0. Great, well exposed pictures that make great prints.1. Excellent macro -- 3cm! This is better than the SD400 or SD5002. DIGIC II processor really works well to quickly and accurately get well focused images....way better than the previous DIGIC 1 processor.3. Movie mode is excellent. The length of the movie (with sound) is only limited by the SD care sizeWhat I did not like:1. Poor flash. Now, this is not a dig against the SD300 only, rather a comment on the fact that ultracompacts do not function very well for indoor flash photography...although an external flash the HFDC1, is available.Summary:This camera is well worth the cost. I got mine from Amazon for 300 bucks and it has performed flawlessly. I would say that it is a good idea to READ THE MANUAL as it will dramatically improve one's pictures. I would also get a high speed SD card so that movies can be easily recorded.For what it's worth, I know that others have had problems with the screen cracking. I have taken this camera on hikes, etc. without any case, just in my pocket, with no problems.Buy this camera, you won't regret it.

I purchased this camera about two-three years ago. It's my first digital camera. It's easy to operate, small enough to fit in my pocket and or purse. The viewing window is big enough for me. Easy to download pics to my computer. This camera is capturing many memories for me. I'm enjoying this camera and would purchase another from Canon.I recommend you buy another battery so when vacationing and or on outings, you'll have another on hand. As you know, the battery always gets low during inconvenient time(s). There have been many times, it's given out but luckily my backup battery is always on hand. :-)

I've taken it out with me just about everywhere. It works great. The pictures are good. The only problems I've had are with red eye inside and some blurriness on a few occasions. I think I was shaking a little on those. The red eye just might be because I didn't have the red eye reduction turned on. I've also had some weird blue eye effects from time to time. I would recommend purchasing an extra battery. I bought a generic brand on a popular auction website for ~$10 shipped. Using the video feature eats up the battery and so does a lot of LCD use. But I've taken 100 pictures in a night with average LCD use and a few video clips before the battery gave a low indication. It's rediculously small and light weight. Anybody who has complained about the pictuers not being good enough or the zoom not being good enough is being too picky. It's not designed to be a professional photographer's camera. If you just want to take snaps for fun or for posterity then this is an excellent camera because it takes good pictures and you can take it anywhere.

I love this camera. The big LCD screen is great to work with. As long as you have a reasonably fast SD card you can record video up to the full length of the card (although as with all still cameras recording video, the image is a bit jumpy & shaky, and you can't change focus while recording). It writes pictures extremely quickly -- little or no delay (especially compared to my previous, 5-year-old digital camera). And it's absolutely tiny!Be warned, though. The flash is very weak. And it's easy to get your finger in the way of the flash. This means a fairly high percentage of my indoor shots are a little disappointing. My SD300 also seems to have more trouble with contrast than my old Kodak DC280. It seems to get that "washed out" white more often.You'll be making some tradeoffs with the SD300, but I love it and strongly recommend it.

I used to have a Canon S200 and this is superior in so many ways. Superquick from power on to being ready for picture, terrific pictures (colors are awesome), tiny camera (pocket size), fast scrolling through pics on camera, good red-eye reduction software, great video. In total, I am completely satisfied with this camera. I bought the 300 instead of the 400 as I read that the pictures with the 400 are not as good due to compressing more resolution on the same size CCD. Don't know if this is the case, but the 4 megapixels is plenty for just about everything.

I wanted a small camera, and boy, is this small. I am no camera geek so I am happy with the functionality of this thing. I read the negative reviews on this site and was a bit skeptical but went ahead with it anyway because it has everything I wanted. Let me share my experience with the things people have complained about:1) Pictures are clear, not blurry2) No fringing or purple outlines on the picture3) No soft edges4) LCD is fine. I dont see how it will break by itself. I think people tend to sit down while this is in their back pocket5) Battery life is decent. Love the fact that I do not need to buy batteries for this6) size is great if you want to use this all the time