I saw this camera in a showcase at the Wiz, and was impressed with how small it was compared to the competition. Given that I have an infant crawling around my house now, I found that I wanted to take instant pictures more and more, rather than taking 35mm and then sending them off for development. I have a Canon Rebel-G, which I love, but is a bulky SLR and I found that I didn't just carry it around. A digital camera was exactly what I had been looking for.
Now I take this little camera everywhere I go. For an ameteur, this camera is all you will ever need. I use the medium quality (1600 x 1200 compressed) and the pictures are outstanding, especially for email and digital processing. I haven't even tried taking pictures in high resolution (1600 x 1200 uncompressed), the quality is so good. Friends and family are blown away at the clarity.The limitation on the quality would be the printer, which now I think maybe its time to buy a photo printer with higher resolution.
Disadvantages:
1) The flash card that comes with the camera is too small. A second 8MB or one 16MB would be better. That gives you an equivalent roll of film (20 shots or so on medium resolution). I need to buy one.
2) The battery supplied with the camera does not last long enough, especially with the LCD display enabled. A second battery is a must, especially if you want to take the camera with you, and you don't want to lug the charger. Fortunately, the battery is recharged within an hour.
3) The camera gets surprisingly warm during extended use (a small nuisance).
4) Switching to digital zoom mode feels like it takes too long, and the camera does not stay in digital zoom mode when switching between reviewing pictures and taking pictures.
5) Red-eye reduction really doesn't help at all.
6) I wish a power adaptor to run the camera was standard. It needs to be bought seperately.
7) A camera case should come with the camera and doesn't. I highly recommend one be bought with the camera as the elegant stainless steel finish is likely to become scratched when carried about without a case. (I'm a bit fanatical about my electronics when I like them).
8) When flipping through pictures previously taken, the camera closes its lens. Not only is this a waste of battery life, it is annoying to wait for the lens to reopen for new shots.
Advantages:
1) Small size is fantastic! You can take it everywhere.
2) Powerful flash. Brightens images even 10 feet away.
3) Super-clear image quality. It feels like you can reach into the picture when you see it on the screen.
4) Awesome software. The camera comes with a USB cable, and when it is plugged in, the computer wakes up and downloads the images. The software is very easy to use, and highly intuitive. It makes digital editing a pleasure. A great feature.
5) Viewfinder or LCD display are both available for use, and the LCD can be disabled to save battery life. Very nice.
6) Optical and digital zooms work very well (though a bit slow). Image centering seems perfect in viewfinder.
7) Image processing is quick. You can snap a picture every two seconds without waiting for the image to process.
8) The lens is protected when not in use, and is self-stored.
Overall, I am thrilled with this camera, given the misgivings of many others. Canon is a trusted name in photography, and I highly recommend this unit.
