Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS user reviews (Brown)

Pros great button arrangement and function, small size, easy moviemaking.

Cons slow recovery, cheap plastic doors, limited metering, slow ugly software.

Summary Let me jump ahead of myself to alert you: ***if the screen goes black when you turn the camera vertically, put your hand up to your ear and remove your polarized sunglasses!!!***

The (reddish) brown is butt-ugly but reduces glare from around the viewfinder. The plastic doors are unimpressive, I hope they hold up. The buttons are simply arranged and well thought-out among monitor displays, menus, and functions. I wish the lens started out with a wider angle. The body size is nice and small, smaller than I expected from the product photo. Startup, shutter reponse, and recovery are still too slow. Movies are easy to shoot.

Special-feature-wise you can easily set up color accent, color swap, sepia, dark or light skin tones and get obvious results. Other custom color settings changes are barely noticable. Stitching pictures that overlap in any way can be done in their verrrrry slooooow software. I often need to take two shots with different readings because the meter can't manage sky detail and shade detail in a single shot. The manual needs an index.

Pros Fast to start up and first shot. Compact and long battery life.

Cons View finder in middle of camera. flimsy feeling battery/card cover.

Summary Great little camera. Use it for those quick pictures of the family when out and about. Great size for a pocket and with a case still compact for a backpack. Good over all, I will see as the years go on.

Pros Durable, good picture quality, fast shutter reaction, large bright screen, on-camera effects including red-eye removal

Cons Flash is weak at distances and can wash out up close, almost unavoidable red-eye, no manual exposure settings

Summary I was looking for an every day portable camera to complement my dSLR (not exactly a 'party-friendly' camera) and the SD1100 fit my criteria. Its small size makes it easy to take anywhere I go by just slipping in a pocket. Its metal construction also makes it quite durable. Mine took a fall down a couple of concrete steps at a football stadium with only a couple scratches to the body. The picture quality is great for your day-to-day uses like friends and family or an adorable pet. While I don't use them very often, the on-camera effects are a neat addition and the red-eye removal works simply and well, though I still use Photoshop most of the time.

What I don't like most is the flash. Any time someone is looking at the camera when the flash goes off they get big red eyes. Unlike many cameras these days there is no red-eye reduction flash setting. The flash also does not work past 15 feet or so. Occasionally it will also wash out subjects up close (like when you take a picture of yourself), but editing-savvy users can fix that issue once the picture are uploaded. Also, the lack of manual exposure settings may disappoint some, but since this camera is designed more for casual use it shouldn't deter many.

I would like to point out that I cannot comment on the included software which some find disappointing. Regardless, using both iPhoto and Adobe Bridge, transfers are very quick.

In short, I would recommend this camera for anyone seeking a powerful, durable and tiny camera for casual photography.

Pros very compact, great image quality; good zoom range, excellent functions,

Cons nothing I think of!

Summary I bought this last year and have been fully satisfied with it. It was the best buy that I did last year. This camera has a sleek design and easy to use functions. The picture quality is outstanding for a digital camera of 8 megapixels. Everyone compliments them. My favorite functions is the color accent where it picks out one color on the picture and accents it. You start becoming an amateur artistic photographer!

All in all, I recommended this camera to anyone who wants a compact camera that will take professional photos.