Canon Powershot SD4000 IS (Black)

Pros: Image Quality, Speed, Finish.

Cons: Price, Features, Zoom, Wrist Strap Placement.

Summary: After my Canon A95 started having issues, I had a daunting task of selecting which camera to buy from 3 choices, Sony DSC TX5, Canon SD4000IS, and Canon T2i. My wife ruled out the T2i, as per her she could either handle the T2i or a 5 yr old, not both, and she did not want to carry 2 purses. So I had to rest on the TX5 and the SD4000IS, I picked the Canon.

Let me tell you why I did not pick the TX5. I loved the camera, sleek, robust and fast. The features are very good, waterproof, shockproof, lot of shooting styles. Plus it shoots 10 pictures in a second in full resolution which is nice. But the reason I did not pick it is because of the Image Quality. I read a lot of reviews and saw test/comparison images and found out that the Sony takes a little softer pictures. I did not care for the video quality as it was secondary to me.

Things that I've experienced with my Canon so far:
1. Image quality is superb and outstanding. Although not upto the par to a DSLR, but right there.
2. The low light and close up images are awesome.
3. Speed. The canon is just as fast as the TX5, but takes less high resolution pictures in a second, about 4 pictures. Which was good enough for me as I didn't want to select the best of 10 images as I would have did in the sony. Canon takes 4 good pictures, which are good enough for me. My son is all over the place and its very difficult to get him in the camera. I could achieve that with the Canon. The shutter lag is very less, 0.4 seconds. Plus Canon takes less time in storing the images to the memory card (I'm using SanDisk Class 10 8GB Card), than which the sony takes. Until the Sony can save all the 10 images, canon could be ready to shoot more images. So if you see the number of pictures shot per second they can be almost the same as Sony. Canon also has a low resolution high speed shooting, about 8 pics per second. They are good if you shoot in good light.
4. Videos are good and look very good on HDTV.
5. I liked the black matte aluminum finish
6. Liked the Program and Auto modes, both get very good pictures. Program mode is very customizable.

The things I don't like about the canon:
1. The wrist strap, should be at a different place. when I'm trying to download images to computer the strap gets tangled while opening the slot door. Poor design.
2. Price, could be less.
3. The features are less than the TX5. But thats ok with me.
4. High speed and continuous shooting don't do good in low light, normal light pictures are very good.
5. More Zoom please.

Few suggestions that I've for anyone buying this camera, get a good memory card, not a cheap one. Sandisk Class 10 cards are fantastic. Also get a spare battery, you never know when your need one...

Menus are not that bad, as this is a point and shoot, didn't have to do a lot of menu settings, unless you want to do something crazy with the images.

Finally, if you want all the good features then go for the Sony TX5 or TX7, but if you want good image quality go for the Canon SD4000IS.

Updated on Jan 3, 2011

***UPDATE 1 OCT 2010***
I returned this camera to amazon after 6 months. The camera started having issues with focusing, especially during taking videos. The focus kept on going in and out, which resulted in blurry videos.
Amazon took it back without any questions asked. But one thing I hated was they did not refund all my money back, which sucks.
I'm still rating this camera 5 stars for the picture quality.
Anyways I'm in hunt for another camera. I still keep on getting back to SD4000, as I loved the camera. If I don't find any other alternative before christmas then I will buy it again, till then...search.

Updated on Jan 3, 2011

***UPDATE 2 DEC 2010***
I bought the camera again. Didn't find any other camera up to par of this one. Got a good deal from Amazon. Hope this one works better.

***UPDATE 3 DEC 2010***
I returned this camera to amazon after 10 days, again. I feel so bad. The camera started having issues with focusing, taking normal pictures. The focus would lock and show that it has focused, but the picture on the screen was all blurry. I would have to shut off and restart the camera back again to get it working properly (Question came to my mind, is Canon using Microsoft OS by any chance? LOL) The focusing issues during videos also stayed. The focus kept on going in and out, which resulted in blurry videos.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED!!! With Canon, as that's always been my brand and with me for buying the camera again.

Updated on Jan 3, 2011

I wanted to bring down the rating to 1 Star but CNet does not allow it...I guess users will know by reading this.