Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Brown)

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Purchased this for my 9 year old grandson for his birthday for an upcoming trip to Yosemite National Park. He really enjoyed taking his own photos throughout the trip and gave him a sense of pride. The camera worked well, was easy for him to operate and took a decent shots. What we were so thankful for was the sellers prompt delivery of the camera. It came way before the expected and with a personal note. Great seller, prompt service. Thank you!

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The thing I love about this is that it just works. Find some settings you like and whenever you need it, it comes through. The picture quality is great. The stability feature works. The video works great as well. Loading pictures to your PC is simple. The battery lasts a long time and recharging is easy. Everything about this camera in terms of basic use is good. Admittedly, I have never gotten heavy into the elaborate possibilities of all the settings. There are a lot. And I am sure there are much better camera options out there now. But at this price, this thing is a great deal. Thumbs up!

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So Ill write a few:). I must say this is by far the best digital camera Ive ever owned. The perks: 1) BATTERY charges quickly and lasts a LONG Time. The most perfect digital battery I have ever had in any device. 2) GORGEOUS pink exterior - so pretty. 3) INTUITIVE - very easy to use and nice features such as being able to always make the flash go off. 4) TAKES AWESOME PICTURES 5) CONNECTS IN A BREEZE TO WINDOWS 7 6) A really TINY footprint - by far the smallest camera I have ever owned and also by far produces the BEST pictures. CONS: 1) I really was hoping to be able to take adjustable wide angle shots, that is to zoom out rather than in, but this camera does not do that. Overall a virtually perfect camera for average people. Even some pros would be content with this baby. I pink - therefore I am:).

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I bought this camera as a present for my wife. I tested it and compared it to other digital cameras, and this camera beat out the competition. I compared the Panasonic Lumix DMC FP1, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1, the Canon Powershot S500 (my 8 year old malfunctioning digital camera), the Canon Powershot SD1300 IS, and my Canon Rebel T1i (my dSLR...an unfair comparison, but I wanted benchmark for these cheaper cameras). I had always liked my old Canon S500, but I read some reviews on Amazon and other websites, and it seemed like the Panasonic cameras were really good cameras at a great price. For me, the number one consideration is picture quality. If you dont have that, you dont have anything. Things that detract from picture quality are poor signal to noise, lack of sharpness, poor color rendering, and various artifacts. Therefore, I tested these 5 cameras under different conditions. I copied the jpegs onto my computer, and I looked at the images at 100% to see how good they really are. The most revealing results were shot under medium light indoors. This is very important if you ever want to take any indoor pictures. The results were as follows (from best to worst): 1) Canon T1i (1 year old, about $700), excellent pictures even without flash 2) Canon SD1300 IS (brand new, about $110), very good photos for a compact digital camera 3) Canon S500 (8 years old, $400 new, not performing as well as it used to) Surprisingly, although this is not shooting as well as it used to 8 years ago, it still outperformed the Panasonic cameras. 4) Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1 (brand new, about $90), this had very poor signal to noise and moderately poor color rendering. 5) Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1 (brand new, about $80), this camera performed significantly worse even than the FH1. The non extending lens is nifty but yields poor photos. In addition to this, I found that the Canon was easier to operate and easier to take videos. Nowadays, compact digital cameras are quite inexpensive. Do yourself a favor and buy a high quality camera. More megapixels does NOT necessarily mean better pictures, and having a large optical zoom can sometimes compromise lens quality and thus picture quality. Also, consider sensor size: this can make a big difference in picture quality, though some manufacturers make better sensors even when comparing sensors of the same size. In my experience Canon consistently makes high quality digital cameras.

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Nobody does digital point and shoot as well as Canon in my opinion, and the SD1300IS is just another example of maximum feature/functionality in tiny little package. I have owned or still own the Canon S3IS, S5IS & Rebel XS. Those three cameras are Ginormous compared with the SD1300IS. I bought this camera for my wife to carry in her purse so she can shoot pictures and video of the kids while theyre out and about, or when she drops in on them at their school. No camera bag needed, this camera fits in a zipped interior pocket of her purse. I gave it to her and she was able to successfully power it on/off, shoot pictures, shoot video, zoom, delete bad shots, and navigate the menu system without referring to the manual. The point here is if you currently own a Canon point and shoot and are looking for an upgrade, the learning curve on the SD1300IS is almost zero. If youve never owned a Canon point and shoot, you will figure this one out very easily. The 12MP pictures are stunning, but to be honest I cant tell the difference between the ones that are 12MP and the ones that are 8MP on my Canon S5IS. The pictures the Rebel XS takes are a notch above the others, definitely a noticeable difference there. The video quality is 30fps 640x480 (plenty), same as my S5IS. The image stabilization is a must for this to be of any use, and works like a champ. A 4GB SDHC card holds about 32 minutes worth of video, 8GB 64 minutes, 16GB more than 2 hours! The video is very easy to transfer to your computer and burn to a DVD or upload to Facebook using the included USB cable. There is also an included cable that allows you to play video on your TV via the yellow video cable port. The appearance of the camera is so cool. I bought my wife the green one, and it looks great. I like how the lens completely retracts into the body and covers itself with a protective layer. A handy camera strap is also included, which is good because this thing is so small I could see it slipping out of your hands. All in all, a very easy to use, functional, attractive camera that I have no hesitation recommending!

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Be aware of picture quality issues with this camera: - Shots are often out of focus unless youre outside in daylight - Colors often arent true - Contrast is often off with light areas being over exposed and darks too dark. The pictures lose their detail and look unnatural. To qualify my comments above, Im comparing to a Canon SD800IS Ive used for many years. I also have a Canon Rebel T2i that Ive had for nearly a year. Both cameras take great pictures. I calibrate my monitor with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro. In the summer of 2010, I bought the SD1200 for my daughter and it takes decent pictures for its price. The size of the SD1200 and acceptable picture quality prompted me to buy the SD1300 so I could have a lighter point and shoot to carry in my pocket. Unfortunately, due the quality issues, I cant really count on the SD1300 unless Im just taking outdoor pictures in bright sunlight. I think the Digic 3 was a better processor than the Digic 4. The SD800IS, which used the Digic 3 processor, is superior to the Digic 4-based SD1200, SD1300, and the SD780 (which I bought for my mom). The SD1300 is the worst yet. Seems like Canon keeps tweaking and has finally reached a point that the ELPH now has no advantage over the poor quality cameras made by others. Im not sure my Canon loyalty will continue, at least not for point and shoot cameras.

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I bought this camera in 2008 and have used it a pretty good amount since then. Im not a photographer nor am I looking to become one. I just wanted a small-ish camera that would take good family/friend/event pictures. This camera hasnt given me any problems. I dont think Ive actually changed any settings except for changing to the "party/indoor", "kids" and "scenic" settings. I dont see that much of a difference from the default setting, but either way the pictures are really nice. When people see the pictures they always ask what kind of camera and remarking on how well the pictures came out. While that is nice, it really passes the test because Im happy with how they came out, faces are really never blurry (except when I move around alot.... Im fidgety) and the light and colors seem to be right. If youre looking for a camera you dont have to get too involved with to get really nice pictures, Id recommend this.

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I am a teacher and wanted to have a camera at school to capture the special moments. I had to purchase a new camera when one of my kids dropped this camera on the floor and I decided to stay with the same camera because I never had any problems with it and it takes good pictures. Less than 30 days after I purchased this camera another kid, who,had no permission to even have the camera in his hands, dropped and broke the camera. This time I purchased a different model and wont let any kid touch my camera. One thing I did learn as I reflected about how I could have a second broken camera in less than 30 days is that this camera is a bit slippery and if kids are trying to hold it is is hard for them to grasp it well. S if you have kids that use the camera you might want to have them wear a strap with the camera so that if it falls when they are trying to take a picture it will not fall to the floor and bend the camera lens. If the lens gets bent the camera is shot!

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The camera simplifies some of the regular tasks but at the expense of its ability to take low light photos and shutter speed for action shots forcing you to miss shots. In ideal conditions it is a better camera, but that is a rarity for me. The video is far better than my old SD1000 camera with more frames per second with better resolution. I also loved the frame stepping option which was wonderful when taking video of lightning. However with photos, I was able to do far more with the SD1000 to adjust for shot conditions. The resolution is far better which helps when zooming (which in optical zoom simply crops the photo and enlarges using the unzoomed resolution) because of the 12.1MP is much better than the old 7.1MP with the SD1000. With shutter speed, it is best to take a picture first to prime the focus (and keep your finger on the button) then it will take pictures quickly. However, this does not help when you have to wait over 2 seconds for the initial photo forcing you to miss quick photo opportunities. I was able to adjust exposure but I found the light sensitivity poor compared to my SD1000. A night vision option would be a welcome improvement. A good option is the bulb like setting allowing the shutter to stay open. Overall I feel it is not an improvement over the SD1000 but it could have been if they only used the same features (except for video, use the SD1300) and improve the resolution to 12.1 or higher. Still a good camera but I will keep my SD1000 too and use this one for video, ideal condition photos and as a good back-up camera.

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We have had an early generation Sony digital camera for many years which seemed to be a miracle when we got it. But eighty something photographs in memory seemed to be a big limitation and the 3 MP photographs didnt print out large very well so we decided to replace the camera for an upcoming vacation in Italy. I have been using it for a month now and I have only praise. This thing will hold thousands of photographs. It is light and foolproof for myself and my non-technically inclined wife to operate. The photographs are beautiful, from landscapes to pet photos and candids to passport photos. I havent used it for videos since I am happy with our flip cam. As I get into the manual I am discovering more and more capability. I am an old timer and still have my AE1 Canon SLR which I loved but it just doesnt come out of the bag much anymore. I cant compare this camera to others on the market. All I can say is this is a wonderful piece of gear for not a lot of money. If you are looking for a camera that is simple to use but has the capability to do a lot more, this is it.

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