Saturday, February 19, 2011

# 7: Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP digital camera with 3.8 x Wide Angle Optical Image stabilized Zoom and 3.0 inch LCD

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386 of 394 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent image quality, full controls and pocketable, September 9, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch inch LCD (Electronics) If you're looking for a pocketable camera that has reasonably high quality images, lets you control aperture, speed and focus and shoot in RAW format, this is it. I bought mine as an upgrade from a previous small but versatile camera, a Canon Powershot S70.

The Powershot S95 was introduced in August 2010 as a slight upgrade to the S90, which was widely praised for its image quality and excellent interface but criticized for being hard to hold ("like a bar of soap in the shower") and for having a control dial that turned too easily. The S95 fixes both problems and adds a couple of other features in a package that fits in the pocket of your jeans (if they're not super tight). The case is metal, and although there are no finger grips on the body, it's not slippery at all. It feels like it's covered with super-fine sandpaper (like 1000 or 1500 grit, for those you who know what that feels like).

The second major complaint about the S-90 was that the function selection ring on the rear moved too easily. The ring on the S-95 has a slight click when you move it, and it doesn't move unless you want it to.

There are a couple of other cameras of this type, including the Panasonic LX-3 and LX-5 and the Samsung TL500. They all have let you control camera functions, and like the S95 they have 10 MP sensors that are almost twice as large as a typical pocket camera, so the pixels on the sensor are larger. That lets them gather light more efficiently, which reduces digital "noise" when you shoot in dim light. Image quality is noticeably better than photos from typical pocket cameras. You can make an 8 x 10 or perhaps 11x14 enlargement, although a digital SLR will be significantly better for larger prints. They also have f/2.0 lenses at their widest angle, although the aperture closes down as you zoom in.

The Canon has two advantages over the Panasonic LX-3 & LX-5. First, you really can put it in your pocket or in a belt case no bigger than the one you use for a mobile phone. Second, the interface is a brilliant re-thinking of how a very small camera with a full set of controls should work. There's not much room for buttons on the small surface, but you don't have to get into a multi-level menu on the LCD, and yet changing settings is fast and intuitive.
For example, there's a ring around the lens that you can grip easily to control zoom, or, shutter speed, or aperture, change ISO, or manually focus. You select what you want it to do by pressing a button on the top, and when you look at the LCD screen you can see what it's programmed for. There's a selection wheel on the back for other functions, and when you move it, a clear set of choices appears on the screen. The selections are context-appropriate, so they change depending on whether you've set the camera for aperture control, "Program" control, etc.

The two Panasonics have the same sensor as their Canon equivalents, but they offer a slightly wider lens (24mm vs. 28 for the S95). The LX-3 has a much shorter telephoto - only 60 mm. The LX-5, which was introduced a couple of weeks before the S95, has a 90mm telephoto, and you can buy an add-on optical viewfinder. It also has a flash shoe in addition to the pop-up flash, although you can buy a dedicated add-on flash for the S-95 to supplement its pop-up flash The LX-5 is about 25% more expensive than the Canon S95 (and 60% more with the optional viewfinder) and while it would fit in a coat pocket, you can't stuff it into a trouser pocket.

If you want a truly pocketable camera that gives you good image quality and full control over your photography, the S95 is an excellent choice.

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375 of 389 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What an improvement!, August 31, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch inch LCD (Electronics) I spent two or three months doing tons of research to replace my old Canon SD870. Finally a month ago I decided to buy the S90 despite the fact that it didn't have 720 HD video, it was a one-year old model, and many reviewers disliked the looseness of the control dial. My S90 arrived in the middle of August and over the course of many days I learned how to use all the functions and was very pleased with the results.

And then on August 19 Canon announced the upcoming release of the Canon S95. I immediately returned my S90 and anxiously awaited the arrival of its successor. Earlier today it was delivered and I've been using it all day.

I must say that I wanted to love the S90, but the smoothness of the body annoyed me. I figured I'd just have to get used to the slipperiness. But now that I have the S95 in my hands, I can't believe what a difference the matte finish makes regarding secure handling. There's no way you can appreciate the difference if you haven't handled both models yourself. Honestly, that feature alone is worth the slightly higher price.

Control dial issues? No longer! Subtle click-stops have solved that problem.

Finger missing the shutter button on the S90? Well, the geniuses at Canon took care of that, also. You won't mistake the shutter button on the S95 for any other button due to the distinct and secure feel.

I'm in love with this camera. I won't go into details about picture quality because it's as good as its predecessor; there are examples all over the Internet. And of course the S95's 720 HD video is a big improvement over the standard video of the S90.

Only one "con" I can think of: The new, smooth, elegant display on the back is no longer recessed therefore you'll have to be careful if you place the camera face up on a flat surface. In that position it appears the screen will come in direct contact with the table's surface.

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187 of 191 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera and upgrade to superb S90, September 5, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch inch LCD (Electronics) I own both the S90 and S95 (G10 and G11 also, as well as F-1 and numerous Nikons including the D90).
Hands down, I took more photos on a daily basis with the S90 since I took it EVERYWHERE.
As they say, the absolute best camera is the one you have when you need to take a photograph.
The picture quality of the S90 is superb and the S95 is at least as good.
Often the biggest limiter to picture quality is the skill of the photographer.
Time spent mastering a particular camera is well spent and paper specs often can mislead.
Discussing subtle nuances over comparable cameras is often more academic than practical.
The S95 gives the serious photographer tremendous flexibility from full auto to full manual and superb features that are packaged in a truly pocketable high performing camera that is arguably best in class.

So what has improved:

Body finish...more tactile and grippy
Selection wheel on back has click stops....hurray!
On/off button is where it should be.
720p movie mode added (24 fps vs 30 for lx5) with stereo recording.
More scenes including High Dynamic Range (very cool)
Numerous technical innovations that result in more stable, sharper pictures.
Button feel on back is more positive.
Ring on front has more friction and feels more positive.
Body even smaller and more pocketable.
Menu system updated but if you can drive a S90, G10 or G11 you will be off and running.
Improved hand lanyard placement.
Improved shutter release.
Slightly rounded corners...looks feels better.

What stayed the same:

Battery door and card slot.
Same cables and connectors.
Lack of grip....no denying it would add weight but...
Build quality...as good as it will get.

What got worse:
This part is highly subjective because different people see the same change differently (I see the size reduction as good, while others have said it's bad....so be wary and know if you agree with peoples reasons).
Thumb rest no longer there...I missed it.

So there you have my first impressions and if I had to choose between the S90 and S95, the S95 is the clear winner!

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# 6: Nikon D7000 4 .2MP DX-format CMOS Digital SLR CAMERA with 3.0-inch LCD (body only)

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439 of 467 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera -- A perspective from a D300/700 Owner, October 20, 2010 This review is from: Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only) (Electronics) This is very simple, if you are a Nikon shooter looking for a new camera then stop reading and buy this camera. It's that good.
Handling

This camera is brilliant to hold and use. Nikon has done it again and has made the user interface more usable and streamlined. What to change flash modes. Press the flash pop-up button and rotate the control wheel. Sweet. Want to change create and use a User defined mode? There are two. Set your mode up. Go to the menu and save it. To use it rotate the shooting mode dial to U1 or U2. Presto you are there. In the D300 and D700 you to have to setup things in the menu and switch in the menu. Also, there were 2 sets of things you could change and they were not all inclusive. It was all horribly confusing and I never used it. Speaking of shooting modes. There is now one position on the shooting mode dial for scene mode shooting. You change through the different scene modes with the control wheel and the type scene shows up on the back screen. Sweet. I can go on and on but needless to say Nikon have really improved their interface. One caveat, I don't think it is quite up to par with the GH1 to change exposure compensation (IMO the most important control) but still a huge step in the correct direction in handling. I like the handling of the D7000 better than either the D700/300.

Low Light Shooting

The D300 wasn't that great for Hi ISO. It shoots clean at 400 ISO and usable up to 1600. (The D90 and D300s were better) The D700 was fantastic. Clean at 1600 ISO and usable up to 6400. It opened up new worlds. The D7000 is close to the equal of the D700. Enough said. Just to give you an example. The bouquet toss at a reception is often done in poor light. By using 1600 instead of 400 you get the equivalent of 4 times more light. At ISO400 you flash may need to use 1/4 power and you can get 1 maybe 2 shots of the toss and catch before the flash needs to recharge. At ISO1600 your flash would only need to use 1/16th power and now you can get 5-6 shots. This is huge.

Picture Quality

Like all modern DSLRs it takes great pictures. I don't pixel peep so I can't really say that I notice a difference between the pictures from the D7000 and any of my 12mp cameras. It makes really nice pictures and that is all I care about.

Useful Photography Features (Not Marketing Features)

--100% view finder! Big bright with 100% coverage. No more guessing of your framing. (It is not as bright as the D700. However, it is 100% vice 95%)
--2 SD slots - When your getting paid to shoot a wedding or any gig, my card broke is not an excuse. Very useful feature. For the home user put two smaller cards rather than one big card and save some money.
--Smaller and lighter than D300, D700, D3s, D3x- When you stand on your feet for 9 hours shooting the wedding and reception, you start to feel every ounce you are carrying. Often you will be carrying two bodies with a fast tele zoom and fast wide zoom. That starts to get heavy. Light weight here we come.
--2016-Segment RGB Meter- for spot on exposure and white balance--No one touches Nikon on this and this one is fantastic.
--1/8000th -- Very useful for shooting into the sun wide open with a bright lens
--1/250 -- Could be better (1/500th for D40) but could be much worse. Auto FP helps.
--Magnesium body and better sealing -- Shoot in dusty environments without messing up the inside your camera.
--Uses the ML-L3 infra red remote -- Small and cheap. IR sensor on the front and back of the camera.
--Autofocus focus motor for non-AF-S lenses

Marketing Features that will sometimes be Useful

--16Mp -- Nikon was obviously getting creamed in the marketing wars on this. This is going to lead to bigger files requiring larger hard drives and faster computers. Occasionally it will be useful if you can't frame as close as you would like and you need to crop or you need to print big. Alien Skin Blow Up 2, Image Resizing Plug-in Software for Photoshop, Macintosh & Windows and Genuine Fractals 6 Professional Edition 1-user Full are two very nice programs that can increase the size of your photos for printing large. 16 MP is nice by not necessary.
--39 Point Auto Focus -- To me in some ways this is better than the 51 point of the D300 and D700 as that gets too unwieldy. However, you really don't even need 39. However, still useful on occasion.
--6 frames per second-- I very rarely ever put my camera in 3 frames per second. When I do so it fills the card quickly. If you are shooting the big game then 6 is nice. Or it is nice for some cool special effects shots. Other than that you won't really find yourself using it that much.

Video
The other thing I am not really going to dwell on is the video capabilities. In my opinion all the various video options are mostly marketing hype really targeted at a niche market. Shallow depth of field video is difficult and time consuming to shoot and edit properly. The average family home user has neither the time nor inclination to do this. With that said, it is nice to only have to carry one device to take still pictures and video. So I do enjoy that feature, however 1080 is not really necessary. In fact with up converting DVD players standard def is still very usable and takes up far less space. Suffice it to say that the video capabilities are very good and should do anything a home user would need it to do. Can be used for pro Videos as demonstrated by Chase Jarvis.

Intangibles

This is a very nice camera and it feels very solid in your hands. It feels far more substantial than the D40/D90 without feeling like a brick the way the D300/D700 do. I am sure the D300 has more marketing features than the D7000 but I would have to research them to figure out what they are.

Conclusion

In the end it all comes down to what is important to you. Smaller weight and size is becoming much more important to me and this camera is a very good trade off of features for size and weight. Anything that is missing I don't even use so I am not sure what it may be. My D700 was recently stolen and while I miss it, the D7000 is a worthy replacement for it. I opted to get the D7000 and Panasonic GH2 and save the $300 difference for a lens.

Pros

--100% view finder!
--6 fps (7D is 8. However, I think this number is overhyped in most cases. Even shooting at 3 FPS will fill up you card with photos that look remarkably similar) 8+ is needed for professionals shooting professional sports. Not enthusiast shooting High School etc.
--16mp sensor (a marketing increase but still nice to allow some room for cropping)
--14 bit photos
--39 point auto focus sensors (19 cross point) this is a bit of a marketing thing but it is still nice and it does not matter about the 51 on D300s and above. Still very nice.
--2016 scene meter - compares against data base for WB setting and color settings
--Excellent battery life
--MD-11 Optional Battery Grip
--2 SD card slots for back up redundancy or double the card space! Outstanding
--Magnesium used to make camera stronger

Cons
--16mp senor (takes up more storage on your hard drive) (12mp JPG 3mb 12 mp RAW = 12 mb 16mp JPEG = 5 mb 16 mp RAW = 16 mb. This is for 12 bit. 14 bit would require more)
--Camera heavier than it used to be
--No swivel screen - after using the GH1 extensively you really miss this when shooting at weird angles. You especially miss it for macro photography.
--No full time live view - Ditto from above. Live view is what you see is what you get. Forgot to change white balance-- you will see that when people are yellow, blue or green. Have it set in manual and blowing everything out-- you'll see that as a white screen.

Decision Matrix

Nikon
For the Nikon shooter this is a no brainer. If you are in the market for a camera, then skip the D300s. The D700 is getting long in the tooth and many people are buying the D7000 while waiting for D800. If you already own a D700 then this camera is a very good complement to it. Use the money you saved over the more expensive camera to buy a nice lens.

Here is a breakdown vs other Nikon DSLRs

D3100-- Two completely different classes with the D7000 being worth the difference in many. However at the end of the day they will both make nice pictures. Also, the lenses are more important than the camera. You can get the D3100 and 18-200mm for the same price. Something to think about.
D5000-- Good sensor and nice camera. D3100 comments also apply here.
D90--Tough choice. The best DX sensor of its generation and still better than most. If you can't quite stretch to the D7000, this is a very tempting proposition.
D300S-- Irrelevant. The D7000 has a much better sensor, is smaller, lighter, cheaper, and better metering.
Nikon D700-- Would be a good complement to the D7000. Use D7000 when you need the 1.5x crop on the long end and a deeper depth of field due to the smaller chip (about 1 stop deeper) and D700 for when you want to isolate a subject with a shallow depth of field or you want to use the full width of a wide angle such as the 14-24mm. If you don't need the shallower depth of field of a FX sensor and you have the lenses to cover the 1.5x crop then the D7000 should suit just fine. D3s and D3x -- Different leagues altogether. However, the D7000 is 90% of the camera for 1/4 to 1/6th the money.

Canon

The 7D is an outstanding camera and while I think the D7000 is a better camera (better sensor, 2 SD card slots, 2016 RGB metering, Price) it is not that much better to warrant switching... Read more ?

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171 of 181 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Cool things you might not know the D7000 can do, October 26, 2010 This review is from: Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only) (Electronics) Just take it for granted that this takes amazing pictures under all conditions, including low light, and that it contains all the manual controls that you'd ever want.

Instead, here's some things that the camera does that you might not have heard about:

* Built-in EyeFi support

If you've used EyeFi SD cards before, you probably assumed that it would work with the D7000, since the D7000 now uses SD cards instead of CF. But not only do you not have to mess around with SD-to-CF adapters, the camera is actually EyeFi aware-- you can choose to have it upload or not upload on a slot-by-slot basis (so you might have it automatically upload the RAW files you saved to an EyeFi Pro card in slot 1, but not bother to upload the JPEGs you saved to the EyeFi Explorer card in slot 2), and there is also an icon that appears on the Info display to indicate that there are files waiting to upload, that the upload is in progress or disabled, etc.

The Nikon Wifi adapter is going for $400. A 4GB, class 6 EyeFi card goes for $40. If you really want to move RAW files, snag the Pro version for $80. Yes, the Nikon adapter does things that EyeFi can't, but if you just want to get your files onto a PC without pulling the card, why spend 10X the money?

You're stuck with the usual limitations of the EyeFi card, but I fully expect to use this feature a LOT with studio portraits-- yeah, it only takes 10 seconds to pull the card and have Windows recognize that you added it, then another 5 seconds to eject the card and stick it back in the camera. But if you just want a quick check that your exposure or focus is where you want it, wouldn't you rather just hit a single key and see your last shot, then get right back into the flow? You may want to drop your JPEG file sizes to speed up the transfer.

* In-camera RAW file processing

The camera contains a ton of built-in settings-- in addition to the basics like Standard, Normal, Landscape, etc, you also get all the various Scene modes, which are basically variations on those main settings.

RAW processing allows you to see how the shot would have looked had you used one of those other modes. In other words, you shoot in Normal, which basically applies no processing to the image, then select the RAW file, and choose how you'd like to adjust it. You can change the white balance settings, exposure, basic picture setting (landscape, portrait, etc), noise reduction, color space, and dynamic lighting. With the exception of the advanced details on the basic picture settings, you see a preview of how your change will affect the picture.

If you like it, just hit EXEcute and it writes out a JPEG to your card. Don't like it, just back out and nothing's saved.

This means that you don't have to worry that shooting in Vivid is going to result in an oversaturated image, or you can punch something up even more after the fact. The only real drawback here to me is that it is going to kick out a JPEG, so if you're planning on doing further editing in Photoshop, this may not be the best route. But if you're just looking to go right from the camera to the web, or want to get an idea of how playing with custom settings will affect your shots, this is a massive shortcut to taking and then deleting a ton of shots. (And keep in mind that Photoshop will allow you to mess with most of these settings when importing RAW files anyway, and the plugin D7000-compatible RAW plugin had a release candidate posted yesterday, so you can finally open your RAW shots.)

And a related feature that's in most other Nikons, but that you might not know about-- you can define your own basic picture settings. Want something that's super-saturated and super-contrasty? Just hit a few buttons, choose a name, and you're done. On the older Nikons, you had to edit the basic profile itself, now, you can use one as a starting point and adjust from there. Much cleaner.

* User-defined settings on the control knob

Not as hidden as the first two, but I can't emphasize how cool this feature is. Here's the situation I was in last night-- I was shooting a singing contest in a dimly-lit venue. I was allowed to use a flash, but I didn't want to constantly be blasting the singers while they were performing.

I defined one setting as shutter priority, 1/60th, ISO Hi 2, center-weighted metering & focus, no flash. The second setting was automatic, ISO auto, full metering and autofocus, flash enabled. I'd take a couple shots in U2 with the flash, close the flash down and switch to U1 and shoot a half a dozen shots, then switch back to U2 and use the flash for a couple more shots. There was no fumbling for controls, no worrying that I changed the shutter speed without realizing it when changing between Auto and S-- every time I went from U2 to U1, all my settings were reset to where I put them before the event started.

I don't think I ever felt as confident about my camera settings in a rapidly changing situation as I did last night-- with just a simple twist of a knob, I was able to change to a completely different shooting configuration with absolute confidence that it was what I wanted.

To me, the utility of this is almost endless-- I'll probably set up one setting for studio portraits, and the other for landscape stuff. If I was still shooting news, I'd probably be swapping between flash and no-flash configurations. For sports, I'd change between action modes and post-game portraits.

The only thing that would make this even better would be if I could import and export settings for later use-- even if you use the "Save/Load" settings option to back up your current configuration to a memory card, it doesn't appear that this information is stored. However, it may be a bug in the Load settings feature, as a number of my settings were incorrectly reset when I tried to load in settings. Either way, it would work better if I could treat these like custom basic picture settings, saving them by name and loading them at will.

* Built-in interval timer shooting

Want to take time-lapse pictures? Just set up your camera on the tripod, specify when you want it to start, how many pictures to take overall, and how many pictures to take each interval and walk away. When it's time to start taking pictures, the camera will automatically focus and shoot, then go back to waiting for the next shot. No messing around with tethering, 3rd party software, whatever-- it's all in the camera, and it's all super-easy to set up. You'll find yourself taking pictures of your living room just to see what your cat actually does all day while you're at work.

* Zoom in live view

This might just be "new to me," but I found it to be very cool for manually adjusting focus when on a tripod-- frame your basic shot, then change to live view. From there, zoom in with the magnifying glass key, and move around the image with the navigation pad until you find the point you want to focus on, then manually focus. Since you can zoom into a tiny portion of the overall image, you can see that you're getting exactly the focus point you want before you take the shot. One gotcha that I always forget, though-- don't forget to pick your aperture BEFORE going into live view, as you can't change it once live view has started.

* Adjustable shooting rate

Again, might be "new to me," but in addition to blasting away at 6fps, you can manually adjust that from 1 to 5 FPS in order to get a different effect. You obviously need to be using a fast enough shutter speed to support your choice-- if you're at 1/2 a second, you're not going to shoot faster than 2FPS.

As I mentioned in one of my other reviews, I used to be a semi-pro photographer-- I was the photo editor for both a weekly and a daily paper, I've shot tons of sports and news photos, and landscape photography is my hobby. I've recently gotten back into portrait photography as well. While I never owned as many cameras as a true pro would have (that semi- means that I never made enough money at it to be able to really spring for equipment), I have shot with a lot of other people's equipment, and I can honestly say that this is the best camera I've ever used.

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97 of 104 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Best DX (cropped) Camera To Date; Amazing ISO Performance, October 21, 2010 This review is from: Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only) (Electronics) My first DSLR was a D80 I purchased four years ago. The shutter went out a few weeks back but I had been planning to upgrade to the D7000 anyway so this just hurried things up. I bought the D7000 kit with the 18-105 lens but quickly sold that on Ebay. I was shooting with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens on the D80. For low light, it worked pretty well but greater than half the time I needed to use my SB-600 flash to capture my young kids doing what they do (move). The only downside to the Tamron, or combination of the Tamron with the D80, was that the images tended to be soft, especially when opened up. So I also upgraded my lens to the Nikkor 16-85. While this is a variable lens that maxes out at 3.5, it is amazingly sharp combined with the D7000. And the extra reach is great for getting better shots and also providing relatively shallow depth of field that otherwise would be lost with the slower aperture.

The reason I mention the lens change is that I wouldn't have gone to a variable lens had it not been for the amazing ISO performance on the D7000. I am now shooting flashless at very fast shutter speeds. I usually shoot raw and process with Lightroom and I'm seeing amazing results at 800 ISO even when fully blown up (1:1). At ISO 1600, I can see minor noise but Lightroom 3's noise reduction easily eliminates it. 3200 certainly isn't noiseless but again, Lightroom can clean it up very well in most situations. My old D80 had more noise at 400 than the D7000 has at 1600; I'd say 800 on it was equivalent to 3200 on the D7000. I could see printing 1600 shots at smaller sizes with no need for software cleanup. So while my results are preliminary (3 weeks in), I am astonished at the ISO capabilities of this camera. I no longer have d700 envy and am glad I can get great dx lenses for under $700 as opposed to $1500 for fx. Perfect for enthusiasts like me!

You've seen the stat that the D7000 can shoot 6 shots per second. The 6FPS shutter is in some ways overkill. But if you shoot HDR/Bracket shots in quick succession having such a rapid shutter can allow you to do so handheld. This is really only possible because of the high ISO capabilities enabling very fast shutter times. And for sporting events and the like, it's nice to have the ability to rapidly fire off shots.

I have also noticed considerably improved metering and white balance on the D7000 compared to my old D80. Of the 350 or so shots I've taken, I am spending much less time adjusting lighting and white balance in Lightroom.

As others have mentioned, the ergonomics/design of the camera are quite good and I really enjoy the many direct access shortcuts for adjusting everything from focus to flash to white balance and much more. The two custom settings are very easy to set and perfect for your two most common profiles (e.g. indoor portrait and outdoor landscape). The screen is beautiful and moving in and around even RAW files is very smooth and fast. I went with two 16GB SD class 10 Transcend cards and while I'm currently using the RAW 1 / JPEG 2 option, I plan to use the second as a backup card once I go to RAW only.

I've only toyed with the video function but that was a part of my consideration since I dislike carrying two cameras, plus chargers and media, on family vacations. The tests I've done in 1080P have been very impressive, albeit large as you would expect. Auto-focusing while video recording is okay, as long as the background isn't too noisy or subjects too many. The biggest downside I have experienced is the built-in microphone picks up lots of auto focusing noise. I have not yet invested in an external mic but probably will need to.

All in all I am very pleased with the D7000 and see no major shortcomings. It's not cheap, but you get a lot for your money if you are in the market for a prosumer class DSLR. For users who won't explore and use the MANY options and capabilities of this camera, I would recommend considering the 3100 at less than half the cost. For D70/80/90 users who are ready to step up big time in terms of performance, this is the upgrade you have been waiting for. Some will hold out for a D700 successor (D800 or whatever it ends up being called). I have no doubt it will be an amazing camera but cost wise, you're going to be looking at $2500+ for the body alone and pay roughly double for coverage equivalent lenses. So figure $4K just to get started. Too rich for my non-professional needs but certainly should be considered if your work or wants dictate that level of camera. And there maybe be a D300s replacement in the works too. Still, I'd urge anyone to consider the D7000, which in my opinion is the best cropped sensor DSLR to date.

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# 7: Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4 x wide angle optical image stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (blue)

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654 of 695 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars It is classy and it takes great pictures, March 13, 2010 I will try to share some things I have discovered about this camera, these are just my thoughts, I hope they might be of help .

Some things I am compairing to a canon SD1200 and the SD940, SD1400.
I do not use the viedo enough to judge that part of the cameras.

** No SD memory card included with this camera **, see below

* Some will miss the eye viewfinder that the SD1200 has.

* Some will miss the HD 720p in the movie mode that the SD940,SD1400 has, The SD1300 has 640x480 at 30fps like the canon SD1200, G11 and S90.

* The SD1300 has ( no optical zoom while recording video ) just digital zoom.

* There is a date feature on the SD1300, see below

* The flat button arangement is the same as the SD1200 all but the (( Power Button )) on top is larger and easier to turn on and off, I like that ( but be careful ) it does not come on in your pocket, purse or in your soft camera case.

* I have not had any trouble using any of the buttons even with my big old hands. The flat buttons on the SD1300 are a ( tad larger than on the SD940 and SD1400 ).

* The menu screens are large and very easy to read and use.*

* You get a 2.7inch very clear LCD screen that has a (very good and wide viewing angle in all directions).

Note > when your LCD screen is set to a lower brightness you can push and hold down the display button for 1 second and it will go to the brightest setting and do that again and it will go back to the lower setting...

A 28mm x 112mm lens, a little better than the 35 x 105 on the SD1200 ( But no view finder on the SD1300 ).

* The SD1300 is very easy to use and small enough to carry every place you go for those spontaneous grand kid pictures like the SD 1200 was .
Just a very good basic camera.

* I like that the mic for the video is in the front of the camera instead of being on the top (where I put my finger) like the canon SD970 and others, it picks up less finger movement noise being in the front.

** Timing and Performance** Very fast start up time of just over 1 sec.
I can not tell any difference in shot to shot or flash shot to shot times between the SD1300 and the SD1200,
which is ( 2secs with out the flash ), and 3 to 4secs with the flash on, (( up to 6secs for full flash recharge )).

(Update > Some of review sites(C-NET) are getting around 2.7 to 3 seconds for the SD1300 between shots with out the flash so I grabed the two cameras and tryed the two again(SD1300 SD1200) with and with out the flash on and I had the same results both ways, (I used program mode) both times and they would focus and recharge the flash evenly also...)

Shutter lag is good for a canon point and shoot but if you ( pre focus ) that will help even more. To pre focas > > Push shutter button down half way untill camera beeps and green square apears on LCD screen,picture should be clearly in focas at this point, if not let up on the shutter button and repeat the steps again. these steps will also help take a good clear (in focas) picture, just something for you to try if your having trouble getting your picture.

I never tested the continuous shooting( but see my battery test) but canon says it is 0.9 per sec where the sd 1200 is 1.4 shots per sec, if that is important to you. UPDATE > The 1200 does seem to be faster, quicker than the 1300 in continuous mode, how much I dont know but you can tell the difference...

* (Battery) I did test the battery (NB-6L same battery as SD1200) by using continuous shooting mode ( with the flash on ) and got well over 400 pictures and it was taking ( 1 picture every 2 seconds or less in the continuous mode( flash on ) if that helps you out on the continuous shooting part, and when I turned the flash off it seemed to do prety good coming from a newer small canon point and shoot world.

* (Battery life). In real life I get around 300 or more pictures with some of them using the flash, your still need a second battery for a backup.

* The battery has a little larger capacity at 1000mAh in the SD1300, were as the canon SD940 and the SD1400 is a smaller capacity at 760mAh if that matters to you.

** A nice backup battery is a (power2000) for canon NB-6L (1200mAh)$19.00. I have used them for years.
I really like the battery charger that comes with the camera, it is small and charges quickley, about one and a half hours the very first charge and then one hour or less there after...
Some set back the brightness of the LCD a couple of notches to save some battery. I think your new battery will do better after the first couple of charges.

* 10/30/2010 At the Columbus zoo we shot 350 pictures and a lot of them with flash on with one charge...

** Very good image quality keeping the iso at 200 and below.
I am getting about the same image quality as the SD 1200 which is very good for this small size point and shoot camera.

* As point and shoots get better we often try and compare them to digital SLRs ( speed,noise, ISOs, picture quality ) but because of the point and shoots very small sensors and craming all those mega pixels into them it is just asking to much of the little cameras....
Fewer pixels mean there's more room on the sensor and the individual pixels can be made larger to gather more light, making the camera better able to record low-noise images in low-light situations.

This is just me, but I like using the program mode and 100,200iso best and I try not to use the auto mode indoors ((auto works good outdoors in good light though, Lighting is everything. Indoors alot of times auto seems to want to use a (very high iso)(and sometimes no flash) to get low light photos, but this just results in more noise, which makes your pictures look noisy grainy or snowy looking on larger prints,(or the yellow tint that some are talking about).
* I use program mode and set the iso indoors to (( 100iso ))in good light conditions or ( 200 iso ) in poorer light indoors for the best image quality indoors with out all noise in the picture. Again auto does good outdoors in good light but keep your eye on the iso in auto indoors...

* Portrait mode does better indoors than auto in keeping the iso down. It uses 200iso and below. not bad...
For some reason canon has done this with all there newer point and shoot cameras the last couple of years, again this is just me)...
You may be happy with the pictures you take in auto mode and people have posted alot of very good pictures on this site using auto mode check them out, I am just saying if you have a problem try this and see if it helps, ( just something for you to try if your having trouble ).

*They also have taken away the supper fine quality option for the last couple of years , you just have fine and normal now, I miss the supper fine option...

With the SD1200 and SD940 I would use program mode and set to (auto iso) but when trying to do that with the SD1300 it wants to go to 500iso or higher some times where the SD1200 and SD940 would go to 250iso , go figure? The more I use this camera the more I find myself useing ( 100iso in program mode ) in good light conditions indoors or outdoors). Again indoors you might have to use 200 to get the picture you like...

** Just a side note, before judgeing the camera and your picture quality on your computer or camera screen get some pictures printed out, why I say this I thought the pictures that I took at the rest home were just ok, but I took them to the store and had 8 by 10s made and they look so so much better, you can see these pictures on this site under (view and share images on the SD1300s home page). I wish you could see the printed ones...

* A lot of the review sites blow there pictures way up and look for defects, your likely to only make 5x7 or 8x10s and not see (what they see).
If you are going to make larger prints or need a better (low light camera) and still stay in a point and shoot you could go with a canon S90, S95 or the bigger G11, G12, but (much more money I know)! Just keep the iso down at 200 and below and you will do fine...)

* The SD1300 seems to have a nice sharp lens even at the telephoto end of the zoom.

Highlights sometimes tend to blow out in very bright sun (direct light source) as with all small cameras(small sensor) this size, you can see this in some of the pictures I posted on this sight for the 1300. ( But to be fair my G11 does this also ).

In my pictures,I do not see the bad vertical 'ghost' flare from top to bottom that D Kartman talks about in his review, just do not point it at a direct light source like the sun,( bright led lights at night) or very bright light coming in a window, and that goes double for when taking movies...

I do not use I-Contrast in the program mode while shooting, some times in play back I will try it but I am not a big fan of it even then, it will brighten the picture up in dark areas but seems to increase the noise a little, again this is just me alot of people seem to like it and have good luck with it see what you think...
In auto mode you have no controll of I-Contrast and can not turn it off or on...

* I just realy like the colors in the pictures that the canon cameras produce, again thats just me thinking out loud.

Not much problem with red eye in pictures useing the SD1300 unless in a very dim lit room and there are some times when it can not modify or fix it in red-eye correction,... Read more ?

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110 of 112 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Canon PowerShot SD1300IS, April 4, 2010 I purchased this camera as a replacement to my Canon PowerShot SD600. The main reason I chose to replace it was for the IS feature. When I purchased to SD600 it was on sale and the IS features on cameras were an expensive option on upgraded models. I have to say the feature performs as expected. Obviously it's not going to do much if there is a lot of camera shake, but it does the job for what it's intended to do. Picture quality is excellent. Low light does well despite the reviews I've heard. Manual settings do just as well as auto settings. I like the playback button that lets you review pics rather than having to switch the camera into another mode. When taking multiple shots the lag time between pics is minimal. Videos work well with it but there is that pesky no in and out zoom during a video. Sound quality was surprisingly good with video mode as well. It takes outdoor video well with little wind noise. I was a bit cautious about buying a camera with no viewfinder as my last camera had one, but let's face it, I hardly used it when I had it. Insisting on a camera with a viewfinder also significantly limited my choices for point and shoots. I'm satisfied with no viewfinder and this camera is exactly what I expect in a good point and shoot. I considered the SD1200IS since it was on sale and a little less expensive but I figured for a few extra features, it's worth the extra $50. Battery life is great! Even under moderate to heavy use it lasted all night and part of the next day. I'd suggest always having another battery pack as a backup though as you never know when you might need it. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a quality point and shoot. For the price I don't think you can ask for much more in a compact digital camera. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? 
205 of 216 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The best camera to have..., May 21, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue) (Electronics) ...is one you'll have with you. The nice thing about the Canon ELPH series is they easily fit into your pocket, are well built/designed, don't cost a lot, come with a boatload of features, and take great pictures. The SD1300, the latest in the ELPH line continues in that tradition, adding considerable additional sophistication and sacrificing some useful functionality in the interest of cutting cost.

It is a small camera and carries with it the baggage that comes with the convenience of having to carry so little baggage. (sorry, couldn't resist) None of the issues raised, given that they comes as part of the convenience trade-off made me consider anything other than the 5-star rating this camera deserves.

- Many of the functions are only accessible through menus, sometimes several levels deep. The good new is the Automatic and scene modes are pretty good (as long as you spend a few minutes reviewing what they really do). This camera is not intended to be used in aperture or shutter priority, let alone full manual.

- The battery life might be shorter than you expect. That's a trade-off for having a camera that's small and light; you get a battery that is small and light. One thing you can do is get a spare battery. That is good advice for any camera. Another thing that will help is to keep the display off as much as possible. That means using the monitor as little as possible. The "sad" part is that Canon chose to drop the optical viewfinder in this model. That means a camera that is simpler and less expensive to make but will go through batteries quicker because you must use the display when taking picture.

- The camera response is a bit slow for effectively capturing children and pets. The trick for doing that is to either have a great sense of timing and a shutter that reacts instantly or a reasonably fast ( > 4x / sec ) burst mode. This camera has neither.

Some other suggestions that apply:

- Use the lowest ISO available given your requirement for either aperture or shutter speed. To avoid getting technical, higher ISO always introduces higher noise. At issue is when it becomes noticeable. In newer dSLR cameras you can get over 1000, maybe well over depending on the camera, before the noise becomes noticeable. For this camera keeping it at or below 200 is a good idea.

- Don't use in-camera sharpening. Digital pictures will almost always benefit from sharpening but you are better off doing it with a photo editing program. Computer-based algorithms tend to be more sophisticated and you can better judge the results on your monitor as opposed to the camera LCD.

- If you want more vivid colors and have the choice use sRGB instead of Adobe RGB. While you get fewer colors they are distributed over a wider range. They are also render better on computer monitors, many commercial labs, and any other place your pictures are likely to show up.

Finally, I've found the Caselogic QPB-1 Compact Digital Camera Case (Black/Gray) is just the right size for this camera. It's semi-rigid so you get a fair amount of protection but doesn't add a lot of bulk. It's made even better by using one of these, Nite Ize SB1-2PK-01 Size-1 S-Biner, Black, 2-Pack, to secure it to a belt loop.

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# 5: G12 10MP digital camera with canon 5 x Optical Image stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch Vari-angle LCD

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845 of 875 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic tool for serious photographers - but not perfect., October 2, 2010 This review is from: Canon G12 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8 inch Vari-Angle LCD (Electronics) So I owned a G11 - and for whatever reason sold it a few months back. I have since tried the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 and Samsung TL500. This whole time I was searching for something better than the G-series - I only found it with the GF1 - but it is too large to be a compact.

I only give this camera 4 stars instead of 5 for the following reasons.
1. External Speedlite control - you still need a "Master" unit like a 580EX II or Canon STE2 to control external Speedlites. Canon should get off their butt in this area to compete with the new Nikon P7000. I almost considered going the Nikon route just to have that feature built in. Canon - start paying attention to what David Hobby says.

2. The screen is only 460K resolution. The Nikon mentioned above is 960K. The Samsung TL500 I mentioned above sports a beautiful AMOLED screen that knocks this one out of the park.

3. The pathetic optical viewfinder. You are catering to those people that say a camera MUST have one of these - stop it. You are wasting space with something so awful that even a disposable camera does better. I would rather have a higher resolution bigger screen (or a smaller camera) than this awful piece of warped tunnel-vision.

4. The rear control wheel is too small - enlarge it so it feels more like one of your DSLRs.

5. While the lens is gorgeously sharp (I mean competing with some of my L-lenses sharp) - f/2.8 to f/4.5 is slow.

6. The lens needs to be wider - 24mm f/2 (or even f/1.8 in the Samsung) equiv is the primary reason I tried the LX5 and TL500 before going back to Canon.

7. No microphone input for video recording.

8. Just too big and bulky - slim it down (but do NOT remove the articulating display).

So 8 knocks like that might sound like a big deal - but believe me when I say this - the camera is phenomenal.

Image quality is outstanding - I have had to process my RAW files with their converter (typically use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 - but even with their converter image quality is second to none in the compact world. I actually prefer to do product shots with a G-Series than my usual 5D2 kit due to the flexibility and increased depth of field. The lens is magnificently sharp. HD video results look pretty good - but not stellar. It'll do in a pinch - but its no camcorder replacement.

Operation speed is very very good. I have read a few posts saying that focusing speed is vastly improved from the G11 - I haven't found that to be the case but none-the-less its pretty good.

Construction quality is pretty good - but I don't like the rough textured finish as much as the smooth finish on the G11 - it somehow makes it feel cheaper.

Controls are absolutely second to none. Dedicated EV and ISO dials are wonderful. The new front control dial is great. The rear dial however could use a bit of an extension - hard to operate quickly with my fat thumb. The whole camera is a little fat - slim it down and kill the awful optical viewfinder. Would like a dedicated movie button like pretty much all of its competitors. The articulating display is fantastic - PLEASE include this whenever you update the 5D.

Value for the money is mostly good - but if you are like me and need on-camera control of external flashes add a whopping $200+ for the ST-E2.

All in all a fantastic camera - even if it is a minimal update to the G11.

Why I picked it over LX5 > See my LX5 review - but I didn't particularly like that camera. Biggest reason would the articulating display followed by the awful screen resolution when composing on the LX5.

Why I picked it over the TL500 > I couldn't get the TL500 to trigger external strobes using radio triggers - that plus the lens is MUCH sharper on the Canon. I must have a bad copy of the TL500 as finding a sharp photo in my 50+ test shots is pretty hard.

Why I picked it over the S95 > Hotshoe and articulating display. If the S95 had those it would win hands down.

Why I picked it over the P7000 > Articulating display is about it here if you don't take into account I already own several Canon Speedlites.

Why I picked it over the GF1 or EP1 > Size + Nikon P7000 comments.

Hope you found my review helpful - if so please click the link below!

Edit 30 days in: I would add one more negative - once you lock focus in video to start recording - that focus cannot be changed after the fact - disappointed in that.

Also - I dropped mine this morning =( from 4ft onto concrete. Surprised that everything still works great and as expected it got marred up and one corner's metal is a little bent - but it still works which is impressive.

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140 of 147 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Feast your eyes on an upgraded G series digital camera!, October 5, 2010 This review is from: Canon G12 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8 inch Vari-Angle LCD (Electronics) First, let me say I own or have owned a G10, G11, and G12. I am not really sure why anyone expect the G12 to be a major upgrade to the G11. The title of this review is the first line of Canon's marketing material on the Canon USA website....so this is what I personally expected, and Canon delivered, as far as I am concerned. I am not a professional, so my observations are from the viewpoint of an average guy with a serious camera addiction. I took photos side by side using my G10, G11, and G12 and I have to be honest, I could not tell much difference, though a slight nod would go to the newest camera. They are all great, however, and suit an average user like me perfectly. My tests were not scientific and not comprehensive - I have to work for a living after all. I am very pleased with the image quality, but is it a major upgrade from previous G series cameras, I do not think so. If I were forced to choose one, I would probably go for the G12 because the photos look slightly nicer to me, and the camera is easier to work with but only if I am forced to choose!

Build quality is also as you would come to expect from a Canon high end compact camera that costs $500. It is excellent just like the G10 and G11. They all feel and look pretty similar. There is an extra rubber grip on the back for your thumb which is kind of nice. Overall, and I have smallish hands, I find the G12 the easiest of these 3 cameras I have been comparing, to hold.

Probably the most important new feature is employment of Canon's HS (high sensitivity) system (combination of sensor and processing engine) which migrates from the EOS line. Does it deliver on its promise to improve image quality and allow shooting at higher ISO? I think the answer is yes it does, but not very much. The camera maxes out at 3200 ISO marked on the dial and you can bump it up to 12,800 albeit at lower resolution using the Low Light mode. Again, this is how it looks to my not professional rapidly aging, eyes. Whether it is worth running out an upgrading from a G11 is totally subjective and I cannot answer this for anyone. The camera also has the Hybrid IS system a la the updated 100mm Canon macro lens which compensates for a greater range of camera shake type. It looked to me like the camera did a more effective job at obtaining sharper photos at the same speeds as my G11. This is important to me as my hands do shake and I enjoy macro and cannot always use a tripod. Nor would I expect people buying a carry along point and shoot camera to carry a tripod with them.

There are additional new shooting modes like HDR that takes several photos then combines them for greater detail, better exposure. FYI, this feature was available in Ricoh cameras for sometime already, so Canon and Nikon are just catching up here. But I think it works a bit better on the Canon than it does in my Ricoh. The photos do look a bit richer, more detailed to me. Canon offers a level adjuster with this camera so you can keep your photos looking, well more level. Another feature that has been available elsewhere for years.

There are other niceties about this camera. Like you can pre-set the maximum ISO level (I like because a lot of cameras seem to default to a higher ISO than I would set for myself), there is a front dial to control settings (another inheritance from the EOS line), you can control the dynamic range (just like on Sony cameras from the past) for improved highlight clipping control, and you can shoot in a 1:1 aspect ratio (square which I personally like however, you guessed it, Canon is late to the party on this feature too) to name a few.

I will not comment on the video. I never use it and if I were able to trade video capability for say, a slightly bigger or better sensor, or a faster lens, I would do so in a heartbeat. But I have no idea if such a thing is even possible or practical. This is only my opinion and reflects my personal set of priorities. If it were up to me, I would dispense with most of the shooting scenes and the video if it meant a lower price or a camera with better image quality.

I share the findings of many that this is an incremental upgrade of the G11 as Canon's own literature seems to suggest. Higher expectations than this may be met with disappointment. But in my opinion, the G12 raises the bar, if only a little, of one of the best compact cameras available. I think as long as you keep what the G12 is, (an upgrade) in perspective with what it is not (evolutionary) you will not find yourself regretting your purchase.

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87 of 90 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Not a toy, excellent photo quality for a serius photographer, October 12, 2010 This review is from: Canon G12 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8 inch Vari-Angle LCD (Electronics) I went to LA last week, from Ecuador for 10 days on vacations, I wished to have this new camera in my hands to feel it, but at Samy's store at Fairfax blvd, they didn't have the camera yet, I ordered one from Amazon, (cost ?$600 plus fast shipping! because it was the only one available at that moment, but...), finally I have it in my hands.
first impressions: small enough, not exactly a point & shoot camera, but not to big too, ideal to bring with you a better equipment than any point & shoot camera any were without to carry a big dslr and a bunch of lenses, actually y have a Canon 5d mkII, a canon 50d and I began the dslr world with the famous Canon 20d, something interesting is that I use all this cameras with a bunch of old Nikkor lenses (at least 20 years old) using an adapter ring, for me it is the perfect marriage, Canon body with old Nikkor lenses, of course I can only use the manual mode and have to use the manual focus ring to get focus but... while my sight is 20/20 love the final results.

Some features about this camera:

1 The lcd is fantastic, allows to take pictures or movie shoots in practical any position and situation, nice also when you are taking videos or do not want to be noticed when you are shooting, getting more spontaneous photos.
2 The ergonomic of the wheels for ISO,compensation and the mode selector are very well located, they work firmly.
3 The new front wheel, that works for increase or decrease the aperture or shutter speed is great.
4 The menu is easy to use and I like the new formats and sizes you can take pictures, 10:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:2, 4:5 allows to get a better composition and photo formats without crop the image.
5 the rugged feel is nice for me, besides is only in two parts of the camera, where your hand and fingers needs more support.
6 At first instance I though the optical view finder appears to be so simple and "awful" like somebody told before, but, the diopter corrector works fine and when I clean the visor glasses, become so clear and nice that actually I am using it a lot, because do not need to open the lcd screen and it is possible to see the green or orange light which tells you that the exposition is ok or not, "going back to the old times".
7 I did not test enough the video, but at first look, it is ok and allows to record some interesting moments.
8 The quality of the pictures is awesome, really love it, finally can get almost the quality I have with my DSLRs but in a small camera.
9 It is fast, is ready to take pictures maybe in a second.
10 The quality of the lcd screen may be is not the best, but, allows you to see if the picture is ok, and normally if you see that the picture is ok, when you opened in any software the picture is !really great!
11 for me all the wheels are well located, the buttons are in the right place, I have a normal hands size, use xl gloves, but have not fat fingers.
12 The autofocus works great, fast and with an excellent accuracy, feature not easy to find in a small camera, so reduces the possibility of loosing a nice photo.
12 Could be perfect, but nothing is.

This is my first week with this camera, I will let you know more and more of my experience.

for now, I am really happy, fits my requirements.

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Friday, February 18, 2011

# 3: Canon PowerShot SD1300 is 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4 x Wide Angle optical image stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Silver)

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654 of 695 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars It is classy and it takes great pictures, March 13, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver) (Electronics) I will try to share some things I have discovered about this camera, these are just my thoughts, I hope they might be of help .

Some things I am compairing to a canon SD1200 and the SD940, SD1400.
I do not use the viedo enough to judge that part of the cameras.

** No SD memory card included with this camera **, see below

* Some will miss the eye viewfinder that the SD1200 has.

* Some will miss the HD 720p in the movie mode that the SD940,SD1400 has, The SD1300 has 640x480 at 30fps like the canon SD1200, G11 and S90.

* The SD1300 has ( no optical zoom while recording video ) just digital zoom.

* There is a date feature on the SD1300, see below

* The flat button arangement is the same as the SD1200 all but the (( Power Button )) on top is larger and easier to turn on and off, I like that ( but be careful ) it does not come on in your pocket, purse or in your soft camera case.

* I have not had any trouble using any of the buttons even with my big old hands. The flat buttons on the SD1300 are a ( tad larger than on the SD940 and SD1400 ).

* The menu screens are large and very easy to read and use.*

* You get a 2.7inch very clear LCD screen that has a (very good and wide viewing angle in all directions).

Note > when your LCD screen is set to a lower brightness you can push and hold down the display button for 1 second and it will go to the brightest setting and do that again and it will go back to the lower setting...

A 28mm x 112mm lens, a little better than the 35 x 105 on the SD1200 ( But no view finder on the SD1300 ).

* The SD1300 is very easy to use and small enough to carry every place you go for those spontaneous grand kid pictures like the SD 1200 was .
Just a very good basic camera.

* I like that the mic for the video is in the front of the camera instead of being on the top (where I put my finger) like the canon SD970 and others, it picks up less finger movement noise being in the front.

** Timing and Performance** Very fast start up time of just over 1 sec.
I can not tell any difference in shot to shot or flash shot to shot times between the SD1300 and the SD1200,
which is ( 2secs with out the flash ), and 3 to 4secs with the flash on, (( up to 6secs for full flash recharge )).

(Update > Some of review sites(C-NET) are getting around 2.7 to 3 seconds for the SD1300 between shots with out the flash so I grabed the two cameras and tryed the two again(SD1300 SD1200) with and with out the flash on and I had the same results both ways, (I used program mode) both times and they would focus and recharge the flash evenly also...)

Shutter lag is good for a canon point and shoot but if you ( pre focus ) that will help even more. To pre focas > > Push shutter button down half way untill camera beeps and green square apears on LCD screen,picture should be clearly in focas at this point, if not let up on the shutter button and repeat the steps again. these steps will also help take a good clear (in focas) picture, just something for you to try if your having trouble getting your picture.

I never tested the continuous shooting( but see my battery test) but canon says it is 0.9 per sec where the sd 1200 is 1.4 shots per sec, if that is important to you. UPDATE > The 1200 does seem to be faster, quicker than the 1300 in continuous mode, how much I dont know but you can tell the difference...

* (Battery) I did test the battery (NB-6L same battery as SD1200) by using continuous shooting mode ( with the flash on ) and got well over 400 pictures and it was taking ( 1 picture every 2 seconds or less in the continuous mode( flash on ) if that helps you out on the continuous shooting part, and when I turned the flash off it seemed to do prety good coming from a newer small canon point and shoot world.

* (Battery life). In real life I get around 300 or more pictures with some of them using the flash, your still need a second battery for a backup.

* The battery has a little larger capacity at 1000mAh in the SD1300, were as the canon SD940 and the SD1400 is a smaller capacity at 760mAh if that matters to you.

** A nice backup battery is a (power2000) for canon NB-6L (1200mAh)$19.00. I have used them for years.
I really like the battery charger that comes with the camera, it is small and charges quickley, about one and a half hours the very first charge and then one hour or less there after...
Some set back the brightness of the LCD a couple of notches to save some battery. I think your new battery will do better after the first couple of charges.

* 10/30/2010 At the Columbus zoo we shot 350 pictures and a lot of them with flash on with one charge...

** Very good image quality keeping the iso at 200 and below.
I am getting about the same image quality as the SD 1200 which is very good for this small size point and shoot camera.

* As point and shoots get better we often try and compare them to digital SLRs ( speed,noise, ISOs, picture quality ) but because of the point and shoots very small sensors and craming all those mega pixels into them it is just asking to much of the little cameras....
Fewer pixels mean there's more room on the sensor and the individual pixels can be made larger to gather more light, making the camera better able to record low-noise images in low-light situations.

This is just me, but I like using the program mode and 100,200iso best and I try not to use the auto mode indoors ((auto works good outdoors in good light though, Lighting is everything. Indoors alot of times auto seems to want to use a (very high iso)(and sometimes no flash) to get low light photos, but this just results in more noise, which makes your pictures look noisy grainy or snowy looking on larger prints,(or the yellow tint that some are talking about).
* I use program mode and set the iso indoors to (( 100iso ))in good light conditions or ( 200 iso ) in poorer light indoors for the best image quality indoors with out all noise in the picture. Again auto does good outdoors in good light but keep your eye on the iso in auto indoors...

* Portrait mode does better indoors than auto in keeping the iso down. It uses 200iso and below. not bad...
For some reason canon has done this with all there newer point and shoot cameras the last couple of years, again this is just me)...
You may be happy with the pictures you take in auto mode and people have posted alot of very good pictures on this site using auto mode check them out, I am just saying if you have a problem try this and see if it helps, ( just something for you to try if your having trouble ).

*They also have taken away the supper fine quality option for the last couple of years , you just have fine and normal now, I miss the supper fine option...

With the SD1200 and SD940 I would use program mode and set to (auto iso) but when trying to do that with the SD1300 it wants to go to 500iso or higher some times where the SD1200 and SD940 would go to 250iso , go figure? The more I use this camera the more I find myself useing ( 100iso in program mode ) in good light conditions indoors or outdoors). Again indoors you might have to use 200 to get the picture you like...

** Just a side note, before judgeing the camera and your picture quality on your computer or camera screen get some pictures printed out, why I say this I thought the pictures that I took at the rest home were just ok, but I took them to the store and had 8 by 10s made and they look so so much better, you can see these pictures on this site under (view and share images on the SD1300s home page). I wish you could see the printed ones...

* A lot of the review sites blow there pictures way up and look for defects, your likely to only make 5x7 or 8x10s and not see (what they see).
If you are going to make larger prints or need a better (low light camera) and still stay in a point and shoot you could go with a canon S90, S95 or the bigger G11, G12, but (much more money I know)! Just keep the iso down at 200 and below and you will do fine...)

* The SD1300 seems to have a nice sharp lens even at the telephoto end of the zoom.

Highlights sometimes tend to blow out in very bright sun (direct light source) as with all small cameras(small sensor) this size, you can see this in some of the pictures I posted on this sight for the 1300. ( But to be fair my G11 does this also ).

In my pictures,I do not see the bad vertical 'ghost' flare from top to bottom that D Kartman talks about in his review, just do not point it at a direct light source like the sun,( bright led lights at night) or very bright light coming in a window, and that goes double for when taking movies...

I do not use I-Contrast in the program mode while shooting, some times in play back I will try it but I am not a big fan of it even then, it will brighten the picture up in dark areas but seems to increase the noise a little, again this is just me alot of people seem to like it and have good luck with it see what you think...
In auto mode you have no controll of I-Contrast and can not turn it off or on...

* I just realy like the colors in the pictures that the canon cameras produce, again thats just me thinking out loud.

Not much problem with red eye in pictures useing the SD1300 unless in a very dim lit room and there are some times when it can not modify or fix it in red-eye correction,... Read more ?

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110 of 112 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Canon PowerShot SD1300IS, April 4, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver) (Electronics) I purchased this camera as a replacement to my Canon PowerShot SD600. The main reason I chose to replace it was for the IS feature. When I purchased to SD600 it was on sale and the IS features on cameras were an expensive option on upgraded models. I have to say the feature performs as expected. Obviously it's not going to do much if there is a lot of camera shake, but it does the job for what it's intended to do. Picture quality is excellent. Low light does well despite the reviews I've heard. Manual settings do just as well as auto settings. I like the playback button that lets you review pics rather than having to switch the camera into another mode. When taking multiple shots the lag time between pics is minimal. Videos work well with it but there is that pesky no in and out zoom during a video. Sound quality was surprisingly good with video mode as well. It takes outdoor video well with little wind noise. I was a bit cautious about buying a camera with no viewfinder as my last camera had one, but let's face it, I hardly used it when I had it. Insisting on a camera with a viewfinder also significantly limited my choices for point and shoots. I'm satisfied with no viewfinder and this camera is exactly what I expect in a good point and shoot. I considered the SD1200IS since it was on sale and a little less expensive but I figured for a few extra features, it's worth the extra $50. Battery life is great! Even under moderate to heavy use it lasted all night and part of the next day. I'd suggest always having another battery pack as a backup though as you never know when you might need it. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a quality point and shoot. For the price I don't think you can ask for much more in a compact digital camera. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? 
205 of 216 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The best camera to have..., May 21, 2010 ...is one you'll have with you. The nice thing about the Canon ELPH series is they easily fit into your pocket, are well built/designed, don't cost a lot, come with a boatload of features, and take great pictures. The SD1300, the latest in the ELPH line continues in that tradition, adding considerable additional sophistication and sacrificing some useful functionality in the interest of cutting cost.

It is a small camera and carries with it the baggage that comes with the convenience of having to carry so little baggage. (sorry, couldn't resist) None of the issues raised, given that they comes as part of the convenience trade-off made me consider anything other than the 5-star rating this camera deserves.

- Many of the functions are only accessible through menus, sometimes several levels deep. The good new is the Automatic and scene modes are pretty good (as long as you spend a few minutes reviewing what they really do). This camera is not intended to be used in aperture or shutter priority, let alone full manual.

- The battery life might be shorter than you expect. That's a trade-off for having a camera that's small and light; you get a battery that is small and light. One thing you can do is get a spare battery. That is good advice for any camera. Another thing that will help is to keep the display off as much as possible. That means using the monitor as little as possible. The "sad" part is that Canon chose to drop the optical viewfinder in this model. That means a camera that is simpler and less expensive to make but will go through batteries quicker because you must use the display when taking picture.

- The camera response is a bit slow for effectively capturing children and pets. The trick for doing that is to either have a great sense of timing and a shutter that reacts instantly or a reasonably fast ( > 4x / sec ) burst mode. This camera has neither.

Some other suggestions that apply:

- Use the lowest ISO available given your requirement for either aperture or shutter speed. To avoid getting technical, higher ISO always introduces higher noise. At issue is when it becomes noticeable. In newer dSLR cameras you can get over 1000, maybe well over depending on the camera, before the noise becomes noticeable. For this camera keeping it at or below 200 is a good idea.

- Don't use in-camera sharpening. Digital pictures will almost always benefit from sharpening but you are better off doing it with a photo editing program. Computer-based algorithms tend to be more sophisticated and you can better judge the results on your monitor as opposed to the camera LCD.

- If you want more vivid colors and have the choice use sRGB instead of Adobe RGB. While you get fewer colors they are distributed over a wider range. They are also render better on computer monitors, many commercial labs, and any other place your pictures are likely to show up.

Finally, I've found the Caselogic QPB-1 Compact Digital Camera Case (Black/Gray) is just the right size for this camera. It's semi-rigid so you get a fair amount of protection but doesn't add a lot of bulk. It's made even better by using one of these, Nite Ize SB1-2PK-01 Size-1 S-Biner, Black, 2-Pack, to secure it to a belt loop.

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# 10: Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12 x Wide Angle optical image stabilized Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD

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737 of 740 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY I found an AWESOME CAMERA after all these years!, September 26, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD (Electronics) For the last 2 years I've been searching for a camera to be a companion to my Sony DSC 7.2 megapixel (bought in 2005) which takes awesome pictures even when enlarged and the color is just phenomenal! I wanted something with zoom power, neat features to play around, and of course must provide awesome color.

I tried:
Panasonic ZS1...awful, awful pictures. So noisy/unclear it was unbelievable.
Sony DSC W290...noisy/unclear. Sony really went the way of the dodo on this one.
Sony TX5 ($350)...again, just not as clear as my old 7.2 megapixel.
Sony DSC H55...almost a keeper, but still not as good as my old 7.2 megapixel.

Finally I tried this Canon and I bought it as soon as it came out, before any reviews were posted. I was simply hoping that the technology this year would be perfected and I would not find the same noisy/low-light/poor-light performance problems that every camera I read about on Amazon seems to have had in the past 3 years. WELL I HIT THE JACKPOT!

If you buy this camera, this is what you need to do:
1) Print up the manual (at home, and trim it to size) then have FedEx/Kinkos spiral bind it for $8.
2) Set aside 1 to 2 full hours (completely undisturbed) and read the manual. It's a very good manual and pretty thorough.
3) This really is not a camera for people who just want to keep it on "auto" all the time and snap away. Because this camera really only shines when you learn how to work it and play with it's settings, which are easy to learn and numerous. This camera is fun and provides many, many fun options.
NOTE: I am not a camera pro, and at my age learning how to work and remembering new technology can be a task, but this camera makes me feel like a camera pro, and I must reiterate it is easy to learn/navigate. This camera has way too many cool features to cover, but I'll highlight some.

SOME FUN FEATURES/SETTINGS...DO NOT BE OVERWHELMED:
1) Takes photos automatically when someone smiles.
2) Has a "wink" self-timer.
3) Customizable self-timer. You can set the self timer to take as many photos as you want, at intervals of time, for example you can tell it take 30 photos in 3 second intervals, or whatever combo of numbers. Very cool feature!
4) Takes a photo when a "new face" enters the picture. So you can set it on a tripod to take pics of a gathering and when new faces enter the scene it just keeps snapping away.
5) SCENE OPTIONS: Lowlight, Vivid Colors, Poster Effect (old/worn look), Accent color (keep only one color and make others B&W), Color Swap (I changed my black appliances to my wood cabinets and vice-versa), Fisheye Effect (very funny), Miniature Effect (blurs top and bottom with a clear center), Beach Scene (for sunshine/good blues), Foliage (for vivid foliage), Snow Scene, Fireworks.
6) LIGHTING: You can set white balance, tell it the lighting around you like flourescent, daylight, cloudy, et al.
7) COLOR: You can set color saturation to vivid, neutral, sepia, B&W, positive (like silver-tape movies), light skin tone, dark skin tone, vivid blue, green, red, and even completely customize even more than this.
8) SHOOTING: It'll take one shot, or continuous shots.
9) FLASH: You can set your flash power. And you raise it manually or hide it if not needed.
10) QUALITY/SIZE: Obviously you can set size/quality of photos.
11) OTHER: You can set shutter speed, aperature, both together, ISO from 80-1600, AND SO MUCH MORE!
12) MOVIES: Very clear video recording...I was amazed!
13) MORE AUTO SETTINGS: Kids & Pets, Landscape, Portrait, Easy, Auto.
14) And "within" all of these setting mentioned you can do more things, for example, if you're on Auto or Easy or Portrait you can tell it to take continuous shots, or self-timed at intervals, and on and on.
15) And this camera still offers even more features than what I listed!!!

BEST FEATURE OF ALL:
1) With every selection, with every turn of the dial, every press of the button, a clear and easy explanation of what you are doing or selecting appears on the screen. You simply cannot make a mistake.

BATTERY LIFE:
It ate through my Duracells within hours. So I purchased Sanyo Eneloop Rechargable Batteries and they seem to be lasting longer and better. But it is nice to have the ability to buy AAs when needed and not need an outlet to recharge, so I liked that feature.

PHOTOS I'VE TAKEN:
At sunset of people in backyard: Clear and vivid and picked up green palm trees, tan skin, etc.
At 1am of people on porch: Clear and vivid and picked up everything as though it was daylight.
In dark living room: Clear and vivid and picked up wood chest, painted wall, everything as though the lights were on.
Landscapes during the day: Just awesome!
Pool/foliage during the day: Again, amazing color and clarity...and did I mention amazing color!

DO NOT BE OVERWHELMED OR INTIMIATED BY THIS CANON CAMERA AND ITS FEATURES.
Here are the errors I always find I make:
1) Can't find a "setting," it's because I forget to turn the dial to "SCN" which will then allow me to pull up the menus I'm looking for.
2) Can't access the ISO Speed, White Balance, Tone/Color Change, I forget to turn the dial to "P" which then gives me the menus for those.
3) Not getting a flash, I forget to manually raise the flash bulb. Yes, you just flip it up with a finger, or flip it down to hide it.

If you read the manual, this camera will make you feel like a professional photographer and provide endless enjoyment and fun making memories!

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196 of 202 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Straight From The Box, August 31, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD (Electronics) I first heard about the SX130is on August 19th- the same day I had decided that my final purchase decision would be the SX120is. After reading a few reviews, it had me convinced that this would be worth waiting for. I received my SX130is late this morning- and have to say, right from the box it was just amazing. Every time in the past when purchasing a new camera, it takes some adjusting and "breaking in" before fully great-quality pictures come, but with this one, literally from the first shot it has been wonderful. The HD video also records wonderfuly, and the sound is great as well- even with using all of the 48x digital zoom! The one "downside" to the video mode is that the image doesn't auto-focus as you zoom in, at times you have to re-focus using the shutter just as you normally would when taking a picture, but I personally didn't find that too annoying once I figured it out. The miniature and fisheye modes are a blast to use, and the smart-shutter mode (takes the photo when a smile is detected, without using the shutter) is neat too. The LCD is a nice big size, and has an auto-rotate for images in the playback mode, as well as an option to scroll through them when selecting. A fun fact which I also noticed is that it has a "screensaver," which displays the time to save the screen (as a computer would). Although some might consider it a bit "bulky" compared to most compact point and shoots, the size is perfect for someone like me who has bigger hands, allowing for a decent grip and non-clumsy hold. Overall, I just absolutely LOVE this camera (which I why I already give it 5 stars, hands down). Definitely recomend this to anyone; is well worth the money!

***Updated on 9/24***
After finally getting some Rayovac recharcable NiMH batteries, I can finally say that this camera is well worth the money. If you use regular AA (nonrechargeable) batteries, it will blow through them like crazy, so I learned the hard way. But the NiMH last much, much longer, plus are rechargeable. If you plan on purchasing this camera, I would highly recommend also getting the batteries- it is well worth the extra money.

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96 of 99 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera, nice and clear!, September 3, 2010 This review is from: Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD (Electronics) I was looking for a new camera to replace my 4 year old canon a630, 8mp, 4x zoom before our vacation next month. I was going to go with the sx120is, but it did not have HD video like all the other cameras had on them. Will I use that much, maybe, maybe not, but I at least wanted that option since all the other new cameras have it. Then I found out why the sx120is was going down in price, to make way for the sx130is. I looked everywhere and no one had it in stock yet. Then amazon got it a couple days later and I ordered it. Right away I thought it looked great. Very nice, something to hold onto, unlike the new small size cameras-I just don't like that they are so tiny. Love the big screen on the back. I thought I would miss not having a viewfinder and only using the rear display, but then i thought about it-I only use the display anyways on my camera and never the viewfinder! Sometimes the display looks grainy when not enough light, but after seeing the shot I just took, the pic was perfect. I like that it uses 2 AA batteries since I use rechargables-my other one used 4, so I have 2 extra for a backup now. I love how it zooms in on the face and the smile shutter is a neat trick. Have not played with the hd video yet, but I would have liked a mini-hdmi out of the camera. Also would like the flash to pop up on its own instead of saying on the screen to put the flash up. Other than that, there are so many controls, I'll probably never use them all and mainly use it on auto, which is great! The 12 MP and 12x optical zoom is great. Just note the 4x digital zoom does not work in widescreen mode, but it never did on my other camera either. A great camera to get without paying the extra money for the D-SLR cameras. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? 
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