Get in on the action with a 10x zoom lens. PowerShot SX100 IS keeps your subject in focus with Face Detection and optical Image Stabilizer. Clear, simple controls are easy and... more...flexible for the whole family.
high quality photos, image stabilizer, 10x optical zoom, good macro, various scene modes
Disadvantages:
no viewfinder, 4 secs to recharge after taking a picture with flash, goes through batteries quickly
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
If you are just looking to take family pictures or if you have a real interest in photography, I think you will be pleased with the Canon PowerShot SX100 IS. Its setting can be changed from Auto to Manual and it comes with face detection and an image stabilizer. The camera, itself, is relatively compact and has a built-in lens cover. The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that it does not have a viewfinder.
Since it has a 10x optical zoom, the zoom is amazing. It also has good macro. Though it may be hard to take a close-up picture of an ant, flowers and butterflies come out excellent. Pictures taken without flash come out very good as long as they are in a well lit area. If taken in a poorly lit area, the pictures tend to be a little grainy. You can quickly take picture after picture as long as the flash is off. When using the flash, the camera takes about 4 seconds to recharge.
This camera comes with a lot of useful settings: Portrait, Landscape, Night Snapshot, Kids&Pets, Special Scene, Stitch Assist, Video, Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, Program and Auto.
The Special Scene is nice to have because it is set for specific scenes. Just to name a few, there is Beach (which makes sure your subject does not come out too dark against bright skies), Foliage (which makes colors more vivid) and Snow (which makes sure the snow does not have a bluish tint and the subject is not too dark against it).
The videos are in AVI form and have good picture and sound. To me, the only problem is the amount of space the video can take up. If you want to save space, you can put the video in the "Compact" mode rather than the "Standard" mode but I do not recommend doing this since the picture is terrible in that setting.
Instead of coming with it's own rechargeable battery, this camera uses two AA batteries and goes through them at an alarming rate. I recommend that you get rechargeable AA batteries and a charger for it. Also, you'll need to buy a different memory card because this camera only comes with a 16MB memory card.
The Canon PowerShot SX100 IS comes with a program called Zoombrowser for Windows and ImageBrowser for Mac where you can view, edit, print, and email your pictures and videos. The things that I like the most is how you are able to take snapshots from your videos and can also "stitch" together a few pictures to create one huge panorama.
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Canon Powershot SX100 IS Silver Camera Kit, with 2 GB SD Memory Card, Camera Bag, Table Top Tripod, EZ Digital Photography Guide, 4 AA Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) 2900 mAH Rechargeable Batteries with 4-Hour AA & AAA Quick Charger, 110/220 volt.
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