1ST PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD1100IS
An update to the SD1000 (see below), this 2008 8MP beauty adds image stabilization, a slightly longer zoom (38-114 mm), another MP of photo size and a small indent on the right side for a better grip. Plus it comes in colors! My daughter has a blue one and uses it every single day. During school days the image stabilization made a real difference in her on-the-bus shots. With that heavy of use hers has gotten scratched up a bit, but the marks are small and hardly noticeable.

2ND PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD870IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)
The ELPH to buy if you want a wide-angle lens. Slightly thicker than the SD1100 IS, this 8MP model doesn’t have an optical viewfinder which makes it tough to use in bright sunlight, otherwise there’s little not to love. My husband uses one as a comp camera, to compose shots for the travel guide “The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World.”

3RD PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD770IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
Just released in May, this 10 MP model is, in a way, an update of the SD1100 IS (see above). I rate it lower because it costs about $50 more and doesn’t come in colors. On the other hand, it has a longer battery life than the 1100 and features an improved LCD screen that is very easy to view. As for photo quality, I can’t tell the difference.

4TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD950IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3.7x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Titanium)
There’s a lot to like in this 12.1 MP camera. First off, it’s gorgeous. The body, though a little thick, is titanium. An upgrade to the SD850 IS (see below), it has a 3.7x zoom lens and adds manual controls as well as the ability to stitch together panoramic images. The only reason I don’t rate it higher is the price.

5TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD890IS 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Want a long zoom lens? Here’s your baby, a 2008 10 MP model with a 5x zoom. Also has the new bright LCD screen and all the other 2008 Canon goodies. The most expensive Canon PowerShot ELPH.

6TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD790IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
With the same 10 MP image sensor and 3x zoom lens as the SD770 IS, this 2008 model stands out only for its larger 3-inch LCD display and, as a result, lack of optical viewfinder. The rear controls are different, too, with a flatter design that uses fewer buttons.

7TH PLACE: SD1000
In my opinion there’s no reason to buy this 7.1 MP model. Released in 2007, it’s been replaced by the SD1100 IS (see above). The SD1000 is a fine camera but it doesn’t have image stabilization, a key feature of the 2008 lineup.

8TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
The ancestor to the SD890 IS, this 8 MP Elph combines a 4x zoom and 8 MP photo size with an image stabilizer. Every button, dial and switch has a quality feel. Slighter larger than the other models here, it is a little tougher to pop in and out of your pocket, but if you have larger hands it may be just what you are looking for.

9TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD800 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
This 7.1 MP predecessor to the 870 doesn’t focus well at its edges when set at its widest angle. Unless it’s priced really cheap, get the 870 instead.

10TH PLACE: Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)
The 2007 PowerShot flagship offers a light meter that adjusts for facial brightness, 17 shooting modes, some first-rate movie features and red-eye correction — features that were innovative a year ago but are common in Canon’s latest models. No image stabilization; no optical viewfinder. Choose a 2008 model instead.

This is a wonderful camera and I am very pleased with it. I actually bought a Kodak Easyshare Z812IS 8.2MP Digital Camera first but was disappointed with it. There is a lag between pressing the button and the photo being taken. Especially when you have young children this is a deal breaker!!! They would often be heading out of the shot by the time the photo was taken. This Canon Powershot SX100IS is a huge step up from the Kodak. Also the book that came with the Kodak camera was really minimal - you were instead supposed to go to the website and download the guide book. Very annoying and also cheap on Kodak’s part.

I had previously owned a Canon and was very pleased with it so I ordered this camera. Like my previous Canon it is very user friendly and intuitive. Here are my pros and cons

Pros

Large view finder

Complete and in-depth guide book included with camera

Sharp, clear photos

10x optical is wonderful - you can get great closeups without moving close to subject. Also for portraits you can throw the background out of focus with a long zoom in. (A long optical zoom is one of the most important features to have on your camera - the longer the better.)

Face recognition is quite useful. Allows you to concentrate on the photo you’re taking and let the camera take care of the faces being in focus.

Taking a picture in “portrait” size can be viewed full screen in viewfinder if you turn the camera.

Lightweight & easy to hold

Takes AA batteries. Easy to change batteries if they die, unlike lithium.

Very easy to scroll thru photos on this Canon.

User friendly, my kids can even use it with ease

Cons

Need to raise the flash manually to use. (Wasn’t too clear at first why flash wouldn’t fire but once you realize you need to raise the flash yourself its no problem.)

Seems to go thru batteries quickly. Easy to solve though - just get a recharger.

I had seriously considered a digital SLR but chose this camera instead because it has such large optical zoom & very clear photos . Its also a fraction of the cost and so much easier to carry around with you.

This is just a fabulous camera for the price. I am very happy with it.

First of all, I’ve had 4 Canon cameras before this one (the legendary A80, the A95, the recent A560, and the Rebel XT, which was stolen). Also, I work as a photographer for a local newspaper and we constantly use high-end Canon SLRe and G series compact canons. Let me tell you that the quality of this little guy (the first Elph I’ve had) is impressive. Actually, I would say this is on top with the “G” and SLR series picture quality, if you know how to make a few adjustments.

I’ve had the Canon powershot SD1000 for 6 months, I’ve taken it to a few trips, parties, work events, and I carry it in my pocket every day. The features it has (like face detection, digital macro, time-lapse video, color accent, etc.), for the price, are fantastic. However, the best thing this camera offers, IMHO, is a quick operation. It takes VERY FAST pictures, and if you set the color to vivid, with a proper white balance, the images you get will surprise you. I recently had a trip to Cancun and took the camera with me. When I came back I wrote an article about my trip for the Sunday Magazine at my newspaper, and they used my pictures, as they looked very professional.

If you’re a casual photographer, you can’t beat this price, get it now.

There’s ONE thing, however, I still hope canon introduces in the future: a more practical video mode format.

I’m not saying the video quality is bad. Actually it is the best I’ve seen in ultra-compacts. The thing is, that after having owned a Pentax Optio s5z for a year (before this one), which used good quality divx compression (much smaller files), I found myself taking many videos without worrying about remaining space in the memory card. The “video thing” started growing a lot on me. However, canon uses almost no compression in the AVI files and so, for each 1GB of memory, you can only record 8 minutes of video (2GB = only 16 minutes!).

About the image stabilization: I don’t miss it. If your hands are not very shaky and you use the proper ISO, you can overcome this. However, if you’re using 1600 ISO, you will see “grains” unless you keep the picture to “web sharing” size. It’s normal with compact cameras.

My next camera will be (if it’s still on sale) the Canon SD750, because I recently found it has a 3 inch LCD, and I don’t really use the viewfinder on the Canon SD1000 (a personal choice).

Bottom line: for vacations, every day use, social snapshots, pets, the occasional “artistic” inspiration, fantastic response and pro-quality images at a very affordable price, you can’t go wrong with this camera.

I decided to upgrade from the Rebel XT, for the simple reason that I’m in my 40s, have had Laser surgery on my eyes, and my close up vision isn’t as good as it once was. Of course the first thing you notice is the 2.5″ LCD. With the elimination of the mini-LCD on the XT, which displayed the camera settings, everything is now on the large LCD. This is a huge improvement for us middle aged folks. No more accidentally shooting at 1600 because this setting was buried. The current camera settings are staring you in the face.

I’ve just received the camera and have taken a few test shots. The first thing I noticed is the 9 point AF is much more robust than the Canon XTs focus system. So much so that I will have to turn down the sharpness especially on portraits.
I have a couple Canon L series lenses, and to my surprise, my initial opinion is the XTi shots seem significantly sharper than the Canon XT. The only thing I can attribute this to is the new AF system.

As for the dust cleaning system. Time will tell, but you do see a dust cleaning screen for a couple seconds after power up/down.

For the most part, the rest of the camera is pretty much the same as an XT. If you are used to the XT menu, you will have no problem navigating the XTi menu…it’s the same. USB Interface, batteries, charger etc…all the same as the Canon XT. I was glad to see this camera still uses CF, because I have invested a little cash in memory cards..

I had been saving up for the 30D, but when I saw news releases about the XTi, I bit because of the 2.5″ LCD and 10mp. Perhaps Canon will lose some 30D sales until they upgrade the 30D to 10mp. At 4-500 less, I couldn’t resist the XTi.

So my initial opinion, pending more test shots and some serious shooting, is I’m very happy with this purchase.
Just the 2.5″ LCD alone, was reason enough for me to upgrade.

Let me start by saying I’ve returned the Canon Powershot A590IS already. The main reason was because the wife wanted to go back to something smaller aka a subcompact camera. I had to agree with her there after a few days of using the camera.

Second, she did not like the recharge time between flash pictures. I didn’t time it, but it seemed like at least 5 or 6 seconds. I guess that’s fairly typical of cameras with 2 AA batteries.

The subcompact we had before (Canon SD600) seemed a lot better in this regard. It used a proprietary lithium rechargeable battery though.

My beef with the Canon A590IS was that the video wasn’t as good as our previous SD600 camera. And I guess the specs don’t lie because they state 20 fps for 640×480 video instead of 30 fps with most other Canon digital cameras. The IS seemed like it made the video more stable, but it also made panning with the camera more choppy. It wasn’t a huge beef as I don’t take a lot of video with a digital camera, but it was annoying they made the video worse.

I also thought the construction was a bit cheap with the shell of the camera being plastic instead of metal. The zoom lever seemed a bit cheap too.

Now the good. I like the dial on the A590IS. It lets you quickly select a shooting mode. Very handy. On a subcompact you have to select modes through the menus at least on the old Canon we had. The picture quality on this powershot seem fairly nice. I wouldn’t say they were better than our previous camera, but certainly I didn’t notice they were that much worse either. The fact it uses AA batteries is convenient because AA batteries are everywhere and the access to the batteries, memory card and ports are easier to work with. (It’s not as tiny as on a subcompact.) And this camera has lots of manual settings.

Ultimately though the camera wasn’t as sleek and small as the subcompact we had before. It didn’t take as nice of video and it seemed slower in between pictures specifically flash pictures.T he only advantage to this one over a ~$200 Canon subcompact would seem to be the convenience of AA batteries and a slightly greater zoom although perhaps some would find a larger camera easier to hold.