Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Elph

I thought I did a lot of due diligence when purchasing this camera. Don''t get me wrong .. it''s a great camera ... but look at the Canon S30 .. for only about $40 more you can get 3.3MP & manual controls/overrides that the S300 doesn''t have.

- size - user-friendliness - software that Canon provides - strong flash

- no manual overrides - shaky shots when flash isn''t used (e.g. in museums etc where a flash cannot be used) - this could be compensated for if manual overrides existed

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I got this camera as an upgrade from my old reliable Kodak 1mp unit. After laboring over a decision of which one to get, I chose the S-300. All of the reviews were positive. I was really impressed with the design and build quality. It has a sturdy aluminim body and is small. It is still very comfortable despite my having fairly large hands. The buttons, dials, toggles are well placed. The monitor is one of the best I''ve ever seen. It''s bright, clear, and informative. More of a point-and-shoot camera, it goes about its work extremely well. Startup is quick (<2 sec.) Picture quality is supurb. It is very easy to use right out of the box. Reviewing the well written manual will only improve your results. Digital zoom modes yeild sharper images than most other cameras. You can tell that Canon really did their homework and didn''t mind sweating the "little stuff". The ability to see the exposure settings for each photo in review mode is one such nicety. The compact battery charger with flip-out AC prongs is yet another example. Software installation and use on both Win98 and XP is simple. USB-based transfers are quick. I have taken several pictures with the camera in the month I''ve owned it. Its tough to take a bad photo. All of the modes work nicely. EV compesation is handy if you want to tweak your results. I read in a review that the flash was weak. I have not found flash coverage to be a problem. All of my flash photos have come out clear and wel illuminated. The movie mode is cute. At 20fps, its fast and smooth. I do wish, however, that movie length were based on memory AND resolution. 4-10 seconds at 640x480 is just too short. A BIOS upgrade to change that would be nice. The sound is great. Not all is perfect. The memory card is way too small (8MB) and I ordered a pair of 64MB CF cards. I also ordered a case and backup battery. Battery life is adequate, though I highly recommend getting a backup. A camera this fine should come with a case. I got a very nice suade blue Canon S300 case (which has room for an additional battery and CF cards) from BUY.COM for less than $12 (delivered). The only regret that I have is that I didn''t look at the S30 closer for 3.3Mp and a bit more control. But hey, there''s always better out there if you are willing to spend the dollars!

Size, image quality, build quality, speed, versitility, ease of use. Has underwater housing available. Excellent software suite.

Limited movie mode, limited macro (more like close focus), no case.

Sony DSP50, Nikon 775, 885, HP 6/715, Canon S110.

Yeah right. This thing is a tank and its build quality is FAR superior to anything I''ve seen short of true professional digicams.

If this camera is on your ''list'' of possible buys, don''t hesitate, buy it. I debated for three weeks between this model, and the Nikon 775. I chose this camera for it''s quality construction and because of the rave reviews that were written about it. After owning it for over a month, I can happily say I made the right choice. The S300 is a great combination of size and features. It only has a 2.1 megapixel CCD, but really, do you need to print higher than 8 1/2 by 11? The camera is very intuitive, and packs an awesome array of features into the small stainless steel case. Definetly buy a larger flash card. With the 128 meg card I have, at the highest quality and resolution setting you can still fit 128 Pictures on the card (WOW!)

AWESOME outdoor picture quality, small, fast, easy to use. Good zoom for it''s size

Indoor pictures aren''t as nice as the outdoor. Only 2.1 Megapixel, no aperature control.

Olympus 2040, 3030, and 3040, HP 618

Don''t anticipate needing any.

The camera is wonderful for quick snapshots of family and friends and great for traveling. It''s so comfortable to carry around, it almost begs to be taken everywhere one goes. The picture quality is terrific and the 3x zoom is a plus for zooming up close or framing the perfect photograph. It''s sleak metallic-silver body is stylish and attractive, making it the object of many admiring oohs and aahs. The Canon S300 is for the experienced photographer who wants something less bulky and fast yet can handle near-professional quality prints at sizes smaller than 8x10 and for the casual photographer who just wants to capture the moment.

Low Price Small Size 3x Zoom Movie Mode with sound Easy Menu Panorama Mode

Movie Recording Times (Can''t keep recording beyond this amount of time) 4 Seconds at 640x480 10 Seconds at 320x240 30 Seconds at 160x120

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This was my second digital camera, which I purchased primarily because of its size. My bother-in-law had the S100, so I was generally familiar with the camera. The S300 has a better zoom, and the movie feature is pretty cool. I was quite impressed with the quality of the pictures I can produce with the camera. I have an HP 932C inkjet printer, and I get very good 8x10 color photos. I also like the speed with which I can download pictures with the optional card reader. I can now download 100 pictures in the time it took me to get one picture with my old camera. Definitely get a larger card than the 8MB that the camera comes with. I have a 128MB card, and get over 200 pictures on the best picture settings. This is a great camera that you can take anywhere - and that is how you get great pictures by always having your camera with you.

Size. Ease of use. Quality construction.

Needs a larger card.

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