Nice features. Big zoom. plenty of flash modes.

viewfinder offset, and you dont find it immediately.

The Canon is a superb camera, but not cheap.

Customer Service

Shop which sold camera had appalling attitude. Would not return there

Similar Products Used:

Nikon Lite touch 70W - very nice litghtweight, easy to use. Minolta Riva - poor with many ruined shots. Autofocus not good enough

This is the first point and shoot camera I have ever tryed after about 20 years with an cannon AE1 manual slr camera and an attachable macro/ tele lens. I chose this camera after reading the reviews and comparing features with a lot of other popular well rated brands.The pictures in alot of cases are almost equal to pictures from my slr. The reasons I chose it are I wanted a lighter more portable zoom camera and:

The sure shot dial is fun and easy enough for any one in my family to understand, use, and get excited about taking good pictures as the dial sets several camera settings for you at once like fast shutter speed, spot focus and flash ( my 10 year old has taken some awesome flower and bug macro shots and some fun action shots of the dog catching a frisbee) AND it also has more choices for someone like me who has photograpy as a hobby ( like spot metering, exposure compensation etc. ).The manual is good- simple to understand and use. I like the sport mode which can track a moving subject and has a very fast shutter speed- I can capture my kids doing flips on the trampoline. The Portrait mode takes GREAT people pictures- this is one of my favorite modes to use. The macro mode also takes excellant close ups - extremely sharp- but framing the shot correctly is a challange. I'm having fun learning to use the night flash mode which I've had some great shots with also- some fireworks shots even came out hand held with my arm proped on a seat. Pictures are in general sharp, and clear ( macro through short tele around 90mm seem the best - excellant picture quality-- longer tele indoors with fast film 400- 800-- and flash-- images at a distance are soft but hey I'm glad be able to even get a flash tele snap shot type picture of my son getting an award along way across a gym). Autofocus works well in all kinds of light and situations, red eye reduction works well, flash seems powerful (rated to 23 ft with asa 100 film). The lens can open to 3.5 f stop so you can gets shots without the flash in available light with fast film.

Camera at times overexposes with the flash - whites out the image of peoples faces or macro images-- I think mostly when I haven't held in the camera shutter button for exposure lock long enough. But i still am trying to figure the problem out
I haven't been able to get good/ correct light exposure in some trickier light conditions -- high contrast situations or light/water combinations. I'm not sure if it's me not figuring out how point and shoot cameras think or the camera. Macro framing could be much inproved with some LCD masking lines -- it is hard to get the image centered just right or even to remember you have to prefocus and recenter macro shots.

A simple to use camera that takes very good to excellant pictures in most situations with alot of advznced features for a point and shoot camera.

Customer Service

Haven't used it

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In the camera stores I tried out everything- minolta, pentax, olympus and i like the z 135 features the best.cameras

* relatively large aperture
* the right feel, size and weight
* easy to get started
* best shot dial

* sometimes overexposes flash pictures
* red eyes (see below)
* no manual settings, just the "best shot dial"
* needs batteries to operate
* lens not razor-sharp
* viewfinder lacks parallax correction and could have been larger

If you can't afford a Canon EOS SLR, a couple of EF L USM lenses and a good flash unit which supports E-TTL, but still want a versatile camera which is easy to use, the Prima Super 135N (U.S. Sure Shot Z135 Zoom) is the camera for you.
Its realtively fast aperture allows you to get good 4"*6" shots on ISO 400 print film. However, do not expect to be very impressed if you make larger magnifications. Further, I would not use the Z135 for shooting slides since it only allows an exposure compensation of +/- 1.5 EV. Slides are best shot with an SLR or a RF, like the Canonet QL19 with an inifintely variable ISO setting. Besides my old QL19 has a much sharper lens and a parallax-correcting viewfinder. The GN exposure measurement setting always gives me perfectly exposed flash shots and I never get red eyes on photographs of people when I shoot with the QL19. Red eyes with the Z135 are a big problem of mine.
Yet, I like my new camera because it is automatic. No manual focusing and exposure settings need to be made before shooting. That means less control, but greater chances of taking fun and interesting snapshots. Two big advantages over the QL19 are ease of use (turn the dial to "AUTO" and have a friend (who has never understood the pleasure of real (i.e. manual) photography) take pictures of you) and weight (the Z135 is less than half as heavy as the QL19 with flash). If I have to choose, I choose both. The only thing for which I could change those two cameras is a Leica Minilux Zoom, after I graduate from university, unless I am VERY lucky.

Customer Service

Haven't needed any yet.

Similar Products Used:

Canonet QL19 (which I still like)
Olympus mju-ii (too light and too small)

Has different flash mode, zooms pretty fast, stop-motion continuous picture taking

Bulky, Kept putting finger on flash, red-eye reduction doesn't work.

First of all, I found the camera rather bulky and heavier than some of the other point and shoots I looked at. I couldn't get used to the location of the pop-up flash and kept putting my finger in front of the sensor. As far as the functions, I found that it had some fun features like the continuous shoot and the portrait mode. However, the quality of pictures I found lacking. Over half of the pictures I took were overexposed or too dark.

Customer Service

Didn't keep camera long enough to have to use it.

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Minolta Freedom Zoom 125

Very sharp lens for a p&s camera; lots of features; considering it's zoom range not very bulky; relatively fast lens.

Zoom range starts at 38mm; 28mm would be so much nicer.

Very good value for money; lens one of the finest in the p&s arena. If the zoom range started at 28mm, you'd never need anything else.

Customer Service

Not needed so far.

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Pentax zoom super 105; Nikon F3, F4, FA, etc.

Great reliability,powerful flash,outstanding lens
(one of the best in the point & shoot zoom range).
Best-shot dial.

A bit bulky, flash is not
"intelligent" as the new
Canon 120

The Canon Prima 135 N(as it is called in Europe) is
a wonderful camera, which delivers razor-sharp photos. The color rendition is excellent. I partisukarly like
the best-shot dial which gives me the feeling to have some control on the photographic result when I need it.
In my personal experience, this is for now the best point &shoot camera I ever had.

Customer Service

Never used.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung Evoca 170,Pentax Espio 140

Sharp and crisp pictures.
No vignetting.
Great balance of colors.
Fast zoom lens.
Many operating possibilities.
Powerful still "natural" flash.

Not as compact as modern p & s.

I came back to 35 mm format after using several APS cameras because I felt the need for more sharpness, faster lens and the possibility to manual intervention
when needed.
I found the perfect camera in the Canon Z 135. Its zoom is the fastest in its
category: when it's in wide-angle focal lenght, it's aperture is only 3,6
which even allows me to take sharp pictures in low light with no flash.
More over, the camera offers several possibilities with the " best shot dial"
features (portrait mode, which I use a lot with my kids, fast time priority,
spot metering which is a feature particularly loved by my husband, etc...)
The sharpness and contrast of the lens is amazing, definitely better than
the Pentax P & S I had in the past, and the color rendition is really natural.
No wonder Canon keeps on selling this camera, despite its size.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Vectis 40 APS.
Olympus Centurion.
Several Pentax 35 mm P & S.

Razor-sharp lens.
Fast aperture (3.6/8.9).
Several mode-dials.

A bit bulky.

This is a fantastic camera, in my experience it's probably the best 35 mm P & S
taking into account the value for the money I have paid.
Sharpness and color rendition are first rate, and the fast zoom lens is great with
400 or 800 ISo, you can even shoot in low light without a flash ( I don't know how many P & S with a 3 X zoom can do that).
I particularly like the best shot dial modes which allow me to affect the
programmed automatism.

Customer Service

Never used.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax and Minolta P & S,
some Nikon srl.

1/2000 shutter speed
3200 ASA film capacity
strong flash
silent mode
metal body face
Tough
long battery life

Rangefinder
No midroll rewind
35 mm sometimes not wide enough

A wonderful camera for snapshots

Customer Service

None ever needed

Similar Products Used:

Olympus, Pentax competitors

Large aperture, sharp lens, good exposure, even on slide film

No Landscape mode, or Panorama switch, would prefer separate on/off switch like Z70W

Good point and shoot camera, adequate replacement for SLR when you do not want to carry bulky equipment

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

None