Best little pocket camera I have tried
927902
PROS:
  o  Uses readily available AA batteries
  o  Easy to stick in my pocket or a small waist bag
  o  Excellent color rendition
  o  Decent zoom capabilities
  o  Good macro capabilities

CONS:
  o  Image stabilization does NOT work with digital zoom

Overall, the best little "pocket camera" I could find, based on the specs and reviews and what I wanted.  The ONLY major ding against it is that the image stabilization does NOT work once you zoom in past the 5X optical zoom... which is EXACTLY when you need it the most!!!  What was Canon thinking on that???  But otherwise, I have nothing but good things to say about the camera, especially given the price point.  So I didn't even knock off a star for the image stabilization issue.
1345164
I bought one the othere week ...and because of its small size, find it to be a great little camera to slip onto my belt or into my fanny or back pack pack ( when weight and space are critical) where it is has proved to be hany for those uexpected moments on the trail or about town.  It is definitly easy to use.  I just wish the pixal resolution was a little better.
236751
I just upgraded my old Canon Powershot S45 with this little beauty. It's small size makes it ideal for travel. I recently went on vacation to Belgium and it was raining the entire time. This little camera is so compact, I just wrapped the wrist strap around my wrist good and tight and tucked the camera up the sleeve of my raincoat. It was right in reach whenever I needed it and it stayed safe and dry.

I felt bad for my friend who was lugging around her DSLR. She would have to get someone to hold all her stuff, because her camera required two hands to operate and she had to keep it in the camera bag to keep it dry. She didn't get many pictures because she didn't want to go through the hassle.

After the trip, we compared pictures and the SD30 shots were just as good as her $1K camera's shots.

The camera has several shooting modes, such as indoors, under water, fireworks, night-time portrait, landscape, portrait, kids and pets, beach, snow and manual. You can also choose to enhance one particular color over all others, say green in a forest or red in a garden or you can simply choose 'vivid' mode and all your colors will pop. There is also sepia, black and white, muted color and normal.

There is a skin tone adjustment, white balance adjustment, self timer, and many, many more bells and whistles.

The one drawback I found was that the little flash doesn't go very far, so it might be a good idea to purchase the external flash for this camera.
2360352
I was searching for a lightweight digital camera with reasonable optical zoom capability and automatic panorama mode plus good battery life, to take on extended backpack trips.  This little camera has met and exceeded all of my expectations.  The panorama mode is not only automatic but you can use it with the camera held horizontally (which makes wider but very narrow panoramas) or with the camera held vertically (which makes shots that seem to have normal proportions but with a nifty fish-eye panorama effect).  I have taken hundreds of shots at a time without running out of battery, and you can plug the camera into the wall in between trips and recharge the battery without need for a separate charger.  The camera modes are reasonably easy to figure out with just a little practice, though I only use a few of them.  It turns out that I don't use the optical zoom very much because the higher photo quality pictures can be post-edited and cropped to zoom everything without the worry of my hands shaking - but it does seem to work just fine.  And photo quality has been great, more than good enough for my needs.  I love this camera!
3188446
I got this camera last Christmas loved it ever since. It's small for carrying along. You can put it in your pocket, but I prefer my padded carrying case. The screen is big enough to view your photos & go through menu options with ease. I do a lot of professional photography, modeling & the photographer & wanted something small to carry in my free time. This camera gives clear quality photos & excellent control. With a fast start up, you can shoot with manual mode or change the settings to your preferences. The memory card doesn't hold very many photos, so you should buy one that does. It'll definitely be worth the purchase. Remember you should go through your manual & learn all features. This will help you understand the features & modes much better. I am disappointed with the flash. Indoor/close up shooting, without the best of lighting needs tissue over the flash because its so close to the lens. WIthout doing so, the photo will be washed out, or have red eye. Without great lighting the photo may also have noise. This is pretty common with these new small handheld cameras. As a Photoshop user, I find no problem editing this.

PROS:

  *  Compact design

  *  2.0-inch LCD Screen.

  *  Rich photos

  *  Great Battery Life - 14% more battery life than other SD series models. The life span on this battery is wonderful. It will last you hours. The charger that comes with the camera, charges very quickly & efficiently. The power saving setting automatically shuts camera off when not in use.

  *  9 Scene Mode - Pre-set settings for you to use for specific areas & subjects. The new Night Display feature brightens the LCD in low lighting. (Pre-Settings: Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kid & Pets, Night Snapshot)

  *  My Colors - Lets you highlight & swap colors right on the camera.

  *  Shutter Exposure & ISO Speed

  *  Color Balance - Make photos more vibrant, neutral, black & white, custom white balance, or sepia toned.

  *  PhotoStitch- Stitch assist shooting mode which helps getting the shots lined up. These can be viewed on your LCD screen. Pictures that have been shot in this mode are also tagged with metadata which identifies them as sections of a single panorama, positions, left right up & down.

  *  Supports other brand memory cards.

  *  Quick Speed Movies, 640 x 480 Movies @ 30fps

  *  USB 2.0 High Speed Support

  *  37-111mm F2.8 - 4.9, 3x Optical Zoom.

  *  50% Longer flash range versus the SD200-400.

  *  Self timer - 2 Sec./10 Sec./Custom Sec.

CONS:

  *  32MB Secure Digital Memory Card. The size of this is pretty useless. Highest resolution gets you 9 photos. If you can afford this camera, you can afford to buy a larger memory card. The camera supports other brands/makers which will save you money.

  *  Picture could be a little more sharp.

  *  Could use faster shutter speed/frames per second.

  *  Should have ISO Control & Macro in all modes.

There are lots of great things about it & it will definitely suit any camera user. You should always check out merchandise in person at a local store if possible, to play with the camera & get the feel before buying. Overall, I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a new camera. The perfect gift for Christmas, birthday, or just any occassion. It's well worth the cost!
4273546
I spent the better part of a week gawking at digital cameras, and ultimately ended up purchasing the Cannon PowerShot S200 Digital Elph.  Overall, I am happy very with it.
Unlike the other cameras, this one had some additional features to put it over the top: it is the smallest camera in its class, has a rechargeable battery (the others needed AA or AAA batteries), and it uses Compact Flash cards.  Some of the other camera manufacturers only used pricey proprietary memory sticks or memory cards.
Software is included for Windows machines and there is support for Linux.  Redhat Linux 8.0 supported the USB camera connection, out of the box, without needing to install additional software.
There is only one annoyance - there is a delay between pressing the button and when the picture is actually taken.  Aside from that, the camera is basically a point and shoot camera, with good clarity and color.
A carrying case isn't included, so I'd recommend purchasing a small camera case and an extra compact flash card.  I'm happily using a 64MB card.
2901732
I've had several small digital cameras in the past, but none compare to the Canon Powershot series in picture quality. This camera is perfect to carry in your pocket all the time.
1807299
I needed a compact camera with a fairly long optical zoom that would fit in a pocket for general all-around use while traveling.  The 30X zoom that this camera has is one of the longer zooms available that will still collapse down to an almost flat state when shut off (the lens still sticks out about 1/4" from the body when closed).

This camera turns on very quickly and is ready to take a picture in less than 1 second.  It focuses very fast so you can capture an image without any significant wait time which makes it easy to get images of things that you only have a very short time to shoot.

The images have a resolution of just over 20 megapixels so there is plenty of detail to allow cropping an image in post processing if needed.  Image quality seems excellent with good color quality.

There is no optical viewfinder but the view screen is bright and easy to see and can be configured to display details about the camera settings.  There is an optional histogram that can be displayed when playing back images that have been taken which is very useful in determining if the exposure was correct.

There is a pop-up flash included.  The flash does not open automatically but must be released by moving a small slide on one side of the camera.  Similarly, the flash must be manually pushed down to close it.

Ergonomically, the camera fits well in my hand and has a nice grip on the right front side with a textured edge that makes it easy to hold.  The build quality seems very good and it has a nice "heft" to it but is not too heavy.

There are manual controls for those who want to have some control over how the camera operates as well as a fully automatic setting.  I prefer to leave the camera in the "P" setting which gives me access to more settings (and thus more control) than the fully automatic setting.

Overall, I find that this camera works very well for everyday use when traveling which is why I bought it.  It has enough optical zoom to pull in distant objects but still allows me to stuff it in my pocket and keep it out of view when I am not using it.
1484391
Sometimes I think Nikon makes some things just to show they can. This is one of them. OK, it'll never replace a real camera, but the best camera is the one in your hand, and this one makes that easy. It just showed up, I spent the last several hours fiddling with it, and i'm actually pretty happy.

It is really tiny; let's get that out of the way first. You can't believe how small. It really is about the size of a credit card, but about " thick, weighs nothing, almost fits in a watch pocket and for sure in any other pocket, inside a hat brim....  really small. Thus, it meets my first requirement, being in my hand when I want it. I'm not about to carry a big and/or expensive camera everyplace, this one will work fine for a "just in case".  Like American Express, don't leave home without it. Or Visa, it's everywhere I want to be. Somehow it inspires credit card jokes.

Quality-wise, not so much. It's OK, a bit noisy especially at high iso, but adequate. Not the tool for high resolution, big prints. Perfectly fine for small prints, anything where a bit of graininess is OK. Or, for that matter, where no other camera is readily available, which is where it shines. In fact, in black and white mode, the graininess looks pretty good. There's a bit of chromatic aberration and distortion at the frame edges, too. I give i a 7/10 for image quality. Much better than any cell phone camera, though; and better than cheap point-and-shoots with plastic lenses.

There's not a lot of manual control options. Actually, aside from zoom, none. Well, there is exposure compensation, +- 2 EV, which is something. It does what it does and you're not necessary for that. Point, push the button. DO turn off the touch-screen-to-trip-shutter function; it just begs for jiggle.

Internal storage for about 3000 frames at highest resolution is fine. Internal battery is fine, but I suspect it won't last more than a few years because of short charging cycles. That's OK, I'll make an effort to do a deep discharge once in a while.

The little place where the (standard mini USB; not proprietary at all) connector plugs in is a bit of a trick; you need to catch the slot with a fingernail and flip it up and sideways. I wish the instructions were a little clearer on that. it's held by a rubber plug, just bends out of the way. Probably the only cheesy-feeling thing on the whole camera. otherwise it feels like a quality piece of machinery; nice, dense feel, great finish, just what we expect from Nikon. The chrome finish, by the way, is a knockout.  Once plugged in via the cord, iPhoto or Aperture find the camera for download just fine; no special software needed.

I'm giving it a 4/5 because the image quality could be better (not sure how, though, with this dinky sensor. The optics are pretty decent for their size) and I'd like some manual something.

Well worth the modest cost if you really feel the need to have a camera in reach at all times. I plan to keep it under my pillow.
2270585
Great camera. Very small, fits in your pocket. I haven't used every feature yet but the pictures I took are incredible. Has a built-in SD card slot (used the high capacity version). The rechargeable battery is a little tricky to install, just be sure to not force it. Comes with a .PDF manual on the installation CD.
4705250
Excellent little camera.  I have a Nikon D80 and D70 I use for the really professional shots, but this little pocket camera is always ready, not cumbersome and shoots some shots that rival the Nikons in quality.  Would recommend to anyone wanting a light, always ready, good shooting camera that you can take with you all the time.
1782755
This is a very nice little camera for basic snapshots. The size is excellent, fits in a pocket and is only a little thicker than a cell phone.  I am very happy with it and the image quality is decent for an inexpensive pocket point and shoot.  Will it take award winning photos? Maybe, if the conditions are right and if I know what I'm doing...but mostly this is perfect for snapshots, and casual photography.
4196976
I've been snapping photos for about a week now and have really appreciated this tiny camera. The fact that I could literally carry this camera in my pocket (and forget it's there) is what sold me. This is primarily a point-and-shoot camera, and as such the layout of the controls is well designed. With the camera strapped to your wrist, you can easily manipulate all the controls with your thumb and forefinger, without looking. Another thing, this camera is FAST, great for quickly--and discreetly--pulling out and taking a shot. It takes about a second to power up (it has a fixed lens, so nothing needs to zoom into position), immediately releases the shutter when you push the button without any lag time, and is ready for the next shot almost instantly. Interfacing with Mac OS X has been a breeze--nothing to install just place the camera on the base and push the power button and the camera appears on the desktop as a mounted drive and works seamlessly with iPhoto. Battery life got me through about 100+ photos with the LCD constantly on.  Speaking of the LCD, it's a handsome one. Nice and large and very sharp with good menu layout. Image quality isn't superior, but definitely acceptable for on-screen and 5x7 prints, especially for the camera size. One definite accessory you will want to buy is an SD memory card. I've found 64MB to be a good companion with the 16MB of built in memory, fitting about 120 images on the card and 25 in internal memory when shooting at 1280x960. If you take this camera out in public, be prepared to share it with everyone--it definitely draws curiousity as it is one of the smallest capable cameras on the scene at the moment.
370295
I purchased a refurbished PlayTouch pocket Video camera.  It was upgraded with all the latest firmware.  I've been very pleased with this little camera.  So far no issues.  I've been surprised and pleased that I can seen the screen outside in bright sun.  Video quality is excellent for this type of camera.  You have to remember, this is a pocket video camera.  I had purchased the Samsung pocket camera, but returned it because of the controls.  I love the touch screen on the Kodak PlayTouch.  Only had the camera for just over a month and no buyers remorse at this time.  I would recommend this camera.
2572232
I've been through a few waterproof cameras this summer and the Panasonic TS1 is the one I'm sticking with.

To give a bit of background, I've tried the Canon D10 and the Fuji Z33WP.

The Fuji Z33WP had some of the worst image quality that I have seen in a while.  It was very compact and worked as described in water or out, but the image quality and quirky video mode was too much for me.

The Canon D10 was very good.  My only complaint there was with it's size, battery life and lack of HD videos.

I finally turned to the Panasonic TS1.  I've been very impressed with the IQ in and out of the water thus far.  It does a very good job as an every day, carry around camera.  The IQ rivals typical compact P&S cameras.  The bonus here is the video mode.  Outstanding video from such a small camera.  This one is a keeper.  Very good battery life as well.

The truth is that none of these cameras is going to be as good as a normal compact P&S, but the Panasonic comes the closest and does the job quite nicely.
3576481
I bought this brown colored compact pocket sized camera to replace an older S300.  I delighted in the compact size.  It is truly a pocket sized gem.  I used it extensively for quick shots.  Extremely convenient but still capable of decent photos and good resolution.  The image stabilization feature adds so much usefullness in a light small camera that for most email shots, I grab my SD1100 instead of my Nikon D3.  Macro shots at max resolution can be cropped to yield very good images.  I left it in the console of my car one day and also left the garage door up 6" or so to vent heat - and forgot to close it at night.  The next morning, I found a thief (prob a young person) had crawled under the door and ransacked my car, stole my SD1100 and an iphone FM transmitter.  I ordered a replacement SD1200 from Amazon.  I'll just have to live with Grey color instead of the Brown I have grown so fond of.

I shot a video of an intense hailstorm and noticed that the zoom in movie mode degrades the image to the point of uselessness.  The sound recording is very good for a camera smaller than a pack of cards.  I would have bought another SD1100 but they are $100 more than the SD1200, so I ordered the SD1200.
3081721
I've had this camera for several years now.  I didn't realize that I never gave it a review until now.  I LOVE this camera.  We've bought a couple other Canon cameras this purchasing this one including a very nice SLR.  This little camera remains my favorite.  It's small and fits in my pocket which makes it the perfect vacation camera.  It's super easy to use so if you ask someone to take your picture it's not a problem.  It also has been very durable.  Plus the thing takes great pictures.  Granted not as nice as our SLR but that won't fit in my pants pocket either!