Canon PowerShot S30 3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Electronics

Average Rating:

Positives: (where do I begin?)
* Made of solid, sturdy metal. Feels like a real camera not a cheap plastic toy like other digital cameras.
* Has features galore!!! Has standard features plus some pretty nice extras such as:
-customizable flash-can change the strength of the flash, helping to prevent washed out pictures which is common with most digital cameras when you use the flash.
-flips landscapes pictures that would normally appear sideways. the camera lets you flip these pictures rightside up so you won't have to do it on your computer.
-can take panoramic pictures.
-the camera is customizable! What does this mean? This camera lets you customize the startup screen. You have an option between clear blue water, evening skyline or a sitting bird. You can change the startup sound, your options include a default theme, science fiction and animal sounds(dog barking or bird chirping). These sounds are designed to presumably match the startup screens but they can be mix and matched. The shutter also has various sounds you can choose from. All these sounds can, of course, be turned off.
-this list goes on and on. Check this camera out to see everything.
* Superb true true-to-life daytime and night pictures.
* Pictures come out crisp and sharp with or without the flash, in
brightly lit or darky lit areas.
* What you see is what you get. What you see on the LCD screen is usually how the pictures will appear on your computer monitor or when you print them out. The LCD, when you press lightly on the
shutter button, will show you actually how the picture will appear once viewed on screen or on paper. So if your LCD has a bright contrast and you are in a dark room, when you press the shutter button lightly, the LCD will adjust itself to the actual lighting of the room. There will be no deception and you won't have to wonder why the pictures look lighter on the LCD than on the computer screen or in print.
* Can record mini movies with sound.
* Uses compact flash card.

There is much, much more that I can add on to this list but you will have get this camera and see for yourself.

Negatives:
* Hard to install the driver software on th PC. I had to ask Canon tech support for help. Even then the process was very confusing.
* Joystick navigator takes some getting used to. Very hard to maneuver through the menus resulting in accidently going to the wrong options.
* There is no power button. You have to shut the lens' lid to turn off the camera. This makes me nervous. I'm always scared that this will somehow damage the lens.
* The macro setting isn't the best. Sometimes the macro pictures can appear blurry.
* Uses the very expensive NB-2L rechargable battery as opposed to inexpensive, more common rechargables such as NiMHs or other types. Plus NB-2Ls can only be used with PowerShot S30, S40 cameras and Elura 40mc camcorders.

I was initially put off by the price of this camera but I must say it is well worth the money.
Get the Canon PowerShot S30 if you want superior quality in a small package.

The S30 takes great pix in the Auto and Program modes (just point and shoot!) But for my creative side, this camera includes most of the features and manual overrides of the higher priced Canon G2. This gives the camera the ability to capture difficult and amazing shots. Exposure Lock, Shutter- and Aperature-priority, ISO settings up to 800 ASA. 3 metering modes. Long shutter times (up to 15s) with noise reduction. Great colors! The stitch assist mode and software make for *seamless* panoramas. Movies are more fun than I expected! The camera is a joy to use, *very* snappy especially for action shots when pre-metered.

Have had it for a couple weeks, long enough to get 4x6 and 8x10 prints back from an online developer. A few of my better informed friends were highly impressed - would have been hard pressed to identify these as digital pix.

Downsides: limited flash range and no hotshoe. Manual focusing is virually useless (uses the lo-res LCD). Buy a bigger flash and second battery.

Very impressed and well worth the wait. No what do I do with the old SLR?