Review on Canon PowerShot Digital Image Stabilized Optical by Shah Jones

When we were ready to spend money on a new digital camera, I looked at everything, but I kept coming back to the Canon PowerShot series. I think they are by far the best point and shoot cameras for the money. Our first digital camera was mostly plastic, and as I shopped, I found that many of the cameras were the same. On the contrary, the SD800 feels solid and well built. After a year of use and almost 2000 photos, the wear and tear is no worse apart from a few scratches. I think the only thing I would change is the camera interface. It's beautiful even though it's new, but every little scratch is visible on it. It has a large, bright LCD screen AND a viewfinder. It uses a lithium ion battery and that was a NEED for me. I hate cameras that use AA (or other disposable) batteries. You're always dead when you need a camera. I've tried NiMH batteries and they just don't last long enough so they're dead when you need them too. This lithium ion battery is great. It lasts incredibly long between charges and charges faster than the lithium-ion battery in our old camera. It is charged in a very compact charger outside the camera. So if you want to keep a backup battery handy, you can. With our previous camera I did exactly that, but with this camera we don't need to do that yet. I charge the battery right before events that I know we'll want to use the camera at and it lasts long enough to be ready between those events. The wide-angle lens is a great feature. I can constantly take pictures that others can't take because they can't pull back far enough. Perhaps what I like most about this camera is the controllability. While it's great in full auto mode (which is why you buy point-and-shoot), it also offers some very useful scene modes and lets you adjust some settings manually. For example, you can adjust the exposure 2 stops up or down in 1/3 increments. I've looked at a few other PowerShot models like the SD850 and SD900, but this camera's control layout is my favorite. We are very happy with the SD800. It's fast, reliable and takes beautiful pictures. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the pictures I was able to take with such a compact camera. I personally would like a DSLR but my wife wants something she can easily carry around in her purse and DSLRs are too expensive. I loved the creative control this little camera offers. Perhaps the most surprising part was the price. I couldn't believe I could get a camera of this quality with all these features for less than $200 from Revain. That's a great deal on a great camera!