Review on 📸 Capture Stunning Moments with the Canon PowerShot SD960IS: 12.1 MP, 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom, 2.8-inch LCD - Gold Edition by Joe Roberts

I should preface this review by saying I've been using Canon DSLRs for seven years so Point and Shoot will definitely be a step down for me as an image. I find Canon has much better pictures than the Nikon Coolpix cameras I bought as a teenager. I bought this because I needed an inexpensive, portable HD camcorder (pocket camera) and don't like flip and similar videos; I wanted a camera that would also take better quality photos and that would work well together. Overall I'm happy with her, but I wish she could do more. Pros: * Decent image quality. The 12.1 megapixel resolution means you can crop without sacrificing image quality. But it's definitely not DSLR* 1280x720p HD video quality. Not Full HD, but still reasonably priced* Video is crisp and bright (in good lighting)* Easy to use; I like the wheel controls and menu operation* Good big screen* Nice solid and high quality feel* Fast image viewing without fully turning on/taking out the lens (but that's also a minus)* Battery life seems decent; I can record over 30 minutes of HD video (1280 x 720) on a single charge. I bought some extra unbranded batteries for "insurance". A Canon branded battery is too expensive to buy a 2nd/3rd battery for a whole day.* Good choice of picture settings (ISO, vivid color video, white balance settings etc.) Cons:* Video is when using 4x optical Zooms too blurry. * Some menu controls are not so easy to use (e.g. it's easy to quickly delete a photo after taking it, if you don't like it, it's much more difficult to delete a video) * Playback button is fully functional, when the camera is off. That means when the camera is off, pressing the view button (top right on the back) will bring up the image. This is usually fine as it's a neat and easy-to-use feature, but it also means the camera can accidentally turn on when it's in your pocket. This happened to me and drained the battery. The camera needs a "Lock" slide switch to disable all buttons, or a setting/option to disable this feature.* The zoom is not very smooth - it has fixed increments (e.g. 4.0 , 3.1, 2.5) between which he jumps back and forth. * Cannot zoom during movie recording (unless digital zoom is on, which degrades quality too much) * 4x zoom is pretty lame; 10 years ago I had a 10x zoom on an Olympus*. Long trigger response so very easy to miss (I've never seen the point and record happen with a quick *trigger response, although some in higher price ranges may have.)