Canon PowerShot ELPH 100 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 4X Optical Zoom (Blue)

The Canon ELPH 100 HS is beautiful, and the Smart Auto feature takes great, no-stress photos for the user who has little or no experience with camera equipment.Before buying the Canon ELPH 100, I read reviews and did a lot of research online to find a point-and-shoot camera that I would enjoy within the under-$200 price range. There are a lot of good products from which to choose.I next went to Best Buy, Office Depot, and Sears to hold different point-and-shoot cameras made by the major producers: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, etc. For me, these visits to different retailers is an important part of the process of buying a point-and-shoot digital camera for the first time.Another important step is to learn whether or not the camera's software is compatible with your desktop computer. Because my computer is old (2006), I had to research compatibility with the different cameras that I liked. You can find the information at the product websites.Canon has a very user-friendly website that influenced my purchase considerably.I had XP Service Pack 2 on an older Dell Dimension E310. For the Canon, I had to download XP Service Pack 3.I ordered the camera from Amazon.com. From the moment I opened the box of the Canon ELPH 100 HS, I liked everything that I saw. The instructions are clear and organized well.Finally, I love the pictures that I am taking. No, they are not the same quality as those taken by friends and family members who own thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment. However, these photos are beautiful and fun to take.I am practicing now so that I will be ready to take photos at baby showers and graduations in the next couple of weeks.Is it easy to learn how to use the Canon ELPH 100 HS? It is VERY easy to learn how to use Smart AUTO. The sliding Smart AUTO button is on the top of the camera: you slide the latch to Smart AUTO, and you are finished. The camera "decides" whether or not to activate flash and also determines other settings.To learn to use all of the optional features (P mode) is fun but not essential to photographing great photos right away.Another reason that I bought the Canon ELPH 100 is that it is considered to be among the best in its price range -- and possibly THE BEST -- in low-light conditions. The only time the colors seemed to be distorted somewhat was when I took photos of pets sitting in a semi-darkened room while they were directly under the strong light of a table lamp. I found that the bright light from the lamp washed over all objects close to the lamp; the objects outside of the lamplight were fainter in color. Since then, I've taken the precaution of composing photos more carefully so that I am not creating a spotlight effect.I read that the ELPH 300 could be a better choice if you plan to use the video features a lot. For me, the video features on the ELPH 100 are fine.While in Playback (viewing photos that I have taken), I am learning how to use the displayed menus to select options such as Slideshow and Erase -- so far, so good. While not as easy as Smart Auto, the menus are fairly intuitive.I have been very pleased. The sheen of the dog's coat, the warm expression in her eyes, and the mysterious, bold gaze of the cat -- all captured beautifully.

I bought this Canon ELPH 100 to replace my old Canon PowerShot SD750 which had a cracked lenses due to heavy use and one too many drops. The ELPH takes excellent photos, is easy to understand, and uses the same SD card and NB-4L battery as the SD750. I popped the old battery and SD card out of my old camera and into the new and kept shooting photos without missing a beat, while the new battery was charging and the new SD card is waiting in reserve.With all the specialization, it's a compliment to Canon that they kept their new camera interchangeable with the old. Connection cords, battery, battery charger, SD card, and controls...all work. There was a 5 minute learning curve, enough time to simply navigate through the menu to confirm everything was understandable. This is my 4th Canon Powershot and I am very pleased with Canon. These cameras are always with me.The size fits into my jeans or shirt pocket, and the feel of the camera is very good for my regular-sized hands. Love it! Thanks Canon, kudos for making a great product at a very good price.

Very disappointed. This camera has died TWICE (so far) and it's only been 9 months. The first time the camera failed it would not turn on at all. We sent it for warrenty repair and received a refurbished replacement camera THAT WAS NOT THE COLOR OF OUR ORIGINAL, Canon said we didn't have any option on which color they sent.Now, three months later and the replacement camera has just died. This time, after taking a video and attempting to shut off the camera its shutter locked up and would not close! Now when you try to turn it on you get a 'shutter error'. I'll unhappily be sending it in for warrenty repair again. Who knows what color camera they'll give me this time, Purple? I'm disappointed on two fronts, first that the camera FAILED TWICE in nine months and second that they send you a refurbished camers and don't give you any choice in which color you recieve. Why can't they just swap the front cover plates? Or make it so wee could do it?If the camera hadn't failed twice I'd have given it four stars, but right now my fear is that when we get a third camera it too will fail in a few months, probably after the warrenty is up, at which point there is no way I would pay for another refurbished replacement.