Canon PowerShot A1100 IS Digital Camera
- Digital Zoom: 4x
- Camera Type: Standard Point and Shoot
- Weight: 0.34 lb.
- LCD Screen Size: 2.5 in.
- Resolution: 12.4 Megapixel
- Optical Zoom: 4x
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Great buy, great photos and videos
Pros
Great pics/videos, great price
Cons
Need to adjust lens settings--autofocus doesn't provide satisfactory results.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I would definitely get this again. I'd recommend it to anyone who can adjust the lens settings.
We got this to replace our 4-5 year-old Minolta S414, which despite its age, still takes very clear photos. We first tried an Olympus FE-4000, which was available at a great price (around 100 bucks on sale before Christmas). However, we were rather disappointed when comparing the quality of the photos on this, to ours and an older Olymps (FE-280)--the older cameras produced photos that were much clearer and less grainy/fuzzy. Now I realize that both of these older cameras were a lot more than $100, but in 4 years' time I had expected the technology to surpass what was in the older models.
We returned the Olympus and decided to splurge a bit, spending close to $200 on the Canon (I asked a few professionals for a recommendation for a household digicam and I was always told, Canon Powershot)--the PowerShot A1100IS.
This digicam can make videos up to 30 minutes long (if the memory card can handle it) and I was shocked at how crystal clear they are. The videos on the old Minolta were very grainy, even before the screen was enlarged. The audio tracks from the recorded vidoes also were much clearer than anything I had been used to.
The photos themselves are also very clear. It is a 12-megapixel image, and it is quite large when seen at 100% size. The only caveat that we have found is that when we have allowed the camera to use its autofocus setting, the pictures were not that clear, and were a bit too dark. Now, we set the camera's lens focus setting for either indoor or outdoor, and the images are just fine. This isn't a major issue, as most of the time, you will be either indoors for a photo session or outdoors, and you can set the focus easily enough. But if you are looking to give the camera to someone who has never operated a digicam before, and might not want to use this setting, you probably should make sure the store has a convenient return policy before you purchase this. This isn't meant as a negative, just something to be aware of.
One more thing--we have found that you need to press the shutter halfway to allow for the lens to focus, after a second or two, then you continue the motion. Again, this really isn't a problem, but its something to be aware of.
We returned the Olympus and decided to splurge a bit, spending close to $200 on the Canon (I asked a few professionals for a recommendation for a household digicam and I was always told, Canon Powershot)--the PowerShot A1100IS.
This digicam can make videos up to 30 minutes long (if the memory card can handle it) and I was shocked at how crystal clear they are. The videos on the old Minolta were very grainy, even before the screen was enlarged. The audio tracks from the recorded vidoes also were much clearer than anything I had been used to.
The photos themselves are also very clear. It is a 12-megapixel image, and it is quite large when seen at 100% size. The only caveat that we have found is that when we have allowed the camera to use its autofocus setting, the pictures were not that clear, and were a bit too dark. Now, we set the camera's lens focus setting for either indoor or outdoor, and the images are just fine. This isn't a major issue, as most of the time, you will be either indoors for a photo session or outdoors, and you can set the focus easily enough. But if you are looking to give the camera to someone who has never operated a digicam before, and might not want to use this setting, you probably should make sure the store has a convenient return policy before you purchase this. This isn't meant as a negative, just something to be aware of.
One more thing--we have found that you need to press the shutter halfway to allow for the lens to focus, after a second or two, then you continue the motion. Again, this really isn't a problem, but its something to be aware of.
