For Christmas, I received a digital camera. It was no surprise; I had spent a long time researching which camera I wanted. I knew I wanted something really compact to carry around campus and outings but still delivered decent performance. My family previously owned a Canon PowerShot A95 and I own a Canon GL2 camcorder, so I am a big fan of Canon’s performance and reliability. After weighing pros and cons, I settled on the Canon PowerShot SD1000.

Overview

The SD1000 is a 7.1 megapixel point-and-shoot camera with 3x optical zoom. It has a 2.5 inch LCD screen, which I find plenty big enough, given the size of the camera. It also features automatic face detection and red-eye correction.

The SD1000 has a tiny form factor for a digital camera. It is an ultra-compact that measures 3.4 x 2.1 x 0.8 inches and weighs only 4.3 ounces. In fact, I can only think coming across only one camera that is significantly thinner in its class (it was a Sony, I believe). The size makes the camera very easy to put anywhere, even in a baggy jean pocket.

The Good

Menus/UI: The biggest problem I had with my old A95 was the confusing controls. The menus weren’t very intuitive and it was hard to figure out how to do much without consulting the manual. However, the user interface for the SD1000 is much improved. I was able to access all of the different shooting modes, change the shutter speed, etc. without reading the manual. The UI also has cool-looking transparent menus and nice transitions. Very aesthetically pleasing.

The Bad

Low Light Shooting: The SD1000 fairs poorly in low-light conditions where a flash can’t be used. The picture becomes grainy and blurry, even with image stabilization on. However, this is a common problem with most point-and-shoot cameras. I made the picture look a great deal better by turning the ISO speed way up.
Small buttons: The SD1000 might not be for everyone simply because it is a very small camera. I think someone with big hands would have trouble operating the minuscule controls.
Low Battery Indicator: The camera doesn’t give you any indication of remaining battery power until it is very low. It would be nice if there was an on-screen indicator so the user had a better idea of how much life was left.

The Verdict

Overall, I think the Canon PowerShot SD1000 is an excellent camera. It was designed to be portable and take reasonably good pictures. Given the right lighting conditions and settings, the SD1000 takes awesome pictures. I am very happy with mine and definitely recommend it. Just make sure to buy 2 batteries if you plan on using it frequently.