Canon PowerShot SD950IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3.7x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Titanium)

This is such a great camera. Very compact and yet gets great pictures. The movies are fantastic!!! Who would think a camera for digital photos which are great, would also take great movies. Highly recommend.

The Canon PowerShot SD950IS is the greatest point-and-shoot digital camera that I have ever used. Some notable points:

=> 12 megapixels is not necessary for printing standard 3x5 snapshots, but there are an increasing number of companies (such as ShutterFly) which create projects such as calendars storybooks from your prints. The extra megapixels definitely come in handy when doing projects like these.

=> The titanium shell is not a gimmick! I dropped this camera off a pickup truck and it landed on a concrete road. I thought it would be busted for sure, but it wasn't even scratched!

=> Image stabilization is not a gimmick! In my experiments, image stabilization is crucial for low-light photography because it allows me to quarter my shutter speed and take clear pictures with 75% less light.

=> I needed to perform warranty repairs because a black spot was appearing in all of my photos. I'm unsure if it had anything to do with the incident described above. Despite the fact that the damage may have been due to dropping and the serial number had rubbed off, Canon replaced the optics and sent it back to me for no charge. The repair experience was pleasant and I will remember this when I buy my next camera.

=> With 12 megapixels, digital cameras are now capturing as much detail as film cameras. My experiments revealed that the amount of detail in the images is comparable to 200 speed APS film or 400 speed 35mm film.

=> Although daytime images look great, pictures taken in low-light conditions suffer. If you're in flash range, the flash is accurately exposed (unlike a Sony digital camera that I used), but flash or no flash, focusing in the dark is slow and inaccurate. This will be a problem with any compact digital camera.

=> Movies are acceptable, but the files are very large because they lack the MPEG compression capabilities of Sony cameras. It is difficult to compress the files later because of the MJPEG compression previously applied. This is something for YouTube addicts to keep in mind -- this camera is not a camcorder.

I have had many pro cameras for many years. I wanted the ease of a point and shoot camera but with superior optics and built in software to compensate for less than perfect lighting conditions. The camera works very well, and I did not have to use any of the extra technology that the camera comes with. As with all fine cameras do not drop or sit on the camera, and buy and use the plastic film LCD screen protector to Keep the LCD from being scratched or nicked.

The picture quality is excellent. You have to remove the battery for charging just something I have to get used to. I have no complaints. Amazon was easy to deal with and shipping was fast to Hawaii.

I previously had a Sony Cyber-shot that I was very happy with easy to carry and very good pictures. But the light sensor went out at 2 + years the 5 year warranty turned out to be worthless. We have two other Canon Power Shots and they have been excellent. Sony lost my business and Canon has it.

Great pictures and features. It's able to get great pictures at night, indoor or outdoors. easy to use. I'm very satisfy with my camara.