I bought the Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom a few months ago and have been thrilled with it. I'm using it as a supplemental camera to my Sony Cybershot DSC-H1 - Digital SLR, 12x Optical Zoom, Steady Shot Camera. Where the Sony Cybershot is great for sports photography and some of the more complicated photography I do, the Canon PowerShot is perfect for snapshots and videos.

The best feature of the PowerShot is that it easily fits in my pocket, so I can take it anywhere and snap a quick photo. Going out to eat and want a snapshot? You don't need a bulky camera, lenses, or camera bags, just slip it out of your pocket, get your shot, and put it back.

The pictures the PowerShot takes are crisp, clear, and generally in focus. Like any camera, it will struggle in low light situations although the video is very good in low light situations. Unlike the Cybershot, the video function on the PowerShot is especially adept at keeping things in focus.

I'll add more to this review in a while, but for now, know that this gets a 5 star out of 5 rating. The only complaint I have is that the zoom is only 3x optical and I keep trying to use it for sports photography. It's like complaining that a particular brand of forks don't work well for eating soup.

I bought a Sony Cybershot DSC-H1 Digital SLR in early 2006 and have been thrilled with it ever since.

The first question you should ask yourself when considering a digital camera is what you are most likely to use it for? If you're mostly interested in point-and-click shots of your friends at various social activities, I'll point you in the direction of a Canon Elph... specifically the Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom that I ordered for that purpose. But, if you're looking for a camera to allow you to indulge in a bit of amateur photography, an SLR is the appropriate choice.

Sports Photography

My main interests lie in the area of sports photography. I'm a baseball nut and wanted to take good quality photos to use on my Cubs Blog. I had previously managed to ruin a weekend of photos with a low quality digital camera that substituted a digital zoom for an insufficient optical zoom. So, one of the main criterion I was looking for was the best optical zoom I could afford within my budget. At 12x optical zoom, the Sony DSC-H1 was tops in the market. Of course, anytime you're zooming in that far, any camera shake is magnified immensely.

To combat camera shake, Sony has included a 'steady shot' feature. This works pretty well, but is by no means fool proof. Because of exposure times, daylight shots almost always come out very clearly, but inside shots, and night time shots are much more susceptible to blurring.

The best solution, however is a tri-pod or a mono-pod. (If you just thought to yourself, 'I'll never buy a tri-pod' you should probably go check out my point-and-click recommendation.) The tri-pod is extremely handy for taking night shots, interior shots, and super-super crisp daytime photos. Also, if you're at an event where you feel you can't miss a single shot to blurriness, like a baseball game, then the tri-pod is appropriate for you.

Photo Examples

Here are some of the photos I've taken with my Sony DSC-H1, and a little blurb about them.