My Canon PowerShot SX110 IS

I bought a new camera before heading to France. I chose the Canon PowerShot SX110 IS because it is overall a nice camera with many features. The small size, optical zoom, 9 megapixels, and $240 price tag all grabbed my attention, and I ultimatley bought it.

But, like most things, there are pros and cons. The point and shoot camera that has scene settings, a 10x optical zoom, 9 mega pixels, and manual settings that allow its user to control ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds.

The Good:

• Its compact size: this camera weighs 10.4 ounces and its dimentions are 4.4 inces wide by 2.8 inces high by 1.8 inches deep. It's small enough to fit in a jacket pocket and to hold in your hand.
• The megazoom allows optical and digital zoom combination
• Photo quality is very nice, even at higher ISO settings
• excellent exposure and color
• Image stabilization
• Great usability: If you are camera literate, the different functions and dials are easy to read and understand. Having a helpful user guide always comes in handy, especially for beginners. The user guide is easy to follow and understand.
• Large 3 inch LCD screen.
  

The Bad:

• The camera will only use double A batteries, which quickly die. I've been in Lyon for over a week and I've gone through at least 18 batteries. It's annoying and expensive.
• The camera feels a little slippery in your hand, especially because of its small size. Make sure to always have the wrist strap on.
• There is some shutter delay, especially while using the flash at night.
• No electronic viewfinder, just the LCD screen
• Movie mode is limited and the quilatiy of the videos are poor. Optical zoom in unavailable in movie mode.
  

Important Features:

• Scenes: night scene, foliage, beach, aquariam, sunset, snow, fireworks, portrait, indoor, landscape, and children & pets. It also has a setting for macro photography.
  
• Flash: manual flash. Sometimes this feature is tricky because in the past I've always taken a flash for granted. If it's dark, then the camera will flash. Not with the Canon SX110 IS.
• ISO settings: ISO can be manually changed to ISO 80, 100, 200, 400,800, 1600, and 3200.
• Aperture/ F-Stop: When you select an aperture setting, the camera will automatically select the best shutter speed to match the brightness. The lower aperatures take nice portrait photos, and a higher aperture focuces on many things in the frame.
• Shutter speed: you can manually change the shutter speed like the ISO and aperture settings. There is an "exposure level indicator" that appears on the LCD screen to help guide you to a correct setting.