Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph Camera, a Review

The Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph Camera is a small camera with a lot of power. It takes great pictures, videos and has the memory to last. The price at two local stores in the Chicago area was $249.95, but is available even cheaper through discounts.

The camera is very rectangular and light. It fits great in a pocket or purse. It is a 7.1 Megapixel camera that weighs only 4.41 ounces. Its large 2.5 inch LCD monitor, which is 2" wide by 1.5" high, gives a true feel of how your shot will look. It is large enough to do edits in the camera, which is another great feature. The picture is clear and sharp, with true colors.

The PowerShot can use either SD, SDHC, or MMC Memory Cards, and a 32mb SD Memory Card is included. With this level of camera, they should include at least a 256 mb card, as a 32mb card doesn't give you very much room for images if you are using it on a vacation. Since memory cards are now getting very inexpensive, I chose a 2GB card, which was $15.95 at a local store.

Since most Kodak and Sony Picture Stations use these cards, and a lot of home printers and Printmates, it is easy to print pictures by inserting the card directly into the printer's card slot. It can also print pictures loaded to a computer equipped to receive the card, or from the camera directly to the computer by using an optional cable.

The camera uses a Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery Pack, which was one of the reasons I chose this unit. Many small digital cameras use AA batteries. While you can now get better rechargeable AA batteries, I have come to prefer the lithium battery packs from past experiences.

With a fully charged battery pack, you can shoot about 210 images with the monitor on, or about 600 with the monitor off, according to the manual. This is close to real world use, although if you shoot a lot of video, the battery is used up more quickly than when you are shooting stills.

The following is based on a 2GB SD Memory Card.
640x480 - 6981 Images
1600x1200 - 1903 Images
2048x1536 - 1207 Images
2592x1944 - 784 Images
3072x2304 - 647 Images
1600x1200 (Postcard Mode) 3306
3072x1728 (Widescreen) 860