Canon Digital Camera Buying Guide Buying a digital camera - Buying a digital camera can be confusing at times. With so many choices and features you need to understand what is important and what is not. This camera buying guide will help you sort out the facts on digital cameras and which Canon models fit your needs best. Our canon camera comparison list makes it easy to compare camera features. Cameras that have specific features are listed on this page. Canon Elph Cameras Canon Powershot Cameras Canon EOS Digital SLRs

Canon Digital Cameras - Canon digital cameras have consistently received very high ratings and awards by both professional and owner reviews. Smart-Review recommends that you read the owner reviews that are conveniently provided with each Canon camera on Smart-Review.com. The overall average review is noted with a star rating for each camera, between 1-5 stars. We list only those cameras that are rated 4 stars or higher. We find owner reviews to be valuable based on our own experience in buying electronics.

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Buying Overview - Although most digital cameras do a good job outdoors in bright light, many do poorly in low light situations. The number one complaint by digital camera owners is blurry pictures. Taking pictures at low light or taking pictures with a long zoom lens can introduce camera shake (when you are holding a camera without a tripod) causing blurry pictures. In bright light, the shutter stays open for a fraction of a second, so camera shake may not have an effect on the picture quality. In low light or when using a zoom lens, the available light is reduced, so the shutter must stay open longer. During this time, if you move the camera, it will blur the image. Three things can help. A steady hand or tripod, an image stablized camera, or a larger camera such as a digital SLR with a bigger lens (to allow more light in).

Flash Pictures: Taking a flash picture will eliminate most of the blurring issues, but introduces red eye (pupils appear red from the flash hitting your subject's retina). Also backgrounds are unnaturally darkened. Natural light pictures are generally superior but harder to take for the reasons indicated above. Smaller cameras have more "red eye" problems because the flash is closer to the lens, so that the flash will be directed into the subject's eyes more often. For many darkly lit situations, a flash picture is the only option.

Megapixels - A megapixel is a unit of graphic resolution, or how much can a digital camera capture. The higher the megapixels, generally the better the picture quality. With more megapixels you have more options when cropping your pictures, or if you want, to blow up the picture to much larger sizes. All else being equal, the higher the megapixels, the better.

Most newer cameras today have 7 megapixels or higher. For snapshots, 7 megapixels and up are fine. If you want to print much larger prints (to put in a frame), then more megapixels will be a better choice. Canon cameras with the highest megapixels include the newest models:
Canon Elph SD950 (12.1 megapixels), Canon Elph SD900 (10 megapixels), Canon A640 (10 megapixels), and the Canon G9 (12.1 megapixels).

Canon Digital SLRs - Canon digital SLR cameras are a combination of the best features and best image quality. Once priced out of the reach of most consumers, they are now available for as little as $500. Larger in size, the digital SLR has a much larger lens, and larger imaging sensor, both an advantage for low light photography. Canon digital SLRs can use over 50 available lenses, and other accessories. Digital SLRs have the ability to manually adjust settings, as well as using the automatic mode. SLRs save images in RAW format which preserves more details of your pictures. If you are a serious photographer this is the camera for you. Image quality is superior to the smaller point and shoot cameras. Canon SLRs have won numerous awards, and have extremely high owner satisfaction. The best selling Canon SLRs are: the Canon Rebel XTi, the Canon 40d, and the Canon 5d.

Canon Point and Shoot Cameras - All of the Canon Powershot line of cameras are what is considered point & shoot cameras. These cameras are automatic, so that all the calculations on taking the picture are done for you. All you have to do is POINT and SHOOT. They are easy to use, and take excellent snapshots. Powershot cameras are small in size. The smallest of the cameras are the ELPH models, which can fit in your pocket. The advantage of these cameras, is that their small size assures that they will be with you for that unexpected shot. Unlike the SLR, point and shoot cameras rarely have extensive manual settings. Canon's powershot line also includes an excellent movie mode. No SLR cameras (of any brand) has a movie mode. Many people have both an SLR and a small digital camera so they cover their bases on maximum image quality, movies and portability.

Optical Zoom - Optical Zoom refers to how close an object can be "zoomed in". So a camera with a 10x zoom can bring a distant object about 2 times closer than a camera with a 5x zoom. Larger zoom lenses can give you more options. If you see a reference to digital zoom, this is an electronic representation of optical zoom, and really just crops the picture and you lose resolution. With optical zoom, you do not lose resolution. Digital zoom should not be a consideration in our opinion to purchasing a camera, while optical zoom should be considered. Smaller cameras have smaller zoom lenses, while larger cameras generally have the longest zoom lenses. Canon cameras range from 2.4 to 12x zoom lenses. Cameras with the longest zoom lenses are the Canon S5is (12x), Canon S3is (12x), Canon G9 (6x), Canon A720is (6x).

Image Stabilization (IS) - Image Stabilization is a technology that reduces the blurry pictures that you could get in low light, using a zoom lens, or riding in a car. This technology compensates for movement of the camera you are holding to give you sharp shots, even in low light. This is a very valuable and useful feature. This technology also helps when using your zoom lens out to its full magnification. As you zoom in, any shaking of the camera is magnified. Cameras with image stabilization include: The Canon Elph SD950is, Canon Elph SD850is, Canon Elph SD800is, Canon S5is, Canon S3is, Canon A720is, and the Canon G9.

Image Stabilization Off

Image Stabilization On

LCD Size and resolution - The LCD is the screen that you use to compose your photos with, and view menus for the camera. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, the current technology used for such displays. A larger LCD screen is much easier to see. In addition to size its also important to look at the resolution of the screen (i.e. how many pixels does it have). The more pixels used for a screen the better. So for both LCD size and number of pixels on the screen, higher is better. LCD screens in recent years have been growing in size and resolution, which is good. Cameras with the highest resolution LCDs include: The Canon Elph SD950, Canon Elph SD900, Canon Elph SD850, Canon Elph SD800is, Canon S5is, and the Canon G9. See the canon camera comparison to compare all screen sizes and resolutions.

Movie Mode - All canon cameras come with a TV quality movie mode. This is referred to as both VGA and 640x480. This is the size in pixels the movie will be. Movies are a great addition to your still pictures as they bring both sound and motion to the situation you are capturing. The movies can be viewed directly from the camera to your TV set via included cables, or viewed on your computer. If you have some expertise, they can be edited and transferred to DVD as well. The quality of the movies is very good with decent sound. This allows you to take movies without lugging around a separate camcorder. At the VGA (640x480) movie setting, you can hold about 8 minutes of video on a 1gb SD memory card. There are also settings for lower resolution movies (320x240) which will give you more minutes of shooting time, but at a lower resolution. We have tried these movie modes and found them a great addition to the photos you will take, and capture the moment in ways a picture alone cannot do.

Movie mode frame rate: All movies are composed of still images that give the illusion of motion. Normal TV video is at 30 frames (or pictures) per second. Motion pictures at the movie theater are at 24 frames/second. Canon's movie mode (at 640x480) runs at 30 frames/second which is normal TV. The higher the frame rate, the smoother the video.

• Three cameras have a new high resolution (1024x768) XGA movie mode (at 15 frames/sec). They are the Canon Elph SD950, Canon Elph SD900, and the Canon G9.

• One camera has high definition video capability (720p). That is the Canon TX1.

• Two cameras in the Canon line also have stereo sound for their movie modes, and a Snapshot feature, that allows you to take a full resolution picture while taking a movie. These are the Canon S3is and the Canon S5is.

Optical Viewfinder - An optical viewfinder lets you compose your pictures through a viewfinder instead of using the LCD screen. The advantage of this is that in bright sunlight, it will be easier to see your subject through the viewfinder than the LCD, and when you want to conserve power and turn off the LCD and only use the viewfinder. Most cameras still have viewfinders, however some of the ultra compact cameras do not, so that the camera can be as small as possible. To some people having this feature is important and to others its not.

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