Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
Since my other Canon got wet last summer in the Kern River, I've tried to get by with it, but am thinking seriously of getting a much smaller camera and this one seems to have some good things going for it. Mostly it otta be half the weight. Anyone use one of these? It should also take the strap away from my neck and allow me to put it in a pocket or pack belt pocket. The only thing I don't like about these proprietary battery cameras is the inability to take winter temps, so I would have to keep it warm in the winter. Duane
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
After much time on the puter, researching and re-researching, I found what I wanted. The local camera shop only carried Nikon and Canon, so I went with a high zoom Canon as the local shop is very helpful and friendly. Got $50 off a SX260HS with the instant rebate, 20X optical zoom, I almost got one with only 5X. A couple buyers not happy in the reviews, but most of the rest were pretty good. The shop said a model or two that I wanted were discontinued, so I had to go home a couple times and do some research. Tough deciding on something smaller than my river dunked camera, the SX10 I used in Alaska two years ago. Other cameras came better rated, depending on which experts were asked. Really love the well lit indoor capabilites, although most pics will be on bp trips and of my stoves. Battery life is better than one of the smaller zooms I was looking at, 230 pics versus the smaller/cheaper 170. Time will tell. Duane
I have a 2005 model Canon Elph, and it is the reason I swear by Canon. In 2006 I took it to Ecuador where it was exposed to just about every climate that shockingly diverse nation has to offer (desert islands, high altitude grasslands, mangroves, tropical rainforest, cloud forests, open ocean...). It was dropped and abused without remorse. In 2007, I took it to Alaska, where I worked in a cave in a coastal temperate rain forest. I dropped it down more than one crevasse. It developed a tiny grinding noise when zooming - not sure if this is dirt or corrosion in the mechanics, but it still worked perfect so I didn't worry about it. In 2008, I bought a Panasonic Lumix of the FZ series... and headed off to Australia. Both cameras went to the beach, swamps, rainforests, and dry forests, as well as various boating adventures. By the time I got home, the Lumix wasn't worth using anymore: won't take photos in low light (and images are noisy even at low ISO) and has a spot on the sensor. The Canon? Now takes better pictures than the Lumix.
Sadly, after additional travels and abuse, the switch is going bad on my Elph. It's difficult to switch to "camera" setting. If you can get it there, the little beast still takes great images... and at low light, it's better than my new Canon XSi dSLR (which is mostly the fault of cheap zoom lenses. I haven't been able to convince my dad that a high-quality prime is worth its weight in gold... and I sure don't have the money to buy one myself!).
I got a Lumix (SZ7) to replace a 2005 Elph. It takes better pictures. The Elph makes alarming sounds when the lens deploys, takes shots at 7.1 megapixels (current models are at 18) and the pictures over the past couple of years have been pretty muddy/blurry looking.
YMMV.
Of course, the Lumix developed in the first few months a spot on each picture that is likely the dreaded "dust on the sensor" problem. Fortunately it is still under warranty.
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