Canon PowerShot SD900 Titanium 10MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (OLD MODEL)

I consider myself a photography enthusiast and a bit of an electronics geek. I love looking at the latest and greatest gadgets and often end up telling myself that I HAVE to have them especially when it comes to digital cameras. I've owned 3 sony digital cameras all of which were pretty popular models (p10, t7, n1). Although my sony cameras were always very sleek and stylish, they always fell short when it came to taking pictures of my cats and of the children I work with. If you know cats and kids, then you know they NEVER stay still. My pics often came out blurry and the settings always had to be adjusted to take a decent picture. A forced flash always had to be on in order to catch a decent pose and the color of the picture would never look natural. I also thought the newer sony models would solve these problems but after my 3rd sony, I only saw minimal improvement. I was a bit hesitant to switch brands but after fiddling with a couple of canon's from friends, I decided it was time to switch.After having this camera for about a month and a half, I don't think I can ever go back to a sony. To say the SD900 is awesome would be an understatement. It is by far the most versatile camera I've ever used. It takes beautiful pictures in low light, indoor, and outdoor settings, but what sets this camera apart is that it takes great pictures of constantly moving objects like cats and kids in these backdrops as well! The colors are rich and natural, not washed out by the flash like my sony cameras. The images are crisp in detail and even in light distribution. With the high ISO setting on the camera, you can take beautiful indoor shots without a flash that no other camera can handle. The battery life is good and the lag between pushing the button and actually having the photo take isn't bad. There are faster cameras out there that are quicker in response time but the quality pictures I keep getting from this camera is more than enough to overlook this.My sony n1 took great video but often had a hard time keeping focus on the subject matter. It would constantly go in and out of focus and make it difficult to watch sometimes. The SD900 totally blows the n1 out of the water when it comes to taking quality videos. The videos are crystal clear even when cats or kids are running around wild which is something I never experienced with a sony camera.I still prefer the sony interface and screen layout. Maybe that's just because I'm so used to it. The canon doesn't have the battery indicator that tracks battery life down to the minute nor does it have the storage gauge to let you know how full the memory card is at all times like the sonys. It's a bit annoying at times to not have these features but its no deal breaker.Overall, it's a great camera. It's a little bit on the expensive side because its canon's top of the line model. If you want something cheaper but don't want to give up the stellar performance, you should go with the SD630. I had that camera and after playing with it for a few weeks, I was thoroughly convinced that it was time to be a canon believer. I now see the light. If you want to see some of the awesome things the sd900 can do, view customer images and you'll see pictures of my cat that i took way up close. Keep in mind that these photos were not cropped or altered in any way by photo software. If you try to take a picture this close up with a sony, all you'll get is a blurry image. I hope this review was helpful and that you'll join me and all the other converts to the canon promise land.

I was looking for a pocket size 4 mega pixel camera for around $300. I'm glad I spent a little extra for this one: its simple to use, set it on auto and just point and shoot, or play around with the different settings. Its small, easy to carry around in a shirt pocket. Its durable, my daughter has a Sony Cybershot DSCW70 that had the lens pop out when she dropped it on the carpet. It has a view finder, which some cameras do not have, but the screen seems to work well even in bright sunlight. The picture quality is great. With the 1G memory card that I purchased separately it stores hundreds of pictures. The battery holds a charge well. The 10 mega pixel is more than I wanted, but it may come in handy if I want to crop pictures. It takes good video clips, too.April 2008: The viewing screen is scratched from carrying the camera in my pocket, my bad! I still love this camera.December 2012: The auto focus started giving me problems, its possilbe the camera got wet in the rain in Hawaii. Sent to Canon and they said the repair part is no longer available but they would sell me a refurbished Elph SD 320 HS for the repair cost of the SD900, $110.00. After reviewing the SD320HS I said no thanks, its not even close, fewer photography features and more wifi features. I liked the SD900 but it is now obsolete. I am concidering the Canon SX 260 HS, it sounds like an improved SD900, slightly larger, and a 20X zoom.

The camera is beautiful, and very sturdy. Going on looks, you won't be disappointed. It also takes wonderful pictures, in perfect conditions. I finally gave up and sold this camera, to replace it with a 950is. I highly recommend opting for a camera with IS.

i own a canon 20d digital, prosumer camera but needed an unobtrusive pocket camera for those situations requiring more stealth and mobility. that being said, the powershot sd900 fits in the average shirt pocket (though its weight - approx. 10 oz., makes the pockets in my silk shirts sag a bit - a minor fashion faux pas) and is reasonably quick to start up - about 3 seconds from pressing the "on" button to shutter release. the titanium casing is a plus as it maintains its "out of the box" look despite fingerprints, minor bumps and dust. the screen is large enough to be able to evaluate pics on the fly and the buttons, though small for my rather large fingers, do the job well. the 10 mp gives most people plenty of detail even for 16 x 24 enlargements. it comes with cords and software to connect to your computer (though direct camera to pc uploading is not the easiest thing to accomplish if you have an older computer. n.b. "older" = more than 3 years-old.) it would be wise to get a 1 - 2 gig memory fast-write card which will facilitate the camera's write -to - disk speed.now the problems - the flash is rather weak and you have to be close to your subject for the flash to be of any use. also because the flash is so close to the lense, it's hard to diffuse the flash lighting with a handkerchief or even a tissue - so you get those "white out" areas in your pic if you are not careful in the placement of your subject.also if you like to take a lot of museum shots, when you disable the flash, it is very, i repeat, very difficult to produce sharp pics even in bright museum lighting. you need a gorilla pod (tm), a surgeon's steadiness, or some other stabilizing accessory.the 3x optical zoom is all but useless and will help frame only subjects that are relatively close to you - no more than 12 feet or so.the upshot for the powershot? understand that when you purchase a point-and-shoot camera, your main purpose arguably, is to buy something that will capture, with reasonable accuracy, that bressonian "decisive moment" that would otherwise be lost if you had to fiddle with dials, knobs, focusing rings, light meters, histograms, etc. in this, the digital elph performs admirably.