Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera (Black)

I'm a DSLR photographer who shoots professionally and has managed a camera store in the past. I wanted something I can take with me everywhere but still produces good quality shots. I also wanted a camera that could shoot good looking videos. I researched several models and after much deliberation decided on the Canon 300 HS. I'm very happy I did. Image Quality: I tested cameras and lenses all the time while managing the camera store so whenever I purchase a new camera or lens I always test it. The Canon 300 HS doesn't produce the quality of images my Nikon D7000 does but I didn't expect it to. The edges get a little soft with the 300 HS when looking at the image at 100% whereas the D7000 images are almost tact sharp. Comparing the 300 HS to the Canon Powershot SD1000 from a few years ago, the 300 HS blows it out of the water. The SD1000 is a 7 MP camera. Shooting the same shots on a tripod with the same focal length on the lens the 300 HS uses its extra MPs well. When looking at the images from each camera at 100%, at the wide angle zoom setting and normal zoom setting both cameras have about the same relative slight softness on the edges. However the 300 HS has more MP so it actually produces much more detail in the image. I think it was smart for Canon to keep the MP at 12 because last years models while being 14 MP (SD1400) didn't give any extra detail from what I could tell than the 12 MP version (SD1300). The SD1400 was basically just creating larger files. When zooming in the telephoto setting the 300 HS clearly produced a sharper image than the SD1000. Often cameras have sweet spots in the zoom range in which it will produce crisper images. The 300 HS has consistently good sharpness throughout it's zoom range. HS system and ISO: The image processing with the HS system truly works to reduce noise at higher ISOs enabling people to produce better quality images in low light. The improvement in image quality gets more and more visible the greater and greater the ISO. ISO 400 with the 300 HS was almost as good as ISO 200 on the SD1000. ISO 800 on the 300 HS was a tad better than ISO 400 on the SD1000. ISO 1600 on the 300 HS was between ISO 400 and 800 on the SD1000. ISO 3200 on the 300 HS produced the same quality of image (noise) as ISO 800 on the SD1000. A 2 stop in film speed improvement is big. 1080p video and slow motion: With good light, the 300 HS produces wonderful smooth 1080 videos. If you look at a lot of HD videos from compact cameras the video often looks jumpy. From what I've seen it wasn't until you got to the Canon G12 or Panasonic LX5 that the video looked smooth. Both of those cameras only shoot 720p whereas this camera shoots 1080p. The video also very good detail. It truly looks HD. If you are wanting zoom and continuous AF with your video this camera is the one you want compared to the 100 HS which doesn't allow you to zoom. The continuous AF with face recognition is stellar with this camera in video mode. I was videoing my wife while she was driving. It focused on her face. I switched to the scenery outside. It immediately focused on that. I then went back to my wife and it found her face and focused on it right away. I even videoed her reflection in the rear view mirror and it found her face in the mirror no problem and focused on it. AMAZING!!!! Commenting on a complaint I've read about the zoom being slow in video mode. If you like getting motion sickness whenever someone rapidly zooms in or out during their video this is not your camera. As smooth looking as the video is, the zoom is also. The smooth zoom creates nice looking transitions instead of warp speed ahead looks. The slow motion is a fun feature that works well. You need to have good lighting though. In low light even with high ISO's it produced very dark videos. In a review someone commented that it should have sound with the slow motion video. I honestly don't know how that could work unless you want to listen to everything at 1/5 it's normal speed. I think it's a good thing that it doesn't have sound with the slow motion videos. AF: I commented on AF partially in the video portion of the review. It does have several AF modes for various situations. The face detection works great. If you have a person in the picture but want something other than the person to be in focus you will need to change AF modes from face detection. The reviewer that had the problem with the 300 HS focusing on things he didn't want the camera to focus on likely didn't have the correct AF mode for the shooting situations. The 300 HS does have a center AF if you prefer that. Areas for Canon to improve on with the 300 HS: The camera is so well thought out that I'm surprised Canon let this slip. I love having a wide angle zoom go down to 24mm. It's great for scenery and photojournalist type shots. If you shoot at the widest angle zoom and use the flash, the lens on the 300 HS blocks the flash's exposure on the bottom right corner of the image. The corner is completely black. If you zoom in a bit so you aren't at the widest angle setting when using the flash you will be fine. Still all Canon had to do is not put the flash so close to the lens. When shooting video in lower light situations the video does start to get noisy and grainy quicker than some other cameras. Conclusion: All in all this is a wonderfully thought out camera with great image quality and image processing and it shoots stellar videos for it's compact size.

I purchased this item through Amazon and received it yesterday from Ace Photo Digital, and I am very happy with my purchase so far. The camera arrived quickly (at the early end of the expected delivery window) and was carefully packaged. I charged up the battery and 45 minutes later got to work. I got the black finish option. It isn't a smooth finish, but a little rough, like fine-grit sandpaper. I really like it because the camera is quite small in stature, and the finish allows for a sure grip at all times. After a brief initial set-up (set date/time and select language) I started snapping some shots in auto-mode. Wow, what a clean picture. I came from a 6 mega-pixel point and shoot, so 12 mega-pixel unit is a healthy upgrade. Pictures are sharp, balanced and vibrant, even in the low lighting around my place. I stepped outside and snapped a few more in the sunlight and found more of the same. Having mastered auto-mode (and who can't really?) I opened up the menu and started playing with some of the features. I've seen some reviews complain that putting the camera into a particular mode is too cumbersome, and I have a couple thoughts on that. Number one, the menu is optimally set up, easy to read and navigate. Icons illustrate the various modes, with text alongside to explain what each mode is and what it does. Selecting a mode was simple. Number two, as far as selecting a mode on the fly, any pro photographer will tell you one of the secrets to taking great pictures is planning ahead. I really don't know what Canon could do to make it any faster, other than assigning individual buttons on the camera for each mode, and that's not exactly feasible. Several features are included, so unleash your creativity! Video mode is nice as well, easy to use and shoots great video. Only two negatives I can think of for this purchase is something that plagues too many electronics when buying online. I want to know exactly what's in the box, and I couldn't find that anywhere in the product description. I ordered an SD card along with my purchase and I'm glad I did, because one is not included with the camera (that may very well be standard procedures these days, but I'm pretty sure my old Canon came with a card). So I will tell you what IS in the box: camera, manuals, cd-rom, RCA cable to connect with a tv, USB cable, one battery, and one wall-charger. The second drawback is that the LCD display screen is a bit exposed. In this small package space is a premium and it seems like the screen is pushed outward a little to compensate. I'm looking forward to the arrival of my protective case. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. Tons of features, easy to use, excellent pictures and a great price. Highly recommended.

Just got this as a replacement for an old sony cybershot. I do a ton of research before I purchase and this was the best thing I could find in the price range. The closest thing to it is the *panasonic* DMC-FH27 but I decided on this after looking at the interfaces and menus at the store. The canon simply is much more straight forward and I was willing to sacrifice some zoom power and megapixels for something that didn't require hours with a manual and training session for my spouse. Additionally, people have posted some youtube samples of the kind of video this takes and it is far superior to anything in its price range. This is important for me because we can't afford to go out and buy a specialized video camera and this will do a great job. Menu layout is intuitive. The scene modes are AWESOME. Very well done and despite being an amatuer I feel like this thing actually improves the quality of pictures I take. I have three picky critiques: 1. If you are going through the preview function to look at old pictures there is a quirky thing about getting back to taking pictures. If you haven't done it long enough so that the lens retracts, you can hit the preview button again and it goes back to camera mode. If you do it so long that the lens retracts, if you hit the preview button, the camera turns off. This was very confusing for the first day and half of ownership. It took a while to figure out exactly why hitting the same button would not do the same thing all the time. So, if the lens retracts, you have to hit the capture button toget back to camera mode. This was the only part about the interface that I thought was extremely dumb and not user friendly. 2. I was disappointed that some scenes and features in the manual set up could not be combines. For example, you cannot do sepia and the miniatures scene simultaneously. There are some sub functions as well that are not as intuitive as I would like. For example, in the color highlight scene (takes black and white pic with one color retained), I have no idea how to choose which color I would like to keep and I'm not sure if I even can. I tried this scene the other day and it chose what it felt was appropriate but it was not what I wanted. I have yet to check the manual on that but it would be nice if it were self explanatory. 3. Battery life is a little short but recharge is only about 2 hrs. which is a third of the time it took on my last camera. It looks like this camera would accept a power cord but it would require an adapter to put into the battery slot. 4. HD video is limited to 10 minute segments. I know I have seen it said some places that this is to prevent the CMOS sensor from overheating. But riddle me this Batman, if that is the case why does the camera allow me to immediately start another 10 minute HD video right after I have recorded for 10 minutes. Would this not also overheat the CMOS sensor? If the answer to that is yes, then canon failed to put an additional safety feature requiring you to wait for the sensor to cool down before recording in HD again. Either way you slice it, there is an error in their design. Overall, however, this is a great and versitile camera and amatuer photographers will have little to no complaints. BEST BUT IN ITS PRICE RANGE. Did I mention this thing is small? Love it...

EDIT #2 (December 2011). I become more and more disappointed in this camera as time goes by. Just reviewed loads of photos from this summer/fall and I hate to say it, but -- they suck! My former Canon AS1100 (vintage 2008) took photos soooooo much better than thing. Interior shots are especially bad, whether flash is used or not. I figured to take this camera on a long international journey, but forget it. The photos are that disappointing. I did take the AS1100 on a long international journey (six months in Africa) and its photos were awesome. One even won a photo contest. The AS1100 hd a CCD sensor and the Elph 300 a CMOS -- that's the thing. So, I guess I'll be shopping for a new camera in the next few months. :( EDIT: I originally gave this 5 stars. Well, after shooting many photos under a variety of conditions during a recent vacation, I have to drop it to 4 stars. Using the camera's Auto mode, on many shots, the image quality is poor to mediocre. I assumed Auto mode image quality would be superior to the last two (and less expensive) Nikon and Canon point and shoots I have owned, but that is definitely not the case. Auto mode images tend to be soft and faint and not realistic, e.g., grass is a faint green, not the rich green of healthy grass. Pretty disappointing! To get the most from this camera, you have to use Program mode and set ISO at 100 or 200, and experiment with the manual white balance settings. Then photos come out much better, with improved quality and richness and color accuracy. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't allow you to apply custom ISO and WB settings to various scene modes, like Foliage or Fisheye. ORIGINAL: One of the best things about this camera is its 24 mm wide angle lens. This is wider than the 28mm lens that is standard on most pocket-sized point and shoots (and the Elph 100, a step down from the Elph 300) and it is very cool. If you're not familiar with how 24 mm vs. 28 mm compares, do a little Googling. It's outstanding for landscape shots and group shots and makes photos more engaging and descriptive, with no downside. Great move, Canon! The small size of the camera is fantastic. Pocketability and performance are very nicely balanced in this well built and well designed camera. It was good to see Canon back out of the megapixel war and reduce the megapixels on this model to 12.1, from 14 in its predecessor (the SD 1400). With the 5x optical zoom, CMOS sensor (vs. CCD), HD video and an impressive palette of shooting options, there's a lot to like in this little gem. One peculiarity is that the volume on video playback on the camera is extremely low. It's difficult to hear if you're playing back videos on the camera. It's a lot lower than another Canon point and shoot that I used for a few years. I think I have it adjusted to the max, though I have to take a closer look at the manual. Which leads me to ... Raspberries to Canon for not including a full user manual booklet. Since when has it become acceptable to sell a product without providing the customer with an easy means of learning how to use it? (I know, lots of mfr's do it but still). I travel extensively for months on end with a point and shoot and refer to the manual fairly often. If I want to look up some detail or just browse, I could just grab the manual from my pack over a cup of coffee. Does Canon expect me to lug around a printout of the full PDF manual? It's not always convenient to have a netbook running and use the manual on it. Nor is it as enjoyable or instructive as flipping through a book. Though I can see some logic in not providing a full booklet and am all for not wasting paper, I would be happy if Canon made available for purchase a proper user manual for $10 or $12 or whatever.

I bought the Elph 300 HS after much research and deliberation, as a replacement for another Canon camera I had owned for years, and broke through my own carelessness. I've had good experiences with Canon quality before, so I was already leaning in that direction. I also didn't want to spend more than $200. This camera has exceeded all my expectations. It is truly lightweight, I have no problem taking it with me on everyday excursions, just in case I see something I think would be worth shooting (my camera phone is woefully inadequate). It is also VERY durable. I have dropped this camera twice (not in its case), both times from about four feet above the ground. Once it landed on concrete, the other time on a wood floor. As a result, the black casing is slightly scuffed up now, although it's not hugely noticeable. AND, the camera has continued to work perfectly. Considering we live in an age where so many things are made withough much regard to quality, since it is expected that we'll re-buy/upgrade our possessions constantly, I am truly gratified to see that Canon obviously made this camera intending for it to last. As to image quality, I am an amatuer, not really even at enthusiast level yet, but I think the image quality is really great. I also appreciate all the different scene modes and filters, and it's been so interesting working with them, that this camera actually inspired me to pursue photography again more seriously. I have a Nikon DSLR, but it was too much to lug everywhere, so I kind of just abandoned photography in general. But the Elph 300 has been so much fun to use, it inspired me to buy another digicam with shutter and aperture priority modes, so I can get back to exploring photography more fully yet still conveniently (and maybe even put my Nikon to full use someday). Speaking of manual controls, that's really the only thing this camera lacks (it does have Program mode, so you do have a bit of control over white balance and ISO). The Elph 500 does have the manual controls the 300 lacks, but I despised the touch screen, which I found was not nearly as responsive as, for example, an iPhone. But, keep in mind, this camera was never intended to be targeted to people who want full manual control. It's a small, take anywhere point and shoot that takes great pictures without you having to fiddle with it or think much about it. And as I said, there is some increased flexibility with the filters and scene modes provided (and there are quite a few of them). There may be a learning curve with the menu system for non-Canon users, but nothing that a little bit of time and the manual (in PDF form, it's not printed) wouldn't take care of. Current Canon owners will find it very familiar and easy to use. I would recommend this camera whole-heartedly for anyone who wants a lightweight P&S with great image quality, that's also simple to use and still provides a good number of creative options. This would be a wonderful intro camera to those completely new to digital photography. I gave this camera 5 stars because, for the audience it's intended for, it's an oustanding choice, and one which I can't find any fault with. People who want full manual controls will need to look elsewhere (e.g. higher-end digicams and DSLRs), but for a well-built, no-fuss camera you can take anywhere and have a lot of fun with, this is an excellent choice.

I have to say this really is honestly the only camera youd really need unless you are a professional photographer. It is small enough to carry around anywhere and not have any excuse not to bring it with you when you go places and it takes good quality pictures that dont look like they were taken with a cheap consumer camera right away if framed properly. Not only that but the video quality of the camera is as good as if not better then most consumer HD camcorders out there. Now at first you may think well such camera would be useless for good videos because it being so small there is no way to really keep the video steady. Thanks to optical image stabization the camera stays very steady even handheld. Its image stabilization is actually superior to my Canon HD camcorder which i paid 3 times as much for. This is wonderful as it means you can have one device thats small enough to take anywhere that can take good pictures and excellent video and the video is at 24 frames per second which is rare for a consumer small camera that is the same rate as film so you can get a nice cinematic look. The camera has a very nice wide angle lens that really stands out as you can get more stuff in the shot like people and enviroments (is also great for taking pictures of indoor things like rooms in your house or places you visit) compared to my mothers kodak easyshare camera the view that it capture is significantly more. It also is great for video too as was the problem with my older camcorder i felt i had to back up most times to get things in the shot. I have used a Digital SLR and dedicated HD Camcoder (that used tape) and i must say this is a real joy to have. I had not been using my SLR and Camcorder that much as having an ipad now i just didnt feel like carrying them all around and switching back and forth. (the Powershot also has better auto white balance then the SLR i used) for a pro you might want a more advanced camera but for the average user this is a wonderful camera to have the only downside i saw is that sometimes apparently the battery cover may come off, but thankfully you just snap it back into place with no problem. Also battery life is a bit on the low side as if you are out on a trip or out and about for like a day and taking a lot of video and pictures the battery will not last all day , my suggetion would be to to get a spare battery from amazon and then have both so you are set! a 16 gig memory card will net you about 1 hour of HD video or about 6,000 photos (photos are only around 1 meg each ish so dont take up a ton of space which is nice) If this thing was out 6 years ago at the price it is now i would have gotten this instead of paying $2,000 for the camera and camcorder i got. It really is a great little camera (it also does non-HD slow motion video which is a neat bonus too!) the video quality is superb and picture quality is very good as well. a great camera expecally for around christmas. Yeah most cell phones have cameras now days but most cell phone cameras are so so at best this wuold easily in my opinion beat any cell phone camera and the video expecally would beat any cell phone video (or even the iphone/ipad2 video) and this in my opinion also beats the flip video devices you can get. as this camera offers more steady shots (which in my opinion is absolutely essential with HD video the steadier the video the better it is) great product! Having it means theres no excuse not to capture great pictures or video!

After reading most of the reviews, I decided that this would be a great gift for my sisters birthday. The price was affordable and there did not seem to be much of a huge difference upgrading to the newer models. In addition, I was looking for a simple point and shoot camera that would take quick shots, to avoid that "oh please take that damn shot" moment, as you wait. The specs state 1.5 seconds, which is very respectable... until you use the flash. More on this below. This camera is very compact and easy to store in your pocket. The video is pretty clear and easy to record. The buttons are located in good locations and the color Red was very well received, making it easy to locate. Now for the problems: 1) IMAGE BRIGHTNESS ON LCD SCREEN: The major problem, at least with the camera we received, is that the image brightness displayed on the screen does not match to those you will see on your computer. Of course, this is not a surprise, since the lcd on the camera only shows a small amount of pixels but the problem is not the clarity or color, but that of brightness. Photo's taken in low light situations with no flash will look bright enough on the camera's display but once you transfer to your computer, they are very completely dark and extremely grainy. Likewise, photo's taken with a flash look washed out on the screen but once transferred, look not as bright. Decreasing the screen brightness on the camera did nothing to elevate this issue. Defective screen? 2) FLASH TOO BRIGHT:The flash is too bright and not controllable in either automatic or manual modes. This results in photo's that look too flash exposed and too many highlights in the face. Luckily, if the ISO setting is low enough, the photo's can be corrected in any photo editing software. 3) AUTO ISO TOO HIGH & GRAINY: Although automatic mode is indeed handy for people who do not want to or know how to adjust settings. The flaw here is that the Auto mode decides which ISO setting to use, which in most situations is exceptionally high (i.e ISO 400 with Flash, ISO 1600 without). The higher the ISO the more grainy the images will be and the less pixel brightness information you have for photo retouching or correcting. The fix for this is to use manual mode and change the auto ISO to a value of 100 or 200. Make sure that your flash is set to auto or OFF, and this should result in a much better quality looking image with no pixel grain. When the flash goes off, you might get an overexposed image that is too bright, but since you have a lot of pixel information, you will most likely be able to adjust that in any photo editing software. 4) TOO SLOW WITH FLASH: Although photo's taken without a flash are taken at an impressive 1.5 seconds, once you include the flash, that time dramatically increases to 3-4 seconds, where your models have to wait patiently with there frozen smiles that turn to grins. IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED (likely by purchasing another model): 1) ISO Max, this way you can guarantee that the camera won't select such a high setting of ISO 1600. ISO 400 should really be the high limit. 2) Flash brightness control. This would eliminate the need to correct for this in a photo editor. Auto Flash brightness based on ISO would be ideal. 3) Ability to reuse last auto setting for next photo. This way, the camera does not need to recalculate focus, red eye, settings, etc all over again. 4) An LCD that displays correct brightness of photo's taken (if my camera is not a defect). NOTE: In my defense, I should have been more aware that taking photo's in low lighting would result in a high AUTO ISO setting of 1600. I actually didn't notice that ISO until the day after. However, when I viewed this through the camera's lcd screen, they looked quite bright (even the darks were bright enough) and overexposed when using a Flash. Being very impressed with the low lighting photo's, I decided to avoid using the flash for more than half the photo's..... BIG MISTAKE.

Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS This review is 99% about photographs, not video. For this camera’s impressive Full HD (1080p) video capability see many other reviews here. Included with this review are some ELPH 300 pictures I took of flowers in my neighborhood, showing sharp detail and nice blurred backgrounds. (Look for the ants in the two pink camelias.) It’s November of 2019, and I sit here to review a Canon pocket camera that was first listed on Amazon in February 2011, almost 9 years ago. It should be obvious that a digital camera this old can’t be very good compared to those being released now, but that is not the case. This is still a great little camera, and with all the used ones out there, one can be had for less than $100. In fact, I bought mine just a few weeks ago for $75 on Amazon, and what a deal that turned out to be! For image quality this camera is better than a number of newer comparable Canon pocket cameras on the market, e.g. the ELPH 180 (release date 2016) which I also own. Because the PowerShot ELPH 300 HS has been out for so long, there’s no point in me covering all the specs and features; these can be found in the many Amazon reviews and on video reviews on the web. Instead, I’ll mention the few features that I have found to be the most impressive and most important to me. In order of importance the critical “must have” features of any point and shoot are 1) image quality, 2) ease of use, and 3) portability. All other “modern” features such as connectivity, GPS, etc. are nice but pale in comparison. I’m not a professional photographer nor even an accomplished enthusiast. I do shoot with a DSLR when I feel the urge, but more often I use a high-end point and shoot, the Canon G7X. With a fast 1.8 lens, 20.2 Mpixels, and large 1” sensor, the G7X produces outstanding photographs. I love my G7X, but I also like having a smaller and lighter alternative in my pocket for everyday use. Enter the PowerShot ELPH 300 HS. >> First, portability: This is a very small and lightweight camera. It’s very thin and with an area only a little bigger than a credit card. Some users with big hands might find the small size a drawback, but I don’t. Because it’s so light I can carry this camera in my pocket all day long, and I hardly notice that it’s there. I can’t say the same for the larger and heavier G7X. The power button is recessed, so the camera never gets accidentally turned on in my pocket. Note: Because of its very light weight, it is easy to introduce camera shake. A faster shutter speed should alleviate this. >> Second, ease of use: It’s almost axiomatic that the more features a camera offers the more difficult it is to learn to use. But one approach is to offer a carefully selected set of features and no more. This is what Canon has done with the ELPH 300, striking a balance between versatility and simplicity. This camera has two basic modes – AUTO and PROGRAM. Toggling back and forth between these is accomplished with a handy little slide switch on the back of the camera. AUTO is self-explanatory. Put the camera on AUTO, focus, and shoot; the camera does it all for you, and almost every picture will be satisfactory. On the other hand, PROGRAM mode gives the user many options, including white balance and several special scenes such as portrait, low light, kids&pets, high speed burst, etc. These are fun to play with, but for me the two most important features of PROGRAM mode are Exposure Compensation and the ability to set the ISO. Exposure Compensation: Many times the key subject in a picture will be either over exposed or under exposed if the camera is allowed to strike a balanced exposure in the scene. A good example is a person who is back lit by a bright sky. The Exposure Compensation allows the user to temporarily increase or decrease the exposure so as to properly expose the subject. On the ELPH there is a dedicated button on the back of the camera, making it extremely simple to make this adjustment. This button works only if the camera is in PROGRAM mode. ISO: In AUTO mode there is no control over ISO, shutter speed, or aperture. I have found that under ordinary lighting conditions the ELPH 300 will shoot in its “basic ISO” of 100 in AUTO mode. But by raising the ISO in PROGRAM mode, it is possible to “force” the camera to use a faster shutter speed while keeping the larger aperture for nice blurred backgrounds. At some point “noise” or graininess will become apparent at higher ISO settings, but I have found that a setting as high as ISO 400 (two stops above the base ISO) is fully acceptable. >> Third, image quality: The ELPH 300 HS has 12.1 Mpixels on a 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CMOS sensor. There are newer Canon pocket cameras with many more Mpixels on the same small sensor. In my opinion, 12 Mpixels is quite high resolution, high enough for sharp prints 9.3 x 14.3 inches, and if more megapixels are crammed onto the same sized sensor the quality of the image suffers. (See on line reviews about this.) There are 16 Mpixels on the same 1/2.3" sensor in the ELPH 130 & 180 and 20 Mpixels in the ELPH 360, and some reviews have noted the poorer picture quality. So unless the sensor size is increased along with the pixel count, there is likely to be a negative effect on image quality. I think with the ELPH 300 Canon has hit the sweet spot with the number of pixels on this little sensor. Another positive feature is the relatively fast lens on this camera, f/2.7 at its widest aperture. The ELPH 130 & 180, by comparison have only a f/3.2 lens, and the ELPH 360 has a f/3.6 lens. The faster lens (lower number) makes the camera better in low light, and it also makes it easier to blur the background for nice “bokeh” and shoot at higher shutter speeds. Colors are bright and rich, just what you’d expect, considering Canon’s legendary color rendition made possible by the DIGIC processor (version 4 in this case). Although Canon cameras are not famous for their autofocusing capability, I have experienced no more frustration with this camera than on my other Canon cameras. I think the slow autofocusing of Canon cameras is more of an issue with videos than with single shot photography. Bottom line – this is an outstanding little camera for its cost, size, features, and image quality. I give it a strong 5 stars. I have noticed some 1- or 2-star reviews mentioning mechanical glitches such as the lens not extending or retracting, but so far I have had no issues of this type. Because I bought this little gem for my wife, I am considering buying a second one before they’re no longer available. The cell phone camera has virtually killed the pocket camera, and as I lamented in my review of the excellent Canon PowerShot SD 1400 HS, little pocket cameras will one day soon no longer be available. So I recommend getting one now while you still can.