We have a Canon 8MP Powershot camera and were very happy with it. With the Amazon price and free delivery under Prime, we decided to upgrade to the 12MP A1100IS.
Yes, I know that going from 8 to 12 is marginally better since we do not plan to print 11x17 poster size pictures. But, we upgraded for the following reasons:
1. The reviews were excellent from both amateurs and professionals both here and on other sites.
2. The AA battery is more convenient than carrying the older proprietary battery and charger from the 8MP model. Since you need to bring AA or AAA batteries along when you travel, this is not an added item but rather replaces the older battery and wall charger. This is expecially helpful when traveling abroad or for extended camping, hiking, or bike trips when you can change the AAs but not necessarily recharge via the wall charger.
3. The controls are more intuitive for my wife. With the 8MP, it was easy to set the camera in the video mode after previewing pictures already taken. Nothing more frustrating than wanting to see that special picture only to find that you had the camera in the video mode and had nothing to show. With this camera, it is much more clearly apparent which mode you have chosen and the preview mode has its own little button.
4. 4X zoom is better than the older 3X.
5. The optical viewfinder is a must and I would never recommend buying a camera without one. If you are so inclined, wait until you are out in the bright sun and cannot see the screen.
6. Small, sleek and fits anywhere.
On the down side:
1. It is a little slow at times, especially when saving the picture.
In all, a good choice. Why pay much more if you are looking for a familty-type use camera? We are happy with the performance of these Canon products and highly recommend them
Hard Rock apparel
Outerwear, tees, and accessories. Discover the rock shop.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Compare with similar items
This Item  Canon PowerShot A1100IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Blue) (OLD MODEL) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $248.99 | $299.00 | -8% $119.99 Typical: $129.99 | -10% $179.99 List: $199.99 | -8% $109.95 List: $119.99 | -26% $39.99 List: $53.99 |
| Delivery | Get it May 17 - 20 | Get it May 14 - 20 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 | — | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Image stabilization | ||||||
| Zoom | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Auto focus | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Sold By | The Red Cup | Acute Tek (We Record SN) | SIXTARY Outlet | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Yuruida |
| display type | — | LCD | IPS | LCD | LCD | LCD |
| display size | 2.5 inches | 3 inches | 2.8 inches | 3 inches | 2.7 inches | — |
| lens type | Zoom | fixed | Macro | Telephoto | Wide Angle | — |
| zoom type | Optical Zoom | Optical | Digital Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Digital Zoom |
| shooting modes | Scene | Scene | Landscape,Portrait,Sports | Panorama, Automatic, Easy | Automatic, Portrait, Landscape, Macro | Automatic |
| connectivity tech | USB | USB | Type-C USB, HDMI | wired, wireless | USB | USB |
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for this product
1:05
Click to play video
Why we still use over our phone cameras.
Heidi Leatherby
Reviews with images
Excellent Camera | 2009/2021 + PRO/CON List
My parents bought this camera for me back in 2009 when I was entering high school and I have enjoyed shooting with it for several years, until it finally stopped working. I decided to purchase this camera again in 2021 because of its quality, and the convenience of having a lightweight/portable camera with me at all times encourages me to take more pictures.PROS:1. The 12.1 megapixels are quality; contrary to popular belief, you don't need a lot of pixels, you just need quality ones. It's much better to have 12.1 quality pixels than 18 or 24 decent pixels.2. The macro ability is amazing! The clarity and sharpness is very good, dare I say even comparable to a DSLR. It's a cheaper alternative for certainly fun to play around with.3. It's super lightweight and easy to put in your backpack, pocket, or purse/carry on.4. The interface is user friendly and intuitive. Most Canon products lean towards a simplified interface which is especially helpful for beginners, as I was 12 years ago when I started my photographic journey.5. Different shooting modes are helpful and creative, but my favorite feature is the Exposure Compensation mode. I can very quickly and easily adjust the settings to preserve the highlights and that's a great feature.6. Autofocus is pretty accurate and gets it almost every time. However, nailing focus when handheld for macro shooting is slightly aloof, but not difficult. I may just have to focus twice or even three times vs. once when shooting in general.CONS:1. Not capable of taking RAW images, but the High Quality JPEG still provides a good dynamic range, overall. (Nothing Photoshop can't fix.)2. The battery life sucks. This is the worst feature about this camera, and my only real compliant. It takes AA batteries, but they'll easily drain if you're shooting throughout the day, so keep some spares and/or buy rechargeable batteries.3. The Flash mechanism and video mode drains the battery faster.Overall, this camera gets a strong 8/10 for me. If the battery life was better I would grant 10/10. It's great for candids, street photography, still life, parties, a day on the lake/beach, landscape, macro/nature, and just going about your day. If you get a tripod you're allotted a bit more creativity and flexibility. All in all, this is a GREAT camera to introduce a beginner, like someone just entering middle school or high school that enjoys taking pictures. This could be a great foundation, as it has been for me.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2011
Color: SilverVerified Purchase
I purchased this camera on Amazon December 2009 and loved everything about it.
Pros: Very easy to use and figure out the settings of this camera. the weight and the way you hold the camera is appropriate and does not feel like it will fly off your hands. The video option works great and voice quality from video are pretty good as long as there is not too much background noise. Camera images are great and you can create great effects with lighting especially at sunrise and sunset, you can't beat the quality for the price!
Con: you've got to get a memory 4GB sd card like I did or at least a 2GB or even larger than 4GB....you can set up the settings so that you can store thousands of pictures without feeling the pressure of uploading your pics to clear the memory right away. And especially if you choose to make videos which takes more memory than pics. but this is like every digital camera and so this is not a real con!
I am totally bummed since I lent my family my camera recently and it's now lost. I brought this camera on sale for $129 but now it's listed for $248. I will check the lost & found at the Museum of Science (where it got lost) to see if I can find it! If I can't find it I will have to break down and save up for this same model. I also have plenty of friends/family that has the same or similar model which they too enjoy. I did hear that the new version of this camera does not take the clearest pics compared to this model and it is much thinner and easier to drop.
Pros: Very easy to use and figure out the settings of this camera. the weight and the way you hold the camera is appropriate and does not feel like it will fly off your hands. The video option works great and voice quality from video are pretty good as long as there is not too much background noise. Camera images are great and you can create great effects with lighting especially at sunrise and sunset, you can't beat the quality for the price!
Con: you've got to get a memory 4GB sd card like I did or at least a 2GB or even larger than 4GB....you can set up the settings so that you can store thousands of pictures without feeling the pressure of uploading your pics to clear the memory right away. And especially if you choose to make videos which takes more memory than pics. but this is like every digital camera and so this is not a real con!
I am totally bummed since I lent my family my camera recently and it's now lost. I brought this camera on sale for $129 but now it's listed for $248. I will check the lost & found at the Museum of Science (where it got lost) to see if I can find it! If I can't find it I will have to break down and save up for this same model. I also have plenty of friends/family that has the same or similar model which they too enjoy. I did hear that the new version of this camera does not take the clearest pics compared to this model and it is much thinner and easier to drop.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2010
Color: SilverVerified Purchase
Tha Cannon PowerShot A11001S 12.MP Digital Camera has a nice large screen and many nice options that are easy to use. The camera is compact and light but still offers a nice 4x optical zoom and image stablizer that focuses in quickly. Icons for the settings show up to help get the right setting. Flash on and off as well as shots micro, macro, or normal are easy to put on. I have not changed the batteries yet and have used the camera for quite a long time (a real plus). I think minimizing the time the screen stays on is helpful. Being able to shut off the sound is also a good feature. The view finder is helpful but not overly clear to look through. On sunny days when the screen may be tough to see it would still be good to have it. Night shot setting is amazing.....clear shots, everyone....looking like they were taken during the day. A very nice camera and good value for the money.
Images in this review
