Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Camera.
Reviews, Price Comparison and Ratings.

  Annotation: Reviews, Ratings, Price Comparison and Full Information for Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Camera.

Editors' Rating:
7.7 of 10


 • Value 8
 • Design 9
 • Features 6
 • Ease of Use 8
 • Performance 7
 • Image Quality 8

Average User Rating:
9.1 of 10
(89 votes)

 • Installation 9
 • Image Quality 9
 • Ease of Use 9
 • Compatibility 9
 • Overall Value 9
 • Service & Support 9

Where to Buy ?

 PROS
 • Rechargable battery included
  Good flash
 • 3x zoom
 • Bright LCD
 • Ultracompact design
 CONS
  Weak red eye compensation
  No uncompressed mode
  Only 8MB memory card included
Includes: Canon PowerShot S300 Digital ELPH, Wrist strap, A/V cable, USB cable, Battery charger, NB-1L rechargeable battery with case, 8MB CompactFlash card with case, Two software CDs, Instruction manuals and registration information.
Recommended Accessories

  PowerShot S300 - stainless steel body, that ultra-fast extending lens with the automatic cover and its crisp, bright LCD. All in all it's a quality package and feels far more "camera like" than a lot of other digital cameras which do leave you with the "computer peripheral" feeling. The S300 is certainly the type of camera which you're more likely to have with you when you need to take that crucial shot, you can slip it into your jacket pocket without a second thought and the new 3x lens will give you a good range of focal lengths.
  Small and extremely light weight, the S300 is very portable with a smooth, sleek design that allows the camera to glide right into most shirt pockets. With a similar design to the previous S100 model, the S300 offers a slightly different control layout and a couple of added external controls (namely the Exposure Compensation / White Balance button and a Mode dial). The S300 features a well designed, retractable lens with a built-in, sliding lens cover (no lens cap hassles!), that keeps the camera's surface smooth with no protrusions when the lens is fully retracted. Its all-metal case design represents some of the highest "build quality" we've seen yet in a digicam, and it feels very solid and substantial in the user's hand. All the main controls are on the back panel of the camera, with the exception of the Mode dial, power and shutter buttons. A small, recessed thumb grip on the back gives you a nice, firm hold, and a wrist strap provides easy toting.

See also Canon PowerShot S330 DigCam review


PowerShot S300 Major Features:

2.1 megapixel CCD delivering up to 1,600 x 1,200 resolution images.
Real image optical and 1.5 inch color LCD viewfinders.
Canon 3x, 5.4-16.2mm zoom lens (35-105mm equivalent) with f/2.8-f/4.7 maximum aperture.
Up to 2.5x digital telephoto.
Shutter speeds from one to 1/1,500 seconds.
Sensitivity equivalent to ISO 100.
Built-in flash with five operating modes.
Six user-selectable white balance settings.
Movie with sound recording mode.
Stitch Assist mode for panoramic shots.
Continuous Shooting mode.
Three image quality recording modes in JPEG format.
CompactFlash type I image storage with an 8MB card included.
USB and NTSC video cables included.
Power via Canon NB-1L battery pack, charger included.
USB cable and interface software for connecting to a computer, as well as ArcSoft PhotoImpression and VideoImpression, and Canon's Remote Capture software.
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
Full Specs

Customer Reviews

Mark Gabriel, from Winnipeg, 00, CA, Aug 22, 2001

We used this camera on our recent trip right out of the box (got it as a wedding gift). Excellent unit! Picture quality is excellent. Easy to use - didn't even need to read the manual. Battery drains quickly with LCD use, so make sure you got it charged up, a spare battery is recommended.

  Installation 10
  Image Quality 9
  Ease of Use 10
  Compatibility 9
  Overall Value 9

kevin ennis, from albuquerque, NM, US, Feb 21, 2002

I can't say enough good things about this camera. It's a solid, well-designed package. The movie and stitch mode work flawlessly. The optics are superb. I rejected a Toshiba PDR-M70 (3 Megapixel) in favor of this one and I'm glad I did. This camera outperformed it in spite of the Toshiba's higher resolution, because the S300 has extremely sharp pictures with accurate colors. Others I've looked at, including the PDR-M70, have either a permanent soft-focus, or the colors are terrible. The Toshiba had both flaws. Plus, the flash on the S300 is surprisingly effective. I took a flash pic inside our 2-car garage in complete darkness ... you'd never know it was a flash picture. The entire room was evenly lit up and looked great. The S300's size is also a strength, as you can easily pop it into your pocket. I do recommend an additional battery and at least a 64MB compact flash card.

  Installation 10
  Image Quality 10
  Ease of Use 10
  Compatibility 10
  Overall Value 10


  The Lowest Price is not always best !


When you buy a digital camera, the basic package almost always includes extras such as a battery charger, lens cap, batteries, flash memory card, and software. One of the more disreputable practices a dealer can engage in is called unbundling. These dealers remove items from the  package that are normally included in the price and price them separately.

When purchasing a camera you have three components of the price to consider - the camera price, postage and handling, and taxes. Many dealers lower the price to make the camera more attractive, then increase the postage and handling to boost their profits.

Hesitate before accepting extended warranties. Every knowledgeable consumer expert says it's better to gamble. Most of a company's profit is in the sale of these warranties so they press, and press hard. Your job is to resist, and resist hard. The only thing to keep in mind is that digital cameras can be horribly expensive to repair. If you want peace of mind, you may want the warranty, even though it's probably overpriced. The cost of a repair can approach, or even exceed, the original purchase price.

When you buy a camera from a reputable dealer, you expect to be able to return it if you aren't satisfied. Some dealers try to discourage this by requiring a restocking fee for returned merchandise. This is always explained as a way to recover their costs of checking the merchandise and restoring the packaging you may have opened.

Many dealers is truly a false, deceptive and a total crook. Bait and switch tactics used. Does not sell new merchandise and will ship used or refurbished goods without notifying customer. They then try to charge a restock fee on top of their exobitant shipping fees to make a profit where they could not on their goods. A try case of buyer beware.

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Where To Buy Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Camera:

See also Canon PowerShot S330 Review

 


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