Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

Up until yesterday this camera would have gotten 5 stars. It just started to get error "lens error, restart camera" regardless of whether it was in replay mode or camera mode. We have since discovered that Canon service is awful. Before you send the camera in for service you must either call them or write them an email. You will then get a reply in about two days giving you instructions on returning the camera. Once they receive it, it will take about ten days to get back to you. By the time all of this is done, you have lost almost 30 days of use.
I have been searching the web to only find out now that this seems to an all too common problem not only with this model but with other Canon digital cameras as well.

I was looking for a simple, easy to use, point-and-shoot small-form factor camera that takes great pictures. I lucked out with this one.

Pros: Great pictures, vibrant color. Video is also fantastic. At 640x480, I thought I was looking at something recorded from a camcorder. I also really like the way it will reorient pictures in view mode based on whether you're holding the camera horizontally or vertically.

Cons: The battery, while rechargeable, requires you to pop it out of the camera and place in an external charger. I would prefer just being able to charge from the USB port.

I'm weary from trying out 4 cameras - Canon A570, SD1000, SD850 and SD870. I actually had decided to go with A570 - but it rejected 2 sets of hi-quality rechargable batteries and screen display was low resolution and hard to see. Screen wasn't much better than my trusty A85 that I own now - just a bigger. Overall, I found the A570, and SD850 to take the best quality pics - I went with SD850 that printed superior pics even tho it's more expensive than SD1000. Pics printed from SD1000 were nearly identical in quality to my A85 that I've had for 3 years. I want an upgrade in picture quality, not the same quality. Don't get me wrong - if you've never had a digital, then you'll like the SD1000 pics and they are very nice. I'm just looking for a little better. The great things about the SD1000 are it's great layout of play/camera button, on/off switch etc. -much better than SD850 - and I also love the size and feel of this camera. I like the "boxiness" better than the SD850 or SD970 by far. The LCD screen is outstanding too - but so is screen on SD850. BTW, if you wear polarized sunglasses, SD1000 screen still is viewable - it must not have the anti-glare coating that SD870 has which makes it useless if you wear polarized sunglasses.
While picture quality was more important to me this time, SD1000 still prints great pics with minimal effort - I'm a P&S person using "auto" almost all the time. When it really comes down in price, I might actually get one to couple with my SD850 - a nice extra camera for my husband.

Okay people you know this camera is good. You have read all of previous reviews and they are true. But here is two major issues which won't bother people making 4 by 6 pictures from this camera. sharpness-not good, but you can tweak it in photoshop. Noise-common Canon noise is the same as it was in two year old camera. It seems that Canon promo department understood that general public don't care about sharpness or noise. People apparently likes their picture saturated and alive with color-which this camera deliver. However despite all of mentioned shortcomings I like this little camera because it has "face recognition" and it is so small. I litteraly have it on me all the time.

I bought this camera and it took great pictures, at least until I took it out of the case one day (only 2 weeks after I bought it!) to discover that the LCD screen had shattered internally.

I saw that other Canon camera reviews warned that the LCD was prone to breaking, but I figured the Canon brand was trustworthy enough to provide great customer support/repair if that were to happen.

I was wrong.

25 days since Canon received my camera for repair and 2 customer service calls to check on the status of my camera repair: still no camera. The Canon rep I just spoke to on the phone said the camera parts should arrive within another 2 weeks (5 weeks after receipt of camera), and that cameras would be repaired in order of receipt. Then, she matter-of-factly stated that some cameras in the repair shop have been in there "for two to three months" and they still hadn't gotten to them, yet somehow her logic still compelled her to say that they would start repairing mine after the parts were received after 2 weeks. When I asked if there was anyone I could complain to, she sarcastically replied "I'm listening," before transferring me to her supervisor.

Her supervisor basically reiterated the company line, saying "parts are ordered overseas from Japan," "it takes some time for them to arrive from a foreign country," and that the repair confirmation e-mail and repair policy, which stipulates 7-10 business days for repair and return, does have the following caveat: "Actual times may vary. Seasonal volume or repairs requiring special parts may add more time," which is the catch-all for circumstances like this in which, as the supervisor put it, camera servicing may take "more than 30 days to order parts and complete the repair." He provided no possible remediation at all, just served as another complaint buffer, and offered to continue referring me to further supervisors, which presumably would have just reiterated the company's repair caveat: "Actual [repair] times may vary."

If you dare, buy the camera -- it was a great camera for 2 weeks until it broke -- but cross your fingers that it doesn't ever need to be repaired. Otherwise, you may experience the disappointment that compelled me to write this review.