Product of the Week: Canon Elph SD1000

The new Elphs are coming! Which means it’s time for you to get an old Elph and save some money. You can grab the Elph SD1000 on Amazon for less than $160 in either silver or the retro black. The black is actually silver with a black lens accent, reminiscent of the original film Elph.

New Elph Powershots coming out next month are priced in the $299-$399 range.

You don’t need Murphy to tell you the Elph line is a solid established standard. All you have to do is look at how many customer reviews the Elph has on Amazon compared to other point-and-shoot cameras. Almost 600. Average review? 4 1/2 out of 5.

I bought the Elph for times when the D70 is too much to lug. Even with a fixed 50mm lens it’s quite bulky. When I started looking at compacts dimensions weighed in as a major factor. The SD1000 is tiny. Its simple boxy shape has timeless style, and slips easily into a pocket.

The Elph has a face-finder focus mode that’s pretty good at finding faces, but it might take a little getting used to. The interface is simplified compared to cameras offering a full assortment of manual settings. Small as this camera is, it still includes an optical viewfinder.

Saturday I noticed a large number of parents toting SLR cameras at the easter egg hunt. At least half. When you’re trying to capture a fleeting moment you’ve got a better chance with SLR. The Elph has the point and shoot lag, but it’s not too bad. Less than half a second in good lighting.

If your eyes are starting to go you might take a look at the SD750. The 3″ display (bigger than the SD1000) is bright and beautiful. A good friend has had excellent results with it.

I took a look at a Samsung and a Sony too. The first had a proprietary cable and the second had a proprietary storage card. As they say on Twitter: FAIL.