Although the Canon Powershot SD1000 has a retro look similar to the original Digital Elph, it has much more in common with the excellent Canon Powershot SD550. Besides its looks, the SD1000 is everything the SD550 was and more. Particularly, the SD1000 improves on the SD550's lens by producing much less purple fringing and less corner softness.

 

Compared to the modern competition, the SD1000 performs well with good speed and below average noise levels. Note that this is still an ultra-compact camera and although noise-levels are better than average, ISO 400 and 800 are only usable for small prints. ISO 1600 is mostly useless. The only way to do better with an ultra-compact camera is to go with a Fuji Finepix F-series like the Fuji Finepix F31fd and the Fuji Finepix F40fd.

 

Going with the Fuji F31fd also overcomes the SD1000's problems of flash power and battery-life. The Fuji F31fd has a battery life of over 580 shots, nearly three times the SD1000's battery life. On the negative side, no Fuji F-series cameras has an optical viewfinder.

 

Another interesting option is the Canon Powershot SD800 IS which features a stabilized 3.6X wide-angle optical zoom. Overall the image quality of the Canon Powershot SD1000 is better but the versatility of the SD800's lens should not be overlooked.