2 things
The camera can "shoot" 16:9 but cannot do so in movie mode which is what the description says. I also found that when getting movie clips,if you zoom all the 12x,you can only come back to 3x and if you start at something like 2.1x(in which that number won't show)you can zoom to 10x or 8.5x. NOT A BIG DEAL! It's a smooth camera.
I put mine in a sunglass lens cleaning case an then into a camera case. It's a nice 2-in-1 touch!!!

Great snapshot camera
I have been playing with the camera for a couple hours now and I love it. The first thing that lured me to this camera was the 3 inch LCD screen and Canon brand name.

Let me tell you, the screen is big and beautiful! The screen is detailed and makes viewing and taking pictures so much more enjoyable.

You should'nt be too worried about scratching the screen eaither, it is somewhat durable.I tapped/hit and ran my fingernails across the screen which caused no noticable permanent damage. This was however, done on a display camera at a store. My camera does have a very superficial scratch on the screen but when the camera is on, you cant even see it.

The problem with the screen however is that it does take up a lot of space and leaves no room for an optical viewfinder. So if you are big on the viewfinder and must have one, this camera is not for you.

The large screen also leaves little room for buttons. The navigation buttons are very small and cramped. So if you have big hands, such as myself, its gonna be an issue. Although I havent had any problems accidentally pressing the wrong button, my hand gets cramped fairly quickly with continuous use.

However, there are very fantastic and easy ways to easily and quickly navigate through your pictures. You can eaither use the circular button, which acts like an ipod click wheel, and just run your fingers around it to start searching, or click the zoom out button once to bring up 9 pics at once, and move from there. It is very helpful when you have a ton of pics but want to get to one very quickly.

The Canons Elph's series are ultra compact and this one is no exception. You can eaisly fit it into your pocket and carry it around. However, it is noticable heavier than other ultra compact cameras around.

The picture quality is also very great. There are many presets to use and the manual controls are great for novices or average photographers. However, getting to them can be a pain. You have to go through a bunch of menus to change the settings. Also, some of the special features, such as color swap or accents, make pics more prone to blurryness.

Taking pictures can be done very quickly, even with the flash on. On normal settings, it takes about a second between pictures. However, when using the special featuers, there is noticable lag between shots.

The pictures are also VERY detailed. As you can see in the submissions, there are tons of detail in each pic. Macro pics will surprise you on how well it captures pictures and you will be astounded by inifinity (landscape) shots. Even with the optical zoom on, there is no distortion that I could notice.

There are just two main gripes I have with the camera.

First of all, there is no image stabalization. This feature has become standatd on many other digital cameras, which also cost considerably less. For a $400 camera (I paid $350 though), you would expect image stabalization to be included! Its not.

Secondly, the camera only comes with a 16meg card. Thats not really relevant to the camera and wont affect performance but come on, a 16meg card! You can only take 4-5 pics on the highest settings for picture qualitly. Its a joke. So you are gonna have to buy a bigger card, preferably a 1 gig one.

Overall, this is a great camera. There are a bunch of other pros and cons about the camera, but are not really important to mention. The camera has a very durable feel and takes awesome pictures. With the 3 inch LCD screen, it makes taking pics so much more enjoyable.

Now, why should you get the SD630 over the 600, especially when they are are exactly the same except the SD600 has an optical viewfinder and a 2.5 inch LCD while the SD630 has no viewfinder but a 3 inch LCD screen. I was in the same boat. Just ask yourself...

Can I live without the viewfinder and can budget the extra $50?.

If yes, go for the SD630. The screen makes it totally worth it in my opinion.

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I thought I should add some commentary about the video mode. I just started using it and let me tell you, video mode is AMAZING, even on only 15FPS. It runs really smooth and looks INCREDIBLE, even on compact mode. You can even use color swap or use accents while taping.

Compact mode is especially great if you want to send little email videos of yourself to loved ones, friends, or just for plain fun. On compact mode, you can shoot around 1 minute and 30 seconds on the 16 meg card you have. However, upping the setting will drastically reduce the amount of video time. Normal on 15FPS will give you roughly 20-25 seconds while the higest settings will get you around 8-10 seconds. And this all includes sound, which is also captured very well on this tiny little camera.
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Last update...

Ive had this camera for about two weeks now and I really love it! The pics continue to come out great and picture taking is quick.

I got a 2 gig card for it and now I can take 720 pics on the best settings and it allows for around 16 minutes for standard (30 FPS, 630 resolution) video tapping. Compact gives you around 32 min.

It should also be noted that you may want to consider buying a secondary battery for the camera. The battery it comes with is said to take around 160 shots (Other camears have ratings of up to 360 shots). Im sure standby times and viewing pics take some shots off. I bought a battery fom ebay for $7 (1 cent for the battery, $6.99 for S&H) and it works wonderfully. I tested it with continuous shooting, and was able to get about 200 shots with flash and 50 without flash, its still has juice for more. Search for "Canon SD630 battery."

Also, you may want to invest in invisible shield (shieldzone.com) for your viewfinder. It costs $4.99 for making the custom design and $9.99 for the product. So about $15 since you can choose to get free shipping. It is great if you are worried about scratching the viewfidner and want peace of mind. It is also very easy to install. You peel it off, use a spray it comes with, and put it on. Then, if you missed, you can slide it into position.

Last of all, there is one last gripe I have to mention. I've noticed that black shadowing can sometimes occur in indoor shooting, even with the flash on.

However, I still wouldnt trade in the camera if I had the chance. I love my camera!

What are you waiting for....buy it!
If my title alone hasnt made you stop everything you are doing and buy this camera then I guess I should tell you alittle bit about it. First off I am not a die hard camera expert. With that being said I know a good picture when I see one. This camera takes amazing pictures outside ( just look at the examples people have put for you to see ) It also takes really good low light pictures as well. Normally when you zoom in to take a picure with other cameras it comes out blury, not with this one! It is not too big, not too small, just the right size. The menu is easy to navigate around in as well. The features are amazing, everything from "vivid" colors to color swap to color accent. I wont get into every single thing this camera has, ( just scroll up and you can read them if you want ) but trust me it has a lot of features.

Also I cant say enough about the movie mode. Honestly you dont really need a camcorder unless you are REALLY picky. The movie mode on this camera is great. You wont be able to take movies or take more than 5 pictures with the card that comes with the camera so it is a MUST that you upgrade to atleast a 2gb card. Long story short, this camera is worth every penny, and I would advise anyone thinking about buying this camera to do so.

Cons -
People will come up to you and ask you " Hey what kind of camera is that, the screen is so nice" Oh wait this is a pro because I actually like when this happens.

Excellent Product - Picked Out After Much Research...
I just received my Canon SD-630 in the mail today and can already say I am very happy with my purchase. I had been researching cameras the entire week, looking for the right one for my needs.

When I went to the store, Best Buy, I had written down a few camera model numbers that caught my eye. Over the next few days it was interesting to see how my perceptions of these cameras had changed. I had at first liked the 7.1 Megapixel Sony I had put at the top of my list at Best Buy. I based this on merely the camera having a high megapixel count and the looks of the outer casing. But after getting on Amazon and reading product descriptions, going over reviews, and looking at shots submitted by customers all of my original perceptions changed.

While the Sony may have looked good and had a higher megapixel count than my Canon, it was the features that attracted me to the SD-630. I liked that it had some interesting options to play around with besides just the usual camera settings like outdoor, indoor, etc... Besides the basics, the Canon has options like Color Accent and Color Swap. These features really let you produce some unique prints without having to do any post manipulation with programs such as Photoshop. I myself had done similar work with photos using Photoshop, to make certain objects color while the rest of the image remained black and white. But this takes time depending on the object and its nice to be able to achieve the same results without any work! Its also very easy to use and I took some great shots in no time.

Another camera I was interested in was the Kodak V570. After reading the feature list on this camera, such as the Panorama Stitch and Wide Angle Lens I thought it was perfect. Plus the pictures I viewed looked very cool when incorporating these modes. But some of the reviews on the camera turned me away somewhat. Such as having to use the supplied dock as well as Kodak software just to upload the images to my computer or charge the battery. I like the flexibility of the Canon, allowing you to transfer images via USB cable or memory card without having to use any other software. The battery charger is also very compact, no cords or large battery trays, just a simple charger that has a folding plug for easy transport (the charger is the size of a small cell phone - probably smaller).

Yet I still liked the Panorama Stitch option that the Kodak offered and was really considering this camera as my final pick. So I decided to go back to the store and look at these cameras again now that I had done the research and knew what I was looking for. It was a whole different experience than my first visit to Best Buy. When I played with the Kodak it just didn't live up to what I had hoped for. I was put off by the button layout and the overall feel of the camera when compared to the Canon. After finally figuring out how to do the Panorama Stitch, while it was a cool little feature, it just wasn't all that great on the camera. The screen is small and when your grouping so many different images together, 3, its hard to really see what you are doing and to get a shot exactly as you want. I'm sure after some use I would get use to it, but to get the full effect you would have to upload the image to a computer and look at it from there to see if it came out the way you intended. The camera just seemed simple in terms of functionality.

The Canon, which I had tested out before this camera, was a whole different story. I really liked how everything was laid out and the big screen made looking at images so much easier. Thus when you used an option such as Color Accent, you could really get a sense of how the final product turned out and decide if you were happy with the shot (or needed to do a retake) without having to view the image on a computer. It has so many different options to play with that are very useful in the simplest terms; such as Vivid Colors. I took a few pictures of the same objects using this mode and some in just Auto. You can really see a nice subtle difference and in some cases the colors just pop when compared to normal. It is very nice to use and is a great compliment to the camera. Simple features such as this are excellent and let you take great pictures without having to adjust manual settings. But if you would like to tinker with manual options, the camera leaves plenty of room to do this as well (which was another feature I was looking for, as I wanted to get more involved with the camera over time).

The video on this camera is also excellent. I remember taking videos on older digital cameras I have used and they were pretty low quality. I do a lot of video editing and such, and found the video option on this camera to be very nice. It really lets you take some quality footage, that if you showed a clip to someone off of your computer they would think it was taken with a camcorder. Another nice thing about the video is that you can use Color Accent and Color Swap, which I did not know was possible until reading the manual. It makes your video much more interesting if used in the right way and adds a touch that would require high level video editing software (AVID, After Affects) to attain. This does it without any other work.

Overall I am very pleased with this camera and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking of purchasing this model. Like I said, after reading reviews and customer feedback on Amazon as well as other sites that tested these cameras, I completely changed my initial impressions of what I thought I was looking for. If I were you I would make sure to go out and test out cameras you have in your Top 3 after reading all the great information found on this site. It really helps you make a confident decision in your purchase, such as the one I made. I had read before that Canon made excellent digital cameras, some of the best available, and can definitely back that up with my experience in just one day of use. I cant wait to use this camera more often and really get to know the many features it has to offer. I made sure to upload some pictures I just took today for others to see, hope this review has helped in some way.

The only things I would seek to improve on this camera would be the addition of a wide angle lens and better construction of the tiny little door that covers the USB connection and AV cable connetion. It seems a little brittle and I would be very careful when opening and shutting it. Im sure it will be fine with proper caution, but if you were to open it fast or tug on it hardly, it could possibly rip and detach. Only gripe I see to express, but nothing too major.

Best P&S DigiCam I've owned to date!
Had this for 2 weeks now. Easy, intuitive menus. Outstanding screen! Big, clear and bright!

Lots of nice features. I like the "ghost selector dial" on the screen when your thumb glides over it. Easy to see in the dark. I also like the instant max brightness for the LCD when pushing the button for 2 seconds.

Takes great pictures. I had a Nikon 5600 (WAS a die hard Nikon fan!) prior and this is light years ahead of it in speed, image quality and features. Did I mention the great 3" screen? And it recycles fast. the Nikon took forever...and a day. Missed a lot of good shots because of that.

I have been digital since my first Sony FD-81 floppy disk camera. When they were $600. I have no negatives about this camera. It feels good, takes killer shots and viewing them is a pleasure.

I am awaiting a Sandisk Extreme3 2gb card. The save speed is real good with my '04 vintage Ritek 66x card. Can't wait to get the 133x Sandisk!

Go buy this camera!

The Best Digital Camera
I have had tons of digital cameras before and I have always sold them on eBay to get rid of them. Canon is by far the best digital camera I have ever owned. I previously had an SD10 for the last 3 years and am still happy with it. 3 yrs is a long time for me considering I am a bit of a techie that likes to change all of my electronics whenever a new one comes out. So for me the SD630 is finally a well deserved upgrade...
LOVE IT. The LCD screen is amazing and there are tons of new features that I did not have on my SD10. Everything with this camera is terrific. The only thing and only thing I can say is that there is not a battery meter, the meter only shows up when it is already running out of battery. This was the same for the SD10 and it was quite annoying. Anyways, definately buy a backup battery just in case.
Other than that, you cannot go wrong with this camera...

I think I'm in love!
First of all, I am a Canon girl. My first digicam was one of the first Digital Elphs on the market (the really thick ones). When everyone was getting their Sony cybershots for Christmas, I bought a SD10 and everyone was jealous of it. Then I moved on to the Canon digital rebel, but I was in the market for a new compact one. I still love my SD10 as a compact camera, but I wanted one with more features.

My first choice for my new digital camera was going to be the SD700. I was determined to get it by the time I got to my local best buy. The SD630 and the SD700 sat right next to each other in the display and the SD630 was the one that caught my eye. I think it was the bigger screen. I wanted to play around with the SD700 a little bit, but it was not charged so I couldn't really get a feel for it. But after going back and forth with the SD630 and the SD700, I decided on the SD630 for 2 reasons: (1) I didn't really need the stabilized zoom of the SD700. (2) I liked the bigger screen of the SD630. Those were pretty much the big differences between the two. That and the $100 difference which I used to splurge on a 2 gig memory card.

Wonderful camera
I spent quite a bit of time reviewing different cameras. After receiving two defective panasonic cameras I decided to go with the SD630. This camera takes excellent pictures and its small size really is convenient for travel. The screen is worth the upgrade for the SD600, it looks phenomenal...

The screen is AMAZING!
I got this camera about a week ago now and I couldn't be happier. The 3 inch screen is wonderful. It really helps you take better pictures. If you're worried about not having a view finder, you shouldn't be. This screen is large enough and bright enough that it is easily viewable, even in the sun. The sacrifice of the view finder is well worth it for the screen. Viewing the photos on the camera is really nice and you can even program it to make slide shows with different transitions. I haven't been worried about scratching the screen because I got a sturdy case for it for less than $10. The different shooting modes make it easy to take great photos of whatever you like or if you are a little more experienced, you can adjust the settings yourself. If you're worried about the lack of image stabilizing, I haven't missed it yet and I've been taking lots of pictures. I have never come across a camera I have enjoyed using as much as this one. It is well worth the money.

It F'in Rocks !!!
This camera F'in rocks hardcore ! It's my first Canon and my first digital camera so maybe I'm just being goofy but there's a whole lot of options ,buttons to press, and you'll have to do some learning to figure it all out . . . Anyways . . . the 3inch screen is so awesome , I bought it as a location cam and right now all i've been doing is taking pictures of my cat and printing them out on the cannon selpy printer which is also way cool. That and it looks really cool just sitting on the coffee table. Those things they have it mounted on or to at the stores just do not do it any justice. Oh and one last thing not only was Amazon way cheaper then everyone else , I ordered it sunday mourning - got it wednesday ! Amazon F'in ROCKS !!!

I love most of it, jumpy video leaves me wanting more.
Had this camera for about 2 weeks now, and overall, I love it!

Lots of fun modes, didn't think I'd use these at all when I read about them, but they are really cool! Take pics of trees or grass in vibrant green mode, wow!

3" lcd makes all my friends go "wow" when they see it, sooooo easy on the eyes to view pics or movies.

Fits in my pocket very easily, not a hassle at all to take it everywhere, which just makes me use it that much more. Nothing worse than buying a big ticket item and never using it...

BUT, my only gripe is with the video. Quality is good and frame rate is good, but if you are zoomed in AT ALL the picture is jumpy enough to be annoying. With no zoom, you may notice a SLIGHT jumpyness if you are really trying, but it's not bad at all. So if you are planning on doing any serious video, either get a tripod or set it on something :)

All in all, I'm thrilled with my purchase. I've already taken tons of great pics of me and friends which I wouldn't have had a I not finally bought a digital camera. Had it not been for the jumpy video, I would have DEFINATELY given this little guy 5 out of 5. Even with the video issue, I would still highly recommend it.

Solid performer, great photos
The Powershot SD630 is a solid performer for those who prefer a 3" LCD to a 2.5" LCD/viewfinder combo (such as the SD600). There's hardly a millimeter wasted as the LCD fills most of back of the camera. The control buttons are well placed, and do not hinder the view nor get in the way (it's probably a good thing Canon is used to putting the zoom up front).

This has everything you'd expect from Canon: quality build; quality zoom (3x); and fast, quality processing of images. The battery power is very good (and stable), and keeping in mind the idea of a travel camera, the battery charger is equally small and easy to carry.

Typical of most Powershots, Canon also doesn't go into too many extras (some might say frills) in the menu options. Post in-camera editing, for example, is not as strong as those found in the Nikon Coolpix line. Although there are several "scene" modes, there are not as much as other brands, some of which I would classify as useful.

This is also a very attractive camera. I hate to put too much stock into this, but it probably turns this into a 5 star gift!

Without a doubt, the best camera I've ever had!
This camera is absolutely amazing! It does everything you could possibly want, and more, in a small, durable, quick, point and shoot camera. The huge 3 inch screen is an added plus and allows you to easily review pictures and help focus when taking them. The buttons and scroll wheel are also very easy to use and are situated so that everything is right at your fingertips. The camera is super easy to use, right out of the box. I also purchased a 1GB memory card along with this camera, so not only does it work quickly and effectively, but it also holds more than 500 pictures! The pictures are also very clear and precise. This camera is guaranteed amazing, and I would recommend it to ANYONE looking to buy a digital camera!

Great Compact camera for everyday use !!!
This camera is great! Does what it suppose to do! Fast start up time and shooting. I did months of research on point and shoot digital cameras and narrowed it down to Canon PowerShot SD 630 and the Canon PowerShot SD 700 IS. I like the idea of Image Stabilization but that additional feature was a bit pricey. I decided to buy the SD 630 instead b/c it has a 3 inch LCD screen (Who really uses viewfinders nowadays) and bought a 133x speed Lexar Professional SD 1 GB memory card. This card is excellent in holding the camera's videos and super high resolutions photos including 16:9 widescreen shots. The video capture on this camera is great feature as well. Of course there is a lot of noise in low lighting situation but remember, this is a camera, not a camcorder.

I justified getting this camera (that does not have image stabilization) and use it together with a monopod/tripod for stable shots. My only complaint would be better improvement on the battery/memory card compartment door. The door can easily slide open by acccident when pulling the camera in and out of your pocket. But overall, the Canon Powershot SD 630 is a killer camera!!!! It totally rocks!!! $339 on Amazon.com . I can't keep my hands off this camera!

I LOVE this camera
I bought this camera to carry around with me when I couldn't bring my Canon S2 IS along. While my S2 IS takes much better pictures (obviously), the SD630 is definitely a great point and shoot. The pictures are very nice and the screen.... the screen is WONDERFUL. It's so beautiful and I get so many compliments from others who see the camera. It definitely looks good.

Just be careful with the lcd because I"ve already got a few light scratches on it. I was dumb and kept it in my pocket wiht almost no protection on it.

Overall the camera is great, I wouldn't expect anything less from Canon.

great camera!
I've taken about 200 photos so far and the camera surpasses my expectations! Photo quality is much better than my old 4mp kodak.The controls are a little awkward but not too bad. The camera is very fast, both starting up and shot to shot. I do worry a little about the 3" screen getting scratched and I wish you could charge the battery inside the camera instead of only with a charger. The feature set is ok but maybe a little limited. Overall, though, since you by a camera mainly for picture quality, I'd have to call this a very good camera.

Increible y una super pantalla
This is an amazin camera and the screen is just superb, as an owner of a elf 400sd also I must tell that this camera feels as natural as previous models with the exception of the BIG screen to pre-view your fotos and videos. It has some excelent extras to add the fun on the picture experience it lets you play with the colors that you are taking directly with the camera instead of re-toucing them later on a photo editor. In overall this is a great camera worth every dime that it cost, the only thing that I most said I did not like was the lack of manual visor (viewfinder) so if you like the viewfinder this camera is not for you unless you don't really care for that thing, but I must say with that screen you will not remember what a viewfinder is... view finder what?? can any one remeber A-tracks?????

Most of the goodies of the camera are discribe on this site so no need for me to re type it.

So people enjoy your pictures and with this camera you sure will do.

What a disappointment...
I don't know how long I've been looking forward to the release of SD630 - perhaps from January on, when Canon first introduced it. It seemed to be flawless, and perhaps the most gorgeously stunning camera to have ever existed. When I finally got it, and started taking pictures with it, I was severely disappointed. 90% of the pictures I took were blurry. At first, I thought, perhaps indoors is just too little lighting, so I constantly played with all the settings on the camera. The only way to eliminate the blurriness was to turn on flash, but Canon's flash technology causes either 1) the object in visual field to be blasted with light and rest of the background is totally dark OR 2) pixelation of the entire image and untrue color reproduction. To be optimistic - because I was so in love with the look of this camera - I blamed all the poor quality pictures on the fact that I was indoors. I took the camera outside, where there was plenty of light and no need for flash. I set everything on auto - STILL blurry. I set settings to manual, and played with settings - STILL blurry. The best photo I got was when most of the photo was clear but the sides would be blurry. Again, yes every 20 photos maybe I would get 1 or 2 good, clear ones. In those pictures, you can tell that Canon photograph image quality is just superior. However, it is way too difficult to take those perfect pictures. Cnet reviews claim that at ISO 80, pictures are crisp and clear. Under low light conditions, with ISO 80, you will not be able to see anything. Cnet says as ISO settings increase, pictures will become noisy but not "unusable"...meaning, in low light, pictures will be blurry and noisy unless you use flash, which then causes untrue color reproduction and sense of artificial lighting. Essentially, when flash is on, no matter how hard you shake the camera, all your pictures will be crisp and clear. If flash is NOT on, even if you sincerely try your best to hold the camera still, 10% of the pictures are crisp and clear. Why does flash make this difference? Something is clearly wrong with this camera's technology.

Perhaps you're thinking, nah everyone seems to love this camera - this girl is just bad at taking pictures. I thought the same thing before I got this camera, when I read reviews complaining about the SD630's lack of image stabilization technolgy and blurry pictures. I ignored them. I exchanged this camera many times, thinking perhaps I got a bad model. I played with all the settings. Took it indoors, outdoors, set it on Auto, set it on Manual....I can't say I've gotten one fantastic picture out of it yet. I thought, maybe it's just me. I asked many people to try taking pictures of the same item with this camera, including a professional photographer, and out came the same blurry pictures. One caveat: the "blurriness" I'm referring to is not severe, where you can't even tell what's in the picture. I'm referring to the fact that the pictures simply have no sharpness or clarity. I can send pictures illustrating this to anyone interested.

No matter how hard I've tried to be optimistic or make this camera take some high-quality pictures, I find that the quality and image technology really hasn't improved since the earlier Canon models (I've taken pictures with many earlier models). There is no way that auto settings and image quality set at "fine" would turn out so pixelated and not have true color. Even though it's going to be so much trouble and cost me excessively to return it at this point, I would rather not own ANY digital camera than spend over 300 on such a disappointing machine. Canon needs to catch up with its competitors; the fact that the first digital elph with image stabilization is the SD700 shows how behind Canon is.

Bottom line - people who only care about vanity would love this camera. It looks simply stunning. Those with any relatively high standards for image quality and consistency thereof, i.e. those who do not want a huge proportion of their photos to be just okay and not "unusable," should look elsewhere. And if any of you find the perfect one, do let me know; I've been in search of the perfect camera this whole time and disappointingly, this camera falls way below that ideal.

Excellent camera.
Just returned from a ten day trip to Israel. This is a great travel camera. Easy to carry everywhere. Good range of easy to use settings for many different conditions. As with all of the cameras this size in low light you really have to hold the camera steady or use a mini tripod. The 3" LCD is nice but I did order the shieldzone cover for the screen.

Canon SD630
I purchased for trip which we took to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon. Camera performed very well. I never missed a view finder. It's compact and takes terrific pictures for a "non-expert" as myself. Would give a 4.5 with only knock that camera provides no warning when battery is too low. You Must have a back-up battery with you when runs down. (I didn't have one on me when halfway into our hike down into Grand Canyon and missed some great opportunities. Batteries are small - just have one in your pocket. Other than this knock, it's the best digital camera I've owned.

handy small camera and great photos
I got this camera because it is smaller and lighter than our years-old powershot. The size and weight are great. You can tuck it anywhere and it fits in a pocket which is nice for party snaps. The settings are intuitive and it did not take long to figure out how to use the camera but that may also be a function of having had the powershot for so long. We took a picture at a restaurant with a big window behind us and unlike the old camera we were clear in the picture and the window light did not drown us out. Our party pics are very good and were taken in all lighting conditions. We wanted a fast point and shoot camera to take candid shots that could be blown up for nice photo prints if we got a great shot, and this camera fits that bill. The only downside is that there is no view finder and the view screen cannot be seen in bright sunlight, so you shoot blind. However, having gotten used to the camera the photos taken at a picnic came out quite well, they just needed a little cropping on the computer before printing. Over all I think this camera is great and I would have given it 5 stars if I could have seen the screen outdoors.

Whoa!! Best camera I've ever owned!
Unfortunately, I'm a gadget freak! I admit! It's driving my husband nuts! It's difficult for him to see the point of me buying all this techno stuff when they all "seem" the same. However, my brand new Canon SD630 gave me the two thumbs up from my husband!! He is amazed at how brilliant my photos come out compared to the 7 or so digital cameras I've had in the past. Yes, you read that right "7 or so"...I know!! Anyway, just check out the photos I posted at the top. I'll let my pics do the talkin'! Too bad Amazon doesn't let me preview the great movie clips I have..it's awesome! I don't have to lug around a separate video cam when we travel. We've always been the type to take loads of footage on a standard 8mm cam but never find time to sit in from of the TV to watch them. All I need to do now is use the movie feature of the Canon, load it to my computer which makes it much more convenient to show to family and friends. Although the battery life is adequate, I would suggest purchasing a cheap off brand back up battery, and the 2GB memory card. Oh, I love the camera so much, I even splurged on the waterproof case. Shhh...don't tell my husband how much I spent on that!! :)

Excellent camera. Great features
I strongly recommend this digital camera. It takes great pictures, the battery has a long life, the screen is large and it is very easy to use.

Disappointed - Agree with other poster R Tao
I had similar experience to other poster as R Tao. I bought it from Amazon and now have returned the camera. After reading so many good reviews I got the camera but it was disappointment. The pictures are not sharp and were blurry. I got it tested from a professional photographer and he did not like it either. Although his comments were that the particular peice I have could be defected who knows. Since I did not want to get into ordering a replacement and not working I just returned the camera.

In contrast, my older camera Sony DSC-P200 had amazing sharpness and clarity. I think Sony does good deal. Not sure why people think Canon does good job at optics. My brother-in-law has Canon S-80 which is considered top of the line consumer point and shoot camera and I do not think it take sharp pictures either. I think Sony's lens are the best. I will buy another Sony but I may give Canon one more chance and try Canon SD700 IS. May be IS does the wonder for Canon.

I personally would not recommend SD630.

Thanks.

sd630 is some of canon's best work
Canon truly put themselves out by making this terrific camera. Of course there a few minor frustrations here and there, but nothing that wouldn't come with any typical snapshot camera. Here are just some little things I'd like to point out:

-Since only the 700 has the image stabilization feature, the 630 has a little blurring with shaky hands and action shots, but does well overall. If you use the flash, it usually will eliminate the blur.

-The sd630 does very well in dim lighting, as long as you have a sure hand.

-The fireworks and color swap features really don't work THAT well, but they're fun to play around with. A lot of the canon features make subtle differences though that only are noticable on a computer screen size--don't doubt that there's a difference! A good example of this is the "vivid" color feature. The colors do not seem that different on the lcd screen, but on a computer screen, the color is gorgeous.

-I would say that the enormous lcd screen makes the camera worth going for this over the 600, without a doubt. Not only does the screen make it wonderfully easy to snap pictures, but the styling really separates this camera from the others in the line, or even other brands (notably, the sony cybershot). I wouldn't normally care too much about the camera's appearance, but the sd630 offers great performance as well as a stylish look. People often stop and comment at how much they like the camera. One note of warning-the screen is succeptible to scratches because of its size, so be sure to have a camera case.

-How to handle the software: I was very annoyed when my pictures were downloaded and each day's pictures had their own file. If you would be annoyed with this as well, heed the following advice. Because the software did that, this meant that I had about 20 different folders and could not look at my pictures that I'd taken in the past month all together. My advice:when the download window comes up on your computer, choose the "select images" option. This command will bring up another window, which you ought to choose "select all images" and then click "download pictures". When the final window pops up, check the "create subfolder" option and choose "new name" from the list. This way, the pictures that you download all at once may be placed in one large folder under "my pictures" or wherever you have placed your pictures. This really makes it much easier to view or show others pictures on the computer.

-If you'd prefer to use the canon software, by all means, go ahead. However, having used the canon software, I would advise downloading Picasa, Google's pciture software. It's a free and wonderfully simple download and the software is infinitely better. The only feature Picasa does not have is stitch assist, but for the ease of use, who cares?

-The sd630 has many great options, like direct printing from the camera and slideshow mode. Also, the 630 can erase all images at once, it is just a menu option. Reviewing pictures with friends is delightfully easy, and you can zoom in very far, very quickly. The options for picturetaking are endless-you may choose the iso, flash type, and even use digital macro along with other features. The digital macro is amazing- you can come within centimeters of your subject.

-The 630 is great for sharing your pictures with people because the camera is SO simple to figure out-no tricks. One main button controls flipping between camera mode, picture taking, and reviewing. Zooming is a breeze and no one ever questions which buttons to press to take a picture. The buttons have been refined to a stylish few and are unobtrusive. All are labeled, so there's no guesswork. The picture taking options are under the menu option, and may be chosen on the screen--may be changed very quickly. This eliminates the rotating button with confusing symbols like that of the sony cybershots.

-Finally, and most importantly, the color and pictures are great. Canon has a very distinguishable picture--the typical "Canon color" is meant to please the owner and it sure does. The colors are bright and crisp. The pictures are the true reward for owning this camera.

Very pleasing camera
I was looking for a compact yet performant camera that would be easy to take around (read: easily pocketable) to replace my Sony Cybershot DSC-P1. Nothing wrong with the Sony except:
A. Very mediocer performance in low-light conditions
B. A little too bulky to be pocketable.

The SD630 fares quite well on both the fronts. Once I learnt the manual settings, taking night shots was a cinch. The video capability (640 x 480, 30 fps) comes as a pleasant surprise: video quality surpasses that of my digital camcorder.

And oh, the 3" screen is a pleasure.

Terrific camera
I've been a big fan of the Canon Elphs since the late 1990s, when I had an APS Elph. The form factor, picture quality, styling-- all were great.

I carry a digital camera around with me everywhere, and between two photogenic children and lots of travel, I can easily take 1000 pictures a week. So having a good camera is important to me.

The SD630 is tremendous. It's light (especially compared to the Sony Cybershot I had before) yet feels very substantial, and has some nice subtle styling details. The 3" screen is amazing, it starts up very quickly, and the pictures are fantastic-- in sunlight, low light, flash, whatever. Technically there's no image stabilization, but I've taken pictures with shutter speeds of as low as 1/6 second, and they've come out crisp. So far, the battery life is better than advertised-- a welcome change!

Get a 1 GB memory card. Being able to store 500+ very large, very high-rez pictures (or 2000 merely large, high-rez) is a kick.

I also bought the Aquapac underwater camera case, and have been shooting pictures of the kids swimming. Very cool combination.

One Awesome Camera



This Canon SD630 camera replaced my "garbage" Sony that suddenly stopped working. I love this camera!

PROS:
1. HUGE 3" LCD screen (the main reason I bought this camera).
2. Excellent picture quality.
3. Tons of pre-set settings including "fireworks" (which takes perfect photo's of fireworks).
4. Lots of manual settings if you prefer, including high ISO, white balance, etc.
5. Takes top quality videos (at up to 30 frames/sec at 640X480 - similar quality as that of full-featured video cameras).
6. You can upload any WAV and JPG files to personalize all the camera's settings (the sound and picture that shows when you turn on your camera, the sound the shutter makes, the sound of the buttons when navigating settings, etc.).
7. When reviewing your pictures, the built-in "gyro" will flip the orientation of your photo when you tilt the camera going from "portrait mode" to "landscape mode" and vice-versa.
8. The "colour swap" feature will have designers and decorators drooling. You take a picture of say, a house, then aim the pin-point in the middle of the LCD screen at a colour on the house that you want to change and press the shutter button, then aim the camera on the colour you want to change it to and press the shutter button, then voila!, the original picture of the house now appears with the new colour you had just personally selected!
9. It takes only about 15 minutes to fully charge the battery (NB-4L, Li-ion) in the included external battery charger.
10. The "auto create directory" feature is great. You can set the camera to create a new directory every day (or at a certain time) so when returning from your holiday, all your pictures are filed in folders according to the date you took them.
11. The "photo stitch" feature is awesome. Select this feature then snap a picture, rotate yourself a few degrees, take another picture, rotate, etc. The PC software will take all these shots and combine them into one panoramic picture.


CONS:
1. There isn't a visual battery-life meter; it only appears when the battery is almost dead, so it's hard to tell how much battery life you have left until it's too late. I bought a second battery that I carry with my camera just in case.
2. Flimsy cover on the USB and AV/OUT terminals.
3. When you connect the camera to your PC, the camera isn't recognized as a "removable device" (which is preferred with digital cameras), so you can't just copy pictures back and forth in Windows Explorer. The camera requires it's own software to download your pictures.
4. The built-in speaker is located on the top of the camera (it isn't facing you), so it's difficult to hear videos when you're playing them back on the LCD screen.

The "PROS" far outweigh the "CONS" with this camera. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Prepare to meet new people when you're out using this camera - people are amazed at the size of the LCD screen.

Great Camera...huge screen & lots of extras
This is my 4th digital camera and I highly recommend it. It takes fantastic photos (especially considering it's very compact size). The huge 3" screen is awesome, and I get "wow's" from people every time I use it.

Beyond that it has some great extras that I didn't expect. It has a sensor that detects if a photo was taken in landscape or portrait mode and it automatically flips the picture. No more flipping for me! This also means the photo is right-side up when you view it on the camera. This works well with the nice slideshow the camera offers, with nice transitions and subtle panning.

It loses a star because there is no optical viewfinder...but hey, you can't have everything.

I didn't want to risk it, so I returned this camera...
After conducting what I thought was thorough research on cameras, I finally ordered the SD630 to replace my old, worn Minolta DiMage camera. Unfortunately, last week my daughter's Canon SD200, which we bought on sale through Amazon last Christmas and gave to her for her high school graduation in May, had a problem. After taking approximately a grand total of 50 pictures, the SD200 stopped working. The lens assembly stuck in the out position, and the camera flashed an E18 error message. The manual was not helpful, so I googled "Canon E18 error code" and was shocked to see over 16,000 hits! I was amazed to see that the E18 problem has hit many, many Canon customers, and the company is doing nothing to rectify what is an obvious design flaw with the camera. The SD630 is very similar in design to previous models like the SD200 so I decided why risk having another Canon paperweight? I ordered the Casio EX-Z750 from Amazon and will return the Canon before I even open it. I highly advise anyone purchasing a Canon digital point and shoot to research the E18 problem before buying, and if you have to have one, be sure to purchase additional warranty protection.

Awesome point and shoot camera
I just got the SD630 and I love it. I've had in the past other digital point and shoot cameras and this one has been the best so far. This camera focuses fast, shoots fast. One feature I really like is the continuos shooting. The big screen is awesome!. The quality of the pictures is pretty good. It has a lot of different features which makes it even more fun to use. I don't really mind not having the viewfinder. Overall the performance of this camere is great. Canon did a great job with this camera.

looks and works quite well
This camera has a huge view screen and looks nice. It is easy to use. We added a huge memory card to it because the one with which it arrives would only hold about ten pictures. This is my favorite camera I've owned so far. It even gets approving looks from prfessional photographers with whom I work.

Superb little camera
My wife and I bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT as our primary camera to document the antics of our new baby. We love that camera, but admittedly, there are times that it is simply too large for the situation (i.e. restaurants, doctor visits, etc). That said, We bought this SD630 one month ago and LOVE it for those occasions.

The only niggle: It seems to create a great deal of redeye due to the close proximity of the flash blub to the lens. That said, the red eye reduction mode helps out a bit, and photoshop or picasa can remove redeye 95% of the time.

I heartily recommend this camera.

Perfect Size
Great Camera. Didn't give it 5 stars because I think the picture on it is not as crisp and clear as it could be compared to my old Canon digital camera. Everything else on the camera is great if you want a simple and easy point and shoot.

Great improvement over Previous Cannon SDs
I purchased this camera as a replacement for my SD-400. I loved the SD-400 except that I broke the LCD twice. I was not about to replace the LCD for a second time so I went shopping for a new camera. I take over 1,000 photos a week on this camera as I use it as a primary tool in my job. They have added a rigid protection barrier for the LCD whih pretty much eliminates my only complaint with previous SD Models. Let me give you my quick Pro / Con List:

Pros:

-Size: It is the perfect size. I can't imagine working with a camera that is any smaller.
-Weight: It is light weight and easily fits in your pocket even after you put it in a hardshell case.
-Picture Quality: Far superior picture quality as compared to other 6 MegaPixel Cameras. This is of course due to the higher quality lenses and the precision auto focusing.
-Availability of backup batteries: Duracell makes an excellent battery for this camera. NB-4L It is fairly inexpensive as Lithium Ion batteries go and it is easy to find.
-SD Memory: It takes SD card memory which make life easier and less expensive.
-3" LCD. The LCD on this camera is very larger and it is beautiful. Feels like I am using my MiniDV Camera.
-Software Interface: This camera is very easy to use and the menus are intuitive and simple to navigate.
-LCD Protection: The LCD is behind a rigid clear protecting surface which seems to be fairly resistant to damage.

Cons:

-Battery Life. This camera does not use AA Batteries so if you have a 512MB card or larger, then you will probably have to charge the battery before you get through the entire card. The large LCD uses a bit more energy so this camera doesn't have as much battery life as its predecessor. The trade off is well worth it in my opinion. I recommend purchasing a backup battery (NB-4L) for those long sessions.
-No View Finder: There is no view finder, means in the really bright sun it is somewhat difficult to take pictures. Although it is not as others I have owned.

I recommend this camera to anyone who wants fantastic quality photos and an easy to use easy to carry camera.

Good Luck!

SONY no more!
My two previous digital cameras were SONY - so it was the obvious choice that my third (smaller in size, more mps...) would be another SONY. I did tons of research, spoke to photographers, spoke to friends, hung out at Best Buy and bothered the sales staff....and decided on this AMAZING Canon PowerShot. I wont bore you with the technical jargon -- this camera delivers clear, bright, and stunning photographs. As a SONY junkie, I did have to familiarize myself with the menus, but before long I was shooting like a pro. When reviewing pictures, if you tilt the camera, the picture will change direction as well. I am so completely satisfied and Canon has found a loyal customer.

it is a good choice!
if you just want a camera for your vacation, this is the right choice i think. i like it especially the big LCD screen.

New digital user, and taking photos like a pro
I have had my sd630 for about a month and I love it! It did take me a few days to figure out all of the features that I actually use, there are more that I haven't felt a need to use yet. The shutter delay is minimal unless you have an extreme zoom, or really bad lighting conditions. Everyone loves the sleek look and the large 3" display, but you definitely have to be aware of how you store it when not in use... no scratches so far! Like I said, I am new to this, but I keep seeing huge differences in the quality of photos taken by friends and family and my pictures. I am extremely happy with my choice.

Great product!
Loved!!!
I am a canon fan, so this one has a great and quality design, the screen is huge and clear, you can see your pic so bright. it is beautiful, great quality pics, very easy to use, the only thing that canon tecnology doesn't have is the trimming option, i miss this in Canon cameras because it is a helpful option... but in general i recomend this for a compact model , i love this camera!!!

I love this camera!
I took this camera to Iceland and Italy and this camera took beautiful pictures. I love the huge screen, and battery life is excellent.

Great Camera Options, BUT pictures are very DARK
The SD 630 was my 2006 Father's Day gift. I was very happy because I was going to purchase a camera for my vacation in August. I didn't read the instruction book, because I was so happy. The pictures came out great on the BIG 3" lcd screen on my vacation.THE BIG TEST..THE PRINTING OF THE PICTURES!!
I took my camera to Walmart to get the pictures printed ( LIKE I ALWAYS DO..WITH MY $75 Kodak camera) ALOT of the pictures came out very dark..So, I learned about the histogram, which is a chart on the camera that show if the picture will be printed dark. I went to a wedding on Aug 19,and I took pictures and they all are dark.. I called Canon Support and they said maybe I need to buy an addl flash ...If you taking up close pictures they come out REALLY GOOD, but if the target is not up close, or if your taking pictures inside a room or building you can forget about it. On my vacation I was useing the Auto Setting, didn't work and at the wedding I used custom settings, didn't work..
I'm Very Disappointed

Large screen, excellent !!!
It has a large screen, very sharp! No viewfinder though. It'd be much better if it can operate on regular AA bateries. It needs the special Canon Lion battery, which costs a lot, $40 each.

Canon SD630
This is one great camera!!!! I bought this as a graduation present for my son and we all fell in love with it! The screen is what sets it apart. I didnt realize I have been sqinting to see if I have taken a good shot with all other cameras. The screen is so big on this everything is so clear!!Size is perfect too and it is easy to use. Everyone who saw it wants it!!!Oh yeah and the pics are great too

great camera
I love it...it is easy to use, you'll have a very clear pixtures, it is easy to upload in the computer and you can easily edit it. I love it! This is my first Camera and I love it!

3" screen - not so excellent
With all the praise this screen and this camera have gotten, I'd like to point out something that has been missing from any review I've seen. While the screen is larger than it's 2.5" counterparts, the pixel count is not (173,000 pixels for both). Since the pixel density is even worse than my old 2" screen camera, I cannot tell if my pictures are in focus in my camera! I thought I had a defective unit that couldn't take sharp pictures until I uploaded them to my computer. On the computer the pictures were excellent, but you really can't tell on this low resolution LCD on the camera. I like the camera, but if I were to do it again, I'd focus more on pixel density than screen size. Otherwise you have no idea if you got a sharp picture until you upload it to the computer.

Nice camera
I love Canon cameras. I have had only Canons so far.
I think that the SD630 is great for the average person. The huge LCD has a positive and a negative side. Because of the size of the LCD you can see the picture much better. However, because it's so big it takes almost the entire back of the camera. That means: the LCD will always have some figerprints. It's almost impossible to avoid touching the LCD with your fingers.
Other than that I think the SD630 is one more good camera from Canon.

Excellent camera / easy to use
I've replaced a lost/stolen SD450 with the SD630 and find that its as easy to operate as that earlier model. The addition of the larger 3" screen and a few other features unique to this model make it a very nice camera to keep in a shirt or jacket pocket.

I especially like the new touch sensitive function selector which acts similarly to an iPod clickwheel. Touching it causes a view of the wheel and its functions to appear on the screen so you can easily see what you're changing. Its helpful in low-light conditions where the actual button markings may be hard to see. The same selector also lets you scroll through your photos by twirling your finger around it. Another nice new feature is the ability to get a picture-in-picture view of a photo after its taken. In this view, the whole photo appears in the upper left of the screen and the focus point appears enlarged in the lower right allowing verification that it was in focus.

Contrary to an earlier review here, and to the instructions, it doesn't seem necessary to load the Canon software. Windows XP seems to already have adequate drivers to allow photos to be downloaded from Windows Explorer. While the camera does not appear as a drive letter, it does appear as a "device" that can be browsed with Windows Explorer and allows drag-n-drop copying of photos to your hard drive. The only Canon software I loaded is the Photostitch program for creating panoramic views.

Great Camera
Reading the reviews on this camera almost caused me not to purchase it. Going against the negative ones about the blurry pictures I ordered it. I've personally never been happier with a camera. The first day it started blurring the pictures, but if you look in the manual under troubleshooting you'll see advise on how to get rid of the blurring and it worked. Its a great camera you just have to be smarter than it.

Canon SD630 is a BIG little camera!
The Canon PowerShot SD630 is a small yet fierce compact point-and-shoot camera. This little 6-megapixel camera managed to bundle performance and snappy photos into a package you can easily carry in your shirt or pants pocket. I recently upgraded from the Canon SD450, and I am so glad that I got the SD630 (rather than the SD600). THE SD630 is almost identical to its little brother, the PowerShot SD600. The SD630 incorporates the same sensor, lens, and internal components. The only advantage over the less expensive SD600 is its 3-inch LCD screen, but had to lose the viewfinder in the process (which I never used anyway).

The first thing that jumped out and caught my attention is the (relatively) HUGE 3" LCD screen. It provides plenty of room to frame your shot but not so much room to operate the camera. Granted, the pixel count on this screen is the same as the 2.5" screen on the SD600, I still like the larger view. The buttons on the back include a standard four-way rocker control pad, menu, display, and a button for printing when the camera is hooked up to a PictBridge-compatible printer. If you have large hands, you'll probably find its control layout a little uncomfortable, and it doesn't have an optical viewfinder, but the SD630 is still a great compact camera. Once you get the hang of it, the pad allows "easy" navigation around the menu system, and you can directly set options such as the self-timer, continuous shooting, macro, flash, and ISO sensitivity. The top edge of the camera holds the shutter release, the zoom rocker, the power button, and a slider for switching between photo, movie, and playback modes. The zoom rocker is a tabbed ring around the shutter release similar to the SD600, facing the front edge of the camera. Some users have mentioned that it is uncomfortable for large fingers and extremely awkward to operate with one hand, especially when zooming out. I have large/x-large hands, and I find no problems using the controllers.

The Canon PowerShot SD630 has a decent amount of features that give its tiny form a nice amount of flexibility. Canon couples a 6-megapixel CCD with up to 3x optical zoom (35mm-to-105mm equivalent) lens. The lens has a pretty narrow maximum aperture of f/2.8 to f/4.9, with a shutter-speed range of 1/1,500 second to 15 seconds, average numbers for models in this space. The camera has automatic, program, and manual exposure modes with a range of plus or minus 2EV in 1/3EV steps, which is also on a par with the competition. Its sensitivity range goes as high as ISO 800; that's not quite as much as Fujifilm's and Sony's latest offerings, but it will still give you more low-light flexibility than most cameras of its size.

I won't go into the details of the measurements, but I have to mention that it is less than an inch thick with its lens tucked in (great to carry around). It is easier to carry around than the SD450, or my ancient S200 (yes, the CompactFlash version!). I liked that the right side of the body is somewhat shaped/curved, because it lets the user hold the camera comfortably in your right hand.

In addition to standard automatic and manual exposure modes, the SD630 offers a handful of scene modes. One will also find options for photographing beaches, plants, snowy days, and fireworks (not available on the SD450). It even has an underwater mode to use in conjunction with the optional underwater housing (for extra $$). Color Accent and Color Swap modes can filter and change colors in the camera, producing some neat artistic effects. And, the camera has an awesome 30fps VGA movie capture mode, which can be used in conjuction with the Color Accent modes and other features. I've shot a 45 minute movie of my 4-month old daughter (I have a 2Gb SD card) with no hiccups, and I think I could have gone longer.

The SD630 takes a little over a second from power-on to the first shot, and takes about 2 seconds between shots, which increases marginally with flash. I haven't tried the burst mode yet, but it is supposed to shoot at 2.1fps with no buffer constraint on the number of shots.

So far, the photos I have taken with the SD630 were quite pleasing, looked crisp and clear, and nice color reproduction (at least with my poor eyes) at the lower ISO range. However, images become noisy at ISO 400 and ISO 800 (as expected), but still usable. I will be doing a field test against my Digital SLR (Nikon D100), results pending. Also, I have not used the bundled software, which is supposed to be very good.

Conclusion:

I am happy with my purchase of the Canon PowerShot SD630. It is an extremely solid ultra compact, with performance and photo quality that more than make up for its very few design flaws. It's a surprisingly good shooter, and its feature set makes it quite flexible for a camera of its size. It is a more expensive version of the PowerShot SD600 ($50-100 more), with a larger screen and no optical viewfinder. Personally, I don't use the viewfinder, so I am willing to give it up for the larger LCD.

Awesome Camera!
I love my camera. It takes awesome pictures and has lots of cool features. My favorite feature is the flash option that lets you pick one color out and it makes the rest black and white. It makes me look like a professional photographer. I would definitely recommend it to anyone!!

Love Canon
All I can say in short is I love this camera. I had a Sony prior to this camera and was never really happy with it and was worried about spending money on another camera I might not like. But the big screen on the Canon, the beautiful pictures it takes, and how user friendly it is, is just wonderful. I could not ask for a better camera. Look no further, just purchase it!

My wife loves it...and so do I
I made the mistake of trying another brand of camera for my wife before coming to my senses I buying another Canon. I purchased the Fuji Finepix Z3 in pink, and the picture quality is so terrible! We got better pictures from her Canon A510 3.2 Megapixel. So I took that back and picked up the SD630 and it is awesome! Obviously not as good as my Canon 30D, but for a very compact point and shoot the SD630 produces some great pics with good color and sharpness. The 3" screen is amazing and perfect for someone like my wife who doesn't like using an optical viewfinder. You won't be disappointed with this one. Go Canon!

Perfect for the ladies
I am totally enjoying my camera. I think I made the perfect choice in getting this camera. It neatly fits into my little purse and I can take it anyway with me. I was also drawn to the 3 inch LCD screen! Perfect! Also because I trust the canon name (previously owned a Powershot A70) I know what I am getting.
Furthermore, downloading and transfering pictures are easy with my MAC, I dont have to think twice about what to do. Also the record feature is so clear, with great volume, I was very surprised. Additionally, even in the auto function, night shots comes out really bright and nice!
Of course I am used to having more buttons to press, but I guess with a small camera, most keys are multi-fuctional.
Now, whenever someone sees me using my new camera they feel the need to change theirs! Luv it!

Nice camera
I really like this camera, but I can't help but wonder if I should have spent a little more for the sd700 or should have gotten a different brand that had the image stabilization. It does take awesome pictures! I think I just need to get used to the settings - the auto setting creates blurry pictures sometimes. Plus, in auto mode, you don't have full control over the flash.

The size is perfect - I carry it with me all the time. The 3" viewfinder rules! However, it's difficult to see in bright sunlight.

Canon SD630 is a fantastic camera
This camera has a huge display screen, easy zoom, easy to use picture review, crisp 6 megapixel pictures and long battery life. In summary, it has everything that I would want in a digital camera. I would recommend this camera to any casual photographer.

Easy to see with 3 inch viewfinder!
Alot of options that I have yet to figure out.

great
I love this camera
At first I thought it would be sketchy to order a camera on amazon but I was wrong. It came in one piece with everything I needed and by far it is my favorite camera ever.

SD 630
I am very happy with this camera :) I've made over 3000 photos in last 3 months and it's working perfectly.

Elph SD630
This handy little camera is all I expected and more. It' a snap to use and produces great pictures in all lighting situations. I have not even begun to learn how to use all of the features. The battery lasts forever. Photos download to iPhoto perfectly.

CANON: Awesome features, Big Screen, Great Pictures
You can't go wrong getting a Canon, no other brand is comparable. The SD630 is a sleek, compact camera that gets the job done right. It includes awesome features that include color swap and color emphasis. The only downside to a small camera as this one is that you don't get much of a zoom. Also this camera does not have a battery life indicator and doesn't let you crop the images afterwards. The big 3 inch screen makes up for these cons and I don't think there is a better compact camera on the market.

Great for kids and all else
Don't need the view finder. The screen is plenty bright and gets brighter as the sun does (via f-stop monitoring). Plus, the continuous setting is great for kids. Takes on average 4 shots/sec. This means, in fast action scenes, you're guaranteed to get a couple of good shots. I had a Canon 330 before, the 630 blows the 330 away. Its light weight, durable, small.
Great pictures, great videos. Who needs a camcorder?

I LOVE THIS CAMERA
This camera is great for point and shoot purposes. The shutter time is remarkably quick, considering the 6MP. Easy to use and transfer/edit pictures. Highly recommend this camera for the average user.

Canon PowerShot SD630
This camera was a birthday gift for my daughter and she's very happy with it, it takes good pictures and high quality and good price also. Thanks.

Canon PowerShot SD630
Great camera. I can't say anything bad about this camera. This is my second 600 series PowerShot. We carry them with us wherever we go. Might want to consider buying an extra battery, because the rechargeable battery does not give much warning when it is about to quit.

pics not good
i dont know whats the problem but pics are not coming good. may be i m not able to configure properly but even after using default setting it is not coming good. need to figure out. is thee any way i can replace that... i think there is some manufacturing defect??? not sure thou.

So Far So Good
Very happy with the picture quality, size of the camera, and functionality. Still learning most of the features, but it's kind of fun...certainly no reason to be complaining about it! Love the large viewer. Battery life is a little short, but good enough for me. Would much rather have the trade off of small camera vs. large battery, since I'm a pretty novice user and don't use it too often.

Best Compact Camera on the market
Canon's digital elph is always good, I had SD110, SD200, and now SD630. Some people wonder about the 2.5 inch LCD screen. Just ask yourself "How often do you use the viewfinder when taking a photo with compact cameras?" If your answer is not often, Canon PowerShot SD630 is your best choice.

The price is right
What I like most of the SD630 is its 3" LCD display.
Also the quality of the macro and infinity shooting modes is excellent.
Takes really good panoramic photos.
Its compact and pretty.
Has a wide variety of shooting modes, all of them very useful and easy to configure.
Has a mode to switch and accent colors, which other cameras don't have.
Takes very good video even when there is not a lot of light.

What I don't like is that is doesn't have image stabilizer.
If there is very little light and no flash is used then the picture will appear blurred.

Disappointing
This is my first digital camera, and I made my final decision to spend more money and buy a better camera based on all of the wonderful reviews. True, the large screen is wonderful, and I love the compact size. Close-up pictures (like single flowers) turned out beautifully. Other photos were average.
The big problem is taking pictures outside in sunlight. On a bright day, the screen is nothing more than a mirror; I was simply looking into my face no matter how I turned. So....to get a picture we had to "guess and shoot." Then we would look at the screen in shade to see what we got. It was a big guessing game. We were on a trip, so were asked by several others to take pictures of them on their cameras. That is how I found out how wonderful an optical lens would be. This camera is useless in sunlight.

Pretty decent camera
It's a nice, sturdy camera. The only issue that I would have with the screen is that it has a potential to be screatched. However, that can easily be remidied with a simple screen kit. Also, night shots are hard to get and sometimes the motion blurs when you take the pictures. However, that can be remedied by just taking an .AVI of the shot and separating it into others. My advice is to play with the camera to get ALL of its idosyncrasies, but that would be for any camera. However, the camera interface is EXTREMELY intuitive. Also, set up the software to automatically align shots. You can do that in camera, but for vertical shots, it may not do that and you'd have to save it in the same file.

Excellent digital camera
Very nice digital camera for everyone in the family. I've used 35mm SLR camara all along, and trying to get familiar with digital camara/photography. As for this model, very useful for taking quick snap shots. Color quality is excellent; battery life and charging system is very good. Overall design is very nice - easy to carry, automatic lense cover, big LCD screen on the back, battery release mechanism are all well thought out. Highly recommended for anyone considering purchasing digital camera.

Worse than my 4yr old 3MP Olympus
I bought SD630 to replace my older and bulkier camera (also point and shoot). I read reviews on various sites, asked friends and played with different cameras in the store. A lot of positive reviews for Canon cameras on this site and from my friends. In the end, I'm not quite sure if I have high standards, others have low standards, or I got a bad model. Other Canon owners suggested that this is a user issue but I am comparing this camera to my old one - same user, different results.

My 4yr old Olympus takes better pictures with all auto presets. Canon's all auto pictures are blurry (edges are uneven), too pixilated (hair looked like it was sparking) and make the people look dead (colors are on bluish side). Even after playing with various scene modes, I couldn't make the pictures look like they weren't taken at the morgue.

Visually, the camera is very attractive with clean lines and huge screen. It's small but on the heavy side - not suitable for a woman's pocket like Exilim but more like guy's baggy jeans' pocket.

Overall, the picture quality was subpar and I returned the camera.

Not a bad gadget
As far as all the features I'll never use and I'm not a pro like some people claim to be, I'm happy with this camera. It takes great pictures but does use utilizebattery power because of the screen. No problem there, I already picked up 2 after market high capacity batteries on ebay for a few bucks which have worked great.
The screen is a major asset to this and is the talk around the office.

I Love This Camera...
I purchased this camera when it was first released in anticipation of my upcoming summer trip to Europe. I upgraded to this 6MP Canon from my two and a half year old 5MP Sony DSC-P10, a camera that was becoming increasingly irritating both because of the small 1.5" LCD screen and how long it took to take a simple photo.

Let me tell you-- when I was traveling through Europe, I was so glad I had this camera.

Not only did it take fantastic pictures, the 3" LCD screen made it easier to see photos (although it was a little difficult in bright sunshine, a problem when I was in Greece) and decide whether or not I wanted to retake a particular picture. I loved all the different shooting options, and the color accent was particularly fun to play around with. It was a little more difficult taking pictures at night, and it would have helped if this camera had the image stablization that comes with the SD700 and now the SD800 as well. Both the optical and digital zoom were amazing, although using the digital zoom produces noisier pictures as expected.

I also loved the navigation wheel on the camera, which functions almost like an iPod when you're scrolling through pictures. It made it easier to find the photo I wanted and fast! There's also a slideshow, which I used every night when reviewing my pictures from the day's adventures.

I didn't mind that there was no viewfinder, because I never used it anyway. My biggest problem is that there is no battery indicator, so I was constantly nervously charging my battery at night when I was in hostels, just to be sure that it wouldn't die on me the next day. It was only a problem when I was in Paris and the battery died because I didn't charge it the previous night. I didn't take that many pictures a day, maybe 50-60 max daily, but I spent a lot of time playing around with the pictures after I took them, or just looking at them on the LCD screen later that night. I can't really comment on the battery life since I charged it almost every night while I was traveling, but it sure would have been useful to have a battery indicator to let me know how much was left. I would definitely recommend getting a backup battery, just in case.

I definitely like this camera much more than my previous one. It's faster when taking pictures than the Sony ever was, and the screen makes it more enjoyable to take photos. My family has several digital cameras, and of all of the different brands we own I think that Canon is superior (vs. Olympus, Leica digital, and Nikon). This camera took a little getting used to when compared to the others, which I could simply take out of box, charge, and use. I had to read the manual to learn how to navigate through the menus, but it's easy to pick up and learn.

All in all, this camera was well worth the money when I bought it over a hundred dollars more than it's listed for on Amazon now, so at the price it is now it's a bargain!

Great point and shoot
I've had this camera for a couple of days now and from what I can tell, the only thing that is really going to bother me is the lack of a battery life indicator. It would've been nice to have antishake technology as well. For a small camera it really packs in the functions otherwise. The last camera I owned was an S110 Canon Elph, so this is a huge step up.

amazing little camera with extrodinarily clear pictures
The camera SD630 is an amazing product for the price. Its resolution is 6.0 megapixels, which isn't the highest anymore but is the same as the original Digital Rebel from Canon, which I also own. This camera is replacing my Fujifilm 4800 which I bought 5 years ago at $500. This camera was only $270, about half the price and 3X the resolution and 1/3 the size of the 4800! Here's my breakdown of the camera:

PROS:
very compact
solid construction
large 3" LCD screen
Excellent optical lens
amazing video capibilities (rivaling camcorders)
lots of options to play around with
great stitching tool makes it a breeze to create panoramic views from several photos
80-800 ISO
fast start up
fast shutter speed (15 sec-1/1500 sec)
excellent macro option
great price

CONS:
Battery life is somewhat weak compared to other cameras in this class
LCD isn't the highest resolution for a large screen
flimsy battery/SD card door
can't switch SD cards while on tripod
NO image stabilization
options in menus can be somewhat hard to find
EXIF doesn't let you see the ISO for some reason
35mm is not wide enough view for a 2006 camera
No battery life indicator until its almost dead
comes with a pathetic 16meg SD card (buy at least a 1 gig)

All in all this camera is an awesome value, 6 megapixels is plenty for enlargements and the picture quality is almost as good as my Rebel. Better than a $3000 camera just five years ago shows how technology just keeps getting better and better and cheaper.

I love my Cannon SD630
I got this Canon SD630 after I had purchased the Sony Cybershot DSCW70... I took the Sony back! 4 0ut of 5 pictures were blurry right out of the box. I like it size and metal case but I was unhappy with it's lack of depth, color (even in vivid mode) and it's lack of area of focus. Ah, now for the Canon 630... while having a similar look and size, my pictures were vibrant and clear. Focus was tons better in both settings, Manual and Auto, however the Auto mode sometimes chooses the wrong point of the subject. The screen is a huge 3" and I am worried that it will scratch easy...I suggest getting a clear screen protector. The metal brush on the body also scratches rather easy too. A true test is the quality of pictures regular people send in. I wish there was an battery indicator it appears close to when the battery is just about to run out. I don't mind that there was no viewfinder, you won't miss it. The flimsy battery/SD card door needs improvement. I suggest getting a Canon Accessory Kit 4, it comes with a leather case, Battery pack NB-4L and 2 straps all for about $45.
In a nut shell this a GREAT POINT AND SHOOT CAMERA! For the price! I got it for $254 with 1 gb SD memory and shipping from Newegg. Most major chains sell it for $299 on sale. I would give this rating a 4 but I will give it a 5 because I am pleased with it's performance for a reliable point and shoot camera that takes great quality pictures above all the rest. See my examples...

Outstanding Features!
This camera can do it all. You will enjoy the size of the screen and the slideshow features it offers. The video option is also incredible. The weight is perfect to carry along. I am very happy with it. I purchased a Sony camera prior to this one and Canon is by far the best!

Poor image quality, fragile, prone to errors, nice LCD, easy to use
I do not recommend this camera.

The good:
-The large LCD screen on the back is wonderful and makes reviewing images easy and pleasurable.
-For point and shoot photography, the camera is easy to use right out of the box.

The bad:
-Image quality is poor. Images are overexposed and not of good quality.
-The case and LCD are scratched up after one month of mild use.
-The focus jammed a month into owning it. I returned all settings back to factory default and it still wouldn't work. I tried all sorts of things to restore the focus. Taking out the battery and memory card mysteriously returned the focus to normal.
-I've bought off of Amazon for years, but have never needed to return an item. I'm very disappointed to learn about Amazon's return policy of taking away 50% of the items value after 30 days, even if they are defective.

This camera replaced a lost Pentax Optio S which had infinitely better image quality than this Canon. I have buyers remorse and would have returned it if Amazon's policy had been less rigid.

Crystal Clear Point and Shoot Memories
I borrowed my daughter's SD630 on a 10 day trip to Greece with some friends. One of them had brought a new Canon EOS 5D but forgot to pack his flash (it doesn't have a pop up). I had a scandisk ultra II 2G card but I was taking so many good shots, I had to download the photos each day onto my laptop which allowed us to compare the performances between SD630 and EOS 5D daily. My SD630 took crystal clear shots just like the 5D (which retails for about $2,500??) on outdoor shots which is pretty remarkable but SD630 with High ISO (800) setting blew away the 5D on indoor shots. During the trip, we visited many museums where flash photography was not allowed, and my SD630 was the only one in the group taking incredibly sharp pictures in low light situations with consistency.

SD630 with its large LCD (which automatically switches between landscape and protrait in review mode) and easy to use thumb dial allowed me to take shots with great ease in changing conditions. I was able to turn off the flash, set the ISO to high, and etc with ease that I was able to take shots so quickly where as a slower trigger might have missed the shot.

I also tested out the macro settings where the SD630 performed flawlessly.

It is small enough to fit in my palm while large enough for the trip of a life time. Unlike SLR's, I was able to take the SD630 everywhere during the trip which meant I was merely a power button away from a great shot. I was so impressed with the SD630, I finally chose Canon over Nikon in buying a SLR for myself. I bought a new Rebel XTi with 18-55mm lens. I do like the XTi's combination of versatility and functionality, but so far especialy on indoor shots where no flash is to be used, I am just amazed by the quiet and yet powerful performance of the SD630. Maybe I just don't know how to use the XTi to its potential yet, but so far, I think the SD630 is taking better shots than the XTi or the 5D. The pictures speak for themselves for me. I don't think I will return the XTi, but seeing the photos, my wife is convinced that I am keeping the SLR because it is a "cooler" looking gadget than the point-and-shoot. Deep down, I think she's right. SD630 is a fantastic point-and-shoot camera which produces high end results. As I use my new XTi on the next photo opportunities, I will be wondering if the shots will be coming out as good as the SD630 can produce.