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For what it is - a low-cost, ultra-compact, point-and-shoot camera - the Canon Elph Jr. is a surprisingly good picture taker. That's quite a statement coming from someone whose tastes gravitate toward cameras that allow full manual control of shutter speeds, aperture openings and focusing. I like cameras that allow the photographer - not the camera - to be in control. Why then do I carry an Elph Jr. The short answer is that even the best camera in the world isn't going to be of any use to you when it's sitting back home in your camera bag. At the size of a deck of playing cards, the Elph Jr. fits easily in a shirt pocket and now goes with me everywhere. However, size isn't it's only advantage. The Elph Jr. also has a faster lens (2.8) than most point-and-shoots on the market today. What this means is you can take pictures in many low light situations without having to use flash. This is a huge advantage since on-camera flash has extreme limitations. For example, when photographing a beautiful church interior, flash will only illuminate the immediate foreground; everything in the background will be dark since light from a flash only carries a short distance. When shooting portraits, on-camera flash can also produce harsh background shadows and red eye. With a fast lens, one can turn off the flash and still capture the beauty of the church interior or take that portrait using existing light. Turn off the flash on most point-and-shoot cameras and you're likely to get a blurred shot since those slow-lens cameras have to compensate for their lack of light-gathering ability by leaving their shutter open for longer durations. The Elph Jr. is not without its drawbacks. For one, it uses Advanced Photo System (APS) film, which is more expensive to purchase and process than 35 millimeter. Whether APS will even be around in a few years is a very real question. Although not an issue with 4- by 6-inch prints - actually 4- by 7 in the APS format - an APS negative is smaller than a 35mm negative. That means it can't be enlarged as much without suffering in quality. At 4- by 7, though, the Elph Jr. takes pictures as sharp as any of my 35mm cameras. Like most point-and-shoot cameras, the Elph Jr. also doesn't provide any feedback on shutter speeds and apertures and doesn't allow the photographer to make exposure compensations for overly dark of overly light subjects. The Elph Jr. will also automatically fire its flash when the shutter speed drops to around 1/125th of a second based on my tests. With my rangefinder camera, I can easily hand hold at 1/30th of a second and can even get away with 1/15th of a second if I'm extra careful. Fortunately one can manually turn off the flash to take advantage of the camera's fast lens. One can also have the flash fire automatically, which comes in handy when needing fill flash outdoors. One final quibble is that the Elph Jr. can focus on the wrong subjects at close distances since the viewfinder does not see exactly the same scene as the lens. As long as one recognizes that there's going to be a certain amount of parallax error, it's generally possible for the careful photographer to take full advantage of the Elph Jr.'s close-focusing (down to 18 inches) ability. Despite it's limitations - which for some will also be its lack of a zoom lens - the Elph Jr. is an excellent, take-everywhere camera - especially in the hands of an experienced photographer.Read full review
A Mighty Midget was truely discovered back in the 90's when the Canon introduced the Canon Elph Jr. into its APS line of cameras. The Canon Elph Jr. boasted a number of superb features not often found in such small cameras. Features like a F2.8 26mm wide angle, auto focus 1.5 Feet to infinity, auto exposure, auto flash with red-eye reduction, three print formats (Classic, Wide Angel and Panoramic), self-time, tri-pod socket and uses the Advanced Photo Syetem! The quality and clarity of photographs that you will captures will take you breath away while putting a smile on your face for sure! : ) My advice, buy to or three Canon Elph Jr. cameras while you still can find them! Enjoy!!!!
The main thing I like about this camera is the fast or "big" lens. A little camera like this with an f2.8 lens is simply fantastic. I think all of its features are very good, especially its small size. If you want a camera that you can take quick pictures with, get this one since all you have to do is point it and push the shutter button. Every picture will be as you actually see it, not as you "would see it because you're 2x time closer than normal". I think it's one of Canons better, reliable cameras. I don't know of any faults.
I purchased this camera on Ebay as a first "real camera" for my grandson for his 11th birthday. He was so happy with it, and it's extremely easy to use. Small and lightweight, film loading is a breeze with the APS film system. I am sure he will take lots of great picturs and enjoy this camera for a long time.
I am VERY SATISFIED with this Canon Elph Jr APS Film Camera...! It looks like NEW and works like New also...! I have one, but, it locked up on me for some unknown reason....and I really liked it and the photos it took. I especially liked the Panoramic View Setting. I was excited to find a replacement for mine! Thanks!
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