This is an excellent Camera. It turns on and is ready to shoot in about a second. And if you change the default image size from the huge 16 megapixel to something more commonly used in the real world (and you have a fairly fast SD card), you can be ready for the next picture in less then a second.

It's sad to see so many people fail to understand this, and I'd say shame on Canon for not making this clear in their "start up" documentation. Even the CNET review pointed out it was slow writing a 16 meg file to the card (as would be expected), and my belief is CNET said that to chide Canon for not making it clear the setting should be changed to "what's appropriate for your picture needs".

Most people are not making Poster Sized Prints! And because of that, creating 16 megapixel images is a total waste of hard drive (and flash SD card) space, not to mention the time one has to wait for it to write it to the flash card (as so many have complained about)... Read more

As an owner of multiple Canon camera's in my lifetime, including my current 7.1 mp "Powershot SD750 Elf" and 16 mp "Rebel T2i" DSLR, I really put confidence in Canon's products. Or, I did. Now I am just frustrated and at a loss for where to go from here.

First you should know that while I am not a professional photographer, I am far from a beginner and am pretty adept with technology. I purchased the "Canon Powershot A3300 IS" as a replacement for my now outdated and thoroughly used 7.1 mp Elf. I was beyond excited when it arrived and beyond disappointed after using it. Half of my images came out with a barrel-type distortion at the upper edge. This occurred mainly in close-up images that filled the frame, but also in a shot that was composed at about a 6 or 7 ft distance of three children. The two children squatting down were perfectly centered and look beautiful; but the child standing behind them who was just above the center of the frame, ended up with an elongated lump... Read more

The Canon PowerShot A3300 IS is small enough and nicely fits into your pocket. Being 16 Megapixels and tons of shooting modes your going to need to browse the manual a few times to learn all it's features if you want to get some amazing pictures from it. The A3300 does have an Auto mode and bonus Easy Mode setting on the dial. In easy mode only a couple settings work and gives brief instructions on how it works, such as the shutter and zoom, otherwise the camera decides everything else for you. It also has a scene mode and special effects mode with allow for some creative shooting such as Fisheye lens, miniature, toy camera, etc. The camera feels very well built in your hands and the only down fall I found so far is that the flash is at the very top right hand corner and you can have a finger in the way of the flash if your not careful... Read more