Best Digital Camera under $300? Canon ELPH 310HS

Best Digital Camera under $300 - New Canon ELPH 310HS SLR

With Black Friday and Christmas fast aproaching many people are looking for deals! Well one of the best deals available in the compact / zoom camera market is the new Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS with HD video and stereo sound (known as the Canon IXUS 230HS in Europe).
The ELPH 310 HS builds on the sucess of the excellent Powershot ELPH 300HS and includes everything that was good about the 300 HS, such as the 12-megapixel CMOS sensor and Canon's High Sensitivity System. Canon has, however, added some nice new features such as the new 8x optical zoom lens with genuine optical image stabilization, a larger 3" LCD screen, and you now have a choice of six impressive new colors. The camera also has a metal body which makes it a lot sturdier than many other compact cameras, which are quite frankly flimsy!

Canon has also improved their Smart Auto exposure system, so you no longer need worry about difficult exposure settings, or which mode to choose. The camera does it all ! Some people like to fiddle with their settings but most people buying compact cameras just like to point and shoot.



As many people also now want their cameras to shoot videos the ELPH 310HS can also shoot 1080p24 HD video capturing Full HD video at 24 frames per second (fps) with stereo sound. The dedicated Movie Record Button means recording videos is easy ! The 8x optical zoom can also be used for the video, and the Intelligent IS includes Dynamic IS mode to get rid off camera shake when recording on the move. The HDMI-CEC port means you can easily share videos and play back images on HDMI-compatible HD TVs while controlling playback via the TV remote.

Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS Features:

Ultra-compact metal body, choice of 6 metallic colors (Black, Silver, Blue, Green, Pink and Purple)
12.1-Megapixel HS CMOS image sensor
DIGIC 4 Image Processor
8x optical zoom lens covers 28 - 224mm equivalent range
3" LCD with 460K pixels
Full 1080p HD video recording
Enhanced Smart Auto mode
Intelligent IS
Optical Image Stabilization
Burst Mode captures up to 3.5fps @ full resolution
High-speed Burst Mode captures photos 8.7fps @ 3M
Li-ion battery pack (good for up to 210 shots)
HDMI output
SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot.


Conclusion
The Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS (IXUS 230 HS in Europe) is an excellent ultra-compact Digital camera that takes extremely high quality pictures even if there is not a lot of light. It is easy to use even if you are not a photography fanatic and has a better than expected battery life. The MSRP is $259.99 USD, but at the moment you can get it from Amazon for $229. An affordable compact and sturdy digital camera with excellent image quality as you would expect from Canon.

If you are looking for a camera that is almost as good but a little bit cheaper then now is the time to consider the predecessor to the 310HS i.e. the 300HS with prices now below $180.

One fan of Nikons says that Canon actually makes better compact cameras, he gave his reasons for buying the 300HS as :-

• Probably the best value of any point and shoot available IMO
• Fits in ANY pocket
• Fast operation with simple controls
• Ideal zoom range between 24-120mm (wide than most point and shoots)
• Lowest aperature of all similarly priced cameras, even the 310hs
• Great focusing features
• Automatic macro mode
• High ISO performance

If you are looking for something a bit more expensive as a Christmas for yourself or someone else check out the Nikon D3100 SLR - probably the best DSLR available for under $600.