Initially a nice camera. However, while I was stationed in Iraq the camera suffered from an E24 error while it was with my wife in Germany. I chose not to take the camera to Iraq out of fear that it would be damaged. Instead, to my suprise, it was damaged in Germany for no apparant reason, atleast not one due to poor handling. My wife mailed the camera to the Canon repair shop in the States. They returned the camera in working order. The repairs were completed free of charge since it was in the time period of the one year warranty. On the day I returend from Iraq (6 months later after the first repair) a friend took a photo of us at the reception ceremony. The camera relapsed into the same state as before - an E24 error. The LCD screen would not display any data. The camera therefore completely shut itself off, a feature that was later explained to me by a Canon representative that is used to protect the camera from further damage. I spoke with a repair representative about what appears to me to be an easy fix. I was told that since my warranty had expired I would have to pay a minimum of $187 to a maximum of $500 for the repairs. Keep in mind this was told to me prior to any Canon technician ever even looked at the camera. I asked if that would still be the charge if it was a fix as simple as a loose screw and they told me that was an accurate assumption. I then asked if I would be required to pay if it was found that the problem was related to the initial repair having not been done properly while under warranty, again they responded that I would. They then informed me of an "Upgrade Program". They told me I could send them my G3, and pay them an additional $300, and in return I would receive a REFURBISHED G5! Not a new one, REFURBISHED! If I were to accept that offer I would end up paying $950 for a refurbished Canon G5 ($300 + the original $650 for the G3). I was insulted to say the least. I'm willing to bet that those refurbished G5's are part of a program that they have for an upgrade to the G6 for the G5 users that have the same issue as I. What a scam! What a pathetic customer service department! What an insult to an American soldier that just returned from a 13 month deployment in Iraq! Oh yeah, the company is Japanese, they don't care anyway;)

But by the way, I do own another Canon Powershot A20, 2.1 MP. I've owned it for over 3 years and it has been a great camera. I believe Canon is the best brand out there. But as for their repair assistance, customer service, and warranty policy - they are simply an insult!

Tim
An unhappy American soldier...

I bought my G3 in September of 2003 after my SLR took a dump 3 weeks before my baby was due. I have NEVER been disappointed. Granted, if I had the money, I would have gone for something better, but this was the BEST I could have gotten for my money. Some reviewers have commented on the camera not being worth the price - you must not have shopped around! I found mine, brand new, for $460 from a reputable online camera store.

My pictures turn out great most of the time. I agree with the slow focus time, but you can't get everything with a prosumer camera. I love the neverending list of options this camera offers (from flash output to f-stops to white balance, etc. etc.).

When I have the money saved up I'll be buying the Canon digital rebel, but until then I am very satisfied with my G3.

I've had my G3 for about 10 months now, and I've taken thousands of pictures with it. The positives:
- Takes great, clear pictures under ideal conditions; often with better results than my 35mm Canon SLR!
- Easy uploads to my PC.
- Accepts my external Canon flash.
- Excellent battery life. (I've people complain about battery life with other digital cameras, but this really is a strong point for the G3.)
- The unique LCD that flips over is "cool" (and easy to protect from scratches).

- Has lots of shooting modes for a non-pro camera.
The negatives:
- The lens cap is a poor design; it falls off very easily (at least Canon provides a cord so it doesn't get lost).
- Focus is slow except under ideal lighting conditions.
- Focus is unreliable; I've learned to take 3 shots at a time, hoping that at least one of them will be in sharp focus.
- Photo quality gets noticeably worse (more "noise") as soon as you increase the exposure "speed" above the slowest setting (ASA 50).
- The design is relatively bulky and heavy for a non-SLR camera, and the controls are not ergonomically correct.
- The RAW picture format option is useless with this camera because Canon's software gives you virtually no useful options for correcting/modifying photos in RAW format. To do anything useful you have to take the time to convert your photos to JPG anyway. I gave up on RAW after the first couple of tries and have stuck with JPG format since then.
In summary... I expected a lot at this price level, and the G3 really is a great camera for family snapshots, scenery and documents. However, it is a poor camera for low-light conditions or action photography.

Did anybody buy this camera from Amazon last two months? Is really new Canon? In how many days from placing of order you get the camera? Thank you.

I did a lot of research last year before I bought this camera... It kinda hurt to leave behind my beloved nikon 35mm SLR, but I was going to Italy, and I needed something smaller, and digital.

The photos coming out of this camera are amazing. The 'auto' feature takes great pictures most of the time, and there's plenty of flexability in the settings to play with if it doesn't work. And with digital, you're not wasting film if the picture doesn't come out.

This camera is also really easy to use, which is wonderful catching those quick photo opertunities. The only downsides are 1) it's a little slow to actually TAKE the picture... almost a 1 second lag from hitting the button to finishing the shot. 2) This camera can not take action shots. A childs first steps will be fine, but a soccer game won't work. To be fair, all point and shoot digitals suffer from the same flaw... to break this, you have to step it up to SLR, and >$1000 in price (though I do lust after that Nikon D70...)

When I bought this camera 3 years ago, it was the advanced "point-n-shoot" I had been waiting for. While it's outdated now, it's successors (the most recent is the just-launched G7) have continued Canon's tradition of knowing their users. This camera let's me do nearly everything to which I was accustomed with my film slr. It can be fully automatic, (almost) completely manual (you can't expose the same frame/file multiple times, as in a film camera). It has a choice of metering modes, though no spot meter - however I've rarely found this to be too sore a point). And it let's me be creative and experiments.

My main gripes:
1. Autofocus is not speedy nor as accurate as as a film slr.
2. Battery life is much less than a film camera (as are most digicams).
3. It only records up to ISO400, and there's some noise and fringing in the shadows in low light at that speed.
4. Lens does not have a fixed maximum aperature, however, at the lens' widest angle max aperature is a robust F/2.
5.It now seems a bit clunky, physically.

I'm looking forward to upgrading to my first DSLR shortly. Can't wait to have the resolution, speed, and lens interchangeability that I so enjoyed on my old Elan.

That said, if you're looking for an advanced fixed lens point and shot, don't hesistate to try out the latest in the Canon Powershot line.