I purchased the Canon PowerShot A1000 camera in 2009 as I was due to fly abroad for a holiday and wanted a camera to take those all- important holiday snaps!

The camera has a 10x optical zoom which I find brilliant for distance shots; the photographs come crystal clear, and the face recognition feature works when you have maximised the zoom. Even if you cannot make out a face, the camera does for you.
The image stabilizer does exactly what it says it does; even if you have a shaky hand (after a few too many pints!) the camera still manages to take clear pictures.

The camera has lots of added on extra features, such as; 'portrait;' 'landscape;' and 'indoor' which actually come in quite handy depending on what you are taking photographs of. There is a 'kids and pets' feature which I often use as I have a five year old and a baby, plus two dogs. This feature is excellent for action shots, particularly as the photographs don't appear blurred.
There is also a video camera which displays a timer and the zoom also works well with this.

In my opinion, there are very few negatives. The camera is a little bulky and weighty, however this adds to the effect that it is quite sturdy. Also, the batteries seem to run out very quickly, so I would suggest buying rechargeable batteries. the internal memory is only adequate for approximately five photographs, so make sure you buy a memory card!

All in all, I would highly recommend this PowerShot A1000 to friends, family and any other prospective buyers. If you are looking for a reasonably priced, easy to use camera with extra features, this is the camera for you!