the computer
Do you know film a video?
I got this camera a week ago and have been disappointed.  I decided on Canon because I had one years ago and really liked it.  The quality seems to have gone downhill. The best feature is the compact size.  I find the "smart auto" not to be so smart.  The images are usually over-exposed and at times out of focus.  It's as if the camera can't figure out what I want to photograph and instead picks some detail I'm not interested in.  The menus are not obvious and I have to keep running to the computer to read the manual, which is not very handy if I'm away from the computer.  I got this to replace an old HP digital camera that took great photos.  The image quality of the Canon is much worse.  I suspect that the HP had a much better quality lens.  The battery needs to be recharged after about 170 photos.  I haven't tried the video yet, but I suspect that will shorten the battery life even more.  I was used to taking 250-300 photos with my previous camera before changing the battery.  I read some reviews that said not to even bother with the smart auto mode and I think they are right.  I need to experiment with the "P" mode to see if I can get some decent photos with this camera.  I had considered getting a cheaper model of the Canon powershot camera but opted for this more expensive one because of the extra feature.  I think the extra money was not well spent since the Canon ELPH 300 performs about as well as a camera costing half as much.  To be fair, I've only had the camera a week and there is a steep learning curve.  If things improve over the next few weeks, I'll add an update and may give this camera a higher rating.  At this time I'm feeling disappointed.Addendum (6/5/11): I've now had several more days to play with the camera and after trying all kinds of settings the picture quality is not much better.  I finally made some videos, which looked nice, but the microphones picked up a lot of extraneous noise even indoors in a quiet room and introduced a kind of background hum into the audio.  If the quality of sound doesn't matter to you, the videos are quite nice.  I've decided to keep the camera because it's so compact and I plan to take it on trips.  The photos are passable but nothing spectacular.  The problems with focusing and overexposure have continued.  I think the lens is just not as good quality as in previous cameras I've owned, including an old Canon.  Maybe the fault lies in me since I'm not an expert on photography. A friend who is a serious photographer offered to go over the camera with me, so after we get together I'll have a better idea.Addendum (6/24/11):  I had this camera for over 3 weeks now and have taken hundreds of photos with it.  My original impression has not changed.  It takes decent photos in general.  The AUTO feature is useless and needs to be avoided outdoors because it totally over-exposes the photos.  It's kind of ludicrous that you can't use the AUTO feature outdoors on a point and shoot camera.  Indoors the AUTO function is acceptable.  The Programable mode does a better job, and it's all that I use now.  Generally I'm disappointed with the quality of the images and It think this has to do with the cheap lens this camera uses.  As I said previously, it is nowhere near the quality of previous Canon cameras I have owned.  The best feature is the small size of the camera, so I will be keeping it and using it on vacations because it is so portable. 