I have to admit that I am not one of those technologically advanced people that has to purchase new electronics right when they hit the market. I usually wait until my electronics decide to quit working on me, and then I purchase new one’s. I received my Cannon Snappy LX as a Christmas present many years ago. Too many years ago to count I think. So when I received a new Cannon Digital Camera as a much unexpected Christmas gift, I was excited and immediately decided to ditch the old Cannon.

The Cannon Snappy LX is definitely a point a shoot camera. All you have to do is open the lens cover and depress the shutter button, the flash works automatically. The shutter button can be depressed lightly so the light can be measured. Depressing the button all the way will take the picture. When depressing, a small green light will glow when the picture is ready to be taken. It’s that easy. The extra large viewfinder allows anyone to be able to look through it and focus on the object being photographed. Those wearing glasses can even find it easy to look through. My mother likes to wear her glasses when taking pictures and she loves the extra large viewfinder.

A frame counter is located right near the shutter button. There is also a self-timer feature, but I never had a reason to use it so cannot say how this function performs. I never needed the tripod socket located on the bottom of the camera either.

The flash is automatic so there is no turning on and off when you think it’s needed (unless you decide to turn it on and off yourself with the buttons located on the front of the camera). The camera judges when the area is too dark or light enough not to need a flash. I like this automatic feature because there were times that I needed to take a quick picture and didn’t have time to decide whether or not to turn the flash on or keep it off, or wait for the flash to warm up and go on. It’s much easier to have the automatic feature.

It’s also great to have a red eye reduction feature. My mother always complains about the red eyes in her pictures. I very rarely have that problem with my Cannon Snappy LX. The only time that I really have red eyes in my pics are when it’s really dark inside the area the picture is being taken. For example, I was able to take pictures all day and night on the cruise and not have one red eye, except for when we were in one dark nightclub on the boat. And even then, it wasn’t every picture.

Another good feature with this camera is the auto-load feature. Those wind-up cameras just don’t do anything for me and I seriously hope that they don’t make them anymore. I can’t even stand those throw away cameras because I hate advancing the film after taking a picture.

There is a small switch at the back of the camera that you press up and the back pops open, allowing you to easily pop in a new roll of film. The film goes in and a small piece gets placed across the small indentations. Then you simply close the back door again and the film will automatically load. If you don’t hear the film load…that probably means the film was not properly placed on the indentations. The display on the top of the camera will display a ֿ” when the film is properly loaded.

When the roll of film is complete, the camera will automatically rewind itself. This Cannon Snappy LX also has a small button located on the top called that will automatically rewind the film if you are in mid-roll. That can come in handy when you need your pictures right away but have not yet finished the roll…as long as you don’t mind wasting film. Changing the batteries is very easy. There is a small latch on the side that opens to allow replacement of two AA batteries. Alkaline batteries are recommended.

There are a lot of great features about this camera but the best thing about it is really simple. Not only is it really simple to use, but it’s really lightweight and easy to carry anywhere with the small strap located on the side. Since I had not yet received my digital camera before leaving on my holiday cruise, I took the Cannon Snappy LX with me and I carried it everywhere. It was not inconvenient at all.

I have to say that this camera performed well throughout the many years that I have had it. I never had to send it back for repairs and never had anything go wrong with it. That’s pretty good in my opinion. But Cannon does offer service if problems occur. All you have to do is take it to a Cannon authorized repair person.

Because this is a pretty cheap 35mm point and shoot, you don’t get a lot of the good features that appear on other cameras. This camera would be prefect if it had an auto-focus feature and a zoom feature. Unlike some throw away cameras, this camera is definitely not waterproof so be careful when using around pools and at the beach.

I cannot say anything bad about this camera because it has been faithful and good to me for around ten years. I have never had any problems with this camera and would recommend it to anyone. This camera has since been passed to my mother because it is still in working shape. I’m going to recommend this camera to beginners and give it 3 stars. Not because I don’t like this camera but because I think there are easier one’s to use now that digital is available. You can even get this camera for very cheap now so it's a good beginner camera.

* This review is a part of the Challenge Yourself W/O, hosted by CaptainD. I don’t review products in the Electronics section a lot of I figured this qualified. Go visit Dave’s page for more entries and submit your own!


~ Happy picture taking!

Kim


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): gift
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Fool-Proof for Absolute Beginners