Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought the ELPH 330 to replace a Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 that was 'appropriated' by a family member. I quite liked the 310, and the other ELPH models that we've owned previously (SD100, SD200, SD400). To give this review some context, I also have a Canon PowerShot S5, a GoPro Hero, and various film cameras dating back to an Olympus OM-1 and a Rollei 35. While Canons may not always be the 'best' cameras on the market, I've become used to the Canon menu system, and my collection of accessories are compatible with my previous ELPHs. So I assumed the ELPH 330 would be a satisfying addition to my photographic arsenal. Alas, I was sadly disappointed. What's wrong with it? In a word, the user interface. It has regressed significantly compared to the 310. The biggest shortcoming is the all-important '5-way' controller (the up, down, left, right, and the central FUNC/SET buttons). On the 310, the 5-way was slightly raised above the body of the camera, making it possible to position one's thumb on the desired portion of the controller by touch alone. On the 330, the buttons are completely flush with the body. This may sound like a small detail, but I've found this design change makes it much harder to operate the 330. I've found it tricky to register my thumb over the 5-way without looking, and I don't have terribly big hands. The tiny FUNC/SET button in the center of the cluster is actually recessed just a bit, which is terrible from an ergonomic perspective. One needs a tiny thumb to reliably click on the FUNC/SET button. In the short time I've had the 330, I've accidentally activated the wrong button numerous times. The second failing of the 330's UI is the bizarre slide switch. Canon has taken what was a great step forward on the 310 UI and totally trashed it on the 330. On the 310, the slide switch selected between AUTO or MANUAL modes of operation. The former was great for taking quick'n easy point-and-shoot tourist snapshots. When the photographer wanted more 'creative control', a simple flip of the switch put the camera into manual mode. User could then choose from a large variety (too many) of special shooting modes (portrait, nighttime, backlit, sports...), adjust ISO, override shutter speed, etc. This arrangement was extremely versatile and I've come to love it. On the ELPH 330, the slide switch now activates a glitzy new Canon feature: photos plus a Movie Digest. When you slide the switch to the 'up' position, the camera takes a still photo in Auto mode AND a 3-second movie clip captured immediately before every still photo is taken. It then composes a daily sequence of these clips, all concatenated together. So if you were to shoot 60 pictures on a given day, you'll end up with 60 still photos, plus a 3-minute long movie containing the 'live action' as you composed each shot. With the switch 'down', the Movie Digest feature is turned off and the camera operates in whatever mode is chosen from the Record Mode menu (not necessarily Auto mode). The side effects of this fancy Digest feature are non-trivial. First, the camera goes dormant for a few seconds after the shutter is pushed, while the captured movie clip is compressed and concatenated onto the daily movie file. During this interval, the green 'camera busy' light is flashing. This means you can't take another photo until the movie processing is completed. No rapid-fire picture taking when in Digest mode. Perhaps more important is the potential impact on battery life. When the 330 is in this mode, it's capturing video continuously. It doesn't know when you're going to trip the shutter, so it constantly records video into an internal 3-second buffer memory, which is then saved to the SD card after each click of the shutter. I haven't yet measured the impact on battery life but continuous video capture and storage will surely shorten run time. Fortunately, the ELPH 330 still has both Automatic and Manual picture modes, but you now have to make a trip down into the menu system to select one or the other. The slide switch, which occupies a fair bit of the limited real estate on the back of the camera, is totally wasted (unless one becomes enamoured with the Movie Digest mode). I'm astounded that Canon would deem this feature so important that it qualified for 'top billing' with a dedicated mode switch. Perhaps there is a big demand for this feature in Japan, but I can do without it. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the improvements in the 330. The longer telephoto (10x, vs 8x in the 310) is a small but welcome enhancement. Likewise, the wide angle is a little wider (24 vs 28mm). I haven't yet mastered the WiFi features. Canon's user manual describing them meets their usual standard for convoluted & confusing documentation. Occasionally, the orientation sensor (sensing landscape vs portrait) messes up and misclassifies the orientation of a picture. This may be a defect with the sensor in my unit, or could be a design issue that affects all ELPH 330 units. Frankly, I'm undecided whether to keep the ELPH 330 or not. I'm tempted to carefully place a tiny dollop of hot-melt glue on the FUNC/SET button. That might partly alleviate the ergonomic shortcomings of the 5-way controller. But there's no way to make the stupid Movie Digest slide switch useful and achieve the versatile functionality found in the ELPH 310.