Help, cant decide. PowerShot SD850 IS vs SD1100 IS

[rutgurt]

I cant decide. I am torn between the PowerShot SD850 IS and the Powershot SD1100 IS and cant decide.

Both seem like excellent cameras. The SD850 got reviewed a bit better on Cnet, but its also a year old (I dont really know how fast technology and quality gets out of date in comparison to new stuff). I am really a casual beginner when it comes to photo shooting and most of the time I just have my stuff on auto shoot. I am torn between these two cameras, they both seem excellent.

The brand new SD1100 IS is slightly smaller and has slightly larger pixel count for photos

SD850 makes up and has 4x optical zoom (SD1100 IS only has 3x). I am sort of sold on 4x zoom, though I have heard some say its not necessarily anything to boast about but i didnt quite understand why.

Both are described as having excellent picture quality and are in pretty much exactly the same price range. I also care about battery life a lot. I hear SD850 has great battery life, but I dont know about SD1100 IS.

So, please, need advice. This is a tough decision. Please help me decide, i just dont have the time to understand the techie tidbits and science of digital cam technology at the moment, so try to keep this at a basic level for me, i have finals in school this week..

[Greg McCary]

I done a side by side comparison at Canon's site. There is not enough difference in the two to really matter, on paper. I can't imagine Canon making a camera that doesn't take great pictures. I would get the one that was the cheapest or the one you personally like to use. Either way you can't go wrong.

[whoehei02]

These days we just received this new Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS for $179. It does what it's supposed to do. This camera allows me to take beautiful photographs in an ultracompact, reliable, and elegant device that is both easy and fun to use.
If you need a solid, reliable, and stylish point-and-shoot ultracompact digital camera that produces high-quality images, then the new Canon PowerShot SD1100IS may be right for you.