Pho-Tech Advice

If you're in the market for a new point-and-shoot camera, I'll say without a moment's hesitation that you should only consider Canon. This company apart from the rest not only because they build high-quality cameras but also because of the options available to you in the event that your camera breaks down.

First, it's important to think about the availability of repair parts. In many cases, other manufacturers simply will not sell parts. Thus, even if it's something as simple as a broken battery door you're stuck sending your camera in for factory repair for a (likely high) flat-rate fee. Canon is the only company that readily offers parts for repair.

Second, repair prices for factory repair by Canon are generally lower. From my perspective, it almost seems as though other manufacturers keep baseline repair fees high enough to discourage repair and instead encourage you to throw away your investment and buy a new camera.

Third, Canon is by far the best in terms of making parts information available to repair shops (like me) so that I can offer affordable repair. Again, for the companies that don't to this, it often ends up being more economical to throw away your camera than to have it repaired (no matter how simple the problem may be).

Finally, it's important to note that there are sometimes cases when even a Canon point-and-shoot is damaged such that it simply isn't worth trying to repair it. It seems, though, that for all of the above reasons those cases are less frequent with Canon than with other brands.