This is a grab-and-go camera, it needs to be ready at a moment's notice. AA cells are great for that. And it's the camera our 10 year old will use and he's not at all good about keeping his electronic gizmoz charged, so the AA feature is a plus there. I also like the optical view finder. Holding a camera at arm's length is the norm, but heads are fairly steady, so the camera is also quite steady when used with the optical finder. It's a simple tunnel, but it is accurate and simple. I also kept in mind the fact that this is a camera in the $100 price range and there is no reason to expect lens quality, flash range, manual control or any other feature to be equal to a camera in the $200 or higher price range. So we shopped and ordered from Amazon.The AUTO function is impressive. It does more than I ever expected a point and shoot to do - automatically. The color brightness and focus are good and the photo details are great. I don't see any odd colors and it does adjust to ensure people are people colored, no matter what the color of the people. So if the photos from the A1300 are good.
It's a good photo that doesn't give me any particular reason to complain. I'm sure there are aberations that a pro could find in a detailed review, but that's not why I got this camera. This one is in the glove box, in the pocket of my motorcycle jacket and at family functions where I don't want the obvious BIG camera that makes people nervous. It takes a far better photo than my cell phone.
At full optical zoom at about 150 feet I can count the blades of grass in my neighbor's lawn with the camera set at 16mp. I am not used to having such a wide angle on a digital camera and I am getting scenery shots that look great. It handles the light whether I am shooting into the sun or with the sun at my back. I have not tried some of the special programs offered, but of the ones that I have tried, the low light setting allows me to get very nice photos in museum lighting.
The Stealth option is both low light and silent so the camera is not a bother when discretion is needed. And the digital IS mode works well. I'm past my prime and I'm not as steady as I once was. Our boy is young and is also not rock steady. Digital IS gives us a good shot every time. The video function gives me bright and clear HD videos - or far more compact 640x480 videos. I wish the zoom worked with in video mode but that's one thing I gave up in this price range.
For motorcycle trips with the guys, it's great to be able to set the camera to 640x 480 and just shoot lots of pics that are easy to email and look fine on the computer monitor. Shooting one handed as I ride doesn't always get me a great shot, but if I shoot enough shots I get plenty of great photos to share.
Fun - cheap - reliable - great quality. What else could I ask from a $100 price range camera? But, you don't want to drop it into the lake. That's another story and there are far better models if that's part of your plan.