Easy to use Canon with Viewfinder

My old Canon A710 was stolen during a break-in. I wanted another camera - for work and pleasure. It seems that Canon are still producing good quality cameras with viewfinders - very few manufacturers do nowadays. It arrived safely and was really easy to get started - batteries provided, but will replace with Eneloops when they run out. The card supplied was too small, so got a 4gb card for under a tenner. Now the camera - upgraded from the A710 - provides 12m pixels and 4 x optical zoom, which is enough for my needs. Plenty of software provided, plus usual manual on a disk, various leads etc. Very lightweight but still has the bulge at the side to grip with one hand (useful if you've got arthritis like me). Extra easy snap facility as well as the automatic picture taking. There's a good video on YouTube showing all the features - some of which you won't need, but others like macro, night time and faces which you probably will. A really good buy with Canon quality - make sure you get a carrying case for it, as it is a camera you will want to take everywhere, due to it's size and weight. Excellent for the price.

Does the job!

This 'purchase' was in fact a replacement for an identical camera purchased at Christmas. The original had a problem with the shutter which came apart. It didn't worry me to much as I have had several Canon cameras in the past and these things can happen. The camera itself is compact, efficient and is generally with me most of the time due to its size allowing quick photos without any hassle. At the end of the day, you are unlikely to take masterpieces with it, but for most users needs it will more than do the job.
Nothing to do with the camera, but a reason to shop with Amazon is the extremely quick and hassle free replacement that was arranged - extremely impressed as I have never had to return a product before.

Not as good as I'd hoped

I was looking for a camera with a good zoom to supplement my compact camera. I eventually settled for this on the basis that I didn't want to spend much and it seemed to have good reviews. I've yet to get fully conversant with it but my first impressions aren't fantastic; 1)menus are a little cumbersome to navigate 2)I've struggled to take an indoor photo without getting blurred images 3) it seems that you need the camera perfectly still if zoomed out otherwise you get a blurred mess - not that practical if you're out and about. In short, it is much less impressive than my Canon Ixus compact. In hindsight I should have gone for one of the compact Panasonics with 10 or 12x zoom.

Brilliant little camera.

This is a sweet little camera, i love the colour of it. I received it yesterday for my birthday and was not disappointed. It's 14 mega pixels, and when i tried it out yesterday, the pictures came out beautifully. It's light weight and small so could easily fit inside your pocket, i like the smile detection on it, and also the fact that it takes the pictures straight away, unlike some other cameras i've seen that have long delays.
I noticed that this camera sold out fast and is quite hard to find, but it's worth buying. It's a great little thing for the money.
I would highly recommend it.

Great compact camera!

I always heard that canon's were great, but i didnt realise how much so. After having a Kodak camera for a number of years i decided that i neeeded a change. I wanted a camera that would be eay to carry around, whether it be on a night out or travelling around the world. This camera is definately it. It has excellent settings which you can change from auto to program and the picture quality is as good as a SLR. The zoom is not great but to be honest if you want a great zoom for specialised pictures then an SLR is the one.

Simply it does what it says on the tin. Will always buy Canon from now on!

excellent camera

Great underwater camera, we just returned from Egypt and the pictures we took using this camera are amazing very clear also we used it out of the water during the day still in the case and got really good pictures, for the price i would recomend this camera to anyone especially when bought with the 2gb memory card, we could have took over 1000 photos.

An affordable high quality compact from Canon

The Canon Powershot A495 is probably one of the most affordable compact digital cameras out there. A little bit bulky and encased in a full plastic body, including a plastic lens barrel, its design may not catch your eyes at first, but this pocket-sized, AA-battery powered digital compact will surprise you in many ways once you take it out of the box.

With a high-quality 2.5" LCD screen, composing shots are easy, and the auto scene detection function makes taking pictures a breeze. With the DIGIC III processor, the camera's software is able to detect up to 9 faces within a single frame quickly and adjusts the exposure accordingly so the subjects don't turn out overexposed or underexposed. Recovery time is amanzingly fast, again thanks to the DIGIC III processor normally only found in the more expensive IXUS models and Canon's DSLRs, so you can go on to shoot the next picture almost immmediately. The DIGIC III processor also makes sure that the pictures come out as clean and as noise free as possible. The A495 shoots from ISO 80 all the way up to ISO 1600, and with a small 1/2.3 inch sensor, keeping the images clean and noise free is no easy feat. The white balance adjustment is nearly perfect, with the camera producing almost natural colors even under flourescent lights. Test images have been uploaded under the customer's images section showing the color reproduction and noise performance of the camera.

Of course, the A495 is by no means a perfect little camera, with a few disappointing features here and there, and they are 1) a slow continuous burst, at a sluggish 0.95 frame per second 2) the night mode, which shoots at 2 megapixels only, and 3) a somewhat imperfect software which always keeps the camera's shutter speed just slow enough indoors to cause just a little blur to the images, even with the flash on. Therefore, it'll wise for you to keep the camera as steady as possible or use a tripod when you're shooting indoors.

Compared to the very closely priced Sony DSC-S930 and S950 released last year, the Canon is able to produce much cleaner and sharper pictures at any given ISO (even though there is no ISO 3200), and the quality of the images closely matches those of the very expensive Sony DSC-WX1 with EXMOR-R sensor, which comes as a surprise to me.

With its low price point and high quality images, the Canon Powershot A495 makes a perfect gift for any casual photographer, and for someone who's just getting into photography, it has enough features to become a back-up camera with its ability to use AA batteries straight out of a convenient store.

a brilliant little camera!

so i got this camera because i wanted a waterproof camera (i broke my last one by dropping it in a rock pool). this camera was perfect for me being dust, shock and wind proof. it takes brilliant pictures and has lots of different modes for taking pictures.
i would reconmend this camera to any one.

however the battery doesnt tend to last long, roughly a day.

Highly impressed - Point and Shoot magic

Really impressed with this new Canon, purchased it after my old Ixus went for a swim :( Was really after a easy point and shoot for places were I dare not take my SLR.

It's an absolutely superb camera for the price, on a tighter budget I would say you could opt for the A3000 one because its basically exactly the same aside from the sensor. Your actually paying for 2 extra mega-pixels of noise on this one :)

Pro's:

- Very nice build quality, much better than equivalent Sony's at this price
- Very clean images up to ISO 200
- Button/Menu layout is excellent as usual for Canon but I particularly liked the feel of the buttons compared to other manufacturers
- Image stabilization has been superb
- Face detection is very impressive
- Very easy to use

Con's:
- Struggling to find many really
- The lack of viewfinder but to be honest on P&S camera its v.rare that you use a viewfinder
- The battery life is OK, would recommend a secondary battery for when using the flash a lot (cheap from HK/China)

Overall: This will never replace a SLR but it does a damn fine job for a point and shoot. Perfect for taking out when you don't want to take an expensive camera. Image quality is crystal clear, very easy to use, nice build quality and highly impressive for the price tag.

Tips: Turn Image stabilization onto shoot only, reduce brightness of LCD, shoot in P mode at ISO below 200, buy a second battery, when taking night shots without a flash use a 2sec timer

Fujifilm Finepix S1800

I bought this camera as an upgrade from my loyal Olympus FE-240, When you first hold the camera, you will notice that it is noticeably smaller than an SLR which proves handy and means that it's a lot more portable. The camera is very good at shooting stills, the macro mode is especially good, I wouldn't say it was amazing in low light however. The reason I haven't given this product 5 stars is because the zoom whilst shooting videos is very noisy and somewhat ruins the video, not helped by the low quality 'mic'. Overall I'm happy with the camera and would recommend to A friend-for this amount of money, why would you buy A normal point-and-shoot?

Good little camera at the price.

I've had this camera for some time now, and it has served me well. It's cheap and cheerful and does the job of getting decent shots without a lot of ado. Great for everyday shots.
It's cake to use and looks quite slick. It's great to take all over the place with you and fits in my jeans pocket.

I've found one or two things that are a bit problematic which I noticed straight away. The colours on the"Auto" setting were far too dark, however I find that putting it onto"natural light" solves that problem.
If you are wanting a camera with a decent zoom, this is not it, it's only 3x but I knew that when I bought it, but for the money Fujifilm Photography have done a great job.

Canon IXUS 210 camera

I decided to buy this type of camera to supplement my other Canon camera. I had looked at Canon ISP to find out what was the best type of compact camera and this suited my requirments mainly because I wanted good quality and excellent pictures. I looked around the internet to see who was the cheapest and acceptable supplier (I am a pensioner!). As expected I found Amazon the cheapest and additionaly I trust this supplier. I ordered it and received as quick as expected. The order was very well packed with all the instructions needed. I have used this camera and it is easy to take with you and provides first class pictures. What more can I say than Amazon provides the items you are looking for at the best price and well packed and delivered quickly.

Good, but not the best

I purchased this camera this week and although the first one was sent back (and thanks to Amazon on the amazing returns and Customer service) I have found the images taken on this camera are very soft looking the 3 inch display on the back of the camera does not appear very clear to me,also I think Sony should think about a re-design for the function wheel on the top of the camera as sometimes your finger goes to this wheel instead of the shutter to actually take a photograph.Also I have found that the function wheel appears as though its about to turn and you end up with a different selected function. Apart from that I really think that this camera cannot compete with the Panasonic Lumix TZ10 - which has a far better screen in regards to quality and images. The sweep function is good although on the 1st camera (which was returned) the sweep function kept turning off and didnt do the job, the 2nd one I now have does work and although good its very small and obviously downsized in quality. To sum up I am sadly dissapointed in this camera and thought after all the hype it would certainly perform much better considering its from the great brand of Sony. Will however be keeping it, the 10 shots per second is something else!

Ideal for anyone used to using a film camera.

Although the G11 cost more than I had intended to pay it has proved to be a good choice and, just about, worth the money. Being used to a film camera I found that the transition was straightforward. This is partly down to the pull out and tilt and swivel screen, which means that it is not necessary to hold the camera in front of your face to look at a vertical screen, (which feels really weird after many years with a traditional camera) instead you twist it to horizontal and look downwards. Much more comfortable. It is pretty clear and the brightness can be increased at a touch of a button. There is also a rather small optical viewfinder which is similar to a 35mm camera. The screen is obviously as large as Canon could make it and the downside is that with nearly a dozen buttons on the back it is very easy to press one of these by mistake. Small fingers would be an asset.

The ISO setting and exposure compensation are on the top and this reduces the need to access the menu. The images appear well balanced and natural, the exposure seems spot on. There are of course numerous features but one in particular is worth mentioning. The software to modify the contrast/colour saturation can be applied immediately after the image has been shot, I find this very useful for landscapes.

There are a couple of negatives. Canon do not supply a printed manual, this put me off buying for a while but then I found an excellent printed guide which could well have been written by them, it is part of the Magic Lantern series of guidebooks. The other negative is the weight, 355grams or nearly 1lb, but it does fit into a pocket without any risk to the lens or screen.

For any film camera enthusiast switching to digital the G11 has a lot to recommend it, it is also a good solid camera in every respect.

Nice camera.

Definitely a nice camera. Easy to use and brilliant pictures can be got without complex adjustments.

great camera

very pleased with this camera. easy to use, great clarity of shots still trying to get case to fit. why not sell one with the camera?

Canon Ixus 130

This is a great little camera with the emphasis on little! One of the neatest packages imaginable, it has the lot including 1030 video! If it has a fault, it's that it is not quite quick enough to respond for, say wildlife. There is a definite lag after you press the shutter release whilst it focusses and works out exposure. I tried to photograph some dolphins jumping and all I've got is tails in the water!

Sony Alpha A230L

This camera was bought as a gift for my daughter. It is a good introduction to SLR cameras and she has found it easy to use and productive for her art course.

Great Camera

I have just upgraded to my first digital SLR and after a lot of hunting around, decided on this one. My initial impressions are very positive. I love the fact that I can change the lens and that there are many available to choose from. Another positive is, although I am only starting out with the camera, its ability to shoot in RAW - a feature I plan to fully explore as my confidence and skill grows.

It is very light-weight and easy to handle, and in fully programable mode is just as easy to use as my old point and shoot but with much better results.

It has a 10.1 megapixel sensor, can shoot up to 3 frames per second - which is great for action shots, and has seven points of focus which has been great to get focussed on to non-central subjects. I also love the fact that it has a self sensor cleaning feature every time the camera is switched off.

For the money it costs, this - in my opinion - is great camera.