Canon PowerShot A620 7.1 Megapixel

I bought this camera because I had owned two Canon brand cameras in the past and they were both excellent. This camera replaced a Canon PowerShot S20, which was my first digital camera. I had it for about five years I think and it always took really excellent pictures and still does. But my son needed a digital camera, so I bought this new one off eBay and gave him my old one.

The things I like about it are:
The screen is bigger and easier to see.
The screen flips to the side and rotates forward so your people can see their pose or you can pose in front of it and take your own picture (very cool).
It is very easy to use and has very clear graphics.
It gives you a lot of options to customize your screen (that's important to me because I have vision problems).
It uses standard AA batteries and not a special camera battery.
It comes with great software that makes it very easy to download your pictures to your computer.
Accessories are easy to find and not expensive.
It takes GREAT pictures!!!!

I have not yet used the movie feature on this camera. That's new to me. So I can't comment on that part. The one thing I have noticed is that this new camera is not quite as good as my old Canon at stopping action when your subject is moving. That may very well have something to do with the moving image feature that I haven't learned to use yet.

The 7.1 megapixels create picture files that are twice as large in size as my old camera and are more than is really needed. The old camera was 3.1 megapixels and those were clear as large as 11x14 and the largest I ever printed was 8x10. I think the only time the higher resolution (7.1) would be cool is if you wanted to make a poster size print at one of the places that can do that, or if you wanted to show your pictures as a slide show on your big screen TV. It's also good when you want to crop a small area from a larger picture. Your small area is still clear enlarged.

Bottom line is I love my new camera and would buy it again in a heartbeat. It's a good value for the money compared to other leading brands, and I saved at least $100 buying it off eBay.

I love Canon cameras -- I've owned 5 of them. So when someone asks me for a camera recommendation, I like to assess what they're looking for and move them up or down the scale accordingly.

This camera does very well on its own. The flip-out LCD is a huge benefit and it makes it very easy to do self-portraits and set up photographs in awkward places -- much easier than my Canon EOS 20D SLR at quadruple the price. The optics are clean, the interface is clean and simple, and the photos come out looking great in the end. Not much more to add -- it's a great camera! The only downside I would say is that it uses 4 AA batteries, which are not included. A set of nice NiMH batteries and a charger will serve you just fine and you can buy alkaline AAs in a pinch if you're away from home without a charger, but most other Canons include a very nice rechargable battery. So add about $25 to your cost.

However, before jumping on this camera, know exactly what you're getting and whether this one is right for you. You should consider moving up to this camera if the SD-line of cameras (SD350, SD450, etc.) don't provide you with enough control and you want better manual controls (focus, aperture, exposure), a more powerful flash, and substantially better overall photo quality. The obvious downside from the SD-line is that it isn't shirt-pocket sized anymore. Then this camera may be right for you.

You should also consider skipping the A620 and moving straight to the Canon Powershot G-line (G5, G6, etc.) if you want a faster low-light lens (f/2.0 vs f/2.8), better noise suppression at high ISO, a flash hot-shoe (and much better flash control), and bracketing. You also get an incredible BP-511 battery with amazing lifespan. The G-line is also larger and heavier and obviously more expensive.

If you're sitting in between an SD500 and a Canon G6 with no intention of getting an external flash, this camera is perfect.