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Canon Powershot A620 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
By: Canon Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 299
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 On: 2008-06-04
By far one of the better cameras I have owned. Great zoom and great quality on pics. It has unfortunately been dropped in the parking lot and can take a beating. All functions great. Easy downloads and would reccomend the lowe brand case for this camera.
 On: 2008-02-20
I purchased this camera over 2 years ago and Im still in love with it!!! The pictures that I take with this camera look like post cards. Im no photographer by any means but you wouldnt know by looking at the pics that I take!!! I would recommend buying this camera to anyone!!! As a matter of fact, my friend just broke her camera and I told her to buy a Canon Powershot!!
On: 2008-01-15
I cannot tell you how much I recommend this digital camera! I have had it for about 3 years now, and, not considering minor wear, it is just as fantastic as the first day I bought it. There are literally too many amazing features to mention. I STILL find new, creative settings to use on my camera, and, believe me, I use my camera almost every day! One of my favorite features is the swivel screen. It really is worth the extra money to have this on a digital camera. I wouldnt ever get one that didnt have this feature. Not only can you be in the pictures much easier by swiveling the screen around, but, more importantly, it protects your screen from scratches and cracks. Pretty much all digital cameras chew through batteries faster than the speed of light, and the A620 is no exception. Therefore, I definitely recommend rechargeable batteries for the A620. I use Energizer 2500 mAh rechargeables, and I have only switched back and forth between 4 packages (4 AA batteries come in a package) in 3 years. They are about $10.00-12.00 for a pack of 4.
Overall, I cannot tell you how many memories I have relived by looking through the amazing photos this camera has created. For example, I had my family and friends take some photos at my wedding using my A620, and I can truthfully say that some of the pictures that came from my digital camera looked better than the professional photographs. This is truly a worthwhile investment! Quick...do not miss another memory!
On: 2008-01-14
I cannot tell you how much I recommend this digital camera! I have had it for about 3 years now, and, not considering minor wear, it is just as fantastic as the first day I bought it. There are literally too many amazing features to mention. I STILL find new, creative settings to use on my camera, and, believe me, I use my camera almost every day! One of my favorite features is the swivel screen. It really is worth the extra money to have this on a digital camera. I wouldnt ever get one that didnt have this feature. Not only can you be in the pictures much easier by swiveling the screen around, but, more importantly, it protects your screen from scratches and cracks. Pretty much all digital cameras chew through batteries faster than the speed of light, and the A620 is no exception. Therefore, I definitely recommend rechargeable batteries for the A620. I use Energizer 2500 mAh rechargeables, and I have only switched back and forth between 4 packages (4 AA batteries come in a package) in 3 years. They are about $10.00-12.00 for a pack of 4.
Overall, I cannot tell you how many memories I have relived by looking through the amazing photos this camera has created. For example, I had my family and friends take some photos at my wedding using my A620, and I can truthfully say that some of the pictures that came from my digital camera looked better than the professional photographs. This is truly a worthwhile investment! Quick...do not miss another memory!
On: 2007-12-17
It is so nice to have such a great time and great pictures without being a professional photographer. Ninety percent of my pictures (hundreds of them) were taken in auto mode and they are beautiful. My house is filling up with picture frames and memories of places visited while we are living in Germany. Good Job Cannon!
On: 2007-11-03
When we first purchased our A620, we were amazed at the quality of the shots made on a relatively inexpensive camera. Its easy to use, has many features more expensive Canons use, and has a fantastic zoom capability.
Then, after about 3 weeks of use, the batteries included with the camera caused the case to burn, damaging the lid. Naturally, we were really concerned about this and called Canon. Even though the batteries were not made by Canon, they were extremely responsive and within a week they had another camera on the way.
All we can say is not only is the camera an EXCELLENT buy, so too is the quality of service. The followups. The interaction. And the deep committment to our satisfaction is testiment to the way Canon does business.
Were a customer for life. And the camera gives us all the features we need to produce great quality photos for the casual outings we do.
If youre looking for a high-speed, high-response camera a Canon Rebel or other SLR camera provides, this one is not for you. BUT, if you are looking for similar image quality at a rock-bottom price, this one is a GO!
On: 2007-11-02
When we first purchased our A620, we were amazed at the quality of the shots made on a relatively inexpensive camera. Its easy to use, has many features more expensive Canons use, and has a fantastic zoom capability.
Then, after about 3 weeks of use, the batteries included with the camera caused the case to burn, damaging the lid. Naturally, we were really concerned about this and called Canon. Even though the batteries were not made by Canon, they were extremely responsive and within a week they had another camera on the way.
All we can say is not only is the camera an EXCELLENT buy, so too is the quality of service. The followups. The interaction. And the deep committment to our satisfaction is testiment to the way Canon does business.
Were a customer for life. And the camera gives us all the features we need to produce great quality photos for the casual outings we do.
If youre looking for a high-speed, high-response camera a Canon Rebel or other SLR camera provides, this one is not for you. BUT, if you are looking for similar image quality at a rock-bottom price, this one is a GO!
On: 2007-09-22
First of all, I dont understand the listed price of $549.99. When I bought this camera over a year ago, I got it for about 300... I think there is an error because the newer model is selling for about half the price.
In any event, I want to declare that this is the BEST camera I had ever owned. I used this camera for more than one year, taking thousands and thousands of pictures. I studied abroad in Argentina for the year and took pictures of absolutely everything. This camera never failed me. Never. It took brillant, rich, great color pictures. I was never interested in the video component, but it served my purposes the few times I used it.
The BEST feature is the pop out LCD screen. Not only does it let you take pictures up high or down low (like at a concert, looking out over everyone) but you can turn the screen around and take amazing self portraits. Instead of asking strangers to take pictures of my friends and me, wed just turn the screen around and I got some of my best pictures this way. The zoom is good, the pic quality is five stars, the menu and settings are great. . . No complains whatsoever.
I do want to talk about its death so you that you are aware of it. This camera has a huge lense and is quite heavy. After about 14 months, the lens got stuck open. I assume its a mechanical failure in the mechanism that opens and closes the lens. Ive sent it in for service and await Canons answer. I deeply miss it and although at the end it malfunctioned, Ive never had such a good camera. I hope Canon will have good news for me. I dont know if this has happened to anyone else, but I doubt its the case. My friend bought the newest model and it has even more cool feature, like zooming in and focusing on a single subject and then only applying color to it and leaving the background graytone. Well, thats a review for another day. If you want a very capable, but heavy camera, this one will not disspoint you. But you should be able to find it between 200 and 300.
On: 2007-09-21
First of all, I dont understand the listed price of $549.99. When I bought this camera over a year ago, I got it for about 300... I think there is an error because the newer model is selling for about half the price.
In any event, I want to declare that this is the BEST camera I had ever owned. I used this camera for more than one year, taking thousands and thousands of pictures. I studied abroad in Argentina for the year and took pictures of absolutely everything. This camera never failed me. Never. It took brillant, rich, great color pictures. I was never interested in the video component, but it served my purposes the few times I used it.
The BEST feature is the pop out LCD screen. Not only does it let you take pictures up high or down low (like at a concert, looking out over everyone) but you can turn the screen around and take amazing self portraits. Instead of asking strangers to take pictures of my friends and me, wed just turn the screen around and I got some of my best pictures this way. The zoom is good, the pic quality is five stars, the menu and settings are great. . . No complains whatsoever.
I do want to talk about its death so you that you are aware of it. This camera has a huge lense and is quite heavy. After about 14 months, the lens got stuck open. I assume its a mechanical failure in the mechanism that opens and closes the lens. Ive sent it in for service and await Canons answer. I deeply miss it and although at the end it malfunctioned, Ive never had such a good camera. I hope Canon will have good news for me. I dont know if this has happened to anyone else, but I doubt its the case. My friend bought the newest model and it has even more cool feature, like zooming in and focusing on a single subject and then only applying color to it and leaving the background graytone. Well, thats a review for another day. If you want a very capable, but heavy camera, this one will not disspoint you. But you should be able to find it between 200 and 300.
On: 2007-08-04
Options - options - options!!! This camera gives you the options you need in a nice entry level digital camera. I have used it for portrait photography, during meteor showers (pictures just needed slightly edited in Photoshop), for paranormal investigations (yep ghost hunting is a hobby), for product shots for websites and much more. It has everything you can want in a camera. Although it might be a little old (I got mine about a year ago), but if I was going to buy somebody a camera or another one for myself I would definitely choose this camera or another Canon Powershot. In fact my mother-in-law loved the pictures so much she went out and bought herself one. And she loves it too.
The only con is a slight problem it has when taking pictures of eyes. If you use the red eye reduction mode it isnt much of a problem, but without it you may get a lot of green and red hued eyes from your subjects. If you forget to set your red eye reduction mode on you may need to touch up your pictures in a photo editor.
Other than that the camera is perfect! Batteries last long (Id say over 300-400 pictures per set of batteries - which includes a lot of looking at the screen and reviewing the pictures), their are a ton of customizable settings, the movie mode takes gorgeous movies and the pets & kids mode sure helped me when taking pictures of my new kitten. It also has everything you need in order to plug it into your TV outs and play picture shows for family and friends. Which is great when you want to show grandma some of your pictures and she doesnt have a computer.
The first major use the camera got was at the zoo and in the hands of my wife. She didnt bother to read the manual or practice. Without really kn owing what she was doing - the pictures turned out perfectly! The zoom was amazing!!! She got pictures of the animals that showed such detail as veins on the tongues of the giraffes. Dust cracks on the backs of the elephants and much more. Best part was that she was over 20 to 30 feet away from her subjects and out of harms way. Yet the pictures were so close and detailed!
One tip - get a larger memory card - 1gb or more. As with ALL digital cameras you buy these days you will need higher storage than the card they give you. I mean at the highest quality setting on this camera (7mb) - you can only take about 15 pictures before the camera card they give you is full. Save yourself the frustration and just buy a larger memory card.
For those of you interested in ghost hunting this camera is great! Im happy to say that after extensive testing this camera doesnt show that many orbs created from dust. Some digital cameras have a hard time with dust and this one doesnt have many false positives in dusty conditions.
On: 2007-05-13
I purchased this camera as a fill in around week two of a five week Euro-trip, and week three was a bit rusty, but by four and five the pictures were coming out well. This is because I found that the camera had a few weaknesses, but once you figure out how to control it, you can get past those pretty easily.
First, this camera does not have an electronic viewfinder. This will only affect you if you like to look through the viewfinder when taking photos instead of at the LCD. If you do, then the pictures will be slightly off center, as the viewfinder is set above the lens and the difference between the views from the two is not corrected electronically. At least I think thats the problem. I just know theyre off center.
Secondly, I found that shots taken on Auto came out overexposed--too much light. Ive taken to using the Manual setting for virtually every photo I take. By doing that, you can control things like the shutter speed and get shots that are better exposed. Its kind of a pain, especially if you dont want to deal with the technical aspects of photography, but Im ok with it because its forced me to be a better photographer in some ways.
Really, most of the problems mentioned in the reviews Ive read can be fixed by using the manual controls. You can control the amount of flash emitted from the camera and you can set the shutter speed and ISO to make low light shots a little easier. Also, if you set the camera on something steady and do the two second delay (self-timer function), press the button, and dont touch the camera, it will come out very clear. If you have nowhere to set the camera, Ive found success by taking continuous shots. Put it on the continuous mode or whatever its called, and hold the button down, and it will snap for ages. Then scroll through and pick the least blurry shot out of all of them. It worked quite well for me.
Some good things... Its very good with macro shots and really picks up color quite well. You can boost the color by using the vivid color setting. Kind of nice for some shots. And the flip screen is true genius. Great for aiming those self-portraits, shots from above, and even balancing the camera somewhere if you get desperate. :) Im also very happy with the way the pictures look when theyre printed out. The mega-pixel amount is more than good enough for any amateur use.
All in all, Ive been happy with this camera. It takes some getting used to, but if youre willing to work with it, it produces quality results. As you might have gathered though, it may not be the camera for the person who doesnt want to deal with manual settings and the like. It is possible that Im just really picky, but I think it does under-perform if left to its own devices.
 On: 2007-05-12
I am a Canon guy. But, I am not a Canon Powershot A620 guy.
The reason: the Achilles heel of this camera is those awful, unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. In fact, the whole battery configuration is unthinkably unprofessional.
I will never buy another camera that uses AA batteries. There are better ways to power a digital camera than using these things.
I have owned two Canon film cameras, a Canon printer, a Canon scanner, and two Canon digital cameras. I even have a cute little Canon gadget bag. I love most Canon products.
But, I was a total fool for giving my daughter my Canon Powershot G1. It was wonderful in all respects, including the batteries, but I had virtually worn it out. So, I treated myself to a new Canon Powershot A620
What a dark day that was. And I have had many dark days since. Days of lost photos. Photos of visiting loved ones. Photos of unique experiences, never to present themselves again. Photo Ops that will not come around again. All because of these unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. I have two sets, plus a charger.
It is maddening to charge these batteries, check them with my battery tester, pop them in the Canon Powershot A620, take a few good photos, and then....
The next time I attempt to take photos, (and I love my photos), I get a message to change the batteries. It will not take another picture until I change the batteries. So, in addition to the eight expensive Canon AA rechargeable batteries and a charger, I also carry four fresh non-rechargeable AA batteries. Just in case.
The Canon Powershot A620 takes great photos. It fits nicely in your shirt pocket, if you have one. The price is right. It does everything well. Except be reliable and be ready to take that next irreplaceable photo.
I will never again buy any camera with such a battery arrangement. I have buyers remorse big time.
Think it over.
On: 2007-05-12
I purchased this camera as a fill in around week two of a five week Euro-trip, and week three was a bit rusty, but by four and five the pictures were coming out well. This is because I found that the camera had a few weaknesses, but once you figure out how to control it, you can get past those pretty easily.
First, this camera does not have an electronic viewfinder. This will only affect you if you like to look through the viewfinder when taking photos instead of at the LCD. If you do, then the pictures will be slightly off center, as the viewfinder is set above the lens and the difference between the views from the two is not corrected electronically. At least I think thats the problem. I just know theyre off center.
Secondly, I found that shots taken on Auto came out overexposed--too much light. Ive taken to using the Manual setting for virtually every photo I take. By doing that, you can control things like the shutter speed and get shots that are better exposed. Its kind of a pain, especially if you dont want to deal with the technical aspects of photography, but Im ok with it because its forced me to be a better photographer in some ways.
Really, most of the problems mentioned in the reviews Ive read can be fixed by using the manual controls. You can control the amount of flash emitted from the camera and you can set the shutter speed and ISO to make low light shots a little easier. Also, if you set the camera on something steady and do the two second delay (self-timer function), press the button, and dont touch the camera, it will come out very clear. If you have nowhere to set the camera, Ive found success by taking continuous shots. Put it on the continuous mode or whatever its called, and hold the button down, and it will snap for ages. Then scroll through and pick the least blurry shot out of all of them. It worked quite well for me.
Some good things... Its very good with macro shots and really picks up color quite well. You can boost the color by using the vivid color setting. Kind of nice for some shots. And the flip screen is true genius. Great for aiming those self-portraits, shots from above, and even balancing the camera somewhere if you get desperate. :) Im also very happy with the way the pictures look when theyre printed out. The mega-pixel amount is more than good enough for any amateur use.
All in all, Ive been happy with this camera. It takes some getting used to, but if youre willing to work with it, it produces quality results. As you might have gathered though, it may not be the camera for the person who doesnt want to deal with manual settings and the like. It is possible that Im just really picky, but I think it does under-perform if left to its own devices.
On: 2007-04-12
the camera is good in many perspective.. one is that it offers... a very clean cut design.. Everything works out of the box.. just pop in the battery and the memory and turn it on, press the button to take the photograph. However, the quality of the zoom is a little bit blurry.. And there is no image stabilizations.. I tried taking pictures while i was hiking up the mountain... all the images came out with motion blur.
Those images that you take when standing still and not walking.. its quality came out great. Good pixel quality.
I didnt like the silver skin on the camera so much. I am a big fan of the color black.. And now that canon came out with powershot a640 (in black).. [...]
 On: 2007-04-10
After being an amature photographer via print film, I decided to try a digital camera - though Ive been leary about printing quality. I knew I couldnt afford a digital SLR, so I opted for a "snap shot" camera that I thought would have enough features to satisfy me. However, after having and using this camera for a year now, I am so disappointed in the performace- the flash is just way too much, its a washout. After being used to print and picture quality in my film SLR (Cannon, I might add), I was so severely annoyed with the quality of the pictures with this camera, I wish I would have just saved my money for a digital SLR.
On: 2007-03-23
Hi
I bought this camera after having the powershot A80, which unfortunatley got stolen. I loved th powershot A80, and this camera, being the younger successor to the A80 is also a good camera. It is fast, has good picture quality, the battery life is great and it is a really good camera if you are new to getting into phtoography and want to learn a little more about shutter speed and aperture.
One of my only gripes is that it doesnt seem that great in low light. It always moans at me about taking a potentially unsteady shot when the light is low, and I dont remember the A80 ever being that fussy. But I think it is down to cramming 7 MP into the same sensor size as the 4 MP of the A80, so each pixel becomes smaller, and therefore less sensitive to light.
I have taken some really great photos with this camera, and would only replace it by moving up to a digital SLR, however I would still use it as an everyday carry around camera.
Its metal frame construction makes it quite robust too. I have dropped it on many occasions, once on a solid stone floor, from 6 feet, and aside from a little dent in the casing, it worked fine.
I recommend it!
On: 2007-03-17
I am a advanced amateur photographer. Love this camera for the results it has to offer for the price. Very impressed by the results. Brought Nikons, returned it. With 4 NiMH rechargable batteries, it will run for weeks and takes a good amount of time to get drained. I dont use LCD to review my pictures till i complete the shoot for the day. Normally i shoot with Canon 10D DSLR. I carry Canon A620 all the time for Emergency situations. Love the self-timer, other manual options, colors mode .. etc. Its a really playful camera with truly great results. I always shoot with ISO-50 to keep the image noise low. So, I will recommend the same. Video shoot and output is ok. You cannot zoom while shooting the video though. This camera is really tough and My kid dumped it several times on the ground and I have not seen any problem.
On: 2007-03-08
When I bought this camera I had no idea of the potential that this little powerhouse would bring. I took this to Italy on a trip with my dad and proceeded to take 800 pictures. Along my two weeks journey through Rome, Venice, Florence, and southern Italy, I slowly learned the many features and settings that this camera has to offer.
People were amazed by the clarity, and how professional each picture looks.
This is the camera to have!
Stephen John Beccia
Author of The Treelanders--Journey to the Giants
On: 2007-02-21
This camera is great for our use -- I wanted a high megapixel camera so I could blow up pictures and frame them, and thats exactly what I got. I love the option of being able to turn the viewfinder so it doesnt get scratched, but sometimes the digital options are a bit difficult to figure out (i.e. changing the mode, changing the flash). Once you get it, it is easy to get back, though!
We recommend this if you want a heavy duty camera - it isnt tiny, but it fits in my purse and best of all doesnt break at the first drop! :-)
On: 2007-02-20
I think Canon makes some of the best cameras on the market today that are also pretty affordable. I am really impressed with the excellent quality of photos taken with this camera. It takes such vivid and clear pictures with excellent color reproduction. I rarely have to edit any of pics I take unless it has to do with cropping or zooming. I am very happy with this model. Id say the only minor "complaint" I would have is that it is a bit heavy with the 4 AA batteries intalled and Ive dropped it a couple of times when I felt like I didnt have a "good" grasp on it. The swivel LCD doesnt close totally flat anymore but it still works and produces excellent quality pics.
On: 2007-02-18
Im not a professional photographer or even a serious amateur, though I do take thousands of photos. I bought the A620 about 8 months ago because I wanted something small but good to go along with my much larger new Nikon D50. Both cameras were replacing an old 3 MP Fujifilm and a Minolta film SLR. We took the A620 and the D50 on a major trip to the Canadian Rockies and several U.S. national parks. The D50 was my "default" camera on the trip--frankly, I was afraid to "risk" the shots on the A620, especially since there were many times when I needed a wider-angle lens than the A620 provides. Then, one afternoon, at the top of a mountain in Jasper with a spectacular panoramic view, the D50s battery ran down. I was crestfallen, forced to use the A620. For the rest of the afternoon, I worried and fretted about how one of the major highlights of our trip wouldnt be captured as well by the A620. Well, to make a long story short, several weeks later I uploaded all our photos from the D50 and A620, and the ones from the A620 at the top of that mountain were better! I was amazed--nicer color, sharper, just plain better! Now I totally trust the A620 and actually use it far more than the D50 because its a lot easier to take along. I still prefer the D50 for indoor flash shots--theres a lot of red-eye with the A620--but I have to say, if Id bought the A620 before the D50 and given it a good test run, I dont think I would have bought the D50, even though I really like it. Sometimes portability is much more important than you think its going to be. I got the A620 brand new for under $200--it was a great deal and is a great camera. I think its especially good for people like me who arent likely to delve into all the intricacies of settings, etc., but still take a lot of photos and want them to look great. From what Ive read of other reviews, though, both here and on other sites, this is a very nice camera for more advanced photographers as well. Good job, Canon! Next on my wishlist: something similar to this camera but with a wider-angle lens and longer telephoto...and, of course, less red-eye with flash!
On: 2007-02-05
I looked at three different digital cameras thoroughly, and this is the one I eventually chose. Im glad I did. It takes very good pictures, and the settings are a lot of fun to mess with.
Pros:
color choice: For those of you without the money to buy Adobe Photoshop, this lets you pick a color and the picture only shows that color. Its really amazing, and a lot of fun to use for effects.
manual: its got manual settings (along with some others) for those of us who know how to use them and want a little more out of a digital camera without buying an SLR.
Sturdy: In my opinion, its a good camera; wont break easily. My dad dropped my first one onto concrete and the only thing that broke was the flash (yeah, thats pretty important, but if you keep the camera in a case, unlike I did, youll be fine). Im also not afraid to move the flip screen a lot; it doesnt feel like it will fall off.
7.1 MP: this is awesome. I can zoom in a ton on my computer, even if I cant with my camera. I get a ton of detail and can pick out what I want, even if its really far away. I took some pictures of tigers at the zoo and I could zoom in so much I could see their fur. It was awesome.
Automatic settings: If, like me at first, you dont know how to use all those crazy manual settings, theres a ton of other settings to pick from that you can use for pretty much anything. It makes it really easy for quick shots, no matter the conditions.
Cons:
No movement: If I try to take a picture of something moving fast, most of the time its blurry on the auto settings. I have to go to manual settings, and if the lighting is crappy, dont even try it. The shorter you make the shutter speed, the less light gets in.
Focus: because its digital, you cant focus on your own, and the camera just picks something it thinks is most important. Theres tricks to get it to focus on what you want, but its a little hard.
Weight: Its a little heavy, but its worth it. It takes four AA batteries, but if you get rechargables, youre fine.
I havent owned any other cameras, at least, this was my first digital, besides the family one, so Im not as knowledgable as some others, but Ive had it for quite a long time, so Ive gotten used to it. Its a good camera, definitely worth the money!
On: 2007-01-26
Love it. had it for several months now and have yet to find something wrong with it. If youve owned a digital camera before, there absolutely no learning curve what so ever.
Just follow your guts and youll find the function you want.
But all the frequently used ones are right there at your finger tips.
I personally love the custom timer function that allows you to set a delay up to 30" and take up to 10 pictures! You never have to go back and forth...
Use Energizer e2 Lithium batteries and youll be wondering if you have the camera in your hands as it becomes soooo light!
On: 2007-01-19
This is an excellent camera. It was my first camera, and I loved its feel, features, and functionality.
I do have to admit, this little thing was what got me motivated to get into photography as a hobby, so after a half-year, I jumped up to the more expensive but higher-quality DSLR range. For those who want to take photography seriously, this is the perfect camera to start off on. Or, for those who want a simple point-and-shooter that packs a lot of punch, this camera succeeds there as well.
Some other thoughts:
- Battery life was stellar, even on cheap alkalines
- Zoom was very decent (4X), but dont use the digital zoom
- My Colors modes were nice, but remember that theyre permanant
(a picture taken in black and white will always be black and white)
- Tripod mount was plastic, but for the little tripod work Ive done,
I didnt seem to mind or notice.
- The lens motor isnt very loud, which is a good thing.
- The little "beeps" and shutter sounds can be customized or muted.
- Dont buy accessories for this, theyre not worth the extra $.
If you ever outgrow the camera, save up and look into getting
a fancy, sub-$1000 camera instead of trying to add on to this.
This camera does a great job at what it tries to do, but fails somewhat
with the add-on lenses (that require a hood and distort quality),
filters, etc.
Overall, I highly recommend to all (theres a newer version out, I think.. A640 or A710; Im not sure which is more comparable to this, as Im not sure what the feature changes in the A700 line are.). However, if youre taking photography more seriously and have some experience, then by all means save up and go with a DSLR instead (or buy this as a back-up camera).
On: 2007-01-15
This is a wonderful camera. It has soooo many different options and the directions are easy to understand. I use it everyday with my family and the pictures come out beautifully. The screen is great and it flips and moves around.
On: 2007-01-12
I was looking for a compact size digital camera with flexibility of manual controls. This camera has everything that I could have ever hoped to have in such a camera. Works great with Phoenix digital slave flash to take excellent night photos.
by: Anonymous On: 2007-01-12
I bought it to upgrade my A95 and Im very happy with it, this camera is faster. Almost the same buttons positions and same configurations, you dont have to learn new shortcuts for this model if you already know how a A95 works.
Very good image quality and a bunch of functions
In video mode you can use the Zoom and in the A95 you cant.
When you start a function it cames with a little animation in the screen NICE!!
On: 2007-01-11
Purchased this as a replacement camera for an older model. Have used it for a couple of months now and am very pleased with the pictures taken. Easy to use as a point and shoot, but has the option of changing settings for professional results.
On: 2007-01-10
This is a great model! I use it for both vacations and work. It has many features that you would actually use. If you are looking for a very slim camera this isnt the thinnest youll find because it does take batteries. I personally find a camera that has some place to hold it is better for shots and comfort. Overall it is a great deal and a great cannon product. I love it!
On: 2007-01-05
I love this camera! I know that some may think it is not as good as other more expensive cameras, but it is my first digital camera and it is all I could hope for. It is easy to use and has nice features like different settings for the beach, snow, indoors, kids and pets, night, fireworks, etc. Good price too.
On: 2007-01-04
This camera does it all. It will let you take professional quality pictures that compete with expensive DSLRs. It is small enough to enjoy on a holiday trip, and it is loaded with almost every feature a digital camera can have, including a flip and swivel LCD, and a USB cable to download your photos directly to your computer.
What it is not, is pocket-sized small. It is just a little bigger than the SX series. It does not have the super fine quality of a DSLR (sensors, lenses, etc.) that is needed in professional use.
I take hundreds of super fine quality shots on a single 1G SD card. After downloading them to my computer, the card can be errased and start over. This is the most fun, or serious, photography can be. NOTE: I paid $207 for my A620, which made it an extra special value.
On: 2007-01-03
Im a Canon fan. What can I say... Great amateur camera. All the modes and features let you play almost with no limits. Picture quality great and I think its a reasonable price-value ratio.
On: 2007-01-01
The best digital camera value one could buy at the time, July 2006. The 620 lives up to all the hype. At the time of my purchase, Amazon listed 15 reviews and all 15 were positive. My wife purchased an Canon Digital SLR around the same time and the quality of photographs from my little 620, set on auto, is about the same. One day, some years down the line, I will feel limited by the constraints of this camera, but that day has not come yet.
However, I did notice that Amazon raised the price of the 620 about 20% and the 630, which looks the same, but has nearly 15% better resolution, is priced a few dollars cheaper. I have thought seriously about buying a new 630 and giving the 620 to my favorite nephew.
On: 2006-12-29
I bought this camera as a second camera for traveling. It is fantastic! The picture quality is great, the first set of batteries lasted the entire trip and even my husband could figure out how to use it. The only thing I needed to purchase was an additional (much larger) memory card.
I have always owned Canon digital cameras and see no reason to try anything else. Canon makes great digital cameras and I actually prefer using this camera to our digital Rebel for many of pictures we take while traveling.
On: 2006-12-14
I havent learned al the features on this camera and doubt that I will ever use them, but it is a great camera. The resolution is great. The multiple-position LCD screen is handy in some situations. The speed is tops. Battery life appears very good. I got about 150 shots plus playback and time spent on various camera adjustments on a set of batteries the first time around. Maybe the camera gets even more shots on a set once I learn more about using it. I like the feel of the camera. It is a bit heavier than other similar items, but I like the substantial feel. I keep it in a Canon case on my belt, and just have to make sure it doesnt drop off the belt in the toilet.
On: 2006-12-13
I am a basic camera user--I know just enough to be dis-satisfied with run-of-the-mill point and shoot cameras, but not so much that I need or want something fancy and advanced. Mostly I need a camera for point and shoot convenience, though I sometimes get artsy and experimental. Ive found that the Canon A620 fits both of these needs.
I have small hands, and the camera fits well. It is a little heavy and too large for pockets (at least for me--my boyfriend, however, has no problem carrying it in his pockets). I havent yet learned how to use all the options on the camera, though I like those options because I feel it gives me room to grow as an amatuer photographer before I invest in a nice SLR.
Having an LCD screen that folds out of the camera body and rotates around has been fantastic for taking shots at awkward angles without hurting my neck, and for "seeing" if a shot is worth it while holding the camera up over my head (over crowds) where I could not see if I were relegated to a fixed LCD screen. Picture quality is tremendous in many different lighting situations, and Ive been able to blow several photos up to 8"x10" with no problems.
My only complaint is that the loop for the wrist strap is extrememly close to the little plastic door that covers the USB port. With the wrist strap attached, it can be difficult to open the cover. Also, said cover feels a bit flimsy.
I certainly recommend this camera.
On: 2006-12-11
The camera is great and takes great photos. Many here have already said as much. My beef is with the abhorrent software that Canon provides. It takes me a dozen tries just to download images to my computer. I may be no Alfred Einstein (sic), but I am a computer professional. Ive never dealt with software so completely unwilling to cooperate. It doesnt matter how great the photos are if you have to struggle to get Canon software to download images from your Canon camera.
First, if Canon would see fit to make the A620 look like any USB memory stick, Id just drag and drop the images to my hard drive. But it doesnt look like a memory stick, so you have to use Canons software to move images to your PC.
Second, the software repeatedly tells me that the camera is no longer available and to check my USB cable. Wrong! My cable is fine and the camera remains powered up. The software is simply crappy. I uninstalled the software, cleared everything "Canon" from my registry and reinstalled but to no avail.
Third, when I tried to get support from Canons web site, guess what? There is no support for the A620. So, I tried to contact Canon, and guess what? They are experiencing technical difficulties, so I cant even get an e-mail address or phone number from their web site.
Customer service? I dont think so. This is absurd. If I could, Id return the camera to Amazon and get my money back.
On: 2006-12-06
I love this camera. It is compact, fits nicely in your hand, with a comfortable grip. I carried it all around Italy, with just the strap around my wrist and it hanging loosely in my hand. The swivel monitor is great for getting hard to reach shots, like over peoples heads, or around a corner or over a balcony. You can always see what youre pointing at in the monitor, even if you cant see it with your eyes!
The photos are crisp, clear, and with accurate color.
The only glitch I found was a user error which caused me to delete my pictures twice. I thought that "format" meant to change the size of the picture resolution, and when I hit "ok" it totally wiped out the pics. I think it should have a "are you SURE you want to erase the contents on your camera?" message to prevent this from happening.
On: 2006-12-04
Ive had MANY digital cameras over the years... probably 11 digital cameras since 1999.
In that time Ive learned what I do and dont like about digital cameras. My issue has always been balancing performance, features and value. The Canon Powershot A620 fit my needs perfectly.
Some of my requirements fulfilled by this camera:
* Great picture quality
* FAST: Startup, buffer, picture to picture, flash recharge, etc. My wife demands this even more than I do now that weve got kids).
* Takes AA batteries: My brother and I debate this all the time (hes always had the Canon S series cameras with the proprietary lithium battery). He says he likes how long his batteries last. I like using cheap, always available AA batteries... especially rechargeable ones.
* Sturdy: My wife would be using this camera with kids pulling on her all the time... the cameras going to eventually get some bumps / drops.
* Works with a program I found online called Cam4you remote: This program let me use my A620 as a VERY high resolution web cam. No need to buy a second web cam that would end up having crappy resolution.
* FAST... yeah, already mentioned this, but other than the Cyber-shot DSC-S600 this is the fastest camera Ive owned.
* Battery Life: Very competitive and beats most other cameras Ive had.
Only complaints about this camera are:
* A little bigger than we would have liked, but other features outweigh this con.
* Wish it only needed 2 AA batteries instead of 4. This would have made the body smaller, but Im guessing I would have to give up on speed / length of battery life.
On: 2006-11-24
This Camera take a good looking pictures. I still having problems to take some night pictures, but it seen that some adjustment to the pictures properties are required to take this king of pictures. You have to read the manually carefully and made some test before you launch to take good pictures seriously. This is really a good choice if you are looking a medium level camera that take great pictures in several environments.
On: 2006-11-24
This is the best $300 camera there is, hands down. If you really need a higher ISO camera, theres a new Cannon that does it, but since it has the same CCD as the A620, its just opening up an entire world of pain for you (in low light settings, color noise goes up exponentially as it gets darker) that you might be tempted to take advantage of. Dont. I play with light settings constantly, and often settle on ISO400, since it seems to take the best pictures, but when you come back home and look at it on the camera, its noticeably very noisy. Love this camera. It gives the perfect mix of automated camera settings and the power to play with everything. I am pretty picky when it comes to how the light looks in my photos, so I love how I can set certain settings fixed (like aperture or exposure) and then let the camera figure out the rest, letting me create exactly the kind of effect I want for a series of shots without having to spend a minute fiddling with the camera before each one. Auto mode is kind of all-right, but generally I set the camera once for a certain light level, and then leave it in fixed aperture or fixed exposure mode for the duration Im at a place.
Love this camera. Replaced my Kodak Easyshot with it, which took terrible terrible indoor shots, and have never looked back.
On: 2006-11-21
While somewhat ungainly in shape, this is a marvelous technical camera.
It takes excellent pictures, saves photos rapidly, cycles quickly to allow rapid photography, and is more frugal power wise so batteries take more photos. Its movie mode is so good, it competes easily against many digicams, but in a far more portable size. The movable LCD viewfinder is as effective as the legendary rotating lens made famous by the Nikon coolpix. Over 6 months old, my camera has taken some abuse and is alive and well. Some users have warned against jamming the lens mechanism, so Ive taken care to insure the lens shaft is free of dirt and moves freely.
The built-in instructions are easy to understand, but the camera falls short of 5 stars because one needs to read the manual to understand the fine nuances of programming this camera.
On: 2006-11-19
I have used this camera now for almost a year, and it is an excellent camera. The picture quality is excellent with accurate color and sharp images. I have not noticed any purple fringing. The barrel distortion at wide-open can be seen if you look for it, but is not noticible in telephoto (this is typical of all telephoto cameras) It is fast, especially when using the continuous shooting feature. I have been able to get good pictures of the kids basketball activity at ISO 200 in a fairly dark gym without the flash by using the continuous shooting. This model has a huge advantage over the 540 because it has 4 AA batteries instead of two. As a result, the flash powers up quickly and allows you to take shots without waiting for 10-20 seconds. It also seems to last forever with 2400 mAh ni-mh batteries. The LCD display is easy to see indoors and out and has one of the best features of this camera, something that all digital cameras should have. Being able to rotate the display so that you can hold this camera over your head and over the crowd and still see what you are shooting is very useful. Point and shoot automatic mode works great, but I usually use the A, or aperature priority mode. There is visible noise in the images at ISO 400, but its a good thing to have when shooting in dark places where other cameras wont let you get a shot at all. The flash is positioned off to the side enough that you wont always get red-eye, but not enough that red-eye wont be an issue in some of your pictures. (Photoshop Elements works very well for eliminating red-eye)
This camera has a mode where you can take a series of pictures for a panaramic shot and then stitch the images together later. It is EXTREMELY useful and if this is something you do, you will be ecstatic about it. The only software I have used that comes bundled with this camera is Photo-Stitch, and it works very well and even allows you to make a QTVR movie. If I were a realtor, I would use this feature for clients. I use a SanDisk Ultra II 1gig SD card with this camera and they work together well. The documentation books that come with this camera are very good and explain the features in a way that makes them understandable. They also give tips on taking good pictures. There is nothing at all about this camera that I do not like, and I have used it extensively. I have owned three other digital cameras, including a truly awful Sony W-5 and I cannot say the same about them.
On: 2006-11-16
Canons Powershot A620 has been an excellent camera, Ive using it over the last 2+ months. It was brought as a replacement to my Canon A95, which I gave as a gift to a someone - another good camera. What best stands out to me is that, it is easy to use and has the functions that you can get creative with. The 2 feature that interested me intially are the flexible view finder and using AA batteries. I can use "AA" batteries and not be dependent on any custom made batteries and on trip away from home I can either standard rechargeable AA or buy a set in case of emergencies. The flexibile view finders is great when you want to get creative. Say youre at Trevi Fountain in Rome, and you dont have much room to move back and get a wide shot, well just bring the camera close to the ground and viewfinder turned up - shoot. Pictures have always come out right - so I cant complain there. Nice, solid machine.
On: 2006-11-15
Easy to use, takes great photos . . . I love it!!
by: Anonymous On: 2006-11-14
I have had this camera for several months and I have traveled to two continents with it and I took it to sea for two weeks.
The camera works great and I could not be more happy with it. The video is very clear and the speed and accuracy is very good. The batteries last a long time and the case is very durable (I have managed to drop it several times).
With the quality set for superfine and medium print size with a 1GB San Disk Ultra II SD card, I get over 1,300 pictures or over 30 minutes of high quality video with sound. Down loading to my computer is fast and easy.
On: 2006-11-13
If you are in the market for a reliable camera that takes great pictures, the Canon Powershot A620 7.1 MP with 4x optical zoom is it. It is easy to use, very accurate, and has such great color. I download the pictures directly to my computer and print the pictures on my photo paper and they look as good as as sending them off. I have no complaints about it and I love the fact that I can make action videos with it, it is a fun camera.
On: 2006-11-10
Couldnt be more pleased with this camera! Vibrant colors, excellent automatic exposure with plenty of manual settings for those difficult shots.
On: 2006-11-10
As a former newspaper photographer, I own several expensive cameras, including a Nikon F5, two Nikon N90s, a Nikon D2h and an Nikon D70 and several expensive lenses as well. I always like having a camera with me whereever I go, and frankly, it is chore lugging one of those around just for the sake of it. So I researched digital cameras that might give me enough quality and flexibility to please me and save me all the hauling. As a Nikon guy I checked those out along with a few other brands, but got caught up in the reviews i read about the Canon Powershot A620 and bought it on Amazon.com.
I am so happy that i did. It is a wonderful camera. I bought a Tamrac bag that seems to be made for it a Crucial SD usb card reader and a 1 GB card and i have studio over my shoulder if i am anywhere near a pc. I am totally impressed with the image quality and the control I have over everything. I usually shoot in shutter priority mode in superfine quality large and for most flash shots, undercompensate 1 or 1 1/3 stops on the flash and the results are outstanding. I have a wall of 40 8x10s and you couldnt tell the photos from the digital slrs from the powershot.
it so easy to use. I recommend it (and the 630 and 640)to all my friends and colleagues, some of whom will be shooting in program or auto modes for sure.
The zoom is ample and digitally at low isos can get extremely close with good resolution.
The newer models, the 630 and 640 are tempting bc they are 8 and 10 megapixels vs 7.1 and they have a larger lcd, 2.5 to 2.0 but everytime someone offers to buy my 620 I realize that I cant let it go. Its just too good to give up.
I dont see it for sale new on Amazon any longer, so maybe the new ones are what you may be looking at, and if the powershot 630 and 640 are really the 620 just evolving even more, then I dont imagine you could go wrong.
On: 2006-11-10
I was very pleased with how easy it was to use this digital camera in addition to the versatility and features that were included. The pictures we have taken look clean, sharp and clear. The colors interpreted by the camera have been quite accurate so far. We choose to purchase this camera after researching and comparing it to many others DCs in the same price range. It has also recently been rated highly by Consumer Reports buying guide.
A terrific digital camera for the price!
On: 2006-11-10
A620 is my first digicam. Its nice, easy to handle and takes great photos. The 7.1 MP effect is visible when you enlarge the photos..you get crisp and clear photos.
On: 2006-11-10
I have only had the camera a short time and havent used many of the features but it is easy to use and the pictures are beautiful. One important thing I must add is that I lost the CD that came with the camera that is needed to download the pictures to my computer and I contacted Canon via email. I received a response the same day and received another CD via expedited shipping from Canon within 3 days at no charge. I am SO impressed with their customer service that I will never buy from anyone else again.
On: 2006-11-10
This camera takes great photos.
It is a convenient size and the 4AA batteries last a long time. They are easy to change and you can buy them anywhere...you dont have a charger which is handy if you are taking a trip to the boondocks.
Its not too big and not too small.
What I do not like about it?
The SD card door is very flimsy......Im almost afraid to open it
in fear of breaking it.
The WORST thing about it is the dial on top of the camera
(for the photo mode - green for automatic, etc.....)
seems to turn by itself. I must bump against it very easily and never realize it has changed. I HATE this about it!
What I LOVE about it is it is CANON. The best brand for cameras.
It is not an SLR and wont take pix like one but it is convenient,
easy to carry, and takes overall great pictures.
I would prefer a waterproof/beachproof/weatherproof version of something similar......I used to have an Olympus Stylus film Epic & this replaced it but chose Canon this time.
On: 2006-11-10
I am quite happy with this camera. I initially purchased it to snap shots of subjects, mainly landscapes, to paint later. Well, lets just say I havent picked up my paintbrush or mixed any paint since Ive had this camera. I believe the reason for my deferment is due to the surprisingly wonderful photos Ive taken. This camera has many different features to play with; one of my favorites is the color accent. The side handle and the swivel LCD lens makes you feel like youre holding a camcorder, but allows you to shoot from positions that may be tough to achieve with more basic cameras. The LCD lens also comes in handy, as a viewer for self photographing. Also, you have the option of using other lenses and flash, which of course are to be purchased seperately. The software it comes with allows for easy transfer of photos from the camera to your computer. If youre a novice or a photographer on a budget, I think this camera can help you to capture many spectacular moments. Well...at least in my opinion.
On: 2006-11-09
Took Alaska cruise 1 wk after purchase. Most of 500+ photos are great considering most were from moving train, bus, or ship.
On: 2006-11-09
I have this camera for 6 weeks.Great right out of the box. No problems what so ever.For the price this camera takes amazing photos.I never had a digital camera before.After reading the instructions i started to take photos. Amazing is all I can say. Even on auto it takes great pics.I would recomend this camera highly. I would give it 10 stars if I could.
On: 2006-11-08
It is a good camera for an amateur who wants to learn and use the photography skills they have learned. I have used it for professional work, protraits with pretty good sucess, however, down sides are that it does not connect to lights and the focus seams soft at times. Shutter delay is not bad but hard with children. Their looks change very quickly.
It works well to learn on and is very portable for someone who likes to take a camera where ever they go. Batteries are readily availble/ and you will need extras/ try the lithium aa that seams to be the best option even though they are more expensive. buy a 1g sd card/ dont waste time with the smaller ones, the 1g is worth it. If you are looking for something just to take pictures of the kids and family and never intend on blowing them up larger than 8x10 you dont really need the 7.1 mp digital camera, try the next model down.
The options are fun to experiment with and that is mostly what I like to do with this camera. Manual focus on this camera seams like a joke so dont count on that, but the other settings are standard. The video part is also lots of fun for me as I am used to only still photography. I bought this camera as an step over from film, the next camera I buy will be the 30 D to further my professional work. If Photography is one of your favorite hobbies then this is a good camera for you. You will learn and love it as you can get good pictures.
On: 2006-11-08
I was afraid to buy this product, because I have no experience with digital cameras. My husband wanted one, so I thought it would make a great gift. It wasnt hard to learn to use and takes great pictures. Ive made 8 1/2 * 11s with it and they were perfect. I would suggest buying a larger capacity memory card, as the included one is filled up rather quickly. Its pretty well priced, and it is a good quality camera.
On: 2006-11-07
Overall i find the camera to be a well balanced product. It looks nice, is easy to operate and does all it is supposed to do. The weak points are the cheap plastic cover for the accessory cables and the lack of a proper lense cover. Pity to finish off such a nice camera in such a cheap way
On: 2006-11-07
I like this camera. However, I have much to learn before I become an expert with this complicated `Automatic camera. I continue to learn about the many neat features it has. I have not yet been disappointed with any of the hundreds of photos it has taken. I find that most photos become a very large memory j-peg file, much larger than the files produced on my first digital camera ( 3.1 megapixels ) I have found that the batteries last much longer than on my previous camera. This camera uses four `AA batteries while the last camera used only two `AA batteries and they discharged quite fast. MY previous camera would shut down the moment either battery dropped to 1.4 volts. I have yet to see if this camera does this....I am still on my first set of batteries. The only thing that I was a bit disappointed regarding this camera was the flimsy plastic cover on one end of the camera that covers the USB connection. This cover seems to always be open and I latch it. I fear this plastic piece will soon break off from use.
The camera is nice to handle; it is well designed to fit in your hand.
With seven megapixel resolution, I wished it had more optical zoom than 4X, but then the low price of this great camera reflects the limited zoom capability.
On: 2006-11-06
I bought it 3 months ago with $210 and have took about 1000 pictures with it. Its not perfect. But its good and Im satisfied with it. I dont know what kind of camera will be perfect. My friend has a $1000 EOS but I cannot see much difference. One thing I noticed about this camera is its super long battery life. It uses 4 AA batteries and seems never run out.
On: 2006-11-06
Im very happy I purchased this Item this is a great camera I would definetly recommend it.
On: 2006-11-06
Up until I bought this product, Ive never owned a camera before. After doing a lot of research online, I settled for this one. I bought it back in July, I think...so this would be a semi-longrun review. I am by no means an expert photographer, but even I can appreciate what this camera has to offer.
Pros:
-Control. This product has a lot of little buttons and switches. If you dont learn what they do, then they get in the way. If you do take the time to read the manual, you will be very happy with the results. The automatic controls work pretty well, and there are enough manual options to keep the expert photographers interested.
-7.1 Megapixels. On the default settings, this camera takes pictures at 3072 x 2304 pixels. This is HUGE, and allows you to capture a lot of detail in your shots. Example: lets say youre zoomed all the way in on a distant object. You take the picture, and look at the LCD screen only to say to yourself "Aww, this looks small." Upon getting home and uploading it to your computer, chances are the distant object will be HUGE on your computer screen. (Sorry for my lack of technical terms, Im a novice photographer)
-The LCD screen. Being able to swivel the screen around to face any direction gives you infinite possibilities for how you take shots. Example: You want to take a picture of yourself. Instead of doing that typical MySpace-onehanded-mirror-picture we see everywhere, you can point the camera at yourself, and line the shot up looking at the swiveled around LCD screen. You then put on a nice smile, and let the camera do a timed shot. Having a mini tripod helps this immensely. I bought a 6" collapsible tripod from a local Big Lots for $4.
-Battery life. This is one of this products biggest selling points. It uses four AA batteries, and this can potentially give you a lot of battery life. I say potentially because it depends on the batteries you use. When I first got it, I used the alkalines that came with the camera. They lasted about a week. I then bought a set of rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries. Those lasted a MONTH. And I took a lot of pictures when I got the camera. Ive only had it 4 months, and I have over 500 shots...about 1.7 gigs, including the video Ive shot. Thats a lot by my standards, at least.
Cons:
-Size/weight. When you read the dimensions, it sounds like a small camera. When you actually hold the thing, the right half of the camera is huge and bulky (due to the 4 AA batteries inside). So what this means is that you can buy a smaller camera, but its probably not going to be 7.1 megapixels, and the battery life is not going to be as good. Unless you want to shell out the money for a top of the line Sony Cybershot, that is. And yes, having 4 AA batteries makes this camera kind of heavy. Carrying it in your pockets might be uncomfortable.
All in all, Im very pleased with this camera. Ive gotten a lot of good shots with it in these past four months, and I expect to get many more. This is a good camera for any person, be they a beginner (like me) or a more experienced photographer. I cannot recommend this camera highly enough. I will say, however, that you should visit a local electronics store and handle this camera before you order it. If youre okay with the size and weight, then youll be rewarded by a powerful camera with excellent battery life.
On: 2006-11-06
This is a great all round camera
has a little problem taking night pic but still love it.
 On: 2006-11-06
I am extremely impressed with all but one feature of this camera. When the image looks cropped perfectly on the back of the camera, the pictures often come back with the top of heads cut off, etc. The view finder is more accurate. Im not sure why both cant present an accurate image, but it took me a month to get pictures that were as I had wanted.
On: 2006-11-06
Very good camera. Takes great pictures.
Has more options than I need or use.
On: 2006-11-06
The camera has many features, perhaps too many for my purposes. The viewing screen could be larger. I would prefer a camera that is less bulky or cumbersome. After purchasing through Amazon a local retailer advertised the same camera at the same price.
On: 2006-11-06
Unfortunately. I never received this camera. Although I placed the order back in August, the shipment was post-poned several times. When delivery was post-poned for the last time (for me, at least) on Oct 28, I allowed the order to be cancelled. By this time, this discontinued model was difficult to find, and I ordered a different model, a Kodak P880, from another seller. While the price was the same as offered though Amazon, I did not wish to end up in another delay situation. This situation would make me reluctant to try to purchase similar items from Amazon in the future.
On: 2006-11-06
I have owned three camers before this one, one of them was also a digital. I could never get good pictures out of the prevoius ones and didnt know if it was me or the cameras. The price was right and we took the camera on vacation one week after purchase. It was easy to use and the pictures were great I would reccomend this camera to anyone.
On: 2006-11-05
I love this camera. From the minute I took it out of the box and put batteries into it, I began playing. Ive used most of the modes (including video camera) and have not ONCE regretted my purchase. Ive got the auto settings to shoot pictures up to the equivalent of 8x10 with great resolution, and can get a lot more pictures than I thought would be available on the 32Mg card that came with the camera. Because I have 2 children under 3, a 2 year old nephew, and tons of family, I take lots of photos, so I did do an extra splurge bought a 2G card (the SanDisk works great with this camera) and can shoot for days on vacations, and not once need to drop out of the fun to download the pictures in order to free up space. Im a Canon lover, and after trying out other brands by borrowing friends cameras, found that the quality of Canon products is still as high as ever. Completely worth the money!!!
On: 2006-11-05
This camera is the best purchase I ever made on Amazon! For the price, you get 7.1 MP which is unbelievable. It is user friendly....You cannot take a bad picture with it. I continue to be amazed at the quality of the shots and the ease of use. I bought it sight unseen....I had never even held one in my hands until it was delivered, and I could not be happier. Would definitely recommend to the average consumer who wants a great camera at a great price.
On: 2006-11-05
I purchased this camera in a kit with just about all the available accessories. Then, to further the deal, i ended up getting the pricey underwater casing that complements this camera. In a few simple words, amazing. This camera has shattered all of my expectations and then some. I face little to no problem with red eye upon taking hundreds of pictures. I went to the Milwaukee Domes and Botanical gardens and managed to obtain professional grade photo close ups on hundreds of flowers and pictures. With a 1gb sd card (only about thirty bucks outside a kit) you can take about 800 pictures on the highest resolution or about 8 minutes of video. The video is top notch, providing high quality sound and video that is good enough for putting on the television screen. This means if you feel like investing in say a 4 gb sd card, you can have upwards of 24 minutes of video, which is a pretty much all you would need for video recording (youd be surprises how long 24 minutes is when you are playing it back on your computer)
The battery life is amazing. Upon taking it to the gardens, the domes, Noahs Ark (to test underwater), a nearby park, a few other test runs one takes when they get a new toy, i finally managed to wear out the batteries that came with it. After that, I started using rechargeable batteries that came with my kit. I charged them once about three months ago, and I am still using the camera on there first charge after two months of camera use.
The LCD screen seems a bit fragile, seeing as it is not completely attached to the camera from all sides (for its swivel feature). I have really only had a use for the swivel feature once with all my shooting, but it is nice to have and I wouldnt have it any other way.
The one or two disadvantages is no internal memory, so if you forget to put an sd card in the camera, it doesnt function at all. Also, it isnt a small camera. Which means investing in a good case is a smart idea, especially if you got all the accessories and want to use most of them. (The one that came with the kit is lacking)
With respect to the attachments one may think about getting with this camera, the filters are nice. there is a uv filter, pl filter, and another filter. The HD and wide angle lenses are lacking in practical use for the computer. They dont seem to help very much unless your intent on getting a full landscape picture that doesnt already turn out nice without. The other problem is that the flash produces a very pronounce shadow over the corner, meaning you have to turn the flash off if you are ever using any of the filters or lenses. (in other words, they can only be used in well lit areas). The stand that came with the kit is just some small short thing with bendy legs, not really useful for portraits, but pretty useful for trips if you want something to take a steady shot or if you want to be in your shot. The underwater camera case is nice, and unlike the filters and lenses, it comes with a flash blocker that keeps the flash from casting a shadow (unfortunately you cant use this for the filters and stuff). The casing is pricey, but if you consider they fact you can take very high quality underwater picts without having to buy expensive disposables and movies too, its worth it.
Back to the actual camera, it has a large degree of modes, functions and speeds. For less experienced people, you can use the 5 some modes for auto set features. These include an in camera stitching functions for extreme wide angle views. What is does it takes a picture, then places the edge of the picture next to the screen of the current camera view. This allows you to line up your shot and not make any mistakes with the stitch while taking the adjacent pictures. For those who dont know what a stitch is, a stitch is taking two picture side by side, then using a program to match them together, thus giving one continual shot. For more advanced users, you can manipulate hundreds of functions from how rapidly it takes photos to how long it get the image of the photo. You can also manipulate lighting, flashes, resolution, and a 100 other things in another five settings that range in what they specifically target (one mode concentrates on shutter speed, another concentrates on something else. You can also take sepia, black and white, and even underwater picture settings(a setting designed to decrease the blueness of water while using the casing). Also, the close up feature is very good, which allows the picture to adjust with every picture distance to give the optimum clear picture for close ups. (I use this extensively).
Long story short (although it already is pretty long), this camera is definitely a great camera that anyone could find a great deal of uses for. I use it for everything and it has never given me any trouble. I have had it for four months and have not once come up with any major complaint. It still works fine and does not give me any problems. I come up with some of the most professional looking pictures one could expect in a high quality photo journal and its a camera that is not very expensive for what you get.
On: 2006-11-05
Ive had this Canon Powershot A620 for several month. I also own Canon EOS-20D camera. I love this EOS-20D very much but I dont take it along with me because of its size. This A620 fits in my pants pocket, does every feature EOS-20D has, with a slight bit less quality.
Since I am a real estate investor, I carry this all the time to shoot many properties. Its movie function is also awesome. I can take quick family activites without bringing my full feature movie camera all the time.
On: 2006-11-05
Shipment arrived pretty quickly and in perfect condition. Its been months, and Im still in love with this beautiful camera :D
On: 2006-11-05
This little guy rocks. You get most of the control and features of the bigger cameras but without the bulk. The really awesome feature that most people seem to over look is the tilt/rotating screen on the back of the camera. I would suggest that you should always buy a camera with this feature. It makes taking so many pictures easy. You can hold it over your head and see what you are taking, on the ground without laying down, and a favorite of mine is the self portrait of my wife and I. Just flip the screen and there you are, compose and shot.(helps to have long arms) Being the third or forth generation of chip for Cannon I am impressed with the blacks in low light. Older cameras the blacks seem to get real noisey. I am not a huge fan of digital zooms but this one holds up ok, but it just cant be perfect. And if you use the right batteries you really can get 300-400 pictures out of this guy. I would suggest this camera over it counterparts up to the 10-12 megapixel area just for the control and the flip screen. To my knowledge the megapixel differance doesnt come into play unless you triple the pixels and even in those cases with most people using just 4x6,5x7 and some 8x10s you not going to see it unless you have to do major cropping. I have also given two of these as gifts and everybody seems to be very impressed with the overall performance. One problem I have with mine is the battery door. It doesnt stay completely closed and the camera shuts off so it is now on its way back to Cannon. Even with that I would still buy another. Hope this helps.
On: 2006-11-05
This canon product offers great flexibility in customizing a picture and takes great pictures in the automatic setting. It is light weight and small, which means easy to carry around and likely to be carried around. So far there has been nothing to say negatively about this product. The software accompanying the product is great also.
On: 2006-11-05
wonderful camera! Many different settings to use and play with. Comes with user friendly manuals and software. I love the view finders ability to swivel completely around.
On: 2006-11-05
Unfortunately. I never received this camera. Although I placed the order back in August, the shipment was post-poned several times. When delivery was post-poned for the last time (for me, at least) on Oct 28, I allowed the order to be cancelled. By this time, this discontinued model was difficult to find, and I ordered a different model, a Kodak P880, from another seller. While the price was the same as offered though Amazon, I did not wish to end up in another delay situation. This situation would make me reluctant to try to purchase similar items from Amazon in the future.
On: 2006-11-05
If you love to take photos this one is for you. While it is not as sleek as the T series from sony or the exilim from casio,it easily outperforms them. It also feels good in your grip. It has FULL manual control and 7 MP. I think this will appeal to serious photographers. The menu has plenty of useful features, yet easy to learn. I believe that good user friendly interface is vital to operate a digital camera. The 4x optical zoom is more than enough for most occasions. Image quality is very good/excellent for ISO 50 up to ISO 200. The ISO 400 is also usable if you do not intend to produce very large print. Low light photography is also good (but dont forget the tripod). The reasons that cause me to give it not full five stars are
-redeye
-no preset sport scene
-usage of AA batteries
-the cover for digital and SD card are moderate built
On: 2006-11-04
This is my first foray into the realm of digital cameras because Ive not been impressed with the quality of the pictures ive seen - at least in an affordable $200ish camera. Previously ive owned 2 SLR cameras with various lenses and flash attachments, as I am also NOT a fan of the small point and shoot cameras because I dont like their pictures either. But THIS camera is AWESOME. It takes beautiful pictures in all sorts of conditions on the AUTO setting. It has some really cool features like being able to make the whole picture black and white except you can choose one color to be highlighted. It is so much fun to experiment with. I bought it for a beach and Disney World vacation and im thrilled with the results. I took over 400 pictures just on the Disney trip alone! Ive had several people ask me if I have a really high end digital camera, based on the quality of the photos and theyre always shocked when i tell them the price. I feel like this is a STEAL! Ive recommended it to others and 2 family members have already purchased it. It is really a marvelous little camera. The large amount of MP is not typical for this price range and the zoom is more than adequate (thats the one thing i REALLY miss about my SLR is the 300x zoom) but as far as digi cams go, this one has an impressive zoom. I really researched reviews and consumer electronics websites before the purchase. THis camera was highly rated across the board so i purchased it and im COMPLETELY satisfied. It does take 4 AA batteries rather than the typical 2, but the Energizer lithium batteries have lasted me thru more than 400 pictures, constantly reviewing the pictures (because they turned out so great, i keep looking at them), using the large screen rather than the viewfinder and constantly zooming in and out and turning the camera on and off. If thats still not enough for you, buy a set of rechargeables. EXCELLENT camera for the money.
On: 2006-11-04
The A620 was a replacement for a very dated 1.5MP camera that I use for general shooting and its a real treat, fast shooting time and all the adjustments I wanted in a digital. Its too big to be called a pocket camera but having the additional controls is worth the trade off. All in all an excellent camera at a real bargin price.
On: 2006-11-04
Amazons fast service, as well as their customer service, is wonderful. As for the camera, clear good pictures, although it takes 4 batteries. This makes camera kind of "heavy".
On: 2006-11-04
I love my Canon Powershot A620. I brought this camera in July 2006 and was glad I decided on this one. I had a Canon film camera which I was using a my mothers birthday party when my granddaughter decided to open and expose all the pictures. I lost all of the pictures and decided I would purchase a digital camera. I researched Canon cameras for about 2 months and decided on this one. This is my first digital camera and I decided on this one because of the features. I like the color and weight of the camera, its easy to hold not too heavy. I can put it in a small camera bag and carry it around. The LCD is nice, it allows you to see what you are taking a picture of before you take it. You can take pictures from different angles.It also uses AA batteries which is great.
I will never lose any pictures with this camera. I like the way the photos look when you print them. Looks like they came from a photo shop.
On: 2006-11-04
This is a great camera. Very light-weight and easy to hold. It takes very sharp photos.
On: 2006-11-04
For its relatively low cost, the Canon Powershot A620 could not give you more bang for your buck. Seriously, I continue to be as impressed by this camera today as I was when I first bought it three months ago. The combo of mutli-function still digital camera and surprisingly-effective video capture is unbeatable.
It will be months before I even get around to using all of the features of the camera, but heres the lowdown: Its fast, power-efficient, sharp, and loaded with enough features for camera pros to compete with much more expensive models yet intuitive enough to shoot right out of the box.
The flip screen is genius; the color replace feature is fun; the video (up to 60 fps) is amazing -- Ive shot in nightclubs, at concerts, in natural and artificial light, and have yet to capture a bad frame. Even the audio is impressive.
Get at least a 1GB SD card -- hell, spring for 2GB or more if you can -- and youll find yourself with possibly the most useful mutlifunction digital media recorder under $250.
On: 2006-11-03
I am absolutely happy after buying this product. I was planning to buy this product for long time as I did lot of research before buying this one.
I already own Panasonic FZ30 and Canon A610. I wanted one more camera to gift to my brother. It is best point shoot camera and with lot of features.
I would definitly recommend others to buy( now A630 is there in the market).
I wanted a black color but I think only silver is available
I also recently bought Canon S3 IS which is also very good.
On: 2006-11-03
I read all the reviews, did a big research and as said Canons picture quality is really good. Also could shoot awesome videos and the quality is better than a camcorder. Would really recommend.
On: 2006-11-03
This camera is great. I love the children/pet mode, it takes precise photos of my cat.
On: 2006-11-03
was encouraged to get it by an in-law. i like most things about it--the definition is great, the lcd screen is neat. i find sometimes the lag time between pressing the button and getting the shot is a little too long! and i havent figured out how to zoom in to a shot i already took in review mode.
On: 2006-11-03
The A620 is a great camera. I bought it after seeing that Consumer Reports rated it as the best small-scale camera. Ive used Consumer Reports comparable (best rated) large-scale camera, and this one in my opinion is just as good for half the price and half the bulk. Enjoy-
On: 2006-11-03
This item is great. I love the how the pictures turn out. They really look nice, and I like that the camera is 7MP. The one tiny problem I have with this camera is that the shutter opens from the middle and it very often, does not open all the way and I have to help it out with my finger. THis isnt that big of a deal but does get teadious.
On: 2006-11-03
This is my first digital camera. I waited to buy one because I thought it would be hard to use; this one isnt. It comes with 2 instruction books, one a short cut version, the other more detailed. This is a good camera and easy to use. Im glad I decided on this model.
On: 2006-11-03
This camera is an upgrade from my Canon A40. This camera is convenient and easy to use. It maintains all the good features of my A40 but improves every one of them. The adjustable LCD display is so useful when trying to take pictures in crowds. You can still see whats going on even if you have to take pictures above tall people or have a limited view.
Picture quality is top notch. I have no complaints about the quality of pictures since the new processor seems to have ample power to process the digital images quickly. VGA video mode on the camera is also fantastic. For the casual videographer, I found it really useful since I dont own a camcorder.
The only thing that I have concerns over is the construction. Its good but some parts of the case seem to shift a little when held. Being heavy handed I feel like I might be crushing some internal components but everything seems to be fine.
This is an excellent, affordable point and shoot digital camera. Great picture quality and features.
On: 2006-11-03
I bought this camera after an extensive review of many types of cameras. I wanted something durable, easy to use, but flexible in that it has 4X zoom, adequate megapixels, and adjustable settings for my budding interest in photography. This camera has them all. Other things I liked:
- It takes AA batteries so if you run out of juice, all you have to do is stop at your local grocery store.
- Its large enough to hold for those prone to dropping things, like myself.
- The settings are easy to learn and numerous - Theres so many options. Also, the computer program the camera comes with helps to fix up the colors and brightness quite nicely.
- The screen flips out so that you can use it in different ways. My favorite way to use it is to take head shots of myself with friends - you can turn the screen so it faces forward and get a good shot everytime!
Things I dont like:
- As much as I like the size, it can be bulky for those looking for a slim pocket model. I had to buy a case (Lowepro D-Res 10AW works perfectly!) so its a little bulky at times.
- Ive had trouble with steadying the picture when it zooms, but I think thats a universal problem.
All around, an excellent camera.
On: 2006-11-03
Being new to digital cameras I was hesitant when I first purchased this camera because of the many options that it has. But as I soon found out it is so easy to use, even if you dont read the manuals. The picture quality is excellent, even when enlarged to 8x10. And it does 2x as many things as similar cameras in the same price range.
On: 2006-11-03
This camera has the feel of a big one and yet it is small enough to take it in your pocket.
Easy to handle and excellent pictures.
On: 2006-11-03
I have never been disappointed with Canon digital cameras. This new one, The Canon Powershot A620 7.1MP Digital Camera is no exception and meets and even exceeds my expectations. If that wasnt enough Amazons price was the best deal on the web.
This Camera along with Amazons price cant be beat!
On: 2006-11-02
Easy to use right out of the box. Read the quick start manual and was able to start taking pictures and downloading to a computer right away. Has many more features some of which I may never use. Picture quality is very good. Would recommend getting a larger memory card. Highly recommend this camera.
On: 2006-11-02
Wonderful camera. Easy to use. A lot of camera for the price.
On: 2006-10-24
I bought this camera about 2 months ago and just love it. It takes excellent pictures with minimal effort. MY last camera was a 3.1 mexapixel Nikon so this is definately an improvement. This camera has a lot of nice features which I am still learning how to use. We debated about getting the Canon powershot A630 but a friend of mine has that camera and I actually think this camera takes better "out of the box" pictures. (Of course, the A630 did have a bigger screen which would have been a nice feature.) Weve taken a lot of shots of my daughter who just turned 1 and again I cannot be happier with the results of this camera.
On: 2006-10-16
This camera takes decent pictures half of the time, the rest suck!! The colors are off, people look darker then they are. Maybe the flash is not strong enough. I have seen pictures from 4 different occasions, mostly indoor, and 1/3 to 1/2 of the pictures come out right. It has an impressive list of features and I really like the design. I did a lot of research before getting it and looked at all the pictures online, but I am not very satisfied with it. I have used a Kodak, Olympus and a Nikon in the past and liked the picture quality on all of them, but the pictures from this camera do not come close to the other ones.
On: 2006-10-13
Im 45 years old and have owned two cameras in my life. So I guess that doesnt make me an expert or anything. My previous camera was a Canon Powershot film camera, purchased 17 years ago for about $150 at Target. And it still works great. People always have said, "That camera takes great pictures." I felt like a genius, but really just bought it because it was on sale. After finally converting over to Macs and loving the iPhoto software, I decided to go digital. I automatically started looking at Canons because of the years of pleasure my other Canon gave me. I stumbled across this camera at Amazon and figured a 4.5 star average rating with 199 customer reviews had to mean it was decent. And I also read great reviews of it elsewhere. So I decided to take the plunge. Funny thing...I mustve got one of the last ones of these that Amazon itself was selling. Because the price on the descriptioin page when I went to put it in my cart was $329.99. But when I added it to my cart, the price changed to $214.99...and I have no idea why. I was worried that I was gonna get some camera that was returned or something, but the customer service rep at Amazon said that that wasnt the case...that mine was a brand new camera. When it came, sure enough...it was brand new. Ive only used it for about 5 days, but I love everything about it. Even the 2" screen seems plently big enough for me. The pictures are fabulous. And I was able to start taking pix right out of the box. The only thing I had to consult the manual for was how to set the time and date. Other than that, at least on the AUTO setting, its just point and shoot. And the pix upload beautifully into my Mac PowerBooks iPhoto library. The best part, in my opinion, about using this camera with a Mac? I didnt even have to load the multiple software packages that came with the Canon camera. iPhoto handles most everything, and what it doesnt I can do in Photoshop. This is a great camera, which I think has been replaced by the A630. But I dont care! I got a great deal and love the A620. The only caveat? Buy yourself a good set of rechargeable NiMH batteries and a quality charger, like I did. Using regular AA batteries may end up costing a lot in the long run. Id recommend the Canon A620 to anyone looking for a mid-range, quality digital camera. Look around for bargain prices on the web, though. There may be places blowing these out to make room for the A630.
On: 2006-09-29
OK, Ive spent years using a nice film camera -- solid body, good, interchangeable lenses, etc. -- so maybe Im biased, but this camera just doesnt do it for me.
For starters, the thing had to go straight from the box to the canon repair center (on my dime natch, as my wife purchased the camera several months before as a birthday present so there was no option to return it to the store once my birthday rolled around, and canon did not offer to pick up the shipping): the image was blurry and overexposed.
Now that I have it back from the shop, heres my beefs: a) the viewfinder is atrocious -- only the center of the image in the viewfinder is in focus, with the rest being a blurry mess. b) Pictures are still a little blurry, even at maximum resolution. c) The supplied software doesnt have much to recommend; just a very basic image downloading/viewing program along with a program to stitch images together.
On: 2006-09-23
I purchased my A620 in July 2006 prior to a cruise to Alaska. I also purchased both 1 GB and 2 GB SanDisk memory cards and 2 sets of Sony rechargable batteries plus the Sony charger.
Before the cruise I took about 600 photos on the original charge of one set of the batteries. The manuals say the batteries should be fully discharged before recharging them, so I then made 6 1GB videos trying to empty them. Then I read in the back of the manual that if you primarily use the optical viewfinder and make only occasional use of the screen the camera may take as many as 1500 shots on one set of batteries.
So I took the camera to Alaska with the original set of batteries on the original charge. On photo # 1453 the camera beeped twice and put a message on the screen "change batteries" ! I put the other set in and kept shooting.
My friends on the cruise were amazed. Most of them had to recharge their digital camera batteries every night on the ship and several of them ran out of battery during the day anyway. Some of the smaller digital cameras were only getting 150 shots on one charge.
All the other good things about this camera are true, too! Big prints, no lag, good screen, good flash, Digic II is a winner!
On: 2006-09-14
Excelent camera at an incredible price. It has literally taken me weeks to learn all of its countless features. I specially like the Macro setting which eliminates all need for special lenses when taking pictures of books illustrations and that sort of thing. Recently took it on a trip to Europe and I cant believe how much more fun it made it. Only downside: the sad look on friends faces when comparing how much they paid for their own, lower pixeled and less equiped, cameras.
On: 2006-09-12
Wanted a better digital camera for a trip to Brazil. Did online research and wanted one around 8MP, but settled for the Canon A620. Was a bit concerned when I got my camera through the mail as the packing was substandard. However, I took around 10 test pictures that looked okay, then went on an 8-day trip to Brazil. Got some awesome pictures...around 300 or so. The macro photo of some leaf-cutter ants also was pretty impressive. The only regret (non-A620 related) I have, is that I had 2x1GB SD cards and the first one didnt even get filled up even with mid-high res photos, and the 2nd card didnt even get used. I was too busy checking things out instead of taking more photos. Oh well! I plan to return to Brazil...its an awesome country esp Rio de Janeiro.
What I like about the Camera: after taking over 300 photos, many with flash, the batteries where still going strong. I used 2500mh nickel-metal hydride batteries. The clarity and color of the pics are very good/accurate, and there was never any hint of red-eye in the people photos, not one!
Camera is easy to use and I basically only used the auto, program and landscape modes and still got some excellent shots.
I keep the flip screen in the "open" position...cant be bothered with flipping it open/closed all the time.
Bottom line: Great camera performancewise, and not too small where it could slip out of your hand and smash onto the ground. Canon should make another similar model, maybe with higher megapixels and dump the flip screen, thereby still keeping the price around the same as the A620. Guaranteed sales!!
On: 2006-09-06
The canon A620 is a fine digital camera that offers more than your typical point and shoot variety. Ive own several pocket size digitals: Sony DSCP10, DSCT7, Exilim EXZ50, Z60; these are all nice cameras but cant compare to the manual settings, and indoor shots of this Canon.
I originally wanted a digital SLR, but didnt want to spend that kind of money, yet....
Likes:
-Very good battery life (366 shots and counting) for a "AA" camera. I still picked up some rechargeables 2500 mAh.
-Camera pictures very sharp; 7.1 MP means lots of options to crop, zoom in, and poster size prints.
-Good indoor shots - accurate colors; little noise if camera is set to the right "indoor" setting, unlike those other "pocket" cameras.
Needs Improvements:
-camera has a more "plastic" feel than my other pocket cameras.
-digital screen is small by todays standards.
Summary: Not exactly a full size digital SLR (Nikon D50 or Rebel, come to mind), but dont let the looks, and feel fool you; take the time using this camera, testing its functions and youll discover what a true gem it really is!
On: 2006-09-05
I bought this camera just prior to going on a sailing cruise this summer. I had a friend walk me thru the basics and took some practice shots, but that was about it for preliminaries.
This camera is sooooo easy to use, and the quality of the photographs is nothing short of amazing. I had several of the vacation photos blown up to 16x20 with absolutely no loss of resolution, and after having them framed, they look totally professional.
Next use was at a sporting event a few weeks later, my 13-yo took a bunch of pictures at a regatta. While he had a tendency not to zoom enough, the editing software allowed for zoom, again, with no loss of resolution or graininess. The speed was fine for action shots.
Took a bunch of nature photos this weekend and they are fine. I have never been into photography before, but this camera makes it easy and fun.
I do recommend the 1G card - it has plenty of storage space even at the highest resolution, which I think is necessary.
This camera is a steal for the price. Enjoy!
On: 2006-09-02
Ive generally been happy with Canon products. The A620 is definitely an example with that.
The turn-on speed puts my cybershot to shame. The preview has great resolution and all the possible scene types are awesome. I use picasa so not sure how good the combined software is.
Complaints:
* 4 batteries are heavy!
* Bought it for mom and not sure she could fit it in her purse
* isnt it about time we have a tutorial come with a camera?
* Cybershot came with rechargable batteries that was nice
On: 2006-09-01
This camera has everything that you need even if its your first camera. The auto shooting is great, the macro its the best one I have ever seen.
From now on, all my cameras will be Canon!!!
On: 2006-09-01
The camera works pretty well. Price is nice. If you are looking for no delay after the shutter press, SLR might be your choice.
There are many modes to play to create different effects.
On: 2006-09-01
I received the Canon a620 about a week ago, and honestly am astounded by the results. The clarity is amazing, and allows me to zoom in and crop quite a bit and still have perfect clarity.
The colors are brilliant, and perhaps the most useful feature Ive found is the viewing window can face all directions. I can make it face up and take pictures from ground level or even take self portraits with my kids with the viewer facing us.
So far, I honestly couldnt rate this camera higher.
On: 2006-08-30
Overall a good purchase. The picture quality is really good. Different modes for different settings. You should make a habit to use the different modes to get best results rather than click all pictures on Auto mode.
However, I would have liked more zoom capability.
On: 2006-08-30
This is my first digital camera, and I am really satisfied with this purchase. I used the camera in my recent vacation in Mexico, and it was very easy to use (point and shoot), and gave excellent quality photos.
I really recomend this camera.
On: 2006-08-30
I was stunned at the features packed into this camera. While indeed larger than Canons popular Elph line of cameras, the A620 is not the tank it appears in the photograph. In giving up the slim design, the user gets total customizability. Whereas minicameras, such as the Elphs, offer simplicity in their "point-and-shoot" design, the A620 goes a step further.
Now, I must stress that this camera absolutely has point-and-shoot usability. In fact, the speed at which the thing powers up very much impressed me: from touching the power button, I can comfortably move my finger to the shutter, depress it, and the photo is taken. No more missed shots waited for the camera to turn on!
So the A620 does all the slimmer models do, just in a slightly wider package. The benefits, however, are great: 4 AA batteries means greater power and longer life; manual adjustment of settings, such as shutter speed, aperture value, and focus depth; fold-out LCD screen, useful for odd camera angles, such as shots low to the ground (also means the LCD can be protected when camera is not in use; very handy to me, as I bought the A620 to replace my old digital camera, whose screen had cracked while in my backpack!); 4x zoom rather than 3x, means youll be doing less cropping to get the shot you want--and remember that in digital photography, cropping means a loss of quality.
If those facts arent enough to convince you to accept an extra half inch or so of casing, maybe the camera isnt for you. I for one bought it because it was cheaper than the comparable--and also because its not quite as girlie. ;) After having it only a week, I was already experimenting with the different manual settings, and found myself able to execute shots simply not possible from using the point-and-shoot setting, such as focusing on obscure part of the picture, or placing the camera on a tripod and taking a picture of the night sky with the shutter left open for 15 seconds. Beautiful!
Couldnt be more impressed with this model. Dont buy something simpler and limit yourself!
One more piece of advice: I bought the cheapest 1GB card available, about $10 or $15, and it works splendidly with this camera. Its fast as heck, too--so dont be conned into paying $80 for some "X-treme Sp33d" card.
On: 2006-08-29
Pretty good one,words cant describe it more than I can ;-)Nah im not kidding-its really awesome
On: 2006-08-29
A few days after I bought this camera I took it on a 2 week trip to Europe. I am very very happy with it. It functioned smoothly all the time and I got some great shots. Being able to reposition the LCD screen is a real benefit as you can use it to get a lower angle of view without having to squat down or otherwise contort yourself. True, some of the plastic parts seem flimsy but they only seem that way and everything held up really well. Only problem I had is that the shooting mode dial seemed to drift from setting to setting of its own accord and had to be rechecked regularly. The camera is a bit heavy to carry on a wrist strap. I bought a wide neck strap for it and was very comfortable.
On: 2006-08-29
I bought this camera to use as a backup for my digital rebel xt.It has almost the same megapixels 7.1 compared to the 8.2. The picture quality is very good on the 620. The main advantages are the weight differences btween the two cameras. A nice feature is that the lcd screen folds up to protect the surface from scratches and dirt. The a620 uses the sd card that is different from the compact flash card that the xt uses. since I never read the manuals I had to figure out how to use the zoom. All in all, I will probably take the a620 on my next trip to Rio. When you walk with xt with the 300mm lens you can attract a lot of attention. Also, with all of the security at airports it is a lot easier to carry the a620 through security.after all is said and done, I find that both cameras have their place and time.You have conveniece of the a620 versus the versatilty of the rebel xt. I love canons quality.
On: 2006-08-28
I am not by no means an expert on cameras. I just wanted a point and shot and this camera does that and produces great pictures. The colours are vibrant and you can get really close to subjects far away. Im sure that if I read the booklet on how to use the settings, my shots would be even better. But for someone looking for an easy camera with good results, this is the one. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that it did not come with a carry case.
On: 2006-08-28
Very happy with this product. For this price it is hard to find a 4X optical and 7.1Megas Pix. It is very easy to use. The outcome is great. Easy to shoot videos. Highly recommend it.
On: 2006-08-27
This is an "out of the box" review, and I hope to update the review in a month or two. First impressions are all good; I am familiar with Canon cameras and most of the controls were very intuitive. Which is good because the manuals are about as thick as a dictionary. If you use the auto setting or some of the "scene" selections, you will take a great photo. I also purchased the popular Scan Disk 1 gig high speed card and this is the fastest combo I have seen/used in point in shoot to quickly take pictures. The camera boots up very fast. The flash is about average to above average for a pocket type point and shoot, but if you need a robust flash you either need a camera with more accessories or just dont buy a point and shoot. The zoom is a touch noisy as I read in one review, but I really didnt find it a big deal and I dont plan on hiding out in camo for nature photos where a tiny whirl would spook an animal. I love the slightly heavier/larger size myself than an elph or smaller camera...it fits larger hands much better, but my wife can easily use it. The a/v input cover that has been so highly critized is very flimsy and I can see it breaking, but I think if you realize this and take your time using it (no kids) you will be ok. Also, I havent made it that far yet, but apparently there | | |
