Canon PowerShot A650IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

The Canon A650IS is a small digicam that is easy to use and takes reasonably good pictures. I bought it as a "grab-and-go" camera for when I don't want to lug along my DSLR and lenses. If you are a DSLR owner, then you're probably spoiled by your main camera. As such, it is not fair to compare it to the A650 IS - it's an apples and oranges comparison. With this in mind, the Canon A650IS is a bargain for what it does: 12MP, 6X zoom, AA batteries, articulating LCD. It can take an 8Gb SDHC card so you'll have plenty of room for stills and movies. As with virtually ALL small digital cameras, noise levels above ISO 200 are quite annoying, but there is software out there that can reduce this noise. My one pet peeve with this camera is that you need to open the battery door to take out the SD card.
The camera does its best work in good daylight. It's one of the better small digicams out there, and I've tried quite a few.
Now here's something you won't read in most reviews of the Canon A650IS - this camera is a bit "dumbed-down". That is to say, it's distant cousin, the Canon G9, has more flexibility even though it has the virtually the same optics and sensor. I guess that Canon can thereby sell a cheaper camera by intentionally not providing what it provides in the G9. BUT inquisitive photographers can make their Canon A650IS into a camera that,
for example, shoots RAW, has a live histogram, bracketing, and has a full-time battery indicator. In this light, the A650 IS, a solid small camera as sold, becomes even more worth the price of admission. This information is on the internet for any enthusiast to find, as I did (and there are NO warranty issues to do this).

Fantastic camera. We needed something to capture our two little boys (ages 3 and 1) in their active states.

After doing a ton of research I decided on the Powershot A650. Amazon gets a 5+ for customer service, because my one day shipping took 4 days and they reimbursed me for it. Back to the camera, I have had it since March and I like it so far. It is much more camera than I need as I was told by friends but I plan on learning how to use all the extra features that it has. I love the software that came with it how it only loads the previously unloaded pictures to the computer, my old camera didnt do that. The reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is (unless I missed something somewhere) it doesn't let you know that your batteries are low until its to late, and that it is slow in taking multiple pictures one right after the other, that may be in part that I currently have a sandisk 2gb ultra II and I have read that there are some better cards. All in all I'm happy with it.

Before I go on about how wonderful this camera is, you should know that RITZ CAMERA is the place from which you should buy it! I might sound as though I'm doing a commercial, but honestly, I do NOT work for Ritz Camera - I'm simply a consumer who did my homework before making a purchase, and was Very pleased to learn that Ritz Camera gives you FREE CLASSES on how to use all of the functions on this camera, PLUS they gave me a mail-in rebate for a free photo printer, free paper & other stuff!! ....The classes are invaluable in order to get the most out of this fine camera! I mean, sure, it's very easy to use - you just point 'n click. BUT, keep in mind, there are 21 different settings for taking the best pics in different places! This depends on the distance of your subject, and the amount of light, and whether or not your subject is moving quickly or standing still, and depending what sorts of colors are in-frame & what's in the background, etc. So, even though this camera will take fantastics pics in the first place, an educated user will know how to capture the absolute Best picture, every time! And, as long as you're gonna buy a camera which has all of those funny-looking symbols on the dial - hey, you may as well learn how to take advantage of em, right?! ......Oh, and even though my local Ritz Camera shop didn't have this particular model in-stock, they were able to get it from their warehouse in 3 days, no additional cost! ...I called around to 3 other stores (ie: Wal-mart, Sears and Staples), and none of them could match the deal I got from Ritz Camera. Although their prices were all about the same, they either didn't have this camera in-stock, couldn't order it, did not offer free stuff with it, and none of them offered free classes! So, obviously, I'm highly impressed with the way Ritz Camera does business -- they really go the extra mile for their customers! Highly recommended!! ....Now, about this camera - what more can I say which other buyers haven't already said?? It's absolutely wonderful! I previously owned a Canon Powershot A620 (which has a mexapixel rate of 7.1), and I loved that so much, I knew that I wanted to buy another Powershot - I simply wanted to upgrade the megapixel rate (and, of course, still have a camera which has the flip-open viewer, opposed to the stationary LCD screen). So, basically, this is the same camera as the one I was using but it has a significantly higher megapixel rate, plus it has 6x optical zoom instead of 4x. ...Overall, this is an Awesome upgrade, and highly recommended!!! Once you see the photos that this camera is capable of producing, there's no going back!

I also own a Canon Powershot 2.1MP and love it. For a 2.1 the pictures are impressive, focus is crisp and overall images look to be from a much better (more resolution) camera. The Powershot A650IS 12.1 Mpix is somewhat of a disappointment. When zooming the image stabilization is just not able to take care of vibration. If I use a tripod it is better but overall compared to my older Canon I am disappointed. I bought this for the point and shoot and the 6X optical zoom but it looks like I will have to use a tripod. I frequently get images that are not perfectly focused and if I really zoom in when reviewing, there seem to be spots across the image as if the image sensor quality is not too good. I did notice that my first camera is heavier and was made in Japan as opposed to the new one that is lighter and made in China. For $300 it is hard to get a 12.1 w/6x zoom but I'm not overwhelmed with the quality of the image. I may need to work with the manual settings to get a better image.