Canon PowerShot A470 7MP Digital Camera with 3.4x Optical Zoom (Gray)

My family and I have gone through so many digital cameras, I can't count them. Previous to digital, I had an old Canon Elph film camera that I loved (and previous to that, an old Canon AF35 from the 80's, which I adored-even though I had several SLRs)), but digital was the way to go for me, as I'm the type of person who will shoot 50-100 shots to get a good one. This camera does it for me except for one feature: when I am viewing pix on the camera, the zoom stays right in the center, I can't wander all over the image as I have been able to do in other Canon cameras, Sony Cybershots, and Olympus cameras. That's it, my only complaint. The nicest thing about this camera for me is that I can take shot after shot with minimal waiting. Two weeks ago, we went to shoot the "Fall Foliage" (that always sounds so pretentious!)up by Flagstaff and my partner said "I can't believe how fast that camera shoots-I've never seen one recover so fast!". Got some really nice shots,even while driving, so the motion thingy works pretty well! I have a 2GB SD card, it's been enough, but I always have a spare in case I'm not able to get to my computer and upload the pix to Costco in a timely fashion. Oh and the battery issue? I have no complaints,when last used, I went through 250+ pictures before they registered as low (Kirkland Alkaline). Part of why I chose this camera is that I can always get/carry batteries if I can't get to a charger, especially overseas. I WILL NOT buy a camera with rechargables!

This camera is all I need. It does not look fancy but it does everthing I want to do with it: Photos and little videos in good quality.

This camera is a great buy. It has tons of features and takes quality pictures. Specifically, my wife and I really like the microphone and speaker that are built into the camera - picks up sound well for videos and also makes it very easy to review AND HEAR videos on the camera. The menus are intuitive too and easy to navigate. Overall, this camera is an excellent purchase. By the way, it comes with a 32MB SD card, which is basically worthless when each 7MP shot is just under 2MB. So, remember to pick up larger SD card (2GB seems to be working pretty well for us currently - haven't tried an HDSC card yet).

I purchased this as a backup camera. Meaning a camera I can haul everywhere I go, mostly for cloud pictures, when I can't carry my Canon PowerShot Pro Series S3 IS 6MP with 12x Image Stabilized Zoom around.

I picked this camera because it has a few features I hadn't found in other cheaper point and shoot cameras. In manual mode it has an infinity focus mode, which I haven't seen anywhere. This is excellent for cloud photos, as my other camera could almost never focus on them, but this camera lacks a manual focus, so I wasn't completely sure it would work. The Infinity Focus completely solved that problem.

It's other main selling point is an ability for "Super Macro", ie focusing on objects almost touching the lens. It is also found in Manual Mode. My S3 can do that, but I didn't think I would find a point and shoot with that capability. Especially since I've played with some of the more expensive Canon powershots and they DIDN'T have the capability. It makes up for the measly 3.4 optical zoom.

One feature I haven't played with yet is long shutter, also in the manual settings, reached by pressing menu in the Exposure area of the Manual settings. It looks like it can go up to 5 seconds or so. Another feature I didn't expect on a camera without Manual Aperture or Shutter Speed adjustments.

The lack of a viewfinder is a bit irritating, and noticeably a problem in direct sunlight, but the focus modes more than made up for it for me.

It does have a big lag for flash pics, even with NiMH batteries. You will HAVE to buy another memory card as at high quality it can take barely 10 pics on the included one.

Simple controls/ decent picture quality. Batteries seam to last a while in it. I wish I would have gotten one w/ a better zoom, but for the money cannot complain. Good design, easy to hold in different angles while snapping photos/ The face recognition works pretty well & is fun to use.