Canon PowerShot A60 2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Now bargain quality camera
Review: Have used digital cameras since 1992, and high-end SLRs earlier. This one a personal purchase with 512MB flash-card.

Lenses-fantastic, with Nikon/Olympus close. Human/machine interface great- feels like a solid, quality camera. The boot-up computer bits good (contrast, some Nikons terrible). Great that can get optical zoom lense mount standard for A-series. Pictures- from great to average. Works with Windows and better with OSX.

2MB great for photos, but more for poster- maybe and A85/90 etc.

Overall, very happy, and transitioned from 35mm film to digital effortlessly. A G6 the next buy!

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant point and shoot
Review: I've had this camera for a year and it's still a wonderful, sturdy point-and-shoot that's small enough to keep with me at all times. Key features:

2.0 MEGAPIXELS
This camera was a gift and had I bought one myself, I probably would have upgraded to at least 4 MP. Turns out 2 is just fine. I've printed photos as large as 8 x 10 with no pixelating. Resolution is wonderful. Color is accurate and resolution is quite impressive for this price range.

MACRO
The macro feature works amazingly well. For anyone needing sharp close-up photos, this camera delivers (perfect for Ebay sellers!!)

USER-FRIENDLY
The interface is fairly intuitive, which makes this a good choice for those who would otherwise be uncomfortable with a digital camera. The viewfinder is bright and large enough to see what you're aiming at. Canon kept buttons to a minimum and its menu is easy enough to figure out without even reading the directions. I have family and friends who've spent twice the amount on a fancier camera, but they use it less because it's so confusing.

LAG-TIME
This is one of the A60's biggest drawbacks. The lagtime on my camera can be as long as two seconds, which makes it hard to capture "the moment." Within that time, the subject can close his/her eyes, move out of the frame, etc.

VIDEO FEATURE
Shoots decent video, but of course, video's a memory hog, so be sure to have a bigger card (256MB minimum) or you'll be out of space quickly. Sound from 10 feet away is surprisingly good.

SOFTWARE
The software is okay. I'm a Mac user and when I first got this, I used the Canon softare to view photos. Now that I'm using OSX, I exclusively use iPhoto, which is a profound improvement. Excellent organizational options, easy uploading for prints, and, true to Apple's nature, very user friendly.

RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
Digital cameras eat batteries. Though rechargeables are expensive, they are money savers in the end and they give the environment a break to boot. Well worth the added expense. Be sure to buy eight rechargeables. The camera takes four, and you'll always have four charging.

Rating:
Summary: Cheap but not reliable
Review: We bought our Canon A60 in March 2004 two days before we left on a 38 day tour of Europe. We have a heavy-duty Canon digital and bought the A60 point and shoot camera because we could use the same memory cards in it and it is light weight and inexpensive for travel. However, this camera has major problems and we sent it back for repairs immediately after the trip. It was returned to us as "repaired" but the problems were never fixed.

Problems:
(1) The camera often comes on with blurs of colored stripes across the screen. It will not take a picture except of the colored stripes. There is no rhyme or reason to when or why this happens. I've missed many great shots because of this problem.

(2) At least 1/4 of my pictures in Europe were ruined because the A60 didn't adjust properly for backlighting. I didn't realize there was a problem until I had some pictures printed after I got home. Diagonally the pictures were completely whited out. Sometimes the camera worked fine using the same angles. Photography is my hobby. I've never had this problem with any camera before.

One of the features we hate is that it often hesitates before taking a picture causing us to miss many shots.

I would love this camera if it was reliable. Ours isn't. It broke within the first three weeks.

Rating:
Summary: Broke after 1 1/2 years
Review: Originally, I liked my A60 until it broke after 1.5 years. I called the customer service only to find out it would cost $200 to fix a camera that I paid $250 for new. They offered me a refurbished camera for $150. The first day I opened it I found two problems with it. They would not return the camera and now I am out more money for a bad product. I would not recommend this product or the A70, which was the replacement camera. The Canon quality was very disappointing and the service was even worse.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: If you are looking for an amazing camera this is it! After much thought and endless hours of research, I took the plunge and decided to buy this camera. I have not been the least bit dissapointed. It is fairly simple to use and the pictures look amazing.
I have had this camera for six months now. I take it everywhere. My friends and family are completely sick of this camera. There is a video mode on this camera which is wonderful! Just point and shoot. I take it out on our annual birthday dinners with the girls from work. Which is something that you cannot do woth a camcorder. This little bitty camera fits in my purse.
Over the summer family was here from out of town and my uncle and cousin had both purchased the more expensive A70 model. They didn't even know that they were using my camera. They couldn't tell a difference between the a60 and the a70. My uncle just used his usb cable and downloaded the pictures from my camera right onto his laptop. They were equivilant to the photos he had taken with his more expensive model.
Bottom line if you are looking for a digital camera buy this one now. I have been amazed. If you use yours half as much as I use mine, you will get your moneys worth. The money you will save on film and developing alone will pay for this camera.
Get it NOW.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the amateur photographer
Review: I got this camera for christmas and it has been great for me. Let me tell you, my dad got a $900 Nikon digital that has been crapping out on him lately, and my Canon takes just as good pictures. It has plenty of good settings of which you can experiment and do fun things. Let me list out what I like about this camera...
-Cheap!
-Capable of shooting video (which is very fun)
-Quick and easy for snap shots
-Takes quality pictures
-batteries keep going...and going... and going...
-pictures aren't HUGE files on computer
-small and convenient
-the list goes on...

The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is because there is always something better in the technology realm. But trust me, this camera is great for just a fun little camera, I have had absolutely no problems. And best of all, it's a great deal!!! Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: E18 error and inability of Canon to fix
Review: My star rating here is mostly for the Canon repair service. Since purchasing the camera 15 months ago I've had to return it to the service center 3 times for repairs due to an E18 error. I've since found that many others who purchased the Canon A60, A70 or A75 have had this error. Do a search on Google for "Canon Powershot A60 E18 error" and you'll see what I mean.

Each time the camera went back to Canon and was returned to me they assured me it had been repaired, and each time it did not last long before the E18 error came back. Once it malfunctioned right out of the box. The 3rd time I insisted that they just replace it. They refused. They assured me they would really fix it this time. The result? Now I don't get the E18 error message, but the camera continues to malfunction by giving streaks across the image or blurring/blacking out altogether.

While the camera has many nice features, buyers need to be aware that if they get one of the lemons, Canon will be unable to fix it and unlikely to replace it.

Rating:
Summary: Dont buy it
Review: At first it seems great, but mine broke after four months. I am getting an error message that says, "Memory Card Error." I have tried a new memory card, but the problems is not with the card, it is with the camera.

Even thought, it is relatively cheap, it is not a product that will last very long.

Rating:
Summary: Downside? What Downside? Too Much Bang for the Buck?
Review: I thought I died and went to photo heaven.
After messing around with an Agfa Ephoto 307 for the last 5 years, what a pleasant surprise. And all that for a 124 Bucks.
Now that is what I call a HelluvaBang.:-)
After having replaced my POS Epson printer for the Canon i560 and was pleasntly surprised, I decided to purchase the A 60.
More features than I will ever need.
Of course, it helps to buy a bigger flash card (128mb cards are dirt cheap and will hold 400+ pictures, you need more, buy another card).
Also rechargable batteries and a flash card reader, that still keeps you below 200 bucks.
And customer service is great, friendly and knowledgable too.
The only thing I ask of Canon, don't change owners or CUSTOMER SERVICE and you'll get my business for all things Canon.
What a sweet little camera, thank you.