Rating: 
Summary: Great for beginner and beyond; Comparisons to ideal camera
Review: Now I'm new to photography, but I began with my ideal set of features without looking at what cameras were out there (too many to count). I set pretty high standards for myself. They were:1) 3+ MP
2) Great in low-light/no flash situations (i.e. weddings)
3) CF Flash 1 & 2 (least proprietary, many uses)
4) AA-battery standards (least proprietary, many uses)
5) Highly compact/light enough for my pocket
6) Point and Shoot
7) Manual controls so I can grow into taking pictures
8) Swivel LCD (Candid shots that you'd never get otherwise)
9) Minimal shutter lag (works like non-digital camera)
10) Good Construction
11) 10x Optical Zoom
12) Optical zoom focus (rotary like professional cameras)
13) 640x480+ DV video
14) Waterproof
15) Made in Japan (best quality control process, I think)
16) Camera doesn't limit speed based on brand of memory card
17) Nice web sites demonstrating how to use the camera best
18) Wireless/Phone connectivity
19) Hot shoe
20) Lens thread for lens filters
21) $350 or less Now, I went to the list. I bought this camera after months of research, comparing all sorts of brands from Sony, Kodak, Olympus, etc. So now, I'll address all the features and how this camera stacks up. 1) 4MP: Perfect
2) One of best in low-light/no flash; I generally don't like the lighting with flash even on professional cameras. I've gotten great dim pictures of animals sleeping with this. Note: Must be steady [See Recommendations]
3) CF Flash 1; That's still good & cheap, but not as fast as CF2.
4) 4 AA-battery; A number so heavy, but multi-purpose
5) It fits my pocket, but it's a bit heavy with the batteries
6) Yup, but I think Sony does a better job with auto mode
7) Few cameras have manual and I'm still learning with this. Note: Having a manual mode means that there's a fairly steep learning curve, but fortunately there's auto if needed
8) I can't tell you how many candid shots I've gotten with the swivel LCD. It's a must!
9) Arg. This camera has lag. Maybe 1-2 seconds worth. No camera for this price seems to minimize this. Maybe in a few years?
10) Alright, but batteries/CF door a bit flimsy
11) 3x optical zoom so that's just fair
12) Uses digital motor to zoom, which is slow. Not available on consumer cameras though.
13) 320x280 video mode, 3min max is ok, but even the A70 had 640x480 so this is just bad
14) Even with the so-called waterproof case, this is just bad. Just avoid moisture or get an el-cheapo camera for water situations (what I did)
15) Yup. Land of the Rising Sun. High QC
16) Actually improves based on the memory card
17) Yup, there are plenty of sites that demonstrate hot to optimize the manual modes
18) Probably not in the near future
19) Nope.
20) Yes, so I can possibly apply a UV filter or whatnot Recommendations:
-Tripod
-Rechargeable batteries
-256+ CF card, 512MB /1 GB recommended
(I know a lot of people like the 256 MB card, but once you get into this camera, you can finish off a 256 MB card in one night i.e. 200 pictures + 3/4 video clips)
Rating:
Summary: You'll Love It !
Review: I take alot of photo's, and have had an Olympus for the past 3 years. The Olympus 2.1 has never let me down so I was hesitant to not buy another Olympus. But when I started my search for a 4 Megapixel camera the Canon A-80 caught my attention. Just about every review I read was positive, and it had features no one else had. After I bought this camera I saw what everyone was raving about. The picture quality is second to none. I've taken pictures outside,inside all lighting and even on the auto mode they come out flawless. It has a solid quality feel. The swivel display is super, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. I was at a concert and took pictures over everyones heads with it. I could never had done it with a standard display. Buy this camera, you won't be disapointed. I'm sure this camera will give anyone years of great photo's. The only things I bought was a camera bag ,256 flash memory card and rechargable batteries. Get those few items and your set to go.
Rating:
Summary: This camera RULES and so does Amazon
Review: I bought the A80 and it's a great camera. It is so easy to use, I'm relieved. In the past, I've borrowed my dad's ($900. plus Nikon), and my sister's $600. plus whatever) and they took great photos, don't get me wrong, but ease of use did not exist. The A80 is fabulous. I took it out of the box, got it ready and the camera is so self-explanatory, it was great. I had great photos emailed to friends the hour after I got it. One problem was the movie mode didn't have sound. Turned out I got a defective camera, BUT...I called Amazon and they sent me another one right away. I needed it for vacation and they had it to me in two days. They are the best customer service ever. I'm very happy with my A80, and with Amazon. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic + Versatile!
Review: I shopped around for a digital camera for a few months, 4+ megapixels is the way to go, other cameras looked nice but were too pricey, ergonomically awkward or confusing to use. Not so with this little gem! The canon A80 has all of the features I wanted, it is small (hand size), easy to use, takes HIGH quality pictures and gives me confidence to experiment and enjoy photography without wasting money on film & developing costs. The A80 is very simple to use, the menus and function screens are navigated with ease. The camera offers a wide variety of modes for every situation and setting. The A80 can take movies, landscapes, macros, portraits, high speed action pictures, photo-stitching-panoramas, and many more. The A80 comes with software for both PC and Mac. Although I tend to use the iPhoto program that comes with my Mac. I did buy some rechargeable batteries and charger, and a couple extra memory cards. The A80 uses 4 AA batteries, you should get some Nimh recharge batts as back up. You might also want an extra memory card, the camera uses Compact Flash (type 1) cards, this type of card is inexpensive compared to other flash storage cards, a 256mb card is a must in my opinion since the A80 is sold with only one 32mb card. The A80's only drawback is that it does not come with a camera bag, it has a camera strap, but no bag, so I had to buy my own. Overall, I have to give this camera 5 stars, it does everything as advertised, and the picture quality is FANTASTIC, simply follow the directions for each type of picture you are taking et voila, HUGE digital prints, the detail is phenomenal! This camera is worth every penny! SImply put, this is the best camera I have ever owned.
Rating: 
Summary: battery door breaks easily
Review: I have had the A80 for only 3 weeks and already the battery door is broken. In taking about 100 pictures, I was very disappointed at how slow it is to focus. Sometimes it seemed like it was 5 seconds between when I pushed the button and when it finally took the picture. Often the opportunity was long gone by the time the image was acquired. Otherwise, the pictures are ok, and I like the software that came with it. So, I'm off to FedEx to send it for repair.
Rating:
Summary: A great first digital camera
Review: I have owned this camera for about 4 months now and have shot well over 1000 photos with it. It's my first digital camera, and it has exceeded all of my expectations for a reasonably priced digital. You see, I'm a film person who prefers his film cameras all manual for the control it gives me. So, as you can imagine, I have been very skeptical of digital. I held out for several years before buying a digital camera in part for this reason, and in part because until recently I could not find a digital camera that met my needs at the price I was willing to pay ($300-$400). The Canon A80 is that camera, and I'm very happy I waited for it. Since your needs may not be the same as mine, I should explain what I wanted in a digital camera: at least 4 MP
full manual controls along with the automatic ones
compact size (I take most of my photos while hiking)
reasonably rugged and well built (for the same reason)
excellent optics and picture quality
uses AA batteries
good battery life A fairly tall order, but the A80 fits the bill. It's small and fits really well into my hands, making it easy to handle even one-handed. I considered the Canon S400 and S50, too, but their proprietary battery and less ergonomic shape (and the lack of manual controls on the S400) tipped the balance in favor of the A80, even though the A80 is slightly larger. The A80 takes great pictures on program or automatic settings, but allows full manual control, too. I have found, to my embarrassment, that I actually use the manual controls rarely (they are rather cumbersome on the A80--lots of buttons to push--but I'm still glad I have them). Shutter lag is minimal compared to other digital cameras I have tried out, and the automatic focus works very well. The A80 also takes spectacular closeups in macro mode. The flip-out LCD has turned out to be far more useful than I expected, and also protects the screen when folded in. I do not care much about, flash, indoor shots, or moving subjects (I shoot mostly landscapes) so I can't say much about them, except that it is nice to have these capabilities, and I have gotten a few great shots of wildlife with the A80. Battery life is excellent. I use 1800ma NiMH rechargeable AA batteries in it, and though I have shot all day on more than one occasion (250+ shots), I have not yet run out of power in the field (I always start out the day with a fully charged set of batteries). The fact that it takes AA size batteries makes for cheaper batteries and greater flexibility when your rechargeable NiMH batteries run out of power and you have no charged replacements. My only quibble is a tendency to blow out highlights (bright areas) of some photos, and some purple fringing where dark areas meet much brighter areas in a photo. I understand there are adjustments one can make to avoid both, but I have not yet achieved this level of expertise. In short, this was a great choice for my first digital camera. I'm having a lot of fun with it and discovering that in some respects digital gives you even more control over your photos than my old all manual Nikon does. I've found the photo software Canon includes to be quite adequate, though you'll want Photoshop or equivalent for more complex work with your photos.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice camera
Review: I have only had this camera for a few days, but have tried to use as many options as possbile to test it out. It has tons of features that must be for more professional photographers, but perhaps I'll learn how to use them sommetime. It takes great pictures. The zoom is great, even the digital zoom. The pictures are clear, all the way to 11X. On the "auto" setting, pictures don't take long to take or save. I have tried some of the other settings (the ones I don't understand) and they can take a little longer, but it's not that much of a hinderance. I love the flexible LCD. You can protect it when you want, or have it exposed while taking pics. It also easy to take those impromptu shots of you and your friends while you are holding the camera because of the flippable LCD. All in all...this is a great camera. I use to have an Olympus CamMedia 3.2 MP, and I thought it was a great camera, but this one is much better. Stronger case (metal), better features...just get it.
Rating:
Summary: Your friends will be jealous
Review: Canon makes the best digital cameras in this price range, no doubt. I purchased this beauty before studying in Mexico for three months. As a student, price was a large factor. I wanted more than just point-and-shoot. I took 700 photos in Mexico. The camera never missed a shot. Photos all come out so perfectly you don't even need ot access the many manual options. The only manual option I used was the black-and-white, which took black-and-white pictures and gave me control over exposures and the like. My black-and-white prints look better than my friends', who used 35mm cameras. My color prints, well I blew a bunch up to 8x10 and they are absolutely perfect, amazing considering I wasn't even using the highest-quality option! I love the swivel-screen. When traveling alone, you can have the screen on the front of the camera and take a picture of yourself. It was also helpful for seeing over large crowds. The camera is NOT heavy, I don't know why so many reviws say that. It's heavier than other digital cameras, yes, but I like that it feels SOLID. I have picked up many digital cameras that felt flimsy. This one is solid metal, very strong. I love that it uses AA batteries, because if your batteries run out its always easy to find more. If you use energizer e2 batteries the camera is very light. Batteries typically lasted me 2-3 weeks, and I was taking hundreds of photos. There are a few cons to the camera. The screen is hard to see in direct sunlight, and it feels a little too small. Also, I find that the knob on the top to choose picture-taking options moves too easily - I often moved it unknowingly and then took a photo on the wrong setting. I also find that the auto-focus often focuses on the wrong object. Still, I would buy this camera again. My friends' cameras simply did not compete. I had so many more options, and my auto-shoot's pictures were just better. When we compared prints, you could not tell mine were from a digital camera but there's had imperfections. Buy this camera. If not this one, stick with Canon.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly surprised!
Review: In a nutshell....this is a great camera. Let me start by saying that I am a "film" person so was skeptical to begin with about digital. I have tried many (friends, work, etc...), shopped around, looked at more and finally just bought this one and what a buy it was! I cannot tell you how happy I am with this camera. Easy to use, takes a terrific picture and has made taking pictures a whole lot more fun. Do yourself a favor an get this camera. Great buy for the money!
Rating:
Summary: Great camera
Review: I've been very satisfied with Amazon.com and my Canon digital camera. Amazon's prices were lower than the local stores with a great deal on a memory card too. I received the camera very shortly after I ordered it. The Canon Powershot A80 has great resolution and holds tons of pictures. I love how the screen rotates out for better viewing. The camera has many manual features for the more advanced photographer. The photos upload quickly to the computer and is very simple for anyone who isn't very computer literate. The only complaint I have is that the flash seems to be a bit bright at times. Many peoples' eyes in pictures are squinted because of the bright flash. I might try taping a piece of tissue paper over the flash. But that's it. Everything else seems to be great. I'm very happy with the camera.
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