Canon PowerShot A95 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Easy to Use for typical family photographer
Review: Bought A95 in January and have been enjoying it ever since.
This is our first digital camera and I love the fact that the pictures we print out are all quality pictures....not pictures of the back of a head....or someone looking away.

I don't think that you can go wrong with this camera. Purchase it; read the manual take an hour to get familiar with the camera and the software and picture taking/editing is very simple.

Movie mode good - fine for quick movies to send to relatives...recorded some of my son's fist steps and sent them out to friends...

Battery life bad for AA batteries...have to buy rechargeable batteries....I actually bought the Cannon rechargeables - after actually visiting Circuit City and seeing that only the cheap batteries were really cheap.

Red-eye does exist, but it is very simple to remove it when editing...simply zoom in and remove.....

Rating:
Summary: even better than we expected
Review: buying the a95 was one of those rare purchases that far exceeds what you had hoped for and expected.
the other reviews on this camera explain enough of the detail of its workings and quality, but i will mention what impressed me with this one.
- the fold out lcd (makes taking photos of yourself easy)
- the macro zoom function (i can get decent shots at less than 6 inches with this)
- the picture effects (sepia, black and white, vivid colour etc)
- f.stop, iso speed and shutter speed (you can adjust these all manually!)
- uses 4 AA batteries (cheap as chips to buy rechargeables and when they get old, just get some new ones - no mucking around with dodgy internal batteries - and you get about 400 pictures per charge, even more in low power mode)
- panoramic images (can take a bunch of shots in panoramic mode, then the software included, which i think is great, stitches them all together beautifully to make great panoramic images!) you can even turn then into quicktime vr movies!
- easy to use
- plenty of preset lighting situations to select from

the only downside to this camera is the 3x zoom, but i'm not a nature photographer or a hunter, so it doesn't matter to me.

buy it and be well pleased!

Rating:
Summary: Significant Mistake
Review: Canon does not pack rechargable batteries and charger which
is really bad because
1. The alkaline batteries that come with the package die in no
time.
2. The rechargable batteries and charger come for 32$ from sony
[NiMH batteries]. Canon's are far costlier in comparison.
Also, I find the camera somewhat slow in operation. I mean it
takes time to record images into the sandisk cf card. The camera
is not as easy-to-use and sleek as I had thought it would be. I
have a
sony dscp72 camera which came in cheaper and was more handy.
The zoom in and out using the semi-rotating switch is not as
handy as the two buttons for zoom in and out were in sony camera.
Also, the camera buttons (up and down) etc are not easy to get
used to. Sony scored far better at this.
The camera has not given me any problems as such but it was not
quite up to my expectations of easy to use and sleekness.
I am still exploring it's many functions which the sony camera
lacks and so can't comment on them.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect camera for those who seek it
Review: I am not too technical on cameras, and Im an average photographer. I usually take pictures at parties or the holidays. This camera really is an excellent one. It takes some of the clearest pictures! The options on it are great, just like the more expensive ones, but they're made easy. For landscape pictures, you just move it the landscape icon, for portrait pictures, you move it to the portrait icon. Its that simple and the quality is superb. For general pics here and there, just leave it on auto.

Id recommend you browse the manual for the basic settings, such as your resolution and such. I bought a 128mb compact flash card and it works fine. So my point is if you have to have a digital, this is it! You can take some nice deep pics like a photographer would, and you can take your regular old fun pictures and enjoy yourself whichever mode you feel you're in! I used to have a Minolta Dimage for 6 years before I upgraded, so you can tell how excited I am!

Rating:
Summary: Great camera, great price
Review: I chose between the A95 and the new Sony DSC-T1 and decided on the Canon because I'd had good luck with their equipment in the past (SLRs and 1st gen digicams).

Also I wanted to keep the cost down. I also bought an underwater case, so total cost was $500 -- it would have been at $750 for equivalent Sony equipment.

I am happy with the A95, though I wished it shot a little faster (some delay in standard mode). Color, resolution, and features are great.

Interestingly, while on Christmas vacation I ran in to a guy who had chosen the Sony set-up. We were both doing underwater photography and he'd just shot a turtle in video mode. He as so excited! His images were nice, too and it was easy for him to show them to me on the Sony's big view screen.

It's harder to shoot underwater video on the A95 since the screen is smaller, but the results are as good as the Sony.

The Sony definitely has the cool factor though! Still, I can use standard AA batteries and standard memory (I got a SanDisk 1 GB, great!). That made travel easier (no charger) and I don't worry as much about damaging a $300 camera as I might a $500 one.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous pictures...easy to use
Review: I got my new Canon A95 for Christmas and I love it! I won't go into go into all of the technical details of the camera here because you can read the product description or other reviews. What I will say is this...THIS IS A GREAT CAMERA! Bottom line: the camera is extremely easy to use and takes crisp, clear, colorful pictures. It offers 14 different picture-taking modes and works well in daylight and with the flash. The movable LCD screen is crystal clear (and is cool to show off to your friends, too!). The camera seems pretty durable and I have not run into the problem with battery life that other reviewers have. The software accompanying the camera is easy to use, also. An excellent choice for a "casual" photographer who simply wants to capture her/his memories to share with family and friends.

Rating:
Summary: Colors pretty good, but...
Review: I got the Canon A95 -- the camera is okay, really. I am mostly satisfied. Most shots are in focus and clear, but i think the examples taken by Amazon customers show the problem I am having. The colors seem washed out sometimes. My friend's camera (a newer model Kodak) seems to have richer, deeper colors. She was printing on a Kodak printer at home. Maybe I am too picky?? I may have the Canon checked at a local repair shop to see if they can make the colors more rich. Overall, I recommend a Canon for a digital camera.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I researched almost every 5MP camera out there, and in comparison the canon A95 powershot surpasses all others. Although the only complaint seems to be weight, I believe this is attributed to the fact that it takes four AA batteries. However, if you purchase the rechargables, they last forever. I took 12 rechargable batteries with me to my colorado ski trip, and in 7 days not once did I have to replace them! Also, using regular batteries or rechargables is a lot cheaper and more convenient then having to buy the customized batteries for other cameras.

What I LOVE about this camera:
- there are numerous not-so-happy comments about how long it takes for the canon to take/record the picture. You can change this setting!!!! It's in the manual. ALSO, if you have the factory default setting of "record time" of a pic, you can still take a picture while the camera is recording the previous one. FOr instance, you take a pic, it's on the LCD screen.... you can take another shot right away using the viewfinder. For pics that would involve high speeds where you would like to take a series of shots, you can change the shutter speed manually, or use the fast/slow shutter speed option on the dial
- the flip-panel LCD screen is an excellent feature. No worries about scratching the screen especially when extreme skiing and you've got this bad boy in your jacket pocket =)
- rechargable battery life is extremely long
- the optical combined with the digital zoom allowed for extreme close-ups of the farthest of objects... add the macro function and the quality becomes even better
- easy to understand and use even for those unfamiliar with different shutter speeds, aperture values,etc.
- quality quality and more quality of photos
- color and contrast using various settings amazed me!
- I like when previewing my picture that I can see what functions were used when the picture was taken, the histogram display, the white balance effect used, and the date
- I love the fact that I don't have to fumble with a lens cap!
- it's pict-bridge compatible
- the "up to 20" panaramic shots that you can take blew me away! The camera allows you to line up the second picture of your panaramic to the first one you took by showing you the edge of the first panaramic photo!

The not so positive effects:
- as I sit at my desk pondering my camera, ... I really can't think of a single thing that I didn't like about this camera!

I absolutely recommend it!!!



Rating:
Summary: Camera for Animation
Review: This is a good camera to use for animation if you will be downloading the pictures and compiling them in the computer. Meaning, the camera alone does not have animation capabilities, but it has several features that make it ideal for shooting a sequence of images to later turn into animation video.
1. Auto power shut-off disable: You can set the camera so that it doesn't automatically go to sleep when you haven't taken a picture for a few minutes. This is a big deal for animators--who need time to arrange their art in between frames and can't afford to lose the zoom settings lost in shut-off. However this shut-off disable feature is itself disabled when using the analog video output to see the images on an external monitor. I suspect Canon did this to discourage professional use of a consumer-level camera.
2. The screen: It flips out, twists around, and allows you to see the shot from any angle without standing on a chair, craining your neck, etc. Especially great for downshooting flat artwork.

If you do get this camera for animation use, be sure to get a power adapter or you'll go through batteries way too fast.

Rating:
Summary: My $0.02
Review: This is my first digital camera and after doing my research I made my choice. This camera is REALLY easy to use. The directions are easy to read and understand. I took my first picture withing 5 minutes of opening the box.

Another reviewer mentioned that you couldn't take pictures of moving objects very well. I completely agree. The first pictures of my two Beagles were mostly of their tail as they left. So little kids and active dogs are difficult. However, with some practice I learned to be ready for the picture and now they aren't so camera shy.

Great little camera. Fits right in my hand. Purchase the accessory kit too. That way you get the recharger, a nice case and an extra set of batteries. The software which comes with the camera is also very very easy to load and use. I say: Buy It!