Canon PowerShot A510 3.2MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

This is the best camera I've ever owned! Here's the strong points: - Great pictures! - I've always had problems with the "push the button halfway down to focus" and watch for lights. This gives you a tone so you don't have to bother with lights so you can focus on taking the picture. - Great that you can have the camera automatically set the settings, or manually adjust individual ones if you want. - Great for Panoramics. The included software does a great job stitching, provided you have a common element to use. - Great price for what you get! Canon paid attention to detail, and did a nice job making this camera!

This camera takes awesome quality pictures. I'm a realtor I use this camera mainly for shooting homes. It gives me professional image quality for work, but I tried taking pictures after work, portraits shooting & it's too slow for portrait taking. the capture is slow & if using the flash it takes the camera a while to reset itself, so by the time you take the shot, your subject moves your end picture is blurred. So I only think if you are taking pictures that are not moving or have your subjects stand there like a rock you're fine. Otherwise get another camera.

If you are looking to buy your first digital camera at a good price, buy this one. The Quick Start Guide is very easy to read and got me up and running immediately. In less than 15 minutes I was able to load the batteries, insert the memory card, turn the camera on, set the date and time, take my first picture, load the software onto my computer from the CD, download the image to my computer, and finally e-mail it to a friend. Documentation that is included in the box: - Quick Start Guide (2-sided, poster size, step-by-step pictorial) - Camera User Guide (160 pages, pocket-size) - Direct Print User Guide (49 pages, pocket size) - Software Starter Guide (102 pages, larger pocket size) - System Map (2-sided, A4 size, diagrams how all the accessories fit together) - Warranty Card (postcard) - "For Windows® XP and Mac OS X Users" Leaflet (2-sided) - "Canon Customer Support" Leaflet (2-sided) Two accessories you should definitely buy are a larger memory/SD card and NiMH batteries with a battery charger. The 16 MB card that comes in the box does not hold many images. (I want to purchase a 256 SD Card, but the documentation does not specify how many recordable images it would hold.) Also, you will save money and trips to the store in the long run by using rechargeable batteries. As someone who has been using a six year-old 35 mm camera, I am writing this as a novice user without the ability to compare other digital cameras. However, at this price and with 3.2-megapixels, I am happy to finally get away from my 35 mm camera.

This is my 3rd digital camera, purchased after my previous camera was lost. I got the A510 because all of the more expensive models didn't really satisfy my needs and wants - so if I was going to replace the camera in a year or two (when the new Canons, Nikons, or others catch up to my expectations of them), then why spend too many $$$ now? I wanted compactness & portability, point-and-shoot plus manual control capability, a longer optical zoom (more than 3X), a wide-angle that was really wide angle (at least 35mm using the old "35mm camera equivalent" scale). Also, I'm doing glorified snapshots of the family, so really high resolution and pixels were not so important to me; 3.2 Megapixels is enough. This Canon A510 met all of the above criteria, at a bargain price, and had the full manual operation capability (which is a bit rare to find) in case I ever wanted to get really serious about one or the other photo situation. It's big brother the A520 was overpriced for the amount of improvements it gave me. After purchase, I find that the A510 is basically "as expected; sometimes even better". I have not noticed any significant lag after shooting as others have reported, but then I am not doing action sports photos, and do have some good NiMH batteries. Things I would like to improve: (1) the zoom can be jerky at times (not so great for fast changes and action photos), (2) when the battery indicator starts to say "low" you are very nearly "inoperative", (3) in video mode the zoom and exposure are locked at the beginning and will not adjust during "filming" (a very common failing of still cameras doing video). Also, you do need to be careful with the little doors that cover the memory card and the batteries, since they are a bit fragile. They're plastic on metal hinges; abuse them, and they can break a bit too easily. (I have seen this, but not experienced it myself.) If your needs are like mine, then you should be very satisfied with this camera. I am.

I bought this with the iP4000R Wireless Photo Printer to get the $70 rebate for the 2 items together. I never got the rebate and after contacting Canon for a month they tell me they never got the box tabs. Of course I sent them with the rebate form. So now I have no boxes and no rebate. Very aggravating and disappointing!

I just wanted a digital camera. Nothing too complex, but with enough features that once I got used to it, I could branch out to new things. I shopped & shopped. Looked at about 100 or cameras online, read a ton of reviews, and asked friends who had cameras, and finally figured out want I wanted: Point & shoot - a camera with which I could take basic family photos. 3+ megapixels - enough to get great resolution up to 8 X 10 prints, without having to pay a ton of money. Features - but not so many options that I would have to take a class to figure it all out. Hand friendly - small enough to carry along anywhere, but big enough that I didn't feel like a giant trying to operate tiny little controls. Well, this camera was absolutely perfect. I took my first picture approximately 5 min. after opening the box. Literally put in the batteries and memory card, turned on the power, and hit the shutter. My first attempt at downloading photos to my computer would have been flawless if I had ony remembered to actually turn the camera on. (pesky little details) The pictures are the best I have ever taken, were incredibly easy to take, and I haven't even begun to explore the possibilities. For the price, which was phenomenal, I am more than pleased. And I didn't have to hang around Best Buy for hours waiting on some teenager with angst. Double bonus!

After much research online I bought this for an upcoming overseas trip. I have several other digital cameras but wanted a small one w/ good optical zoom for the trip. Here is the problem--this camera takes WAY WAY WAY too long to power up between flash shots. It sometimes takes WAY too long between no-flash shots, and it sometimes simply freezes in lens-open position and must be turned off and on again. I bought a high speed write Panasonic SD card, so the problemis not a cheap SD card. I have tried using different and fresh batteries. Possibly, since it runs on 2 AA batteries, it is just underpowered for it's own engineering. Second problem, in a loud enviroment, such as live music, it is very difficult to know if the camera actually took a shot or not when the button was pressed. If you can't hear it's little beep or click, you cannot tell by a indicator light.And since it takes so long to get ready for the next shot, you just don't know if you are actually getting the picture or not. When it does take a shot, the outdoor pictures looked good, but I found I missed as many shots as I got. Very frustrating. I took some no/flash shots at an indoor dance & live music event w/ this camera the first day and the pictures were so disappointing that I took my larger Toshiba M500 the next day. No comparison, same light,etc...but the photos the second day were great. Of course the Toshiba M500 and M700 are much bigger cameras, but I paid about the same for them as this Canon.

As I researched digital cameras I strongly considered the nikon d70 dslr, but since my primary goal was to have something with me as I travel around china I thought any dslr would be too bulky in comparison to a point and shoot. The canon a510 is a nice compromise for me in that it provides a number of options I'm only beginning to get into, in addition to the automatic mode in which most everything comes out surprisingly well. The only time I've seen automatic mode not work well is when I've taken pictures of tall trees in the shade. It starts off light and then gets too dark as I reach the top of the tree with the lens. Once I learn to adjust settings manually that may change. I've actually taken pictures 20 feet away, down a hall, in total darkness, and with the flash you can't even tell the lights are off. I'm turned off by the long wait I get between taking pictures, but have learned to minimize this by turning off the preview settings after each shot. Much of the wait is from the flash having to recharge, and even that can be turned off. I routinely walk around and take over 100 pictures in about an hour, filling a 256 meg card much more easily than I expected. The battery life is good for at least a few hundred pics, though I usually rotate before then. So overall it's a good camera for the price, with the only other small camera brand I'd consider right now being the Casio Exilim EX-S100 or a similar model. Remember that megapixels are largely insignificant, with higher numbers often meaning more noise. If you want anything better, go for a dslr (starting around a grand), you're unlikely to see a real difference in picture quality otherwise.