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!

My folks wanted a digital camera but are not technology saavy people. Also, they are getting up there in age and not enthused about taking alot of time to learn something new. I did a lot of research and found that the Canon A510 got high marks on both the quality of pictures and the ease of use. So we took a chance and bought on for my folks. I am impressed! I was able to load the batteries and the memory card and show my folks a few basics to get them off and running. They are able to take clear, vibrant pictures without any hassle. (For the first time ever, my mom hasn't cut heads off of any of her photo subjects!) I have shown them how to upload their photos and my dad has been e-mailing pictures to all his relatives. I was so impressed that I bought one for myself and have been having a blast! I have taken short videos of my puppy with it and some fantastic action shots of him and was able to create a little video of the photos and movie set to music with the Zoom Browser software that came with the camera. Next week I might even open the instruction manual to see what else can be done....so far the interface has been intuitive enough that I haven't even opened the plastice bag the manual came in. The pictures printed off my folks plain laser jet printer look fabulous! If you are a beginner and not looking to print wall sized photos with a lot of fancy stuff, this camera is a perfect start!

Did extensive research before we bought this camera, so surprised and disappointed. Might be OK for static subjects, but we bought to take photos of our kids, and this is just no good for that. The shutter lag is interminable, and thus we never get the shot we want, even when set at the kids and pets setting. We put a rubber band around our old Nikon Coopix 1000 and are using that again. Much quicker. Who needs all those pixels for snapshots unless you're printing large photos. With the 1 megapixel you get thousands of photos on a small memory card, and the photos send much quicker via email/web. If you're shooting kids, don't waste your money - save up until you're ready to spend enough to get a camera with no shutter lag -- and be prepared to spend hundreds of dollars on memory cards.