I read a lot of reviews while selecting this camera. Kudos to RLSd, F. Gillett, & Molly P., among others. Forget the stars - it was their accurate realistic detail that really helped. Lacking their expertise, I'll confine myself to a few areas that concerned me until I actually used the A590IS. This was partly due to other reviews that weren't as well done.
First is the size and "chunkiness" issue. It's chunkier than some of its peers, but only a bit. It slides into a jacket or jeans pocket very nicely. In exchange for the chunkiness you get a camera you can grip securely and hold steady. You also get a shape you are far less likely to drop, even holding it in one hand while scrambling over the rocks. Finally, you get a view finder, not just a screen. During a recent two weeks in Greece, that was a Godsend, as the bright Aegean sun totally wiped out the electronic image.
Second there is the battery issue. I read complaints from folks who said the camera ate batteries and died after too few shots. I'm not sure what was going on there, but you need to research the batteries the way you did your camera. The new Energizer lithium batteries got off about 400 shots, half with flash, before I had to replace them. And because it was a new toy, I was constantly using the camera to show my shots to my wife, which burned still more power. Hard to beat that. Are they the right choice for everyone? Maybe not. They are not rechargeable, so there's an ecological price to pay. Around the house I may switch to something greener, but for overseas trips, I'll stick with them.
Another issue is the lag time between flash shots. Let's be real. If you want instant turn-around time, you shouldn't be looking at a $130 camera that uses a pair of AAs. If you want a camera for fast-breaking sports and photo-journalism, don't get an A590IS. That said, I didn't think it took insufferably long. I can't think of any shots I failed to get due to recycle time.
Some folks had tales of woe about taking all these wonderful shots, only to have them disappear from the chip. When the camera arrives, read the little book, esp. the part on formatting your chip. That should prevent such sorrow from striking.
Incidentally, one little discussed but really cool feature is the zoom capability when examining photos already in the can. You can zoom in to an incredible degree and find things in pix you've already taken that you didn't even know was there. (Honestly, honey, I had no idea she was topless.) I was stunned by the clarity.
Do I have any complaints? A few. The manual is good but it has one of the worst indexes I've ever seen. Don't assume it omits a topic just because it isn't in the index. Flip through the pages and you'll find what you need. On occasion, I was disappointed in the inability of the camera to handle sharp lighting contrasts. Granted, Greek sunlight and shadow can create some extreme challenges, but it's still a limiting factor. The flash is useful but don't ask too much of it. You have to be quite close to your subject, esp. at night. If you are outdoors, it's easy to be too far away without realizing it.
I guess that's about it. My bottom line is that I love this camera and I'm pleased and amazed with the shots I brought back from my recent trip. It's a great transitional camera for someone like myself who finally decided to leave his old 35mm gear and give in to digital. The auto setting is really good, but it permits manual control as well. Am still experimenting with that but am encouraged by what I see. I would buy this camera again in a heartbeat.
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Canon PowerShot A3100IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver)
$190.00
(103)
Usually ships within 6 to 7 days
$190.00
(103)
Usually ships within 6 to 7 days
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Powerful inexpensive godly camera !
Never thought i'd be so happy having this camera. With $100 tag, i was never expect this such of quality, features and ability. I was actually waiting for my decision whether getting G10, LX3, or SD990 (more compact) .. all of those has manuals to control. Then i heard that Fuji has new sensor coming, and so the waiting process extended (cos i need camera good for concert : low light, and i'm curious of what fuji would bring to the table this time). I know that i'm not gonna make any decision in this few months and so i purchased this hundred bucks camera cos it has manuals. And i was very happy i bought this one as a tweener as i need to have smaller camera at the moment (i have sony dsc-h5 which i love so much but cannot slip to my pocket), and believe it or not it fits my skinny jeans pocket, just need a little extra slip then it's good (though it will make a little bump on your pocket more than smaller compact, but still fits comfortably as long as you don't sit with it inside your pocket). The manual control is amazing in this camera. You can control aperture shutter, exposure, flash level (i love this one!), and manual focus (and this one also). Amazingly, the pics i took with this camera looks really great .. not great great but .. REALLY GREAT! I've had SD1000 before and the pics looked horrible! Noise and unacceptable noise in every inch of the pictures when i crop it 100%, grainy and it doesn't have ability of taking pic indoor (at least that's my experience .. on lots of occasions, enough for me to give conclusion that it's more like a toy, anyway i loved the shape a lot!). Never liked the shape of A series until now, it feels more secure in my hand, and it's not as big as i was expected (in a good way), i still consider it small (look at G9 or A650, now that's big! .. for pocket) and some people complains about battery life, i don't have that problem since i charge my eneloop batteries right. Cos : - Constructions, plastic all around. I bet that's why canon made this very affordable, yet the quality of the camera exceeds other compacts in it's class (our advantage in my opinion, to fight the price), though i'd prefer rugged material for me i have no problem, since i found the plastic body is quite cute and pretty as long as you don't let it fall. Not a problem. - Video quality is to be honest .. ugly (20fps)! Mic is pretty good except the picture .. even only play it on my computer. Then when i plug it to my hdtv and tube tv .. DISASTER! don't expect any quality video out of this camera. But since i'm not into video anyway so .. Not a problem - Slow flash recycle when you set it on full/strongest level. But i'm using manual setting, and set the flash output to the lowest most of the time, so the recycle time is not that slow (about 2 or 3 seconds total after each snaps, and remember .. that after each snap we will have a preview of what we just took, so for me, i didn't feel like i was waiting). But if you're into action picture with flash, don't complain .. just don't buy this camera cos this camera is fully loaded for it's price! I see the reason people had a it very very slow because most of them are using Auto mode, which is using the max flash output most of the time, causing the flash recycle to be very slow, i mean REALLY SLOW like about 10 seconds total including preview. While the medium takes about 5 seconds total (hey i just counted it by my sense, didn't do the exact timing with stop watch, sorry if i'm not that accurate, that's why i typed : ..about) - Auto mode is horrible! get ready to be washed out by the flash and very often set to high ISO automatically. But i found out that the easy mode works way better for this purpose. So take easy mode instead i you need to take a quick snap. - I wish this one has the famous canon's color accent, but it's doesn't ! Now this one is a problem for me cos i loved it, shoot! - LCD resolution is a little low. Not that good. It's become a problem for me sometimes since i use manual focus very often, so it's a bit difficult to see whether it's focused or not cos the pic on LCD isn't sharp and that clear (doesn't affect the result at all if you got it right, it's just the LCD). A little bugger on this one. Well overall i am very very happy to have this camera. Heck ! for 100 bucks i buried all the cons far away of my thoughts cos the pros outweighs everything. Glad i didn't get other budget class camera, cos though it's the same price range (under $200) it's gonna be lower class instead of this one. Oh yeah, i've always put something in front of the flash as a diffuser so i don't have a harsh flash light (but this camera has great flash anyway, you'll be okay without anything, just set the level and watch for the distance) i even stick the toilet paper (this one was the best) on the clear tape and stick it on the flash. But now i have a better and dedicated flash diffuser for point and shoot camera that spreads out the light evenly and nicely without giving a harsh spot flash light causing the washed out picture. Especially for portrait pics. I have attached some pictures of it, so check it out! Now i can see what's the hype about canon's. But as long as you able to control your camera of what it could brings to the picture and not the other way around, any camera with a decent quality would be fine. Depends on what your needs, any brands has their good and bad ones (i love my SONY DSC-H5, but i hate my nikon P5100's pic quality). Don't let biased people become a judge to your decision. Give this cute little camera a chance, i bet you're gonna love of what you spend! Good luck!
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