Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (OLD MODEL)

I had a Nokia digital camera for a couple of years. I don't have much knowledge and wanted a camera where I could easily use the auto mode. Well, the pictures always came out too dark even when a flash was used. Luckily I dropped the camera and broke the lens for it made me do in depth research before I purchased this little gem of a camera. I needed a workable camera for a New York City trip and I heard good things about Canon as well as this camera in particular. I am thrilled with my purchase. It is a small camera that is also very sturdy and an excellent piece of equipment. Many electronic items now come with cds to read the manual. This one actually came with many manuals and they were lenghthy and definitely user friendly. Everything is described in full detail from first set up of the camera to the great enhancement features this camera possesses. But luckily for me I was able to go to New York and use the camera in the auto mode and it took amazing puctures whether it be day or night, cloudy or sunny. The detail is amazing and color is crisp. Whem I the pictures to mt computer again there were easy to follow instructions provided. Everything about this camera is A+ and I can't wait to explore the more advanced enhacements it has. No item is perfect and people are complaining about the battery life with the camera. I have had no such problem. I own a 4 AA battery rechargeable kit and I put freshly charged batteries into the camera and went 5 days, taking over 200 pictures without the batteries needing to be changed. Now 2 more weeks have gone by and those same batteries are running strong. With so many oprtions out there with electronics it is very important to go by others experience using the item and really read their opinions to see what applies to you. For me this camera receives the highest grade. I can use the auto mode as I desire for perfect pictures and there are many great additional features to utilize as I progress as a photographer. I now also trust Canon and learned my lesson about Nokia. Canon is reliable and this product comes well packaged with all the instructions you need. Highly recommend this superb digital camera.

I bought this camera as a gift for my girlfriend because it satisfied my two main requirements: 1) it could be operated by someone who is not interested in learning the basics of camera design and features, and still produce reliable, quality photographs and 2) be capable of doing much more if one should so desire. Apparently, the model one step down (the 580, I believe) is void of manual override controls, so for a small amount more one can get that capability in the 590. After using the camera for a few weeks I have determined that it actually does produce very sharp, nicely color toned pictures if you simply put it on AUTO or P, point, remember to hold the shutter half way down for a second to focus, and shoot. Perhaps learning when to force the flash to provide fill would be a handy, not too complicated step to learn, one which would greatly improve most backlit shots. I'm still trying to teach that :-) (it's only one button, hey!!)but I think I will eventually succeed. All in all, you can carry it anywhere and use it quickly and easily and without any real knowledge or skill manage to eke out a decent (if not really lovely) exposure. If you understand something about how modern cameras are programmed, the manual controllability of this little demon will delight you. In bright light situations, it's a good thing to be able to use the traditional viewfinder which is not always provided these days in many other point and shoots. And if you wanted a quality shot, understanding how to use the many features intelligently, I think you will be amazed that the file produces such a high quality photograph. Five years ago it would have cost many hundreds more to achieve this quality, and now it's available for a pittance. Progress. I haven't delved into the technical aspects of this camera here because I am assuming that most people who are looking for this kind of one would not be that interested. Suffice to say, this little camera does lots of stuff and it does it all with ease and grace and for a low price. Sounded good to me, and I'm glad I bought it. You could do different for the price, but not, I don't think, better. Highly recommended.

I purchased this camera about 3 months ago from Amazon, which had the best price. I spent a bit of time learning about the features, trying them out, testing the camera, and finally, USING the camera. All in all I am mostly pleased with this camera. My previous digital camera was an Olympus D550 zoom, which took great pictures and was very easy to use. The Canon camera is also easy to use, if you want to keep it in AUTO mode, which I often do. If you want to use a different mode or change one of the settings, there are so many different combinations and possibilities that I find it can be a bit overwhelming. I think I just need to get used to it more. I thought I was pretty proficient with it at first, but if I don't use it frequently and consistently, I tend to forget which menu the feature I'm looking for is on. One thing I really like about this camera is the feel of it in my hands. I was torn between one of the smaller Camera SD models and this one, but the A590 felt so good and comfortable in my hand, I figured it would be easier to hold it steady. (My sister has a Canon SD camera and it is so small, her pictures often come out blurry because she has difficulty holding it steady when she takes a shot.) My old Olympus was much bigger than either camera, so I figured the A590 would be an improvement over it and I shouldn't worry so much about the size. I also liked the idea of having it use AA batteries, vs. the Canon rechargable one in the smaller cameras. (While on vacation, my sister would go to take a picture and lament that her battery needed charging. With AA batteries, if you run out of power, just go buy more.) I am pleased with the photos I have taken so far, for the most part. It does not do well outdoors at dusk, but my Olympus didn't, either, and I suspect more savy users would know what to set to make these kinds of photos come out better. One thing I noticed in a lot of my photos is that if there is a lamp or light near the subject, or if the subject is near a window letting in bright light, you'll get a bright, overexposed area in the photo. I never noticed this problem with my Olympus, and friends/relatives who have taken shots of the same subject with their cameras did not have this problem. For this reason I am taking away one star. One thing I was concerned about after reading a lot of the reviews here was bettery life. I preferred a camera that ran on AA batteries, but not if it was going to eat up batteries. My Olympus ran on 4 AA batteries, so I bought rechargeable ones. The A590 only uses 2 AA batteries, so I figured I'd be changing batteries often. Not so! I started off using the 2 Panasonic batteries that came with the camera. I figured I'd use them up just playing with the camera. I kept turning it on and off as I was reading the manual, trying the different menus and features. Surely they'd be dead in a couple of days. Nope. I took many test shots in different lighting, with different settings, and downloaded them to my laptop. Still the batteries continued working. I took a LOT of photos at my and my husband's anniversary party, when all our relatives came in from out of town, but still the batteries lasted. Then I took the camera on a trip and took many more photos, then a couple of birthdays, then my son's college apartment and STILL the batteries lasted. (I must've taken over 100 photos, not to mention my training sessions). It's been a month since I've used the camera and just now I noticed the low battery warning is coming on, so I replaced the Panasonics with 2 rechargeable batteries. I am happy with my purchase. When I compared photos that I took with my camera with the same photos my relatives took with their digital cameras, many of them much more expensive than my A590, I generally preferred my photos, and at the very least my photos were equally as good. As I mentioned above, the only photos that weren't as good was when there was bright light from a window or lamp near (though not necessarily behind) the subject. UPDATE 12/15/08: The first time I reviewed this camera, I had only used it on a few occasions. I was pretty happy with it at the time. However, it's been six months and the more I use it, the unhappier I become with it. It's enough to make me consider buying a new, different camera. I wonder if it's too late to return it to Amazon. Yes it's easy to use and yes, it has a lot of nice features. But generally it doesn't take very good pictures. Some shots come out very nice - especially ones taken outdoors in full light. But there are too many problems with pictures taken if the light isn't just so. If there is a light on in the background, you get bright halos around the light source. If you use natural light on indoor shots, the colors look washed out. Even indoor shots taken with the flash look washed out. Then there's the problem with batteries. If I buy regular batteries, they seem to last pretty well. If I use chargeable batteries, I get about 2 or 3 shots before the low battery light comes on, and maybe 2 or 3 after that before they need to be replaced. Someone suggested that maybe the problem was with the batteries or my charger, but I didn't have this problem with my old camera, which used the same batteries/charger. The fact that regular batteries last much longer does give merit to this theory. I now give this camera 2.5 stars because of the so-so photos it takes, and the somewhat faded looking colors. If I had to do it again, I would buy a different camera.

I loveveveveve LOVEEE this camera, the pictures come out so beautifully, the camera is a tad big but its still easy to carry in your bag. This camera has a lot of settings, which im not completely sure how to use but its nice to have options. I personally love the low light performance with the flash in a dark setting. I would recommend to get a memory card with 2-4gb so the battery doesn’t die as quickly.

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!

I have had this camera a little less than a month and have already taken 1200 pictures on it! 1089 of these were on on a trip to Alaska, while the rest were "practice" shots to become familiar with the camera. I am very impressed with the results as the beauty of our trip comes through perfectly in the photos. I bought this camera as a backup to my aging Canon S2IS with its 12X zoom, just in case it decided to quit during the trip. The S2 survived and was used almost as much as the 590 - just the opposite of what I expected. The size and convenience of the larger LCD screen on the 590 quickly made it a favorite of mine, and my wife's. Because the Canon controls were very similar on both cameras, it was easy to learn, and switch between cameras. The newer Zoom Browser software is better than the S2's, but similar and was easy to learn. I have not figured out how to disable the flash on the Auto setting, other than after I turn the camera on. The camera takes great shots inside with some light, and the flash washes some of these out, if used. I feel the default setting should be "Off" for the flash, even in the Auto setting, but can understand why it is "On". I just have to remember to turn the flash off whenever I turn the 590 on. The only complaint I had of the 590 was the slowness of taking a picture. However, I discovered in my haste to get a new memory card before the trip, I had picked up an SD card, rather than an SDHC card. I feel the new SDHC card I ordered will solve that problem. I used the Landscape setting for many shots of Mt. McKinley, Denali, glaciers, and others with great results. Thanks to Amazon and the reviews submitted by other 590 owners, I am really enjoying this PowerShot and the unbelievable beauty of Alaska that it captured!

I have owned this camera for about a year and a half. I have yet to explore all of the features, and perhaps some of the problems I have would be solved if I did (so if anyone has more experience with this camera and has any suggestions to my problems I would sure appreciate it!) It's been a pretty good camera - certainly good for the money, and though I have had some issues all in all I've been happy with it. I bought it almost exclusively to take pictures of my son - who was about 6 months old at the time of purchase - and while the quality of pictures is certainly better than the last camera I had (dinosaur), the shutter-speed is slow (typical of digital cameras) and the 'ready light' is so bright that most living subjects - especially a baby - have to look away. Likewise I find the flash to be SO bright that many of my pics are ruined by the severity of the light, but without it the quality is pretty bad. Therefore I frequently find myself taking 200 pictures in the hopes that maybe 20 will be decent enough to keep. My son is very photogenic, its just hard to get the pics I want with the speed, and honestly that light is just awful (in order to get a good close-up head-shot, that orange ready-light has to be right in your eyes... Ouch). But again this is all fairly typical of digital cameras in general, so I don't hold it against this particular cam too much (what I really need is a REAL camera, with REAL film, but that costs REAL money which sadly I just don't have. REALLY!). Its small and very comfortable to hold and use, which is great cuz I have small hands. The red-eye-remover function only works maybe half the time -and yes I've tried different settings-, but when it does work its super. And the zoom is decent, although the quality changes completely, becoming a bit fuzzy (I actually really like the effect, its super clear but at the same time fuzzy - hard to explain but zoomed pics look beautiful and vibrant to me) but its not good enough to take a picture of something very small, like a large spider, which is unfortunate for me cuz that's a hobby of mine. But I love the freedom of knowing I can get a better lens for it if I choose, and look forward to seeing how that affects the zoom and picture quality. Anyway some of my favorite features are the view-finder (so rare in a digi-cam) the PHENOMENAL night-shots (some of the BEST pictures I've taken with this camera have been in pitch-darkness, so at those times I praise the flash! It is UNREAL how good a pic you can take when you can't even SEE your subject!), as well as the video feature, which I use a lot (love being able to immortalize special moments in live-action with the ease of pressing a button on something smaller than my wallet)! Also love being able to preview pics -it automatically gives you a quick preview of the last pic you took, which is awesome- and of course you can look at and edit all of them in-camera quickly and easily. Whether I use the video or not though, the battery life is pretty bad. I can't use regular batteries AT ALL anymore, even to take ONE picture - they HAVE to be rechargeable. Frustrating, especially since it wasn't like that when I first got it. Meaning, I guess, that with frequent use something happens internally, which is worrisome. Regardless of the probs though, I give this camera 4 out of 5 stars, simply for value, simple features, ease of use and quality of some of the priceless pics I HAVE gotten out of it. And again there's a lot of features I've never even used yet! Certainly worth the money in my opinion.

I wanted a small camera that took decent photos in available light and had high ISO sensitivity. Image stabilization and a wide range of manual setting were also high on my list. This camera delivers all of that. I was pleased with the quality of the shots even up to ISO 800. ISO 1600 was roughly equivalent to what ISO 400 was on my previous small Canon camera so the A590 IS can cover a lot of range in lighting situations. What caught me almost totally by surprise was the extremely poor battery life. Even without using the flash it seems abysmal. I have taken approximately 60-70 test shots and gone through 2 sets of alkaline and one charge from a pair of NiMH rechargeables. Admittedly this was using the flash about 30% of the time but that's still totally unacceptable. I realize that AA batteries don't have the life of a proprietary lithium ion, but this camera's battery life is so bad it makes it almost unusable to me. Seemed like whenever I turned around it was telling me that the batteries were low and needed replacement. I used a battery tester to check them and found that they still registered pretty good so I'm wondering if the camera's battery level sensitivity is just wrong. Either that or this thing sucks power worse than any camera I have ever owned. Whatever the case, I am truly sorry I purchased this otherwise fine camera. I would much rather have decent battery life than the dubious "convenience" of replacing AA cells all the time. Update: With freshly charged 2500 mAh Ni-MH cells I am seeing an improvement in battery life, at least initially. So far I've taken 36 pictures and no low battery message yet. My previous usage was more intermittent so we'll see if these higher capacity rechargeable bring the camera up to what I consider reasonable battery life. My experience with alkalines is still totally unacceptable in my opinion.