Canon PowerShot A650 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera - Metallic silver

I just upgraded from the Canon Powershot A630 to this model, the A650. They're very similar; I loved my A630, and I now love my A650. The best features, in my opinion, are the rotating LCD screen (some the best angles are difficult to get without it) and the flexibility between manual and point-and-shoot functions. I can take it on an outing with friends and snap away, or I can take it to my art studio and take well-balanced photos with manual aperture and focus settings which turn out more than well enough to post online and sell pieces.

The shape of the camera is fantastic. I have smaller hands, but even when my friends take pictures, they remark on how easy it is to hold compared to normal P&S models.

I love that it takes AA batteries. I have rechargeables, and I keep an extra set of 4 regular batteries in my camera case in case those die before I can charge them again. If those die... well, I can run to a nearby drugstore and buy some more to last the trip. No need to be without a camera because Lithium-Ion batteries are so expensive to get a second one and hard to keep their charge after a few months.

The wrist strap is definitely useful. I was leaning over a bridge once to get a picture, sure enough it slipped out of my hand, but voila -- the thing was attached to my wrist, and no harm done. Someone tried to snatch the camera out of my hand once, too, and it prevented the theft. Much better than my previous cameras.

Less-good-things: Two of my favorite shooting modes from the A630 are gone! The Color Accent and Color Swap modes were so much fun to play with and created some very interesting photographs. Sure, I could make the pictures look the same on my computer with Photoshop, but it was fun to have instant results with a purple flower standing out from a black-and-white background, or see what a painting would look like if all the reds were blues. Not the most essential elements, but I'll miss them nonetheless.

It's not the best in low-light settings, and fairly close to terrible in low-light + high-shutter-speed situations. If you need that, get a digital SLR. This won't satisfy you at all, even with its high ISO capabilities.

Like a previous reviewer, I've noticed the flash is uneven sometimes. The top of the frame isn't as well-lit as the bottom. But it's not very noticeable except when the subject is a certain distance away. I, too, would have to test to figure out exactly what that distance is.

It's certainly bulkier than most fashionable cameras of today, but it still fits in my purse when I want it to, as long as it's not a tiny purse. The features are well worth the bulk, in my opinion.

The camera features a very robust optical/imaging system that is actually the same as that found in the much lauded (and more expensive) G9 camera. The camera maintains and improves on all of the things that made the old top-of-the-line A-series models such attractive cameras, including professional quality imaging with consumer level ease of use in a fairly compact point-and-shoot body at a value price point. The camera does all this while not missing out on the details, and contains a plethora of great features that make the camera a pleasure to use, like the flip-out swivel LCD. When combined with a the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK), which unlocks some added functionality (like ultra fast shutter speeds to capture things like water drops, RAW image capture, time lapse photography, and even a motion sensor script that can be used to capture lightning strikes) the things you can do with this camera become staggering.

The only negative about the camera is that it is slightly more bulky than the cameras that seem to be fashionable today. It's still a pretty compact camera and fits easily into a bag, purse, or pocket. Low light shooting isn't very good, though that's a problem with all digital cameras, and with the optical image stabilization, larger CCD, and higher ISO modes, you'll likely be able to take some low light pictures you would never have been able to with other cameras, even if they may come out grainy.

The bottom line is that this camera just takes absolutely stunning pictures of a quality that matches and sometimes exceeds that obtained by a professional level digital SLR and a bag full of lenses, while still being compact enough to fit in a (big) pocket and easy enough for my mom to use.

Unfortunately, Canon in their wisdom has discontinued this particular model and is not offering any others in the A-series with a rotating LCD display and viewfinder. Time will tell if Canon will see the light and bring out an A-series clone of the new G-10 model. Until then, places like EBay are the only reasonable place to obtain this type of camera with these features.

I love how this camera is held in my hand - the thickened right handhold is perfect for steadying the camera. The wrist strap actually looks useful - instead of the normal dangling string, this one is a reasonably long fabric strap with a plastic attachment that changes the size of the loop. This will allow the user to slide his hand into the wrist strap and cinch down the loop so that it makes it impossible for the camera to fall off. This improvement probably cost a mere 2 cents but is worth much more! Inside the handhold portion is the ability to have 4-AA batteries (I am using 2500 mAh NiMh rechargeables) which should give me approx 400-500 photos on one charge. That’s a huge increase over so many dinky little P&S cameras that only have 2-AA or even worse a proprietary Li-ion cell. While it does add bulk and weight to the camera, the ability to run for a week on one charged set of batteries instead of 1/2 a day, adds a dramatic amount of usefulness to me. By comparison, our office's tiny Sony camera will yield only 100-120 pics on a full charge!

This camera replaces a similar but older A95 five-year old model. The controls are all very familiar and logical but the number of extra features, more pixels, physical image stabilization (instead of digital), and the beautiful 6X lens are pure joy.
I purchased an 8-Gb memory card with the camera which is roughly equivalent to me using a 3-Gb card (if such a thing existed) in my other camera but the huge increase in pixels (12 mp compared to 5 mp) and the Digic III processor increases the quality of the photos immensely.

The negative comments - the battery compartment is just OK to open but requires some real finesse to close properly, the potential for breakage of the compartment lid is higher than average.
The lens should have favoured the wider angle instead of cow-towing to the P&S snapshot consumers who like longer telephotos. A 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens would be a lot more useful than what most consumers know what to do with but advanced amateurs would love it!!!
I took a couple of flash pictures and it seems the coverage of the flash is lacking at the top of the frame - more quantifiable testing will be needed to verify this. Ideally, a hot-shoe would be nice but then again that's why Canon designed the G-10 model for.
This camera is about 5% bigger in dimensions than my previous camera so it just barely squeezes into my after-market case. I may have to look at getting a slightly larger case for it to fit into.

I had this camera before from e bay(different seller) but it was stolen.
It is a great camera with all the features of an SLR.
I use it as a back up camera to my dslr.
I like the fact that you can use it very much like a dslr. It is better to use this camera with a high speed digital card because in my opinion the high speed card lets you take clearer pictures and has a fast return time. However with a regular card you will do fine. Night shots are harder to get but not impossible.
This camera makes everything easier. Canon outdid themselves with this camera model. It is nice to know that you can still find it on ebay brand new.
I am very happy with this camera.
there is nothing to dislike about it in my opnion. It is a little on the bulky/heavy side but that is nothing compared to how it performs.
Great camera.!!! I would say this product outshines the other cameras in it's league.

Not only is the picture quality exceptional the video quality is stellar! Clear, sharp images great for school events with the kids. Took this camera to the Monteray Bay Aquarium and the aquarium setting on the camera allowed me to take some incredible pics I would never have been able to figure out how to take before. So inspired I just got my wide angle and extender lenses (ebay finds as well). I'm still discovering features I didn't even know this camera had. Very impressed..