Canon PowerShot A530

Opinion: Hi. I've been having A530 since XMas '06. Most of the time I used it during my week (or 2)-lasting trips into the Mountains, but it wasn't obviously the only moments I used it. I couldn't tell so far, despite opinions of many photo-sites, wheter it is a manufacturer's fault, or my fault. However, as far as I remember, the camera was taking pictures that were extremely blurry in lower left and upper right corners. And it wasn't just a small distortion, as by the corners I mean big areas of the frame. Despite using the lowest possible aperture value (highest F number) to achieve the greatest depth of view (as my photografy is targeted towards mountain landscapes), the problem was occuring over and over again countinously after each shot. Some had suggested that this might be caused by the CCD sensor being simply slightly tilted. Which I cant help, nor the CANON service point, as the low-end cameras like a530 lack so called "shims" to be found e.g. in Leica models.
This really makes me mad and angry. It was and still is my first digi camera. And it was quite affordable for me. Anyways it seems that 160 € had gone wasted. Don't buy it.

Opinion: Great camera. Low price with good image quality, and lots of features and controls.

It does not have Tv and Av modes like other A5xx, but at least it has the M (full manual) mode, for that creative photo you wouldn´t get otherwise. In most times I use the P mode, that gives the ideal balance between control and automatism, for me.
(BTW, in this camera the diaphragm only has 2 different apertures per zoom setting... so it would not make much sense an Av and Tv mode anyway, imho)

The body is plastic but sturdy. The LCD is well protected.

5MP is more than enough for everyday photos. Most pictures I take using the 3MP setting.

The camera is fast to review and browse recorded photos (with a high speed SD card).

Some people complain about its battery meter, but I found no problem... I only noticed it is very sensitive to dirty contacts, though. Since the indicator is quite "binary", always carry a spare set of charged batteries.

Opinion: Very good cheap camera, I used for many vacations and tourist tours. The quality of the imges is good, with good details, good color and contrast. The perfect camera during the day. At night... see below.
Very good auto focus system, with helping lamp (never had a bed picture, out of the thousends taken).

Opinion: I am using the Powershot A530 for more than an year now, and I am quite happy with its performance. I have done mostly outdoor shooting, and the image quality is very good for a 5MP camera.

Shoot at lower ISO, and the images are excellent. The manual focus mode is very easy to use and produces excellent results.

However, the images reflect the natural colors, and there is no color manipulation like other cameras. I am so happy with the results of the Canon, that I have decided to go forward to the S5 IS.

Opinion: Very nice camera, just a little heavy to the pocket. I've shot nice pictures with it, mostly in outdoor.

Opinion: i was able to find this camera at a supermarket on sale for $130 canadian, which is about $110US. my first digicam was the horrible pentax E10, and i bought this camera especially to replace the pentax.

being new to digital photography i found canon's manual an excellent help asit explains the features of the camera - and their effect- quite well. i was also very pleasantly surprised by the excellent image quality.

i would recommend this to any novice user out there, as it is easy to take good looking pictures and feels solidly built. also, at this price it's quite a steal.

Opinion: Good still images. Movies appear a little jerky, and noise on zoom.

Opinion: I've had this camera about 6 months and find it great value for money,Au$299.00 with a good quality image.Battery life ok as I have 4 rechangeables I alternate.Recent trip to Tasmania for 10 days took 300+ photos only had to recharge batteries 2 or 3 times.