Canon PowerShot A570 IS

Opinion: I purchased this camera a couple of months ago for my wife when her old Fuji A330 bit the dust. All she wanted was a simple P&S that she could get her head around.
She absolutely loves this camera, the picture quality is first rate and it weighs next to nothing so carrying it around all day isn't a problem. I also own a Canon S3is which takes superb pictures but being that much bigger it's a pain to take out when I go for a ride on my motorbike. I find that her little 570 is being used more and more often by me!
Highly recommended camera

Opinion: I bought this a570is to replace an a530, which developed a lazy eye (intermittently sticking aperture cover blade) after two years rough outdoors use and almost 10,000 pictures.

The a530 is/was a fabulous camera and the a570is (after about 3000 pictures) appears to be the same. Battery consumption about the same as the a530 ( about 400+ pictures from a set of DuraCell 2650 ma*hr NiMiH batteries).

This camera is excellent. The images are sharp, the focus is reliable, the automatic white balance is excellent and the colors are natural. For outdoors I use -0.3EV. If you can stay at iso200 or below and if the range of the lens (35mm-140 mm effective fit the task at hand) pictures taken side-by-side with my Nikon D40 are virtually identical. As expected, the a570 struggles with noise at iso800 as much as the D40 struggles at iso3200.

The a570 has full manual aperture and exposure control. I noticed that the a570is has a real iris (which gives control for four stops, while the a530 has control for only two aperture stops.

All important shots use automatic three shot +0.7, 0, -0.7 EV bracketing using the CMDK allbest 50 software patch.

I hope that the a570 lasts me for a while. The a590 is a little slower and a little noisier at iso800 and the a1000 and a2000 have lost some important features, like full manual control and the optical viewfinder.

Opinion: I hope I'm editing my review... doesn't look like it! Anyway, the url's were stripped from my opinion post:

CHDK is available at: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK ... in case this is stripped again, that's: chdk dot wikia dot com slash widi slash CHDK

My pics are available at: http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/free/gallery.asp?memberID=271939
which is far too long to spell out, so I hope it doesn't get clipped again!!!

Opinion: I bought an A570IS for a trip to WDW in Nov 2007 specifically because I wanted a good, pocket sized (but not too small) P&S that I might have a chance at getting at least some 'big camera' type shots. I've been very happy with the choice, although, I probably should have spent a bit more for the A720IS to get the extra zoom.

Video mode was a GREAT plus, although I wish MPEG4 compression was supported to reduce file size. But quality is very good considering it is a P&S.

I bought this camera based on online reviews, including dpreview's. For the most part I agree with the review here, excepting that I've found highlight clipping and blooming a much more severe problem than indicated, particularly in sunny daylight pics. However, exposure compenstation can be used to correct it (at the expense of simple P&S snapshooting, tho.) (CHDK adds exposure bracketing which should help... see below.)

Lack of buttons for most controls (exposure, etc) is a major downside, but it IS a P&S, so that's to be expected.

Notes on other reviews here: I don't understand the complaints about battery life... I've had no problem using rechargeables... I shot 400+ JPEGs & over 4GB videos in 4 LOOONG days at WDW, changing batteries only once each morning 'just in case'. The camera was set to default power saving options. Never once saw a battery low indicator.

As per CHDK... Contrary to another review, the camera WILL auto-load on start-up *IF* you use a 2GB or smaller (FAT16) SD card and follow the instructions on the web site. Auto-load is not possible ONLY for larger (4GB+) FAT32 SDHC cards. I've auto-load enabled the ALLBUILD 50 version on 3 256MB cards and it works great.

I highly recomend CHDK (it's free!) for serious shooters as it VASTLY expands the options and features of the camera, and not just for shooting RAW!
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

BTW, CHDK also offers the ability to control and vary video compression GREATLY ... with related variations in quality (apparently you can even INCREASE video quality .. along with increased file size) However, I haven't tried this feature yet.

All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase, although due to the small zoom, if buying today I would get the A720IS instead (which is pretty much the same camera otherwise.)

Sharpening: yes, shots need to be sharpened. I consider this a good thing, as it is easy to do in software and you have much better control, particularly if you get Elements, PaintShopPro or similar software. But even ZoomBrowser works fine for simple edits

And, BTW, ZoomBrowser is a much better photo browser/organizer than anything I've tried so far! I HATE all the other organizers I've tried, including the browsers in PS Elements and PhotoShop (and ULead and Google's free one (forgot name) and ...)

If interested, you can see some of the 600++ shots I've taken (mostly in 2 trips to WDW) with my A570IS at:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/free/gallery.asp?memberID=271939

Opinion: I bought this camera from Singapore in Dec' 07 and have sold it today after having used it only for 5 months. I have no complaints with the camera as such coz it offers all the features a good camera would offer and is very comapct and easy to carry.You can play around with the settings as to your whims and fancies. However, one of my biggest complaints and the actual reason for disposing off this camera so soon was the battery life of this camera. This camera is a battery guzzler. I had bought a set of rechargables (2500) and they lasted me all in all for about 20 - 25 photo shots before the battery indicator starts flashing. The regular AA batteries would die down maybe after 5 - 10 shots and I am not exaggerating. I also have a Nikon Coolpix 950 and I have used my rechargables on that cam and they last me almost 3 days with heavy usage. I have sold the cam today at a loss of 150 USD, but I think i have made the right decision in the end, or else I may have just landed up paying more for the batteries than the camera itself.

Opinion: Have had this camera since Feb.What I really like is the manual overides,everything is on the screen with easy accsess.I can change my settings very quickly,which means more shots under optimal conditions.It,s slow to recycle,the LCD isn't the clearest eaiest to veiw.high ISO is very grainy.I REALLY LIKE this camera even with it's shortfallings.

Opinion: Bought this camera few days ago, had a sony P-73 but it has broken.
I'm quitly impressed with the camera, IS works just fine, liked colors and the manual white balance, things that i missed in the P-73, the pictures are way better in this camera, not the sharpest pictures i've ever seen, but the best i've seen in a camera that fits my budget.
Was looking for buying A720IS but here in Brazil, the price gap is around US$100 (Paid around US$250 in a country that has 60% import taxes over electronics), so i went for 570 and i do not regret.

Manual, Program, Aperture Priority and Shutter priority modes give plenty of options.

Noise is quite accetable at ISO800 for a compact, stay away from ISO1600 unless its an emergency as told in the review, very noisy but still usable for small prints.

Thats my first impressions.

Opinion: I aleady own the competitor Nikon L11, but got the A570 hoping for the better video feature, I am very dispointed, camera is going back. Most people who buy the A570 will do it because of the IS feature.

The IS is no help and has no effect on this camera. Compared to the IS results on my 200mm DSLR lens, the A570 IS feature is non-existant. Lots of blurry pictures.

Image quality is NOT better then L11, even at ISO80 A570 images are noisy and over processed by the camera, lots of blurry pictures in low light, it is just NOT a WOW camera.

The feature set is excellent, lots manual controls, great video function, but how good is all that if the image quality is a total flaw.

Shutter lag is great, but the camera is not responsive otherwise, it takes its sweet time to extend and contract the lens barrel.

The camera has taken more then 200 pics on the current battery, but with the annoying low battery flashing icon ON all the time, I guess it is a faulty battery meter, it reads low battery but camera keeps on taking pictures...

If you are in the market for budget camera, look no further, the Nikon L11 beats the A570 any day.

Opinion: Bought it to take RAW photos w/CHDK. Yes folks, you can take RAW photos with a Canon Powershot A570 by updating the firmware. Note, the firmware is created by hobbyists, not by Canon. See here:

chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Overall I am impressed with the camera. The only two gripes that I have are

(A) the video mode records a lot of audio hiss, which Canon's tech support tells me is a software "feature" not a bug, and

(B) the lens motor is rather noisy & tinny.

It is portable enough to keep in my pocket or satchel and take most everywhere. No more missed opportunities.