After many years of fantastic pictures (as long as the subject was stationary!) my trusty Olympus D40-Zoom died - luckily at the end of a vacation. I spent about 30 hours researching a replacement that would satisfy my goals of (a) compact size, (b) standard AA batteries, (c) full manual controls, (d) outstanding image quality, (e) speed, (f) optical viewfinder.

In my opinion, the Canon A540 fits the bill almost perfectly. It's small enough to fit in a coat pocket or small belt case yet uses 2 AA batteries. Overall processing speed is blazingly fast unless you're taking flash pictures (and then you should expect about 4-5 seconds between flashes). Note that flash time is significantly better with rechargeable NiMh batteries than with standard AAs. And, unlike some other cameras I tried, the speed of the user interface (especially during playback) is very fast.

Picture quality in general is excellent, even in night situations. You have the option of ISO 80 - ISO 800 with the latter being noisy but usable. (Would you rather miss a shot completely or have a little noise? How about the ability to take a picture in low lighting without the flash?) And, you have full manual controls, in addition to the 21 predefined scene types. I'm not sold on the usefullness of the Color Swap and Color Accent modes, but the other modes are well thought out.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the movie mode, which offers up to 1 hour of continuous shooting per clip, up to 60fps. This is still no substitute for a high-quality camcorder, but it's a nice option to have in those situations where you just have the camera. (And note that unlike this camera, most camcorders offer some form of image stabilization.) Note that the movie mode on the A540 is significantly more capable than the lower-megapixel twin A530 (which is limited to 2 minute clips at 15fps).

I was close to getting the Canon A700, which uses the same 6MP sensor and user interface but offers a 6x optical zoom instead of a 4x zoom. In the end, after trying both cameras in the store, I settled on the A540. Why? The A700 is ever-so-slightly larger (about 0.25 inches wider and slightly taller), and the more complicated lens takes longer to startup and to zoom. Maybe it was the lighting, but the noise quality on the A700 seemed higher than the A540, although they use the same sensor. Perhaps this has something to do with the different lenses? Finally, the A700 doesn't offer an underwater case which I'd like to have as an option some day.

In summary, Canon A540 Pros:
- very fast startup and shot-to-shot speed (flash not withstanding)
- excellent and speedy auto-focus even in low light (although the AF assist light can slow this down)
- extremely fast user interface and playback performance, even zooming in on photos
- outstanding photo quality, even in relatively low light (good color balance, noise levels at high ISO are acceptable, almost non-existent chromatic aberation)
- 6 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom
- ISO 80 to 800 (800 has noticeable noise but still usable)
- surprisingly usable movie mode (unlike the A530, can record up to an hour of continuous video)
- outstanding user interface: options are well laid out and easy to locate, very well thought-out record and playback options
- full manual controls (shutter priority, appeture priority, full manual)
- custom white balance option in addition to presets
- flash adjusts angle based on wide-telephoto zoom
- well built case, very comfortable grip
- uses SD cards (and takes advantage of high-speed SD)
- uses 2 AA batteries
- unbelieveable battery life (approx 350 shots on 2 rechargeable NiMh AA, with the display on)
- supports optional conversion lenses and underwater case

Cons (to me, all very minor):
- screen while large isn't very high res (85k pixels)
- flash recharge time is acceptable but not great (4 - 5sec between pictures using NiMh batteries)
- preview display blanks while flash recharges
- it's possible to insert the SD card upside down and you don't realize until you try to close the cover (would be easy to break the cover if you force this)
- the markings for the battery orientation are difficult to read
- no RAW image support, but you can select from 3 different compression ratios for image quality
- dubious color accent and color swap modes

I bought this camera and used it for 2 weeks before having to return it. At times the flash took 10 seconds to cycle, this is unacceptable when trying to take pictures, for instance at a wedding or just trying to catch my child in action doing something silly. If the flash took half as long to cycle, I would consider it t be the best digital camera I have ever had.

I began, years back, with Canon's Powershot A20 2MP), then promoted myself up to the A70 (3.2MP) about two year ago. Three days ago, I received my newest self-indulgence: the new Powershot A540 (6MP). So far, I have used it to take 40=50 shots, indoors and out, day and night, using both the Automatic and Custom settings. In every instance, I have been more than simply pleased.
The 2 1/2 inch LCD display is a particularly welcome feature for me at nearly age 60 - everything is a LOT easier to see. I bought a 1GB Secure Digital card for it (Canon insists in shipping their cameras with a useless 16MB card) and a set of 2500s (NiMH batteries.)
Compared to the A70, this camera is easy to manage, quite light (requiring only two batteries, not the four needed by earlier models.) A simple delete button also simplifies the immediate dumping of bad shots. The 4X optical zoom is also a welcome change to the older format.
I am purely an amateur photographer.
Other criticisms I have seen re the poor definition on the LCD screen are, I feel, kind of 'nit picking' - looking for something to criticize about a really good camera.
I found this one online for $223. (Shipping included), sold the A70 used through Amazon for $160 in 24 hours - so the upgrade cost me about $60 net. Well worth every penny.
The pictures themselves are clear. The white balance is great and I leave the setting at 1600x1200 - unless I feel I will need a poster size print. This setting allows over 1700 images on the 1GB card!
I think it will do quite nicely.
Light, easy to handle and good quality images. What else could we realistically hope for at this kind of price?
I recommend it heartily.

I had a friend who had the A510 and I loved it but it was only 3 megapixels, so I was going to buy the A520 but I decided to wait for a higher megapixel version to come out. The A610 was too big, so I continued to wait. Finally the A540 came out. I read online reviews for it before it was in stores and decided that I was going to buy it.

I've had it now for a little over 2 months, I haven't had any problems with it. I've dropped it twice and I haven't noticed any defects with functionality...like with my last digital camera, after I dropped it the 1st time it stopped working properly. Anyway this camera is great for beginners and has some stuff for people who like to go beyond using the auto button. The start up time is good. If you take a picture with the camera horizontally, when you're viewing the pictures, the camera automatically rotates the image to be right side up, so you don't have to turn the camera. There are many different settings but I haven't really explored all of them. So far I only really have two complaints:
- Flash recharging time, and battery life
If in conditions where you have to use the flash a lot, be sure to carry extra batteries because it kills the battery much faster. regular betteries die quickly in this camera...be sure to buy rechargeable. If the battery is dying the flash takes what seems like an eternity to recharge which is really inconvenient at parties and other functions where people are not standing and posing to wait for you to take the picture.

Oh yea and sometimes when viewing my images, the camera toggles between two images before settling to the next image. I consider this a minor problem because it rarely happens. I don't experience that problem with the memory card that was mentioned in one of the other reviews, if i am putting it in incorrectly it will not go in the slot, then I quickly realize that I am inserting it wrong.

Basically what everyone else has said - great quality and clarity, fairly compact, the ability to have wide angle lenses, etc. One complaint I do have, however is that the screen is quite low-res and appears pixelated. Not a major issue. Overall a great camera

Actually, I was not really interested in another camera. I have an Olympus Camedia 3020 that still performs well. I decided to check out the smaller cameras for traveling. The clerk at Office Depot, who is into photography, recommended the Cannon 540 with a $[...] rebate ending that day and 15 day return policy. I have to tell you I bought this camera on a lark and just love everything about it. I took one picture in a dark room with just the TV on in auto mode and it came out beautiful. It even takes good pix with subjects sitting in front of a window. Also took some shots at a stadium of an outdoor graduation and they came out better than my old automatic 35mm ever took. One had a little noise, but other distance picture was clear as could be. Took 3 outdoor foliage close ups and they are totally awesome. Mind you, I am still on auto here. Can't wait to read the manuals and get into some fun stuff. This camera looks to be easy to figure out. I can't believe I bought this camera without doing extensive homework and am so HAPPY!!!! Size is perfect....you pay [...]more for the same thing in a SLIM Model and have to use a battery that costs $[...] to replace. I like the fact that you can use regular batteries in emergency and don't have to travel with a docker. It is still small enought to fit into my purse. I only bought this camera 5 days ago and loved it from the get go.While I loved my Olympus, I never got off of Auto because it was so complicated. This is a great little camera for the buck!!!!!!

The picture sometimes turn out blurry. The auto fucus is not the greatest.
Overall I am happy with the camera.

The short version:
This is a great camera for people who want an easily portable camera that is FAST and takes great pictures out of the box (but has some versatility for those who want to be able to do more).



The long version:
I'm a decidedly novice photographer, although it is something of a running joke in my family about just how many photos I take. I was looking to replace my previous digital camera, which took great pictures of stationary objects but wasn't fast enough to catch the shot I wanted if the subject wasn't holding still-- e.g. kids at play. I've now had this camera for a month and taken approximately 450 photos in various conditions. Some things I've noticed:

1) Battery life: not great, but frankly better than I expected. I'm on the third set of disposable batteries; the set that came with the camera lasted about 100 photos, and I switched out the second set a couple days ago before leaving on a trip-- they weren't "dead" but I figured they were close to the end of their usefulness. Partially charged batteries are most noticable when using the flash, when they can really delay getting that next shot. And it is GREAT to be able to use AA batteries.

2) Red eye: Wow!!! What a dramatic improvement from my old A95! Yes, I still occasionally have to correct red-eye, but far less often. I do have the built in red-eye reduction set to "on"

3) Speed: again, WOW!!! There is virtually no shutter lag-- I press the button, and get the picture I wanted. Ok, I've also learned to partially depress the button to focus the camera and wait for the shot I want-- but even when my subject is in motion and I don't want to pre-focus I can virtually always catch the moment I meant to catch. Assuming I either have fresh batteries or am not using the flash, I can take the next photo just a few heartbeats later-- and I understand that there is a "burst mode" I haven't used which takes 2 photos a second until terminated or out of memory.

4) Ergonomics: There are smaller cameras out there, but this will fit if awkwardly in my pants pocket. It is significantly lighter weight than my old camera. Controls are logical and easy to use; they don't get bumped accidentally but aren't hard to adjust on purpose.

5) Settings: There are a multitude of pre-determined settings on this camera; I've just scratched the surface and have been impressed so far. This lets those of us with skills best described as "push here dummy" get better shots under special circumstances-- on the beach, snow scenes, indoor shots, objects in motion. The manual settings are wasted on me, but I understand they are there, too.

6) Zoom: the 4x optical zoom means is more than you'll find most anywhere else (with a few notible exceptions). This camera also has a on-screen icon that will blink at you if there is camera motion that might compromize your shot. I have noticed that I just plain can't hold the camera still enough at maximal zoom to avoid having this warning flash at me. I haven't noticed that snapshot quality was affected, but I suspect that if you blew it up to 8x10 (or perhaps larger) that you might notice it. It does make me wonder if a 3x zoom would have been adequate for my needs, since the odds of me hauling around and using a tripod are virtually nil. I have the digital zoom turned off on the camera; I figure I can crop if I want to after the fact but am starting with a maximal resolution.

7) Memory: get another card. Period. I have a 1 GB card that I've never come close to filling despite setting photoquality at maximum resolution, but I download frequently and haven't used burst mode or video.

8) Photo quality: Great! I can see the individual water drops glisten in mid-air in the shots of my son splashing my husband, colors are rich and accurate. Some shots, especially if I'm using the "kidsnpets" setting, are a little "soft"-- not quite crisp images, but I only notice this when I really blow the image up on my computer screen and I doubt I'd appreciate it otherwise. I think if you are ordering an 8x10 or smaller you wouldn't recognize it at all.

The one thing I liked better about my old canon A95: The rotating LCD display, which was also a bit more visible in bright light (possibly because I could adjust the angle)

Just after buying this camera, I took it on vacation. I used the beach scene mode at the beach. Pictures are beautiful. I used the night-shot mode on a cave tour and got some unexpectedly good pictures in the low light. There were a couple occations I had to wait for the flash to recycle (a bit slow). At the zoo, it would sometimes focus on the bars instead of what was behind them, but most pictures have beautiful color and detail. I find the mode dial on top makes setting up a shot easy. Love the big LCD.

This device very user unfriendly. It comes with three (COUNT THEM-THREE) separate manuals plus a couple of brouchures. I am still on the-how-to-use-the camera manual. The camera has literally hundreds of features but the manual is incomprehensible.

I had to call customer service to figure out how to make selctions but I still don't know why I would want to make them. The manual is completely silent on why/when/for what purpose I would want to use these features. I won't even discuss how could I remember all those features if I were out actually taking pictures of something--which I haven't ventured to do. I've just stayed home taking practice shots of my cat and erasing them. Huh

After several weeks, I have not yet ventured into the how-to-print manual or that computer disc that comes with the third manual.

I asked customer service if Canon sponsors classes in how to use these little suckers. No.

I am not at all pleased with this purchase.

I found this camera very easy to use right out of the box using the beginners setup guide that comes with the camera. It's been a great point and shoot camera and maybe someday when I have time, I'll explore the rest of the options.

It is not campact, but it is small enough for me to carry it around. I like the fact that it is 6MP with 4x optical zoom. The quality of picture is awesome. Besides, the stitch sofeware that comes with the camera is very intuitive and easy to use. In fact, the stitch sofeware helped us to create a fabulous paronomic photo of Grand Canyon.

This camera exceeded my expectations 10 fold. It may be lightweight, (perfect for traveling) but it is heavily armored. Its capability to act as a macro lens (2 inches from a subject) and 6 mega pixel, night vision, and cool feature "stitch mode" to create panoramic...and all for under $240---folks, it doesn't get better than this at that price. I specked this for an office camera. After using it, I bought one for myself!

This was purchased to replace our stolen A520. I shoot thousands of photos per month with a Canon DSLR system, and have used other super-compact Canon and Sony digital cameras for their small size, but the sweet spot in value and performance is the Canon A5xx series, even over the A6xx series. The A6xx series (or possibly the S2 or S3) would be my recommendation for someone who wants more manual controls and is not also carrying around a DLSR (like the Rebel or 20D/30D) and knows how to shoot more creatively. But for 90% of our needs, the A5xx series is ideal for 1) its outstanding performance in Auto mode -- rarely need any post editing, 2) its compact size but large LCD display that works fairly well in daylight, 3) good performance on two AA batteries, making it ideal for traveling overseas without needing proprietary battery chargers --- does particularly well with AA Lithium batteries, 4) SD cards in 1GB-2GB are fairly inexpensive now and you get enough storage to capture an entire vacation's worth of photos on one card, 5) flash works very well indoors to 15-20 feet for normal snapshots of groups without a lot of noise (smaller cameras like the Powershot 700 or other Casio/Sony super compacts tend to have weak flash that gets noisy photos when shooting beyond 10'.

Additionally, the 4x zoom is nice and can give decent 'portrait shots' with background softening, macro is decent enought for most needs, and it has easy to learn controls.

One downside over the older versions: the batteries share same compartment with SD card, so it's easy to forget, when getting the SD card out, that you can also drop the batteries which isn't good, especially for NIMH, if dropped onto pavement.

I've probably sold 7 of these via recommendations in the past 6 months and every single person has called to thank me. They are thrilled with the images and ease of use and the price point. One person went with the A620 on sale, and it, too, has been a good camera thus far, although it has smaller LCD -- though it flips out, and has some nice features if it's your only camera and you want to be more creative in your photography. (I would probably skip the A6xx series though, and move to the S2/S3 Canon if I wanted more pro-features in a less expensive, less complicated camera and it's not all that much bigger than the A6xx series.)

I bought this camera to my brother and, according to him, it's such a good camera. He told me he can apply many effects using the camera that he was only able to do before in Photoshop. It's lightweight and powerful. I'd say he'd recommend it. :)

Picture quality is good.. I don't think the product quality is good... when I opened the package it is making very low level rattle sound when I rattle...which I expect not to behave like that....Software is good and nice features where we can play with many ideas.

For the price of $200-$300 and the quality it provides, this is an excellent camera for a beginner as well as a professional.

I research online for a few months trying to find a decent camera. The main thing for me was mobility, and price. I wanted to buy a camera in the mid 200s but that still had a good quality picture. This camera more than delivers.

--- Pros ---
1. Small and light weight
2. Uses 2 AA batteries
3. Very good feature set in camera
4. SD memory
5. Amazing photos and videos
6. Very well packed box (with lots of manuals in case you want to read them)

--- Cons ---
1. Only comes with a 16MB SD card (not really a problem, but something to know)
2. Flap on side with USB and media plugs is covered by a soft rubber piece that doesn't feel all that secure (not bad, just that I wish it moved a little easier)
3. In automatic mode you can't take too close of photos, about 4 inches when zoomed all the way out and 12 inches zoomed all the way in (I am sure that if you play around the manual settings you can get better result)
4. A small thing about the optical viewfinder, seems to be a little zoomed in (this could be a feature though, just to make sure you don't miss the corners you were trying to line up with)

I can't believe all the people raving about this camera. All I can figure is that these are the kind of people whose idea of photography is to line the family up from tallest to smallest in the driveway on holidays and flash away.

This camera appears to me to have been designed by an egghead who values pixels far above f-stops.

The camera's programming is guaranteed to give blurry pictures anytime you shoot without a flash in anything less than full sunlight. Let me give you an example: I just stepped outside at 4pm on an overcast day. It's daylight outside, but no direct sunlight. I turned the flash off and pointed the camera at grass, light colored wood fencing, and a white dog. You know what the camera used? f 5.6 & 1/12. In daylight conditions, it chose 1/12 sec exposure!!!

Canon, hire a photographer to advise your code monkeys.

Reader, do not buy this camera if you have any intention of ever turning the flash off.

Based on all the wonderful reviews I read on the A540 I choose this as my first digital camera, and glad I did! Awesome camera for the money, and the most important factor to me was the big 2.5 LCD, I love it! Simple to read instruction manuel had me ready to start shooting in minutes! Believe me,if I can do this anyone can! The first week I took it with me to "Bobby Q's" birthday bash and it took fabulous pictures in a dimly lit restaurant. I passed the camera around for everyone to review photo's and they could't get over the quality of the pictures it took. I could use more zoom so I'm purchasing the Opteka 2.2 Telephoto lens, well worth the $30 extra dollars!

I bought this camera for action stage shots. I was not impressed with this camera. The time it took between shots to process was way too long. Especially in a busy photo shoot. Returned it my Sony was much faster.

This is my first digital camera and I find it entirely satisfactory. The manuals are clearer than most. The pictures are very pleasing.

This jewel of a camera is a steal at as low as $165.00 online. I've got several more expensive Canon digital models like the S3 IS & SD550, but none of them seem to take pictures as sharp as this one does. You can dress them up with all the bells & whistles you want, but in the end, image quality is what matters to me & this one just gets it done. Plus it is a pleasing compromise in size between the tiny easy-to-shake Elphs & the larger Canon models that you can't carry in a pants pocket. And even though it's the bottom of the line price-wise, it still gives you the option of attaching a wide-angle lens to it. And it runs on AA batteries/rechargeables for even more flexibility. In this case, cheaper is better.

I was looking for a camera with more features and capabilities than my Fuji FinePix Z1. Though my Z1 is small, easy to use, and takes great pictures, it does not do well in certain lighting conditions. After some dreadful shots at a wedding last week I went on the prowl for a better camera. From the second I started shooting with the Canon PowerShot a540 I was in love! One of my favorite features of this camera is the ability to quickly change between Auto, Programmed, and the various Image Zone special scene modes... and I can have separate size and quality settings for each one! (though the 10 or so special scene modes share a common size/quality setting.) The custom timer with options for delay and number of shots is another nice touch. I'm not throwing away my Z1, but it may get some dust on it...

We bought this camera after our A70 died. The smaller size of the camera & larger screen are nice features, although the overall feel is lighter & seems much less sturdy - not sure how long the cover on the a/v slot will last as it seems very flimsy. The auto function is the only mode in which the camera doesn't blink a motion warning without being on a tripod or solid surface - the kid/pet mode is a joke as far as we can tell.

That being said, the photos taken in auto mode have been awesome. We haven't done much low light/dark shooting yet, but I'm expecting more focus issues. Haven't tried the movie mode yet, either. The wait time after use of the flash is significantly more than the A70'w was, probably due to there being 2 batteries now rather than the 4 the A70 used.

We're disappointed that this camera isn't a huge improvement over the old A70 - the only major difference is in clarity of the photos taken in auto mode & that would not have been worth the purchase price if our A70 had not died. If only the digital options for IS weren't so much more expensive! Oh, well, maybe in a couple of years....

I already owned a Kodak 4 mega pixel Easy Share camera, but bought this Canon to get better close shots. Because the manual is so poorly written, instructions about taking close ups and manipulating the camera in general are almost impossible to comprehend. I would not recommend buying this camera which I find to be a great disappointment and no improvement over the Kodak model I already own.

This is my 2nd digital camera. I researched intensely before buying, Amazon was awesome in that respect, I saved $30 using the Amazon card. I bought directly from Amazon and shipping was very fast. I have had it for about a month; taken pictures, transferred them to computer and had them printed.

I am very happy with the Battery Life, performance, and price. Shutter speed is much better than my old Kodak. I also like the optical viewfinder and don't understand why anyone would make a camera w/o one. The LCD screen on this camera is great!

The only negative - i have a hard time with all the options. I have not and probably won't use the movie features or many of the other features this camera offers.

I didn't even get a chance to test the photos this camera took when I discovered that the one I had has a tendancy to record the sound of the camera itself when making a movie. It would record the moving parts within the camera, so you get this weird clicking sound on top of all the static one normally gets...for me this was a bit too annoying. It is also a tad slow when using flash....but as a start up camera, for someone with larger hands, it should suffice....so I had to return mine. Hopefully the replacement I get doesnt do this....

This product seemed to be a perfect camera and would have been if the movie recording sound was not fatally flawed. I already have digital SLRs and intended to use this camera mainly for shooting short and low-quality vidoes of my daily life to post to sharing sites. The 640x480 30fps recording feature until 1GB seemed great (I was happy enough with my Canon A95, but it would only allow 180 seconds of recording). This worked well enough, but the sound would often pick up loud internal clicking or motor noises. At first it seemed I could get over these but after a few days I gave up and returned this product. It appears that when the camera is attempting to auto adjust the light metering or possibly the auto-focusing an internal motor clicks back and forth creating very loud noises that overpower talking or otherwise ruin a quiet scene. I'm a bit puzzled by this, since it seems to be such an obvious problem that would have been corrected by Canon's engineers in pre-production. The battery life also seemed short while playing with it strictly in movie mode, lasting approximately 40 minutes between record and playback. That is a bit too short for me also, being used to a longer A95 life (but it does use 4xAA, not 2xAA). I suppose the low price was too good to be true! Thanks to Amazon for handling the return well.

The LCD screen could have done with a bit more resolution, but other than that it is an excellent camera.

I use the A540 mostly for insurance photography, and it's well suited for that work, as it has an optical viewfinder (great for daylight photography) as well as an LCD finder. It makes a good snapshot camera too. In most cases the Auto setting does the job. If circumstances require, there are other settings available. You have the option to specify a shutter speed, or an ASA equivalent (though ASA 800 is really grainy).

As others have mentioned, the cover over the AA batteries and SD card is a bit flimsy, but otherwise the camera is solid feeling. One other minus: visible time and date stamps can be printed only at 1600 X 1200 "Postcard" resolution.

Auxiliary lenses are available from Canon for this camera, though I haven't bought any--yet. Suggested accessory: a tripod or monopod if you're doing pictures in low light.

My three year old digital (2 MP) camera's battery door broke (pretty cheap plastic) and the search was on for a more modern camera. My daughter recently got a very small slim Canon and I was impressed with the features and quality. However I wanted a camera that could use AA batteries and small size was not a top priority. I also wanted a good size LCD display and an optical viewfinder (yes, I know I'm old fashioned). This Powershot A540 seemed to have all the features I wanted. I have had it for a few weeks and have taken it on a trip where it worked flawlessly. The image quality has been very good. The movie feature is nice as long as you don't use the zoom. I recommend getting a 1GB SD card right away. The 16 MB one that comes with the camera is a joke.
One of the most pleasing discoveries was that regular AA batteries lasted quite a long time. I typically don't use the LCD screen when I'm taking pictures so I'm sure that helps. I recommend taking the time to read the very detailed and complete manual as this little gem has a huge amount of features and capabilities to please any amateur/family photographer.
Last but not least, Amazon offers this camera at a very attractive price not found on the street.
Based on the pictures I've taken, I'd say that the quality is very good. Outside pictures are outstanding, and colors well balanced (you can always touch that up in Picasa or other).
If you're looking for a versatile, low priced digital camera this one fits the bill.

It sounds like most people on here like their Canon A540s. I wish I did too, but I had to return it yesterday. I'm no photographer, but I can follow directions, point-and-shoot, and use the automatic functions. But this camera took poor photos--flash photos had no depth or contrast, and the appearance was grainy and washed out at all resolutions except the highest. And I had to replace the batteries after each 35-40 photos. A photographer friend looked at the photos I'd taken, and said "Your camera should be taking better photos than this." There was no way to take photos without flash without having them come out blurry, even in bright light. I might have been able to take better photos were I to quickly learn what combos of f-stops and apertures would be best, but I needed pretty photos now. An old Sony Mavica I have used, at 2MP, takes better photos than this did. I suspect there might be some quality issues that compromised a small percentage of these cameras, because so many people (and Consumer Reports) are overall satisfied with this model--I wish I were among them. If you don't seem to be getting good photos out of your camera, I wouldn't waste any time returning it.

This is a fantastic camera, especially for the price. The optical zoom of 4x is more than most cameras that cost $100 more and is invaluable for getting the perfect shot especially when coupled with 6 megapixels. Close ups are very nice and the picture quality is very good.

The features go on and on. It can be pure point and shoot in "Automatic Mode" or it can replace a full-sized SLR in "Manual Mode" when you can't lug around a big camera. And with it's stitch assist and variety of lighting options, it can be anything in between.

Though I haven't done so yet, you can apparently buy a variety of lens attachments for it, including a 10x optical zoom and a wide angle adapter. I cannot, however, vouch for these, though Canon's reputation for lenses would indicate good quality.

I pretty much use it in place of a regular video camera now. It picks up sound as well as any camera without a boom-mike. I originally thought that the 1 gb limit on video clips would be too much of a limitation, it turns out that this gives you about 25 minutes (depending on your settings) of good quality video in one single clip, which is more than I ever use for one clip anyway. I tend to shoot shorter shots and edit them all together later.

Though I don't use them much, there are also editing features for video on the camera itself. This is fine if you need it in a pinch and it lets you do just enough to do on-the-spot editing if you really need to.

The one drawback, as others have stated, is the relatively low flash refresh time. I have found this to be tedious only in the darkest of circumstances. In medium light, it's fine with the flash. Also, because of the great amount of exposure and aperture control you have (especially for a 'point and shoot') the flash isn't always as necessary as it would be with other cameras.

Finally, I used regular batteries for exactly two days before I bought rechargeable ones. I went through 6 batteries in 2 days, though admittedly these were not high end batteries designed for digital cameras. Still, spending $20 on batteries and a charger is a no-brainer, espeically when you end up using the camera as much as I have.

And with all its great features and picture quality, it's hard not to.

With so many options out there this is a great choice for the average consumer. All the extras and easy to use. This is only my second digital camera and I love it. Until now I always reverted back to my 35MM. Only complaint is the inability to turn off the flash for night shots. Maybe I missed that in the advanced manual. Very happy overall!

I have an "ultra-zoom" (12x optical) camera. It's size/shape makes it anything but "compact". Was looking for a second camera to be able to carry in a pocket. Did a fair amount of research before selecting this camera. Was amazed at all the advanced features on such a small camera and the fairly inexpensive price. Takes great pictures on full Auto mode, have also used some of the advanced features to test them out and they work great as well. One thing I definitely wanted was a camera that used the same SD media as my other one so I could share cards between them. Like the flexibility to add different lenses, though I'll probably never buy one. Heck, you can even buy a waterproof case if you want to take pictures underwater! Pretty neat, if unlikely to be useful to most buyers.

Earlier in the year I was given a Canon PowerShot from my employer for work purposes. This was my first experience with a digital camera. Yes, I was still in the dinosaur age of the film camera! Nobody showed me how to use the camera and no instruction booklet came with it. The Canon PowerShots are easy enough to use that you can pick one up and start snapping away. After using a digital camera for almost a year now, I don't want to go back to a film camera. I bought the PowerShot A 540 for personal use and I LOVE it. My parents were so interested in my camera that they purchased one for themselves from Amazon. One negative I have about the camera is that sometimes the screen is a little fuzzy when reviewing what you have just photographed but it's by no means enough of a problem to prevent someone from purchasing the camera. If you want the camera to do all the work for you, all you need do is put it on "Automatic," focus and snap. Oh, the card that comes with the camera is basically useless, plan on getting a card that will hold more pictures. A++ batteries are used in the camera and even come with the camera when purchased. You can't go wrong with this digital camera!

This is a fine camera at any price. I have an A75 from a couple of years back. This is essentially the same camera. I borrowed a friend's A540 recently and was able to use it immediately without having to ask questions. My only complaint: if you use the flash the camera needs too much time to "wake up" for the next shot. Oh well. Digital point and shoots are not the right choice for action or sports anyway.

As for the photo quality: just about all digital cameras provide acceptable photos in 2006. If you look at the user submitted photos here at Amazon, you'll notice that one person has provided a picture from a commercial shoot taken with this camera. If you didn't know what camera took the picture, you would swear it was some expensive professional over-priced toy. (It's the shot of the package-carrying woman with the green background.) Here's the thing: the camera that takes the picture is virtually irrelevant. The lighting, composition and knowledge of the photographer combined: these things make good photos.

So, do yourself a favor. Don't spend too much. Buy this camera or something similar in this price range, then take a class or read some books about photography. Don't worry about the stupid camera so much.

(By the way. I have a shot of a lobster that I took with the A75 posted on Amazon. Just go to the A75 page at Amazon to see it. If that pic doesn't convince you that these are good cameras, then go waste your money.)

This camera operates excellently, has a huge LCD for image composition and photo review, and everything about it is as solid as can possibly be. There are no glitches in this piece of machinery. I strongly recommend buying one, if not two. Recommend purchasing Rayovac's NiMH batteries (4-pack) and a NiMH charger; $20; this will keep you in the photo business. Previous versions of A-series cameras used 4-AAs. This one only uses two AAs. This camera will fit in most of the smallest cases, despite its right side "grip", which (in my opinion) adds inherent stability for hand-held photos. 6 mega pixels? That's quite enough. Add a 1gb SD card (it only ships with a 16mb card), and you'll capture more still images and audio-filled videos than you can imagine.

Buy this camera and enjoy a superb product. We have shot over 11,000 photos with our previous A-series Canon digital camera. This one seems just as solid, but offers superior capabilities.

The picture quality is excellent in all lighting conditions. Very light weight camera which can be gripped firmly with only one hand. Flash takes a few seconds to recharge, but every other function of the camera is around one second or less (even startup is very fast).

only recomendation i'd make is to buy a SD card that is rated for higher speed writing. Taking pictures at 6mp creates large files that take about 3 seconds to write to disk on a slow SD card (2gb normal speed).

My first experience with digital cameras was with my Canon powershot a75. That camera has worked great for more than 2 years. Image quality was perfect, resolution was great, even when it was a 3.2 MP.
Recently, I decided to buy a new Canon with more resolution, and give the A75 to my little brother, and I bought this one. It`s a great camera, with excellent quality, speed, resolution, etc. Definitely, a great buy

In the past I've always bought digital cameras based solely on price. I would get the best camera I could afford, which ended up getting me a couple of not-very-good cameras. The latest one died in the middle of a lovely evening full of prime photo-ops, and only 2 weeks before Christmas! So I rushed to find a replacement. I had to let my husband get the LCD monitor he wanted too, but it was worth it! This time I was able to get a great camera with everything I wanted, at an affordable price!

This camera has way more features than I will ever use. Not knowing much about photography I have no use for things like manually setting the aperture or shutter speed. But for those of you who know what to do with those settings, they are available for you to set either one at a time or all at once.

I will also have no need for the underwater case, but it's available for those of you who want such a thing. I will probably never buy additional lenses to attach to the camera, but those who are into photography can purchase an adapter that will allow you to do so. And I probably won't mess around with changing the start-up splash screen and/or camera sounds, but if you're into that you can do that too.

What I love most about this camera is the many preset scene settings that it has, making all of the manual adjustments unnecessary for someone like me. It was great to be able to set it to Kids and Pets to take pictures of the tykes opening their Christmas presents. The full auto setting works great too, although I'm having a little trouble getting it to focus where I want it to. It's a great point and shoot camera, with loads of settings for the more experienced photographer.

The video capture is fantastic, and allowed me to capture some really precious moments this holiday season. The 4x optical zoom is great, although it gets a little annoying that the camera warns you about moving the camera if you zoom in pretty much at all. I can't wait to get an opportunity to try some of the other scene settings. So far the only bad pictures have been because someone blinked!

One of the best features of this camera is the large 2.5" LCD screen. My previous cameras had much smaller LCDs, and the bigger LCD makes a huge difference! And maybe it's just because I'm used to a smaller LCD, but I have no complaints about the LCD's resolution like other reviewers.

The auto focus assist light has been a real life saver. I have always had trouble with my cameras not focusing in low light, or even medium light. This camera hasn't had any trouble focusing at all.

This camera also has a lot of fun settings I may or may not find myself using. It has a color accent setting that allows you to select a color in the picture to highlight, and all the other colors will be converted to black and white. You can swap one color for another. You can take pictures in black and white or sepia, you can lighten or darken skin tones slightly (weeee, I can make myself look less pale!), you can punch up the color. And one that will make sending pictures to my mother in law very cool when we finally buy a house, a photo-stitch function that lets you take many overlapping pictures in a panoramic fashion, and then use the photo-stitch software to stitch them together for you into one big picture. I tried this one in my living room and it made for a fantastic view of the living room not possible with just snapshots.

I've never been one to connect my camera directly to the computer and download the pictures that way. I've always removed the memory card and plugged it into my card reader to download the pictures. I don't even think I installed the included software with my last two cameras. With this one I thought I'd give it a shot. I haven't taken the memory card out of the camera since I got it. I simply hook it up to the computer via the included USB cable, turn it on, the software pops up ready to download my pictures, and with one click they are all transferred to my MyPictures folder. The best part is that it puts them in dated folders, keeping pictures from Tuesday separate from the pictures I took on Wednesday. I like that! And the Zoom Browser software is very easy to use, and I'm enjoying it a lot. My only complaint is that the redeye correction doesn't always do a really good job. Usually it's great, but sometimes it won't lock onto the red eye, and sometimes it makes the eye far too black.

This camera uses 2 AA batteries, either store bought alkaline or NiMH rechargeables. The batteries that came with the camera only lasted me about 20 pictures. Luckily I had charged up some of my NiMH batteries and brought them along. They seem to be lasting great. I haven't had it die on me yet, although I do make sure the batteries are fully charged before I leave the house with the camera. I see the AA batteries as an advantage over proprietary lithium batteries, like those that the Canon SD line uses. The proprietary lithiums make the camera much smaller, but with the AA's if I forget to charge the batteries I can stop at any store and pick some up. I wouldn't be able to do that with a proprietary lithium. And with only 2 AAs, instead of the 4 that my last two cameras used, it's really very light weight.

I really only have one complaint about this camera. The write speed is pretty slow. It is capable of taking advantage of high speed SD cards, but the card I have is not high speed. I'm sure that would make a difference, and maybe the slow speed I'm experiencing is simply due to the fact that I'm not used to a 6 mega pixel camera. But it is annoying to sometimes have to sit and wait for up to 10 seconds before I can take another picture. I'm not sure what causes it to sometimes write really slow, and sometimes it's ready to take another picture as soon as the preview is gone.

Other than that one complaint, I adore this camera. If you're looking for a good point and shoot camera that will allow you to take advantage of more advanced options if you so choose, this is the camera for you!

This camera is a great! So lightweight and easy to use, I was taking pictures in no time. I did purchase a 1GB SD which is about all I needed for the amount of pictures that I wanted to take. It is very easy to use and I would highly recommend it.

This camera is fairly compact and light, with decent zoom and lots of adjustments if you know how to use them. You can manually set everything.

It's fast, both turning on and between shots, although with only two batteries, the flash slows it down. Also, the flash is fairly weak.

There is a warning when it thinks you need to be extra careful about camera shake, which seems to come on almost all the time. There is no stabilization built in. But it seems to take good pictures.

I needed a new camera and my husband found this one and ordered it for me. It's easy to use. I like that it can use rechargable or regular AA batteries. It's a bit slow between photos and sometimes my photos come out blurry which they never did with my old camera. But the blurry factor could certainly be user error. I'm not a technical/gadget whiz. But overall I really like the camera.

The originial batteries that came lasted for 3-4 hours. When I replaced with Duracell plus alkaline batteries it immideately showed low battery. Same thing happened when I put in another new set of batteries. In my trip I could barely take pictures cos it sucked up all the batteries immediately.I might have to return it.

I've been a Canon user for over 40 years, so buying this Powershot as a gift for my wife was a no-brainer. Canon's quality is legendary. The camera performs perfectly, startup is fast, and it's easy to carry in her travel bag, aka "the purse". However -- and this is a big deal at least with me: the little CR1220 battery that powers the memory function such as date and time was at the end of its life as soon as the camera was opened. Date and time would not hold, and the instructions state that the battery may have depleted due to its being installed at manufacture. So - the camera's assembled in Malaysia, sits in a container ship for God knows how long, then in a store inventory for longer with a battery installed that's draining power the entire time. Canon should know better, and ship the battery uninstalled to be handled by the customer. Other than that, the camera's a good buy.

Best digital camera I've found for the money. Easy for first time users but, high enough quality for some commercial use. As a graphic designer, I use it to create images to help show concepts and to plan photo shoots for my professional photographers.

I owned an earlier model of this camera, which I was very happy with. It is pretty much the same except for higher resolution, bigger screen and it now uses SD cards instead of compact flash. I like the SD better since it is smaller and my laptop has a built in reader for it. My only regret is not waiting a little longer since the price keeps dropping.

Product is excelent. One minor issue is related to battery life when recording video

This is our first digital still camera. (We own two SONY Digital8 Handycams). We are very pleased with the performance so far after 4 weeks of use. The picture quality (sharpness, color balance) is better than I expected. The built-in electronic flash also has a longer range than expected resulting in much better exposed indoor pictures. And, the 4x optical zoom allows us to stand a little further from the person(s) being photographed so they're not as self-conscious and the photos have a better perspective and look more natural. (Their faces don't look like basketballs).
We have two Nikon SLRs with multiple lenses. We like the small size, all-in-one package with flash. I guess we got tired of carrying a big bag full of equipment around. You can't tell the differnce between our photos with the Canon vs. Nikon. The other bonus is cost of operating. No film to purchase and only pay for the prints you want. (Fewer shoeboxes/albums in the future!) We purchased it from Amazon on Sunday afternoon and received it in the mail on the following Wednesday. After reading other reviews, I learned that the memory card that comes with the camera is too small. TRUE! So, back to Amazon. I purchased a 1GB card along with a camera case (a special comination package). Both were a great addition. Thanks to all the people who offered reviews and to Amazon. They had the BEST PRICE I found anywhere, on line or in a store.

Very pleased. I had a samsung w/out optical zoom, it ate batteries something fierce. The A540 went for over 300 pictures on one set of double-A's (rechargeable flavor). Very handy, got the gorillapod. Now the A540 is akin to a parrot with a photographic memory.

Canon point and shot camea is good with picture quality.

Two complains I have with this camera: body size and the LCD screen. My brother just bought a Samsung 7MP point and shot camera during Christmas. Around $160. It also uses 2 AA batteries and the screen size is the same as my A540. The Samsung is slimmer and its LCD screen is much sharper than mine. I am not sure the picture quality of its printed photo since I have not seen one yet.

For the price I paid (around $170 shipped), this is a good camera. I will keep it for awhile.

I used to have Powershot A530, but after I lost it, I decided to go with A540 since its the closest to what I had and has higher MP. Overall, the pics are great and its simple to use too... the price is very reasonable for the camera you're getting.

Powershot is a very good and handy digital camera, which I liked very much. It allows to take very good pictures, to store them on two different memory cards and the price is also very good. Overall, I feel confident to recommend it.

its a good camera for the money. its does alot of different things, it takes good video.
but its a little delicate, i have experience some shutter & focus problems.

really good product at amazing prie. It is worth buying.

one more feather in the canon cap and great services from amazon.

I love this camera! It is so easy to use & takes great shots. A lot of camera for a very resonable price.

The Canon PowerShot A540,is a nice camera with great setting options, but it EATS BATTRIES. I use 2 X 2500 mah Energizer rechargeable batteries and I don't find that I get enough use out of the batteries, before I have to charge them up again.
Other than that the Camera takes nice photos and has a nice and easy size to move around with.

Roger (Caribbean)

We are very pleased with the quality of this camera and the relative ease in using it. The price we paid on Amazon (on sale) was the same price we found later at Sears (but no sales tax, and free shipping at Amazon.) This is our first digital camera, and we find we are taking a lot more photos now that we can pick and choose which pictures we want to keep. The digital display is very clear, and program for PC is easy to use.

Great camera for those who are looking for simple, reliable and cost effective camera. The pictures quality is great. It is required to buy extra memory since the original memory is only enough for ~10 pictures.

This camera replaced an older Canon model A70 digital camera. We have found the A540 to be markedly improved over the older one. The A540 is much easier to navigate throught the choices like flash or no flash, and delting images. It has a simplified rotary mode switch that is easy to use. The screen is larger than the A70 and appears to be sharper. Overall, the Canon A540 is a very good lower-priced digital camera. We are very pleased.

This camera is very easy to use and has many different options available. I would highly recommend this camera for anyone.

I have had this camera for about one month and have loved it so far! It takes great pictures and the ones I have had printed have been great. Because I enjoy art and photography, I love all the extra settings (color swap, color accent, etc). Also, it is great that you are able to add on lenses to get closer shots. All in all, for a lower end camera it is great. I would recommend it.

My title states good camera, not great camera.
I was looking for a point and shoot digital that is pocket size. I have a Canon EOS 20D so this wouldn't be my go to camera. I was looking for something easy to carry while doing outdoor activities.
So, my comparison wouldn't be fair if matched against the 20D. However, with that said I was disappointed with two items. The recycle of the flash unit is painstakenly slow. But that can with lived with except for the write speed or recycle of the camera for a follow up shot. You can't take two consecutive pictures or even two within 2-3 seconds.

The other disappointment is trying to catch an action shot. I use the other camera for sports photography, but occasionally the A540 was all I had. You can't catch "a moment" with that camera. The focus takes 2 seconds before the shutter opens (film camera term) when you push the shutter button. I can't get use to that slow reaction for capturing the moment.

This camera is great for posed portraits and landscapes. The focus is sharp. The settings are good with the automatic settings. Watch out for low light without the flash. It will chose a slow shutter and could blur the subject. The video recording works good (I've only used it twice). The sharpness of pictures is fantastic.

I bought a 1MB card for it because I take a lot pictures. I will take other reviewers suggestions and try rechargable batteries. Alkalines are not bad, I just change them more often than I recharge my 20D. I get 150+ pictures while using the screen in back to center the shot. Turn it off and use the viewfinder and get a lot more battery life.

Again this is a good camera for its intended use, not a great camera.

Canon has always but out great stuff, and this is just another example.

For the money this is a tough camera to beat. Very good photos and most important it has a optical viewer and large LCD. Without the optical viewer bright sunlight pictures would be almost impossible. The camera is small, but easy to grasp with with good positions for most all the necessary buttons.It takes AA batteries and SD memery cards, both are cheap and readily available. Just set on auto,snap and I am you will be happy with the results.

quality brand equal quality pictures
do not bother buying one of those cheaper lesser known brands
I had a cannon AE 1 35 MM SLR from cannon

Nothing has changed. they still make great cameras

I purchased this camera because I already had the A520 and found the A520 to be reliable and provided really decent photos. Plus, it had all the features I wanted. Then my son got that camera and I bought the A540. More megapixels and the same features as the A520. There is one major detraction: the battery life is poor. I've researched this and found that others have complained about this.I will contact Canon and see if they can fix it.

BACKGROUND:
This camera replaced our older Canon A70 (3.2 megapixels) which was, in most respects, an older version of the A540. The 540 upgraded us to 6 megapixels, 4x optical zoom (instead of 3x), more options for manual exposure control, a larger LCD screen and only half the batteries (two AA instead of 4 AA) for less weight and a smaller, lighter camera casing.

GENERAL REVIEW:
We've used the A540 for about 3 months and it is as good as I expected. Even with only two batteries the battery life has actually been as good or better than our older A70 that required four batteries. (We compared battery life using the same generic NiMH AA rechargeables from our A70.) As with our older A70, we have a significant amount of control over the A540's exposure settings. My wife most often uses the simple point-and-shoot full-auto mode while I tend jump between various auto and manual settings depending on the shot. We also make great use of the video recording feature -- quite nice when a full-on video camera is not handy. [...].

PROS:
- Impressive number of exposure options for advanced users.
- Operates on standard AA batteries.
- Battery life is very good even when using flash and LCD screen.
- Optical viewfinder in addition to LCD means you can turn off LCD to save battery life or to make camera use less distracting in a dark room.
- Highly-rated for image quality.
- Can add (some) additional lenses and/or filters if desired using a lens adapter.

CONS:
- Can only use SD memory cards up to 2GB in size. With memory prices continuing to drop it would be nice to be able to use a 4GB or 8GB card in the camera. This would be especially helpful for recording longer video clips.
- The A540 ships with a tiny 16MB memory card that only holds about 10 default-resolution photos.
- Card slot shares same area as batteries meaning the batteries will be loose when inserting or removing the memory card. Not terrible but I find it annoying compared to our older Canon A70 that had separate areas for batteries and memory card.
- We replaced our older Canon A70 due to problems that developed during it's 3rd year of ownership. The A70 was well-cared for. If we expect the A540 to be similar in other respects to the A70, we have to expect that it ay also develop age-related problems sooner than anticipated. However, we liked the A70 so much that we bought another Canon despite our eventual A70 problems.

So far, so good. I just have a problems with directions. Aren't any of these books written by people who speak English??? It took me an hour to figure out how to stop the flash. But as soon as I opened the box at Christmas I was able to use it and the pictures came out great. I am sure with a little more reading and working with the camera it will be even better. I had an Olympus...really easy to use and this one comes close with a few more bells and whistles. I am happy with it so far! I am not great with all the computer stuff, but have been able to take, save and print my own pictures just from previous experience. Not a bad deal for the price.

I brought this camera as a gift. But I 'had' to play a little with it, to show them how to use it. the Screen IT's AMAZING!. the quality is great and I love the zoom.
I'm planning to get another for me too.

This was a gift for my brother this xmas. What a great camera - there is virtually nothing you can't do with it. Really easy to use with great menu's and a HUGE viewing screen. Downsides - it chews through batteries, even the ones meant for digital camera's. I would highly recomend getting rechargeables with it. There is no image stabalization technology with this camera. Which is probably why it is a less expensive than others.
I own two other Canon Digital camera's (3.2mp elph and 8mp DSLR rebel)and have never regreted buying canon.

I bought this model after using the canon powershot A95. I was satisfied to find that the quality of Canon remained the same irrespective of the size of the camera. All the features that come with Canon were there and the ease of using the camera did not go down by even 1 iota. All in all I am a Canon customer for life.

What I realy like about this camera is; first and fore most it's a canon,second is I couldn't beleive how user friendly it was, and last but not least it doesn't take a college education to install the software suite, read the quick set up guide, or operate the camera.
I was taking impressive photographs right out of the box.
This camera is off the chain!

Read the manual and read it again, get to know this fine piece of equipment and read the manual again, you will have outstanding pictures! I have owned quality 35mm cameras (Nikon) and I would rate this one on top of the list. You can't go wrong for the price, anyone can use it, the only difference in the quality of your picture will be how well you understand what this camera will do for you. PS; get at least 1GB of memory.

This camera is fun! I got it with the 1G Ultra SD card, and it is sooo much faster and easier than my old camera. It's easy to navigate, the screen is large so pix are easy to see, although it is a little grainy. I enjoy the features and different settings. Should be foolproof picture taking under varying circumstances. I like that it has a viewfinder, which is very hard to find nowadays, so when you are in the sun, you can frame the picture and not guess if you are pointing the camera right. And I wanted a better zoom, and this has it. I think the longer zooms are not as steady. This one has been great. The movie mode is even easy, so I can catch the kids quickly when I want to. I love this camera!

The order went just fine, it arrived unharmed and on time. The supplier is very easy to deal with.

I may be too lenient with my rating because I bought my first digital camera early on in digital photography so I know how bad things can be. My Nikon Coolpix 900 does nothing well but who knew back then? I finally replaced it with this Canon A540 and am I impressed! For less than a quarter of the Nikon's cost I now have a terrific little camera that out-performs it in every way.

"Auto" mode works spectacularly well and may I suggest the "Scenes" mode with the Indoor setting (flash "off") to get nice indoor shots without using the potentially annoying strobe. Experiment in your environment to see if it will work, I use it all the time.

I've now had it a few weeks and still can't find the bad bits. Ok, if I could I would add a Preview button like Panasonic has. There, I found something I'd change if I could but there are easy work-arounds for this weakness.

Anyway, the point is that I have saved enough with this purchase (and have a terrific camera for snaps) that I can indulge in something a little more elaborate for other types of shooting. I'm thinking that one of those "superzooms" look like fun. The Canon S3 IS has to go to the top of the list after the good experience I've had with the A540.

Get a Canon A540; you won't break the bank and will get good family and vacation pix, etc., in the bargain.

I'm hardly a camera expert but I find this camera suits my needs perfectly. Easy to operate, small and lightweight and takes very nice pictures. My only complaint would be that I have to wait about three seconds between photos when using the flash--longer than I would want. However, everything else is great--picture quality, size, weight and reasonable price! I recommend this camera very highly and use it very frequently for all types of shots, even short videos. Another great purchase from Amazon . . . and all the previous reviews helped me to decide, so thank you to those who posted earlier.

Pro's: easy to use, lots of features, good zoom quality,it has a view finder & a large color view screen.
Con's: It needs a larger memory card I recommend 1G, It does not come with a carrying case & the autmatic lens cover is sensitive in dusty conditions. The cover started sticking partialy closed at a dusty softball game.

I love this camera. Canon is always our camera choice brand. Well worth the money. Its also very user friendly.

The product arrived on time, contained everything needed, and beat the price in the big box store.

My 17 year old daughter requested a digital camera for Christmas, and since we've never owned one before, I agonized a fair amount over finding the right camera. Various reviews pointed me in the direction of this one. It was definitely the right choice. She took to it right away and uses it all the time. The only negative issue seems to be the fairly frequent occurrence of red-eye with the flash, and her software's redeye reduction doesn't help much. But she thinks there may still be remedies for that if she explores further in the directions. What she said, though, is revealing: "even though there is that problem, this camera is way better than my friends' cameras." Two things she mentioned as being better were the larger screen for viewing the shots, and the video function.

I am a novice photographer, and thus need the assistance that a point-and-shoot camera provides; the A540 creates great shots in auto mode. I have taken shots in low light, in snow, indoors, etc. All come out well, although details are lost at high magnification. But at the price, that is to be expected.
I am also attempting to make myself into a better photographer. For that, the manual controls offered by this camera are perfect. They allow me to adjust only aperture, only shutter speed or aperture, speed, and focus together. It's a great chance to learn what adjusting each of these features does to a photo.
A few final notes. The camera starts up quickly and the time between shots (without flash) is rapid. With the flash enabled, time between shots is a bit longer than I expected, but under 5 seconds. The body of the camera seems rugged, and the extended area over the batteries provides for an excellent grip while shooting. The controls are easy to use and are laid out well on the camera. Overall, a very nice machine for the price.

I was looking for a small camera to take to Europe that was not too expensive. The reviews I read on this one seemed favorable so I bought it. I was not disappointed. It takes great photos, is easy on batteries (about 300 shots per pair of AA's) and was easy to carry. Very happy with it.

Cool camera/ need to purchase more memory pix cards / don't need printer