This little camera is great for the price. It is compact and easy to take places. The pictures are high quality and the battery life is great. I'd recommend this camera to anyone who wishes to take pictures at special gatherings or just for day to day events.

I needed a new camera to replace my very old digital camera, so I ordered this one and could not be happier with it.

It has all kinds of features, including some manual control options like white balance, etc. for those people who like to mess with that stuff (I'm more of an Auto person, myself). I used it on vacation last month and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of pictures, after taking only a few test shots to get familiar with the camera. The camera is very easy to use and gives you a basic user manual to get you started, and also a detailed manual to help you find out how everything works on the camera. The movie mode works good, too. The colors come out bright and vivid. The lag time between pictures is minimal, which is one of the main things I hated about my old 1.3mp Panasonic Palmcam, and the 7.1mp makes for some excellent detail in your pictures. The only bad thing about the camera, in my opinion, is that it doesn't have a movement stabilizer (or whatever it is called), so it can be prone to shaking, especially when you zoom using the digital zoom. I like that the camera is small and lightweight, but it is not one of those super thin ones that you feel like you could break in half.

Overall, I think this is a GREAT camera, and I don't think you can find a better camera for the price.

I have been using this camera quite a bit and am completely happy. It has both point and shoot, and slr features. You can take quick shots or get started with amiture photography. The software was easy to use, easy to set up, and it works well on my Mac. It has the quality the you would expect with the canon name.

I bought the camera to use on a trip to Lake Tahoe, NV. The scenery was beautiful and the camera was so easy to operate that I got lots of wonderful pictures. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants to take great pictures without a lot of problems. It is small and easy to handle.

I love this camera. It is SUPER EASY to use and takes fantastic pictures. The megapixels are such that you can even blow things up and still have a good quality picture.

I would highly recommend this camera. I have had zero problems and love Canon products.

the camera is everything i expected. performs very well takes excellent pictures and is fairly easy to use

Our company purchase these cameras. A great all around camera. easy to use, fast start up, exposure accurate and sharp, the moive mode is great. The camera is big enough to hold but small enough to fit in a pocket. The "AA" battery power source is a great feature and the price point it's hard to beat.

I bought this Camera to take pics at my Daughter's wedding. The pics turned out terrific. Some better than the Professional Photog.

color is nice and it is very convenient to take A550 with you

I am not electrically inclined however, this light weight easy to use great picture taking camera was well worth the purchase. I have recommmended it to friends and family members considering purchasing a digital camera.

I purchased this camera to have a Point and Shoot available when the occasion doesn't call for a full blown 9-10 megapixel DSLR-type like my Fuji S9000. Fujifilm Finepix S9000 9MP Digital Camera with 10.7x Wide Optical Zoom The Canon shoots amazingly fast and produces a large format photo right out of the box. I like the Canon menu tree - it's easy to know where you're going for settings. The LCD is bright and crystal clear. The Canon DIGIC II electronics are worth Googleing and reading about.

The selling point that persuaded me to buy the A550 7.1MP is the TTL Optical (Through The Lense) vuefinder. Most other PnS cameras leave you with only a LCD screen to vue through...I find them awkward and not true when composing a shot.

SD media is the most inexpensive and available on the market. The A550 can use SD, SDHC and MMC. A couple 1Gig pieces should serve you well, the faster writing the better - DON'T SKIMP HERE. A slow writing media card will bother you eventually.

Arm yourself with 3 or 4 changes of rechargeable batteries and go shoot the world, or at least try. Read your Manual - download one from the Canon site to browse while on the computer. You'll find this camera is about as versatile as they come.

I bought this camera to keep in the truck because I always seem to forget to take one with me. This is a nice small camera with many good fetures.It takes really good pictures any price. It can use rechargeable batteries and they have never needed recharging during a picture taking use. See all my reviews

This is an excellent camera for the price. Very good optics. Modes easy to select and use.

After having had a friends hand me down one pixel camera which no longer connected to any computer in the 21st century, I purchased this camera. Right size for my hands(smaller is not necessarily better) and easy to use. The settings were simple to learn and actually more than I needed. You can switch from taking shots to review with one click of a button and back again to taking photos. Quick to use to capture those momentary fleeting kodak moments and even faster to download to my computer with attaching a cord and pressing a button.
The zoom takes you right there so I can capture snaps shots from a distance without the subject taking notice and assuming fake stances. I just love this camera and find nothing to be critical of. So if want a camera that is so simple to operate that you will actually use, this is the one.

first of all, you need to buy good batteries for this camera. I bought a 100-pack of cheapies and they don't last but a few hours- if they work. Good batteries like energizer will last you a few weeks. I own a Mac and the pictures transfer easily onto iphoto. the 4x optical zoom is a nice improvement from our other 3x zoom on our sony. I was able to buy a 2GB memory card for $20(sandisk) from here also. There are also high speed cards available. I'm already satisfied with the standard one. I don't do a lot of "quick" shots anyways.

Only one drawback. The video doesn't show up on my imovie. maybe I need more experimenting. I just assumed it would be as easy as the pictures.

Overall, I am surprisingly satisfied with this canon product. Especially after being a sony fan for years.

Takes great pictures, nice price. A bigger memory card is a must.

I still shoot 35mm film with my Canon AE1, but I've been looking for a small digital I can carry in a pocket or small bag while traveling. I've always trusted Canon's quality, so after research, I chose this one. I just returned from Alaska, and found this little camera went places my film camera couldn't.. like trail riding outside of Skagway. The camera easily fit into my jacket pocket and I could still photograph from the back of a moving horse without dropping the reins to focus. I never really thought I'd find a digital camera that could perform as well as my trusty Canon AE1, but this definitely does at 1/4 the weight. Get one!

For the price this is an excellent buy. There are a good number of features and settings and it is fairly easy to use. Once you figure out a few basic functions you can start snapping. The picture quality is very good, even on 16X digital zoom. I recommend buying the soft case, as the camera does not come with anything to put it in. All in all this is a great product.

This is simply a great camera to get whether you are buying a digital camera for the first time or the fifth time. Why? Because you get all the Canon quality and features for a very good price. At this price you can afford to even gift it to a teenager who wants to learn a little more photography as it offers a little more than just point and shoot.

I've owned about 4 A series cameras in the past, along with S2/S3 series and SD series and I still recommend A series as the best value for money based on its performance. I tried this particular camera when I bought it recently for a gift. Although the size of A series cameras is bigger than SD series making them jacket-pocket cameras, the advantage is in the styling. It gives you a convenient grip on the side which helps hold the camera steady and results in less "blurry" pictures than SD. The mode selector dial on top helps you zip through selections from portrait, landscape to nightshot and special scenes. The convenience of AA batteries which are available in every corner of the world, no missing out on pictures as your battery was discharged, is a great convenience. You can buy 2NiMH batteries with a charger like I did, and never have to buy any more again. The screen is only 2 inch (up from 1.8 earlier) but it makes the camera more durable, as the design makes it more resistant to damage.

And what about the features? :
- It has an intelligent 9 point focusing system with auto red eye correction which means it can choose the focus pretty accurately, although it also gives you the flexibility to choose the focus through 3 modes. (Centered, Evaluative, Spot)
- SD card/MMC card slot - These cards are so cheap now so get the 2GB to store a whole vacation's worth of pictures.
-Pic size- You can choose from 6 sizes for the pics including a widescreen 16:9 format which can be viewed on your HDTV.
-Speed Dial: This dial on top allows fast spinning between shooting modes (night, landscape, indoors, kids, portrait, movie, auto, manual, special) so you never miss a shot. For this feature alone, I'd prefer an A series over SD as I keep missing shots on SD series while trying to change modes through the menu. With this dial even a kid becomes a pro. The SCN(special scenes) mode has Fireworks, Foliage, Beach, Snow, and Night Scene. Now even amateurs can use Canon experience to get the best shot. Fireworks is particularly amazing as it produced some great 4th of July shots. This camera does not have the Photostitch mode found on some other cameras but it does have the macro mode to take close ups.
-Special effects (B/W, Sepia, Vivid, Nuetral etc.) I've used sepia a lot when taking potraits giving them an 'old world' feel. Vivid has been helpful in special situations like a red kite against a blue sky to bring out the colors. You can do this in Photoshop later but how many of us actually get the time to do this, once a pic is taken it's over with for me! This camera does not have the color accent/color swap option which is available on some other Canons.
-You can set white balance manually on this camera or manually adjust shutter or aperture priority. It also has an optical viewfinder which is handy for very dark/very bright situations.
-You can also take videos in 3 different resolutions with this camera and edit them right on the camera.
-The zoom button shows one or many images at a time in the replay mode and you can zoom into each individual image to see parts of it closely.
- While replaying, the images auto-rotate to landscape or portrait mode to align with how you're holding the camera. It's a nice feature as otherwise you can't see the portrait shots properly in the landscape mode.

This camera makes a great first camera, with many features, and the image quality is superb. Especially if you are shooting outdoors the images are unsurpassed by any other brand, in my opinion. So go get it, at this price it's well worth getting it as a second camera for another member of your family during the vacation. You won't mind taking this one on the ride where you'd be scared to take your more expensive cameras!

I'm going to write a positive review of this camera, but you should know that I ended up returning it to Amazon because it didn't meet my specific needs.

I was looking for a high quality, inexpensive point and shoot digital camera when I bought this item. The reasons I returned it had nothing to do with the quality of its prints. Let me make sure I say this: they were outstanding. I loved the ease at which the A550 makes beautiful pictures.

What didn't do it for me was the size, and the lack of a panoramic mode. The camera I ended up with, the $300 Canon SD700, is just so small that I slip it into my pocket without thinking about it. With the A550, I could never forget it was there. This bulkiness lead to me not carrying it all the time, which led to pictures not being made that otherwise might have been. If I had a purse though, or I just wanted something to take on occasional outings, the A550 would have been perfect. If this is you, then get this camera.

Lastly, I got excited about the 4x optical zoom. Don't. Bottom line is that, if you want to really zoom in but be able to take sharp photos, you need to invest in a SLR or DSLR camera system. When I zoom in with the A550, even with my steady grip, pictures often come out quite blurry.

Hope this helps.

Excellent camera and delivered within expected time frame! Extremely pleased!

I purchased the Canon A540 for my daughter, so when I was looking to purchase a camera for myself, knowing how good the Canon was, I decided to purchase the A550. I am very happy with it.

I got just what i had hoped for and the previous reviews were really helpful as a guide to what would have matched my interest.There are so many features that i really like and the camera is user friendly, portable and easy to manage.

I would have been glad if i made a close look at the LCD.I would have liked an LCD that can turn around and is not fixed since i like taking pictures of myself.which would have helped me to see myself before i take the picture.But otherwise this is not a big deal, once i got used to it, am taking nice pictures of myself, without trouble.

The A550 is the same mehanical design as the rest of the series. I had a Canon A540 that worked fine for 10 months then for no apparant reason the lens did not retract. This is known problem with Canon cameras (do a web search to find lots of instances). I returned the camera to Canon since it is still under warrantee. They claimed that it had impact damage - which it did not - and wanted $103 to fix it. I will NEVER BUY a CANON camera again. I had the same problem with a Canon A20 a few years ago but that was out of warrantee.

I bought this camera as a replacement for my very old 2.1 MP Kodak Easyshare. I really like the ease of use and the picture quality. One thing I really like is that it is ready to take a photo within one or two seconds of turning the camera on. My old camera would take a few seconds. I also like that the camera uses AA batteries and an SD memory card.

The only thing I would like to see on this camera that it doesn't have, and the one thing that makes my rating a four instead of five, is an anti-blur feature. Other than that I am very pleased.

This is my first digital camera. After speaking to a friend who has sold cameras in the past, I was advised to go with a canon because they all have a glass lens instead of plastic. I find this camera very easy to use. After reading the owners manual only once I am able to use the manual settings easily. The only problem I have had, is that when I use manual mode and zoom in on anything, I tend to get blurry pictures. I'm assuming this is a problem with me not the camera. I may need to adjust shutter speed in some of these modes. I purchased lithium batteries and have been pleased with the battery life. The software is easy to use, and uploading pictures to my computer and the internet has been easy. I have not printed any yet. My sister also has a canon powershot, the one she has is 5 megapixels and she is just as pleased as I am with my 7.1 megapixel. I think this camera was great deal for the price.

It works great. I love the picture quality and movie capabilities. I like how compact it is because I need my stuff to be as portable as possible. I also enjoy all the control I have with the different settings I can use to adapt with every location, situation, and individual picture (versatility is always a plus). It's a great value. I got everything I wanted from a digital camera without paying $200 or more. Overall I love it.

I haven't had the product that long so that is why I only gave it a 4 rating. So far I really like it. There is not much lag time in between pictures which is really nice because I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 month old so you have to be quick with the pics or you miss it. I have always had Canon's and had to replace my old one because my son threw it on the floor and it stopped working. So far I really love it!! I would recommend this product to anyone. Plus it takes AA batteries which I love.

I originally had a different version of this Canon camera with only 6mp and my darling daughter accidentally threw it away! By the time I realized it, it was already at the dump and had been rained on for days. Sigh. I loved that camera. I looked for the exact one on Amazon, but couldn't find it. I found this camera and it was HALF THE PRICE of my first one and had more megapixels - looks almost exactly the same. The first one I bought at Best Buy for $300! Sheesh! OK, so I ordered this one and got it within just a few days. It takes GREAT pictures and is as easy to use as my old one. I am a teacher, and I use it a lot. A teacher friend of mine saw how great and clear the pics are and bought one, too! You won't be sorry if you buy this one.

Bad to poor product shipping service.

I placed an order for a Canon A550 camera on May 28, 2007 taking advantage of the "free shipping", but as of Today Monday, June 4, 2007 the product has not shipped; however be careful of the Amazon product ads that guided my decision to buy: this product was stock and would be shipped quickly because if I would have paid the shipping cost I could have received it in 3- or 4-days.

From-now-on, I am careful what the Amazon product ads say, because it might be too good to be the truth.

Easy to use...I bought this camera for my dad who is not the most technical person and he has learned how to use it himself. Takes nice pictures. He likes to view the pictures on his TV screen at home by using the cables that came with the camera. Pretty good price too...

The Canon PowerShot A550 is conveniently small and light, but mighty. The quality of even standard pictures is excellent. The zoom is easily operated without looking. There is a one minute video function. The batteries are easy to obtain, or one can go rechargeable. My favorite feature of the camera is that a non-techie like me finds it logical and very user friendly.

These PowerShot "A" cameras are Canon's attempt to deliver the quality and features of its more expensive PowerShot "G" and PowerShot Pro "S" lines (such as full zoom lenses) at a budget price. The results, though, are a mixed bag. The entry-level A460 is lousy, but the rest of the line gives you a lot for the money. (How do I know all this? Because I've actually gotten to use all of these cameras. I earn my living shooting photos at Walt Disney World for a travel guidebook, and nearly every day guests ask me to take photos of them with their own cameras, which most often are Canon PowerShots.)

Here's my opinion of the "A" series line:

Canon PowerShot A460 5.0MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Silver)
Yuck! This 5MP camera is like a relic from five years ago: the simple but poorly designed controls -- a little joy pad surrounded by four buttons -- make it far too easy to do things like change the zoom setting when you set the flash. I have fat fingers and I mess things up almost every time! Also, I've seen photos taken with this camera, and they often have that purple fringe around their highlights, which are typically blown out. On the plus side, the camera does have an optical viewfinder.

Canon PowerShot A540 6MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
RECOMMENDED. Looking for a good bargain camera? Take a look at this one. It's a 2006 model, but it works just fine. You get 20 shooting modes, a full set of manual controls and can record low-res sound video at 60 frames per second. Before you buy it, however, check Amazon's price of the better, and newer, A560. It may be cheaper.

Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
This basic camera isn't that bad, but there's no reason to buy it. For about $25 more you can step up to the PowerShot A560 (see below), which has the same body, sensor and lens but Canon's much better Digic III processor. Buy this one and, yes, you'll save a few bucks, but your photos won't look as good.

Canon PowerShot A560 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
RECOMMENDED. Here is a nice camera! Featuring Canon's acclaimed Digic III processor, it includes the company's face-detection metering system and a decent red-eye removal.

Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
RECOMMENDED. Same as the A560 but with optical image stabilization and the ability to shoot manually.

Canon PowerShot A630 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
RECOMMENDED. You can do a lot with this sweet little camera. It has a flip-out LCD panel and lots of manual controls. The shots I've seen from this model look great. Keep your ISO under 800 and you won't get any noise.

Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
Same as the A630 except 10MP.

Canon PowerShot A710 IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Image-Stabilized Optical Zoom
RECOMMENDED. This fully-loaded model has all the toys, including a full-range zoom (35mm film equivalent of 35-210mm), adjustable flash power and optional second-curtain flash. This last features means you can make the flash fire at the end of a long exposure, instead of the beginning, so moving subjects streak into focus instead of out. Much more for your money than the A640.

By Mike Neal, author of The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World.

I bought this camera for a trip my husband and I took to Scotland and England in May. Since this was our first digital camera, I researched many different brands and decided on this one because of the price, the actual pictures other users had uploaded and the reviews. We were not disappointed at all! It was so easy to use - we just left it on auto and it chose all the perfect settings - we've also gotten so many compliments on the quality of the pictures! We used a 2gb memory card and chose lithium batteries. We took over 400 pictures and didn't fill up the card and didn't wear out the batteries which is excellent considering we were gone for 12 days!! I highly recommend this camera to anybody but especially first time digital camera users.

This is a great little camera - very lightweight, but just large enough for older fingers to grip easily. It's easy to use and takes fabulous photos = large enough to reproduce nicely in prints (we old folks still like prints, dontcha know.) I would recommend this camera. Buying from Amazon was fast, easy and a bargain price.

This is my first digital camera. I did a lot of research on Amazon reading reveiws. I ended up purchasing the Canon A 550 and am very happy with it so far. I've had the camera about two months and very pleased with the quality of the pictures, and the ease of use. I am still working on some of the fine tuning adjustments. But the pictures still look great. I don't really have any complaints about this camera. I did purchase a 1gb memory card along with the camera, which is plenty of memeory for what I use the camera for. Also I purchased Energizer rechargeable batteries. If you are taking a lot of photo's it does use up some battery power.

Great camera for people like me who just want ease of use, low price and take some reasonable decent pictures, but does not have much time or knowledge to evaluate the different cameras. It is my second digital camera and is much better (smaller, lighter, cheaper, better video) than my first one. The 16MB memory card that comes with the camera is pretty much useless because it is too small memory for the 7MB camera. So I bought a 2GB one separately.

Highly recommend to buy from Amazon since it is tax-free and free shipping.

It has been fine experience. The problem is that the mremory card is in the battery compartment. So if you would like the card out you should bother with openig the battery port too.

I haven't tried all of the features yet but the pictures are clear and have great detail. I've had one problem in taking a shot at night with flash around a highly reflective sign which pretty much blacked out the subjects. I have been particularly impressed with the digital zoom. Pictures I've taken in the past when I've exceeded the optical zoom have been a little fuzzy. This camera has given me some pretty clear shots at the maximum digital and optical zooms. With a 2 GB SD card, I get over 1,000 pictures. It's great having the LCD display and the optical viewer. I can select the area that needs to be the center of focus and the pictures come out sharp.

It arrived early from Amazon.
I am very happy w the camera.
The use of AA batteries is a great feature: I have another camera that needs AA batteries(Uniformity), and, I don't need to travel w a recharger.
The camera works great.

a terrific camera. easy to use. no more wasted film. i love everything about it.

I bought this camera as a gift for my daughter. She absolutely loves it! The pictures are sharp and clear, and the camera is so easy to use.My daughter loves all the features on it. We would buy this camera again, maybe for myself next time!

I love this camera! I have really only used it so far on the automatic setting, but the pictures are great! It is just the right size for me, small and light. So far I have found absolutely nothing about it that I do not like.

This camera is amazing! The 7.1 megapixels make extremely clear pictures and the size is great for a point-and-shoot camera. It is working out great for business and personal!

The best camera i ever purchased. Point and shoot, with a host of other advanced options. For the amount i Paid , Its just spendid. Would recommend this camera for first timers and others who dont want to get too technical about photography.

This is a great little camera. Very easy to use for the technically challenged and the photos have come out great. I bought it for a trip to the Caribbean and the photos are very crisp. Also great on pet photos where they tend to move on you. The batteries last much longer than my last digital camera.

Great product. I got this camera to replace my aged Olympus and I have been impressed thus far. This camera takes razor sharp pictures and eliminates the need for a separate camcorder as it shoots brilliant videos as well. Slim enough to fit in a pocket and has a big LCD screen. Battery life is quite impressive. Highly recommended!

I probably would give this 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The first camera I received had a battery cover that stuck so I returned it as I had a similar issue with an earlier model Canon.

The second camera that Amazon sent (great return process btw) works great except for a shutter cover that occassionally sticks. Stills are fantastic quality. I recently took a vacation to Hawaii and the detail from some of the shots is just amazing. Videos seem to have a somewhat blue-tint but I haven't tried to see if this is correctable with video editing software (I am not intending to use this as a video device).

Overall a fairly decent camera wrt optics, just a few issues with some of the packaging/casing as noted.

I love this camera! Took it on a rafting trip down the Snake River in Wyoming and had no trouble coming up with sharp, clear pictures. I like the way it feels in my hand. Definitely ergonomically correct. The only thing I would suggest to anyone purchasing this little gem is to buy a bigger memory card. The one that comes with the camera gives you only about 6 to 8 pictures.

This camera is very user friendly and takes awesome pictures. It has a large viewing screen and also a view finder. I take a lot of pictures of my daughter and I use the "kids and pets" setting to capture fast moving pictures. I love the ease of transferring the pictures to my computer. The batteries are long lasting and the camera is light and fits nicely in my hands. If you want a camera that takes crisp, nice pictures and is easy to use, this is a great camera for you!

Yes, I bought this for my mom. She wanted a digital camera for her birthday. Point and shoot - she's going to love it!

I purchased this camera in order to take pictures of my granddaughters. I have not been disapointed. I love being able to set it and not have to wait so long between shots. I can click away and not miss a smile or anything. The quality of the pictures is good also. I download them, print and share. I highly recomend this camera. Especially to novices like myself. It gives me what I want in a digital camera without the big price.

Bought this as an upgrade to my older 2.1mp canon camera, and was not disappointed. Even with 1600x1200 resolution images (good enough for 4x6 prints) I can get 3600+ on a 2GB card which was more than enough for a 2 week vacation. I could also easily change resolutions for those times when I needed the extra resolution.

One plus I found was being able to use regular AA batteries, even though the batteries I had died, I could replace them easily and kept shooting, something I could not do with my other camera which had a special rechargeable battery and charger.

Another thing I was surprised was the 16x (combined 4x optical and 4x digital). Even though I was far away, I could still get a decent picture that was not all that degraded, a substantial gain from the 5x (optical + digital) from my older camera.

Am a very low-tech/amateur photographer who just welcomed the first grand daughter into the family. Set it on Auto and started shooting. The pics are sharp, colorful, and the camera so very easy to use and comfortable to handle. The battery life is much better than I thought [...] and they have lasted for a long time. It is very easy to transfer shots into the computer as well. We just had a 10 day visit and shot about 1200 pictures. Beautiful. And the video was clear and had excellent sound. Only caveat: get a memory card that will enable you to shoot and shoot..the one that is included will disappoint w/its small capacity. Love the instant gratification of the digital and we have never been disappointed in our purchases from Canon!

After using my Sony Cybershot for 5+ years, I decided it was time for a new digital camera. My Sony had cost around $275 when I bought it, and it was considered one of the better digital cameras at the time. I thought I would purchase a new Sony Cybershot to replace the old one, but after checking them out, as well as the other brands, I changed my mind. This Canon PowerShot had most of the bells and whistles that the Sony had, but at a much lower price! I read the reviews and made my choice...the first test of the camera was on our trip to Disneyland, and the camera was terrific! Easy to use, a powerful zoom, TONS of photos with the 2gb memory card I added--what more can I say? A great little camera for the price.

The bad is the batteries expire quickly once the camera is connected to the computer. It's difficult to open the filmsy door to insert the batteries. Another bad is it's hard to see the item in the camera's display in the sun, too much reflection.

The good is the pictures come out good. The camera is easy to use. I'm the type that hits buttons to see what they do. I haven't destroyed any thing yet. The software that comes with the camera is ok. Another product is needed to really edit a photo.

Over all it's a good camera for a beginner and the money.

I recently purchased the Canon PowerShot A550 and, to date, have enjoyed it very much. I am hardly a "camera person"--digital or otherwise, so was a bit apprehensive while looking for a digital. Friends recommended Canon. As I have a Canon "film" camera and love it, I looked at the "PowerShot". It was offered at a very good price and had excellent reviews.

The reveiews all said how easy it was to use, and they're right! It also takes great shots--clear and highly detailed. In short, the camera does all I need it for--and then some. The fact that it uses AA bateries is a plus, as well.

I love this camera compared to my last one (Fuji). I've been messing around with the effects and getting a feel of it for the past hour. The audio/movie is pretty good.

It shipped on time and I got it for a really good price compared to buying it in a store.

I looked around and searched a lot of reviews. I ended up buying this camera as more of a back up camera, but I am extremely impressed and will probably just keep it as my only camera!

The camera is great on batteries (I use Duracell's top end rechargeable), takes great outdoor pictures, movie is better than expected, and the features are easy to use. Really impressed by the quick start up time and time between pictures.

This camera is great for someone looking for a great point and shoot (plus more). Amazing price for a great camera!

Takes excellent pictures and is easy to use. Only downside is that red-eye reduction feature is not very effective. The use of a red-eye lamp seems less effective than the strobe type flashing that my previous Canon (SD110) used for red-eye reduction. Easy to fix in iPhoto though, so no biggie. Oddly, Canon has the image quality preset to fine, rather than superfine, which makes for smaller image file sizes but doesn't use the full capability of the sensor. I didn't discover that until I'd used it for a day. It's an easy setting to change and you never have to worry about it again. The viewfinder is very bright and sharp indoors, less so outdoors in bright sunlight.

I bought this product for my 10-year old boy's digital photography class and it works out to be a winner in class, the kids love the video option. The batteries did run out in class and he was able to replace them with regular AA batteries handily. The only thing I hoped could have come with the package was a longer strap, to wear over the neck, so the camera won't drop(even with the hand strap on). It might be a good idea to include both a hand strap and a neck strap in the package for the customer's option.

Bought this for my daughters 15th birthday and she loves it. Only downside is non rechargable batteries. She took this on our vacation to CA last week and got some great shots! Perfect beginner camera for a teen!

Just the ticket - excellent price, good features especially optical zoom x4 and viewfinder. Does use a lot of power so keep spare batteries handy. Good service and supplied when promised.

Just connected A550 camera to my laptop with INCLUDED cable.

1. DigiKam immediatly asked if I wanted to down load pictures - and showed me a thumbnail of each.

2. No DigiKam - type "yum install digikam" and you have it in 20 seconds

If you run windows or mac - you need to install software from the CD - not necessary with linux.

I am running Fedora 5 and 7 and Ubuntu - worked the same for each.

Hey everyone. I just got the A550 after having a three year old 5.1MP camera from Canon, same body and similar features. So far I love my new camera; I don't think you'll find a better camera for the price. Also, I shopped around and most stores no longer carry them (the A560 and 570 are the newest models, priced around $200+, and the only major difference as far as I can tell is that they have image stabilization, a new feature). If you have a steady hand I'm not sure how much of a difference this would make. As a poor college student I was thrilled with the price and quality of this purchase. Enjoy!

The Canon PowerShot A550 is living up to its A- rating, given by different Internet sources which I read before buying. The rating exceeded that of other cameras which cost twice as much. We are using the options of automatic point-and-shoot or manual camera settings to be creative with the images. Amazon and its supplier, Adorama Camera, made it easy to trace where the shipment was and delivered it promptly. Both companies have written to us often to check if the shipment arrived undamaged and if we were happy with the camera. On top of that, Adorama Camera has very pleasantly surprised us with 2 free print offers!

Excellent camera for the money. Could not beat the Amazon price and I really tried. The software that comes with the camera is all you need, it is excellent. This is the bottom of the line for the PowerShot, but it has most of the feautres that the average user will ever need. I strongly recommend it.

I bought this camera and I am very satisfied, but it has a downside; you can not use this camera for take night pictures, because the screen is so dark that you can not see the subject.You almost have to guess. I can not believe that my HP Photosmart E327 5MP was much better in this way.

Is a nice camera for the price. I wasn't looking for a professional one, just a regular to give as a gift for my wife and she loved it.

If you aren't a pro, this may suit you for a while.

It's not bad to work with, it takes nice pictures!
Nice looking camera and very light.

Canon's PowerShot A550 is a simple, inexpensive 7-megapixel camera, and that's all it wants to be. While it has some nice features, it doesn't offer any outstanding, unique aspects that put it above any other camera in the field, and that's just fine. Good performance and solid images are all a camera needs to succeed, and the A550 delivers just that.

Though not quite small enough to slip into your jeans, the A550 is still comfortably compact. At 7.4 ounces and 1.7 inches thick, the camera can fit easily into most jacket pockets and bags. The camera's body has an L-shaped design found on most of Canon's PowerShot A series, giving it a generous grip. The buttons are large and comfortable, and they're laid out logically along the back and the top of the camera.

The A550 is a fairly nondescript camera, with few outstanding or unusual features. Its most notable attribute is its 35mm-to-140mm-equivalent 4X zoom lens, which gives it just a bit more range than the 3X lenses typical of most budget cameras. It has a smaller-than-usual 2-inch LCD screen that is augmented by an optical viewfinder for shooting in dim light. Besides those features, the A550 has the standard handful of scene presets and image adjustment settings, including a 30fps VGA (640x480) movie mode and a pleasantly unexpected 60fps QVGA (320x240) high-speed movie mode. Finally, like most Canon PowerShot A-series cameras, the A550 conveniently takes AA batteries.

The A550 performed well in almost all of our Labs' tests. After its brisk start-up time of 1.5 seconds, we could snap a shot once every 1.7 seconds, a great improvement over previous PowerShot A5x0 cameras. Unfortunately, with the onboard flash enabled, that time more than tripled to 4.9 seconds per shot. The camera's shutter was responsive, lagging less than 0.5 seconds with our high-contrast target and a modest 1.2 seconds with our low-contrast target. Burst mode was also pleasantly fast, managing 51 full-resolution shots in 31.4 seconds for a rate of 1.6 frames per second.

Photos looked pretty good, though they're marred by overprocessing and fringing in spots. Colors reproduce well, though indoor photos shot with automatic white balance come out very yellow, a common problem for most snapshot cameras. Noise is low up to ISO 400 sensitivity, where a fine grain starts to appear. Images are predictably noisy at ISO 800 sensitivity, with speckling damaging fine details and softening colors. ISO 800 is usually reserved for low-light and high-speed shooting, and everyday snapshots shouldn't have many problems.

With quick performance and decent photos, the Canon PowerShot A550 is a solid budget camera. It doesn't have many special features and it's not particularly small or light, but it's a strong choice if you don't want to spend a lot for your snapshots.

This is a good camera but it still takes regular batteries instead of being able to plug in and be recharged. This can be a pain on a trip as you will have to also either pack extra batteries or a battery charger for rechargeable ones. It is also a bit heavy because of the batteries. Still a good deal but something you may want to know.

i bought this for my mom and of course had to test it out myself - it has amazing zoom (it picked up perfect detail of a flower basket on the floor across a huge basketball arena) and the canon shot finder is pretty cool. it's very easy for anyone to use to take pictures (my 5 year old nephew took a few nice ones). the only thing that was difficult to change was the flash setting. if you're looking for an inexpensive but good camera to take pictures of adventures or family, it's a good camera to choose.

I'm slowly climbing the camera upgrade ladder-this one is so nice!! It came quickly and in perfect shape!! Thank you!

this camera is on the bulky side as far as cameras go, but the picture quality is great! it does not come with a case, definately invest in one

This is not my first digital camera but at my age it will probably be my last. Its light weight, easy to hold on to, and has enough bells and whistles to make me happy. My only problem is that I can't squat to take a picture, I'm 80. So I take the high views and leave the low shots to the young.

Very pleased with product. Arrived promptly in good shape. Works well with my computer without having to install the software that came with it. Which is a bonus.

Its a great quality camera that you get for a great price. Its really easy to use and doesn't have any problems. Easy uploading and small enough to fit in a medium size purse. Its great!

Great shots, true photo feel, all sorts ah things really. No problems or flaws yet. The supplied batteries shot for several sessions during carnival and all. They are now done after about 2 months. I didn't even set the pic resolution n size for optimum battery life.

Great little camera. Am now gonna become more technical with it as I attempt more professional shots as I go about work.

this is a wonderful camera for any photographer. the picture are clear and crisp. also, you have the option of blurring the backround of the object in which you are taking a picture of, which gives it a great effect. i highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for terrific pictures (and video) for a low price.

I purchased this camera for my daughter's 25th birthday. The camera is easy to use and takes excellent pictures. The price was unbeatable. The delivery was very fast. I would recommend the vendor and the camera.

It is a good camera. I have had no problems with it after a month, and the pictures have turned out for the most part pretty well. It doesn't seem like it's very good at night sometimes, but I haven't mastered the night settings or shutter speeds yet, so I'm just talking about the auto setting. The optical zoom isn't very extensive, and forget about using the digital zoom, it's useless. It doesn't seem to be very heavy duty...a lot of the parts that you would think would be metal are made of plastic. But this also makes it lighter, if that is a concern.

Overall, I would recommend it. But the next step up in quality might be worth it, if you are looking for a camera that looks "neater".

I have owned canon cameras for several years now and I continue to buy. One of the best features is taking pics of people or things at night time and them come out perfectly! You can't really see through the view finder, but you can adjust/guessimate. Try it out!
I bought this camera due to a dog eating my last A530 model or I would not have needed another camera so soon!!

I am definitely NOT good with cameras or complicated high tech devices. This camera has a lot of great features that I will probably never learn to use, but is easy enough for me to take nice, clear pictures. My other family members, who are much more tech savvy, loved the camera. It's a very nice camera that has capabilities way beyond mine! I'd recommend it to a new or seasoned photographer. Great deal for the price!

Takes great pictures even in low light. Perfect for my needs -taking pics of family and friends, etc. Easy to use and transfer pics to my computer. I highly recommend.

The A550 was purchased for my wife's primary usage. So far it seems to take excellent photos in various modes, and has been easy for her to use. Her one criteria for a digital camera was there to be a viewfinder so she could see what she was shooting if the sun overpowered the LCD screen. All expectations have been met. Even better, the price at Amazon.com was cheaper than even discount store sale prices around Southern California.

We all know you can't see the view screen outdoors because of the glare. No problem - just use the view finder, right? Wrong. Its so far off, when I "center" my shots, the photo comes out with my subject OUTSIDE of where I framed my shot. That's right. I put the person's face in the center of the viewfinder and the photo downloads their torso. (Not operator error - I have 40 years photography experience from Brownie Camera to 35 mm - including darkroom) I wonder if its all the PowerShots or just this particular camera. It may have to go back.
Otherwise it does what a digital camera is supposed to do.

I'm very happy with the ease of use and the compact size! It would have been nice if the LCD was 2.5 inches. A great camera for the point and shoot brigade.

I needed an inexpensive camera that would take good pictures and be around for a while. After some research I went with this one. I am pleased.

I am happy with this product and purchase with amazon as well,
Thank you AMAZON!!

This is the best camera you will find for the price. It really is easy to use and takes awsome pictures. Amazon,s price beat even Ebay,s.

I bought this camera on sale for $119, shipped free. It was a great deal on a full featured camera. I like the fact it can use AA rechargeables, and it uses only 2 batteries which cuts down the weight. I use 2500 mah batteries and they last me for a long time. The camera is easy to use and setup was a breeze. All in all a good value, I still have an old Canon A60 I paid more for and the A550 is much better in all aspects. If you see it on sale buy it you won't be dissapointed.

I bought this for my girlfriend who is an amateur. It is small enough to carry in her purse, large enough that it fits well in her hand. The pictures are well exposed and fairly sharp. I was disappointed slightly with the screen view...not as sharp as I would like. It is great for candids, pretty reasonable shutter lag, and overall, a nice camera to just take along.

Just what I was looking for. Easy, inexpensive, great pictures for a point and shoot.

I bought the Canon A550 to replace a Sony Cyber Shot 2 mega pixel camera as a point and shoot camera and was so disappointed that after a week I returned the camera to Amazon. We also have a Sony SLR type Digital camera that is in a totally different league and we have a lot of fun with it. We also own a very nice 35mm SLR, and have taken some published photo's. But I wanted something to carry around when ever I get out, or to use to take close ups for E-Bay. The macro on the Canon A550 has way too much contrast, and actually made a very expensive Sambar Stag Knife look plastic. Low light situations where not great, photo's always seemed too grainy unless the pictures where shot in good to bright light. There was also a very noticeable curvature in the macro mode, close ups, and wide angle shoots. I took the camera out and took some photos of a near by lake, and the zoom did a nice job, but once it went passed the 4X optical zoom things got grainy fast.

I guess for someone who just wants to have fun with a digital camera and doesn't care too much about color accuracy this is probably a nice little camera. But when it comes to needing a camera that actually does reproduce colors and has a real macro, it's the old saying you get what you pay for.
Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot (Red)

Purchased as a gift for daughter, so I can't review the actual product, but friends with a similar camera have been very satisfied. Shipping of this camera was superior, arriving two days earlier than projected.

After years of 35 MM photography, I now normally use a Canon digital SLR camera for my photos. That's great for most things, but sometimes I just need a good snapshot camera for quick images. I haven't taken the time to master the various settings yet, but the A550 seems to do a good job for routine photos. I've had the opportunity to use a variety of digital cameras over the years since they were first introduced and find the A550 to be just the right combination of size and features for my needs.

Great pictures. Adequate battery life. It's great for a non-professional taking photos while hiking/biking/etc.

This is my first digital camera, and I'm having a bit of a time learning how to use it. However, I'm pleased with the features such as portraits, evening, and video shots. The photos are beautiful. The memory card that comes with the camera, will take appoximately six photos. However, as a beginner, I know there are going to be a lot of nifty features to behold.

This was an absolutly great deal. It replaces an A520 that has gone missing in my house. This line of cameras performs well for my purposes. I'm still learning the ins and outs of digital photography so I can't rate all of the features. Small and lightweight. Top quality results when the photographer doesn't goof. With it set on auto my 8-year old great grandson has taken some really good pictures.Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

I ordered my first digital camera Canon PowerShot A550 from Amazon and I'm really happy I did so.I received it within 2-3 days and it's a great camera. I've taken many pictures all very clear, the color is great and I just love it!Also is very easy to use.I take it with me everywhere.It's a great product.Thanks Amazon!!!

Once I read the instruction book and understood what to do, I started taking pictures, very simple to use. I didn't get into the tech stuff but for the normal picture taking it is very simple, and takes great pictures. I recommend buying the Sandisk 2.0GB memory card for this camera.

The camera is working very well. I have gotten some wonderful pictures. However, there were some that were pretty fuzzy; I haven't figured out if it was because of the camera or the user yet.

I have never used a digital camera before acquiring this Canon Powershot A 550 from Amazon at a very good price.
I wanted to take it with me on a 2 week trip. It arrived promptly and I quickly began taking pictures, downloaded several to my IMac computer, and made some prints by direct hook-up to my Canon multi-function printer/copier/scanner. Everything worked well. I took it on our trip and took over 120 photos. I will be shortly be editing this collection and saving a few to the computer, then deleting the digital card (1GB) clean, for reuse on other photo opportunities. This experience has been an eye-opener. I still have a hugh amount to learn about the wonderful capabilities of this Canon system.

When i got this camera, i tried it out immediately. It was incredible; i couldn't take a bad shot. It has great features that allow for very high quality photographs. It's the perfect size and has a great price for this level of performance.

This camera is a great find. Low cost and great features. Even though there have been upgrades you can't beat the price and features

I purchased this camera to have in addition to my Panasonic Z30. I wanted something I could carry in my purse and have handy at any time. Though I do take my big camera when shooting up in the hills and need that extra zoom, I am so happy with this little baby. In some ways I like it more than the Panasonic. It is fast, handy and takes beautiful pictures. It has movie mode that works good for a digital still camera and even has sound. All those times I wish I had something I could just grab and shoot, now I do. I highly recommend the Canon A550 and the price is the clincher. Great quality for little money. Can't find that much anymore.

This camera is quick shooting. I have the Cannon 620 and bought this one for my daughter and family.

They have had a ball with it since I bought it. Great Value. Great Product.

Shipped quickly, Shoots great pictures without any major hassle or tech savy skills. Easy to use and carry in a small bag or purse.

I spent weeks researching which digital camera to buy. I checked out all of the latest ones with new features and higher MP or Optical but I always came back to this one. It has been rated the best and most popular so I figured since so many people love it why not join the club. I'm glad I did. I love this camera! It's my first digital because I couldn't stand missing another picture opportunity because I ran out of film or having undeveloped pictures in my camera for months waiting to finish the roll.

This camera fits all of my needs and allows me to print photos immediately with the help of my Canon MP530 which is also a great buy. My photos come out like I took them to Walmart or Target to get printed on Kodak paper. I'm using rechargeable batteries and bought my own 2G SD card. I'm completely happy and love all the features so if your looking for a great point & shoot digital camera this is the one to buy.

Did not realize there was not a sticth feature with this camera. Everything else is great

I really like this camera! Small and compact digital camera with 4x optical zoom, it is easy to use which is a must for me, since I am technically challenged most of the time. . I use it to take photos of my ebay items and family outings. This small camera takes true color pictures ,close up or distant.Also has a convenient carrying strap. Has cord with easy to understand program for downloading the pictures to your personal computer.

This camera delivers superb quality pics.

The auto-focus feature helps you shoot pics like a pro.

Best camera for the price.

I love it.

I bought this Canon PowerShot A550 as an "update" for my Canon PowerShot A520. I've been pleased with my good ol' 4-megapixel A520, so I figured I'd be able to jump right into the 7-megapixel A550 with no learning curve.

Exactly as planned. This camera takes good photos in a variety of conditions, and seems "quicker" than my A520 (quicker between-shot times).

No surprises--it's a very-good camera. Cheap, too! Recommended.

I'm a rookie, love taking pictures and needed a good quality basic camera. I spent a lot on another brand a year ago, the camera already had technical problems. So I wanted a brand name. The ordering process was easy, the price excellent and I received it fast, in time for vacation. It has lots of nice features, especially a great zoom which is easy to use. Just take the time to read the directions and you'll be really pleased with the quality pictures! I'm sure this is not a professional's dream camera but it the best bet for the masses.
You will need to order extra memory/storage - amazon offered a great deal when I ordered the camera - $19.99 for 2gb I think? - but I did not realize I needed it and paid $38 in the store after receiving the camera.
I recommend it!

This is a great little camera. it's easy to use and printing pics is very easy.

I bought this for a friend and it has been working smoothly and great all the time. I cannot imagine any better. The delivery was fantastic, fast and nothing was damaged or scratched. Great service!

Wow! So much is packed into this tiny camera, and the pictures it takes are awesome!

It comes with a book for basic use, as well as advanced use. It works well for someone like me that just wants to point and shoot, and get great photos.

I recently went to Disneyland, and the photos I took were phenomenal. Night photos, ones that came out clear even when moving (like on a ride) and the flash photos were outstanding. Great colors too.

The only complaint I have is that it takes too long between photos for the camera to take again. Otherwise, I love it!

I bought this for the parents (NOT techno savy) and tried it out before sending it on. I have the A95 Canon PowerShot and love it, but this is definitely better in some aspects. It's lighter weight, takes less time between pressing the button and the shutter actually moving, and has greater pixels. The only draw-back so far is that they took away the easy camera/view pictures sliding button and replaced it with another button, which I thought would be easier for my parents to use. They haven't gotten back to me yet. I think it'd be a great next-camera for me, but it may be a little too advanced for them.

We are no experts in photography and this camera is just what we needed, easy to use. The auto mode is fantastic... always good pictures (for the non-expert users, at least).
The close-up mode is a very good feature, too.

Cannon Powert Shot A550 is a good digital camera, you can get excelent photos and no need to much experience, in adittion you can record a video which sound.

This camera replaces my older a70 model, it is lighter and I find easier to use and does take great pics and also nice videos @ a very nice price, a great starter camera for anyone. Iam using this one more than my other bigger more expensive cameras

Bought this for my non tech savy wife, and have been using it until I can afford a better digital SLR myself. Surprisingly this camera for the 150.00 we spent is very good. There is some minor distortion (grain) on some photos that the camera pushed to extreme auto ISO settings, but for normal point and shoot, you can't beat this for the money. The controls are well laid out and easy to use, even quickly without having to page through settings. The Auto setting works great for 90% of the photos shot, and then the other settings work even better. I shot my kids outdoors during sunset and into the night with the KIDS AND PETS setting and got awesome still mid air shots of them diving off the diving board in the dark! The flash caught them and the shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the action even in the dark. The movie mode was grainy in the dark-which is to be expected, but quite usable under normal circumstances. I have used Picasa software (free download) to store my shots and the only real editing I have been doing is sharpening them in the dark photos. Other than that, everything has been pretty good on its own. I am picky on using cameras and for the cost of this one, I can't complain. It fills a much needed void. My only complaint is I wish it had a bit more zoom (maybe 5x instead of 4)and a slightly wider angle for wide angle shots, but that's being extremely picky. Definately worth the money!

This product is perfect. I now can see what I'm taking and they are clear. I definitely would recommend this product.

Very nice camera and easy to use. Lightweight and large viewing screen. Would recommend this camera to others.

We've been using this camera for months now and liked it fine for the usual family snapshots and typical vacation scenery shots. Ten days ago, I had a whim to get some flower photos.
After a quick look in the manual, I found it quite easy to snap some macro shots. I was astounded by the results. The beauty of the close-ups far exceeded my expectations.
Now I see the velvety texture of the petals and the shadings of color and wond