Customer Rating: 
Summary: great product !
Comment: have given the A85 4 stars although I would have given it 4.5 stars if possible and A80 5 stars. There are 2 basic reasons why I like A80 more than A85, but you may decide otherwise:
1)Bigger CCD Sensor - 1/1.8" on A80 vs. 1/2.7" on A85 - which means 5 million pixels compared to 4 million leading to better image quality.
2)Flip out LCD screen (1.5" on A80 vs 1.8" fixed LCD on A85)- The flip out screen is very useful when taking certain shots. I typically used the flip out screen most when taking
-shots of crowds down the center and of tall buildings by holding the camera above my head,
-in tight spot situations on hikes/treks where I could not shift much by twisting the screen sideways,
-of children/smaller objects on the ground without having to kneel on a sidewalk etc.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Comment: I had a Kodak, which had failed to open shutters, so I bought Canon A85. I took over 240 pictures of which atleast 40 of them were blurry. I have never had so many blurred pictures. This camera eats battery like crazy. I had a battery tester, which showed the battery to be still in good condtion - but this camera indicates time to change the battery. The color is NOT as good as Kodak - especially when used with Flash. I returned my camera and am going back to Kodak.
Customer Rating:
Summary: was mine just faulty?
Comment: After many days of resource and asking many professional opinions I heard that this was the best 4 megapixel camera that fit all my needs: excellent picture quality, compact and had manual controls.
However, when I finally got the camera I took it everywhere with me to test out the photos, and 50% of the time they were out of focus, or the camera had focused on the wrong thing. I used both types of focus available to no difference. The photos that were in focus were very nice, but not worth the price and the chance of only half of them turning out properly. Also, the camera speed is slightly slower than what I wanted, it had trouble catching a cable car in San Francisco as it drove down the street!
I've returned that camera and have replaced it with a Minolta, my favorite brand though i'd been hesitant because it had fewer manual controls, however, I prefer it much more!
I loved the controls of the A85 though, very convenient and easy to use and the lcd screen was quite large. It's just too bad the pictures weren't of the caliber I was expecting.
Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT CAMERA!! Very User Friendly - Easy Setup With XP
Comment: Got this as a Christmas present from my folks - wonderful! Just put the batteries that come with the camera in - set the date by following the easy prompts and you're shooting pictures within 2 minutes of taking out of box. I have used only the auto setting, and it's great! Downloaded to my Dell 4600 computer very quick and simple!! It uses the same transfer cord as my MP3 player and my Dad's Olympus camera so I only need one cord to download 3 different things! So far, I'm very impressed! It is bigger with the 4 batteries, but also provides a much nicer, easier grip - good for husbands like mine with bigger hands.
The only things I don't like are only a small 128MB card is included and I'll defintely have to buy a bigger card. Second, there is more of a delay than I'd like before flash recharges and you can take another picture, but i think that's a factor of price - this camera really delivers for the price - a faster shutter speed costs more and i don't really need that anyway! It's not much slower than my olk Nikon 35 MM camera. For amateurs like me who just want nice family photos, you can't go wrong with this camera! I'll update my review if there's problems later, but I don't think there will be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy to use digital camera!
Comment: Point and shoot, very easy to use digital camera.
The picture quality was great too!
Summary: great product !
Comment: have given the A85 4 stars although I would have given it 4.5 stars if possible and A80 5 stars. There are 2 basic reasons why I like A80 more than A85, but you may decide otherwise:
1)Bigger CCD Sensor - 1/1.8" on A80 vs. 1/2.7" on A85 - which means 5 million pixels compared to 4 million leading to better image quality.
2)Flip out LCD screen (1.5" on A80 vs 1.8" fixed LCD on A85)- The flip out screen is very useful when taking certain shots. I typically used the flip out screen most when taking
-shots of crowds down the center and of tall buildings by holding the camera above my head,
-in tight spot situations on hikes/treks where I could not shift much by twisting the screen sideways,
-of children/smaller objects on the ground without having to kneel on a sidewalk etc.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Comment: I had a Kodak, which had failed to open shutters, so I bought Canon A85. I took over 240 pictures of which atleast 40 of them were blurry. I have never had so many blurred pictures. This camera eats battery like crazy. I had a battery tester, which showed the battery to be still in good condtion - but this camera indicates time to change the battery. The color is NOT as good as Kodak - especially when used with Flash. I returned my camera and am going back to Kodak.
Customer Rating:
Summary: was mine just faulty?
Comment: After many days of resource and asking many professional opinions I heard that this was the best 4 megapixel camera that fit all my needs: excellent picture quality, compact and had manual controls.
However, when I finally got the camera I took it everywhere with me to test out the photos, and 50% of the time they were out of focus, or the camera had focused on the wrong thing. I used both types of focus available to no difference. The photos that were in focus were very nice, but not worth the price and the chance of only half of them turning out properly. Also, the camera speed is slightly slower than what I wanted, it had trouble catching a cable car in San Francisco as it drove down the street!
I've returned that camera and have replaced it with a Minolta, my favorite brand though i'd been hesitant because it had fewer manual controls, however, I prefer it much more!
I loved the controls of the A85 though, very convenient and easy to use and the lcd screen was quite large. It's just too bad the pictures weren't of the caliber I was expecting.
Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT CAMERA!! Very User Friendly - Easy Setup With XP
Comment: Got this as a Christmas present from my folks - wonderful! Just put the batteries that come with the camera in - set the date by following the easy prompts and you're shooting pictures within 2 minutes of taking out of box. I have used only the auto setting, and it's great! Downloaded to my Dell 4600 computer very quick and simple!! It uses the same transfer cord as my MP3 player and my Dad's Olympus camera so I only need one cord to download 3 different things! So far, I'm very impressed! It is bigger with the 4 batteries, but also provides a much nicer, easier grip - good for husbands like mine with bigger hands.
The only things I don't like are only a small 128MB card is included and I'll defintely have to buy a bigger card. Second, there is more of a delay than I'd like before flash recharges and you can take another picture, but i think that's a factor of price - this camera really delivers for the price - a faster shutter speed costs more and i don't really need that anyway! It's not much slower than my olk Nikon 35 MM camera. For amateurs like me who just want nice family photos, you can't go wrong with this camera! I'll update my review if there's problems later, but I don't think there will be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy to use digital camera!
Comment: Point and shoot, very easy to use digital camera.
The picture quality was great too!