Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Product, but Superior Customer Service.
Comment: When we first purchased our A620, we were amazed at the quality of the shots made on a relatively inexpensive camera. It's easy to use, has many features more expensive Canon's use, and has a fantastic zoom capability.
Then, after about 3 weeks of use, the batteries included with the camera caused the case to burn, damaging the lid. Naturally, we were really concerned about this and called Canon. Even though the batteries were not made by Canon, they were extremely responsive and within a week they had another camera on the way.
All we can say is not only is the camera an EXCELLENT buy, so too is the quality of service. The followups. The interaction. And the deep committment to our satisfaction is testiment to the way Canon does business.
We're a customer for life. And the camera gives us all the features we need to produce great quality photos for the casual outings we do.
If you're looking for a high-speed, high-response camera a Canon Rebel or other SLR camera provides, this one is not for you. BUT, if you are looking for similar image quality at a rock-bottom price, this one is a GO!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A nostalgic memory
Comment: First of all, I don't understand the listed price of $549.99. When I bought this camera over a year ago, I got it for about 300... I think there is an error because the newer model is selling for about half the price.
In any event, I want to declare that this is the BEST camera I had ever owned. I used this camera for more than one year, taking thousands and thousands of pictures. I studied abroad in Argentina for the year and took pictures of absolutely everything. This camera never failed me. Never. It took brillant, rich, great color pictures. I was never interested in the video component, but it served my purposes the few times I used it.
The BEST feature is the pop out LCD screen. Not only does it let you take pictures up high or down low (like at a concert, looking out over everyone) but you can turn the screen around and take amazing self portraits. Instead of asking strangers to take pictures of my friends and me, we'd just turn the screen around and I got some of my best pictures this way. The zoom is good, the pic quality is five stars, the menu and settings are great. . . No complains whatsoever.
I do want to talk about it's death so you that you are aware of it. This camera has a huge lense and is quite heavy. After about 14 months, the lens got stuck open. I assume it's a mechanical failure in the mechanism that opens and closes the lens. I've sent it in for service and await Canon's answer. I deeply miss it and although at the end it malfunctioned, I've never had such a good camera. I hope Canon will have good news for me. I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but I doubt it's the case. My friend bought the newest model and it has even more cool feature, like zooming in and focusing on a single subject and then only applying color to it and leaving the background graytone. Well, that's a review for another day. If you want a very capable, but heavy camera, this one will not disspoint you. But you should be able to find it between 200 and 300.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Comment: Options - options - options!!! This camera gives you the options you need in a nice entry level digital camera. I have used it for portrait photography, during meteor showers (pictures just needed slightly edited in Photoshop), for paranormal investigations (yep ghost hunting is a hobby), for product shots for websites and much more. It has everything you can want in a camera. Although it might be a little old (I got mine about a year ago), but if I was going to buy somebody a camera or another one for myself I would definitely choose this camera or another Canon Powershot. In fact my mother-in-law loved the pictures so much she went out and bought herself one. And she loves it too.
The only con is a slight problem it has when taking pictures of eyes. If you use the red eye reduction mode it isn't much of a problem, but without it you may get a lot of green and red hued eyes from your subjects. If you forget to set your red eye reduction mode on you may need to touch up your pictures in a photo editor.
Other than that the camera is perfect! Batteries last long (I'd say over 300-400 pictures per set of batteries - which includes a lot of looking at the screen and reviewing the pictures), their are a ton of customizable settings, the movie mode takes gorgeous movies and the pets & kids mode sure helped me when taking pictures of my new kitten. It also has everything you need in order to plug it into your TV outs and play picture shows for family and friends. Which is great when you want to show grandma some of your pictures and she doesn't have a computer.
The first major use the camera got was at the zoo and in the hands of my wife. She didn't bother to read the manual or practice. Without really kn owing what she was doing - the pictures turned out perfectly! The zoom was amazing!!! She got pictures of the animals that showed such detail as veins on the tongues of the giraffes. Dust cracks on the backs of the elephants and much more. Best part was that she was over 20 to 30 feet away from her subjects and out of harms way. Yet the pictures were so close and detailed!
One tip - get a larger memory card - 1gb or more. As with ALL digital cameras you buy these days you will need higher storage than the card they give you. I mean at the highest quality setting on this camera (7mb) - you can only take about 15 pictures before the camera card they give you is full. Save yourself the frustration and just buy a larger memory card.
For those of you interested in ghost hunting this camera is great! I'm happy to say that after extensive testing this camera doesn't show that many orbs created from dust. Some digital cameras have a hard time with dust and this one doesn't have many false positives in dusty conditions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Practice Makes Perfect
Comment: I purchased this camera as a fill in around week two of a five week Euro-trip, and week three was a bit rusty, but by four and five the pictures were coming out well. This is because I found that the camera had a few weaknesses, but once you figure out how to control it, you can get past those pretty easily.
First, this camera does not have an electronic viewfinder. This will only affect you if you like to look through the viewfinder when taking photos instead of at the LCD. If you do, then the pictures will be slightly off center, as the viewfinder is set above the lens and the difference between the views from the two is not corrected electronically. At least I think that's the problem. I just know they're off center.
Secondly, I found that shots taken on Auto came out overexposed--too much light. I've taken to using the Manual setting for virtually every photo I take. By doing that, you can control things like the shutter speed and get shots that are better exposed. It's kind of a pain, especially if you don't want to deal with the technical aspects of photography, but I'm ok with it because it's forced me to be a better photographer in some ways.
Really, most of the problems mentioned in the reviews I've read can be fixed by using the manual controls. You can control the amount of flash emitted from the camera and you can set the shutter speed and ISO to make low light shots a little easier. Also, if you set the camera on something steady and do the two second delay (self-timer function), press the button, and don't touch the camera, it will come out very clear. If you have nowhere to set the camera, I've found success by taking continuous shots. Put it on the continuous mode or whatever it's called, and hold the button down, and it will snap for ages. Then scroll through and pick the least blurry shot out of all of them. It worked quite well for me.
Some good things... It's very good with macro shots and really picks up color quite well. You can boost the color by using the vivid color setting. Kind of nice for some shots. And the flip screen is true genius. Great for aiming those self-portraits, shots from above, and even balancing the camera somewhere if you get desperate. :) I'm also very happy with the way the pictures look when they're printed out. The mega-pixel amount is more than good enough for any amateur use.
All in all, I've been happy with this camera. It takes some getting used to, but if you're willing to work with it, it produces quality results. As you might have gathered though, it may not be the camera for the person who doesn't want to deal with manual settings and the like. It is possible that I'm just really picky, but I think it does under-perform if left to its own devices.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Save yourself some grief
Comment: I am a Canon guy. But, I am not a Canon Powershot A620 guy.
The reason: the Achilles heel of this camera is those awful, unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. In fact, the whole battery configuration is unthinkably unprofessional.
I will never buy another camera that uses AA batteries. There are better ways to power a digital camera than using these things.
I have owned two Canon film cameras, a Canon printer, a Canon scanner, and two Canon digital cameras. I even have a cute little Canon gadget bag. I love most Canon products.
But, I was a total fool for giving my daughter my Canon Powershot G1. It was wonderful in all respects, including the batteries, but I had virtually worn it out. So, I treated myself to a new Canon Powershot A620
What a dark day that was. And I have had many dark days since. Days of lost photos. Photos of visiting loved ones. Photos of unique experiences, never to present themselves again. Photo Ops that will not come around again. All because of these unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. I have two sets, plus a charger.
It is maddening to charge these batteries, check them with my battery tester, pop them in the Canon Powershot A620, take a few good photos, and then....
The next time I attempt to take photos, (and I love my photos), I get a message to change the batteries. It will not take another picture until I change the batteries. So, in addition to the eight expensive Canon AA rechargeable batteries and a charger, I also carry four fresh non-rechargeable AA batteries. Just in case.
The Canon Powershot A620 takes great photos. It fits nicely in your shirt pocket, if you have one. The price is right. It does everything well. Except be reliable and be ready to take that next irreplaceable photo.
I will never again buy any camera with such a battery arrangement. I have buyer's remorse big time.
Think it over.
Summary: Great Product, but Superior Customer Service.
Comment: When we first purchased our A620, we were amazed at the quality of the shots made on a relatively inexpensive camera. It's easy to use, has many features more expensive Canon's use, and has a fantastic zoom capability.
Then, after about 3 weeks of use, the batteries included with the camera caused the case to burn, damaging the lid. Naturally, we were really concerned about this and called Canon. Even though the batteries were not made by Canon, they were extremely responsive and within a week they had another camera on the way.
All we can say is not only is the camera an EXCELLENT buy, so too is the quality of service. The followups. The interaction. And the deep committment to our satisfaction is testiment to the way Canon does business.
We're a customer for life. And the camera gives us all the features we need to produce great quality photos for the casual outings we do.
If you're looking for a high-speed, high-response camera a Canon Rebel or other SLR camera provides, this one is not for you. BUT, if you are looking for similar image quality at a rock-bottom price, this one is a GO!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A nostalgic memory
Comment: First of all, I don't understand the listed price of $549.99. When I bought this camera over a year ago, I got it for about 300... I think there is an error because the newer model is selling for about half the price.
In any event, I want to declare that this is the BEST camera I had ever owned. I used this camera for more than one year, taking thousands and thousands of pictures. I studied abroad in Argentina for the year and took pictures of absolutely everything. This camera never failed me. Never. It took brillant, rich, great color pictures. I was never interested in the video component, but it served my purposes the few times I used it.
The BEST feature is the pop out LCD screen. Not only does it let you take pictures up high or down low (like at a concert, looking out over everyone) but you can turn the screen around and take amazing self portraits. Instead of asking strangers to take pictures of my friends and me, we'd just turn the screen around and I got some of my best pictures this way. The zoom is good, the pic quality is five stars, the menu and settings are great. . . No complains whatsoever.
I do want to talk about it's death so you that you are aware of it. This camera has a huge lense and is quite heavy. After about 14 months, the lens got stuck open. I assume it's a mechanical failure in the mechanism that opens and closes the lens. I've sent it in for service and await Canon's answer. I deeply miss it and although at the end it malfunctioned, I've never had such a good camera. I hope Canon will have good news for me. I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but I doubt it's the case. My friend bought the newest model and it has even more cool feature, like zooming in and focusing on a single subject and then only applying color to it and leaving the background graytone. Well, that's a review for another day. If you want a very capable, but heavy camera, this one will not disspoint you. But you should be able to find it between 200 and 300.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Comment: Options - options - options!!! This camera gives you the options you need in a nice entry level digital camera. I have used it for portrait photography, during meteor showers (pictures just needed slightly edited in Photoshop), for paranormal investigations (yep ghost hunting is a hobby), for product shots for websites and much more. It has everything you can want in a camera. Although it might be a little old (I got mine about a year ago), but if I was going to buy somebody a camera or another one for myself I would definitely choose this camera or another Canon Powershot. In fact my mother-in-law loved the pictures so much she went out and bought herself one. And she loves it too.
The only con is a slight problem it has when taking pictures of eyes. If you use the red eye reduction mode it isn't much of a problem, but without it you may get a lot of green and red hued eyes from your subjects. If you forget to set your red eye reduction mode on you may need to touch up your pictures in a photo editor.
Other than that the camera is perfect! Batteries last long (I'd say over 300-400 pictures per set of batteries - which includes a lot of looking at the screen and reviewing the pictures), their are a ton of customizable settings, the movie mode takes gorgeous movies and the pets & kids mode sure helped me when taking pictures of my new kitten. It also has everything you need in order to plug it into your TV outs and play picture shows for family and friends. Which is great when you want to show grandma some of your pictures and she doesn't have a computer.
The first major use the camera got was at the zoo and in the hands of my wife. She didn't bother to read the manual or practice. Without really kn owing what she was doing - the pictures turned out perfectly! The zoom was amazing!!! She got pictures of the animals that showed such detail as veins on the tongues of the giraffes. Dust cracks on the backs of the elephants and much more. Best part was that she was over 20 to 30 feet away from her subjects and out of harms way. Yet the pictures were so close and detailed!
One tip - get a larger memory card - 1gb or more. As with ALL digital cameras you buy these days you will need higher storage than the card they give you. I mean at the highest quality setting on this camera (7mb) - you can only take about 15 pictures before the camera card they give you is full. Save yourself the frustration and just buy a larger memory card.
For those of you interested in ghost hunting this camera is great! I'm happy to say that after extensive testing this camera doesn't show that many orbs created from dust. Some digital cameras have a hard time with dust and this one doesn't have many false positives in dusty conditions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Practice Makes Perfect
Comment: I purchased this camera as a fill in around week two of a five week Euro-trip, and week three was a bit rusty, but by four and five the pictures were coming out well. This is because I found that the camera had a few weaknesses, but once you figure out how to control it, you can get past those pretty easily.
First, this camera does not have an electronic viewfinder. This will only affect you if you like to look through the viewfinder when taking photos instead of at the LCD. If you do, then the pictures will be slightly off center, as the viewfinder is set above the lens and the difference between the views from the two is not corrected electronically. At least I think that's the problem. I just know they're off center.
Secondly, I found that shots taken on Auto came out overexposed--too much light. I've taken to using the Manual setting for virtually every photo I take. By doing that, you can control things like the shutter speed and get shots that are better exposed. It's kind of a pain, especially if you don't want to deal with the technical aspects of photography, but I'm ok with it because it's forced me to be a better photographer in some ways.
Really, most of the problems mentioned in the reviews I've read can be fixed by using the manual controls. You can control the amount of flash emitted from the camera and you can set the shutter speed and ISO to make low light shots a little easier. Also, if you set the camera on something steady and do the two second delay (self-timer function), press the button, and don't touch the camera, it will come out very clear. If you have nowhere to set the camera, I've found success by taking continuous shots. Put it on the continuous mode or whatever it's called, and hold the button down, and it will snap for ages. Then scroll through and pick the least blurry shot out of all of them. It worked quite well for me.
Some good things... It's very good with macro shots and really picks up color quite well. You can boost the color by using the vivid color setting. Kind of nice for some shots. And the flip screen is true genius. Great for aiming those self-portraits, shots from above, and even balancing the camera somewhere if you get desperate. :) I'm also very happy with the way the pictures look when they're printed out. The mega-pixel amount is more than good enough for any amateur use.
All in all, I've been happy with this camera. It takes some getting used to, but if you're willing to work with it, it produces quality results. As you might have gathered though, it may not be the camera for the person who doesn't want to deal with manual settings and the like. It is possible that I'm just really picky, but I think it does under-perform if left to its own devices.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Save yourself some grief
Comment: I am a Canon guy. But, I am not a Canon Powershot A620 guy.
The reason: the Achilles heel of this camera is those awful, unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. In fact, the whole battery configuration is unthinkably unprofessional.
I will never buy another camera that uses AA batteries. There are better ways to power a digital camera than using these things.
I have owned two Canon film cameras, a Canon printer, a Canon scanner, and two Canon digital cameras. I even have a cute little Canon gadget bag. I love most Canon products.
But, I was a total fool for giving my daughter my Canon Powershot G1. It was wonderful in all respects, including the batteries, but I had virtually worn it out. So, I treated myself to a new Canon Powershot A620
What a dark day that was. And I have had many dark days since. Days of lost photos. Photos of visiting loved ones. Photos of unique experiences, never to present themselves again. Photo Ops that will not come around again. All because of these unreliable Canon AA rechargeable batteries. I have two sets, plus a charger.
It is maddening to charge these batteries, check them with my battery tester, pop them in the Canon Powershot A620, take a few good photos, and then....
The next time I attempt to take photos, (and I love my photos), I get a message to change the batteries. It will not take another picture until I change the batteries. So, in addition to the eight expensive Canon AA rechargeable batteries and a charger, I also carry four fresh non-rechargeable AA batteries. Just in case.
The Canon Powershot A620 takes great photos. It fits nicely in your shirt pocket, if you have one. The price is right. It does everything well. Except be reliable and be ready to take that next irreplaceable photo.
I will never again buy any camera with such a battery arrangement. I have buyer's remorse big time.
Think it over.
Canon Powershot A620 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom Reviews: Page 3 of 60
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