» Canon PowerShot A85 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Canon PowerShot A85 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Camera
Comment: Great camera, great pictures still using it after 3 years, takes better pictures than some of the newer cameras.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: camera lasted 2.5 years - with heavy use
Comment: I bought the Powershot A85 almost 3 years ago to replace my A70. My A70 had lasted around 3 years until some shutter door type thing inside the camera broke and all went black. I was told it was fixable but after 3 years I was kind of excited to upgrade.

The A85 has been wonderful for the last 2.5 years. I am just starting to see some wear and tear in the last couple of months. Picture quality is starting to fail (pictures coming out grainy or dark) but it's off and on. Some pics still come out great. Shutter lag is also getting slower. It probably just needs a good cleaning, but once again I'm getting itchy to upgrade. I should also say, the camera has gotten heavy use and abuse, as I take tons of pictures and have not been as careful with the camera as I probably should have.

It is easy to use, and I am by no means a camera expert. I do take tons of pictures, mostly of the kids, vacations, sporting events.... I like that this camera has alowed me to experiment a little with different settings (portrait, fireworks, etc) without getting too over my head. I have been happy with the zoom quality as well. I usually keep it on the "fast action" setting because it does the best job at keeping up with my very active child.

My next camera will be the Powershot S5 IS. I always stick with Canon. Have owned nothing but Canon cameras and printers since I got my first 35mm back in the early 80s. Overall, I definitely recommend the A85 as an easy to use camera for beginner level photography.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Still going strong after 3 years of use
Comment: Love this camera. It is my first digital camera and my first point and shoot.

The picture quality is great. Although you can now buy P&S cameras with better picture quality I'm still amazed at how good my pictures look, especially compared with the old SLR film camera that I used for years.

After three years of using auto mode I'm now learning about aperture and film speed and shutter speed - all of which can be controlled using Av, Tv and other such settings. I'm also starting to get very creative with the kinds of shots I take. This camera seems to be the perfect little tool for my small photo projects and combined with a bit of Photoshop I'm beginning to create some very nice arty photographs.

Highly recommended.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: User friendly. Great pictures. Overall a really good camera.
Comment: I have had this camera for more than two years and had absolutely no problems with the camera ITSELF. Sure, the extra battery charger that we bought for our rechargeable batteries failed on us, but that ultimately has nothing to do with the camera itself.
The only con I seem to find for this camera is that it is fairly bulky and heavy. I bought a soft case, so that decreased the problem dramatically, but I still felt like it should be lighter.
Anyways...to the pro's. Extremely user friendly. Easy to get around inside the camera and find the tricks of the trade. The quality of the pictures is really good as you can see the crispness and details of the face.

A great and perfect camera for the typical family/person who isnt interested in taking professional photos that will sell for thousands of dollars. A great point and shoot for the value.
Remember to buy separate rechargeable batteries and a much larger CF card. 256 MB was fine for me, but you can always get a 512. Anything bigger than that is not worth it unless you plan on taking thousands of photos.

Respect and care for the camera and it will respect you back with quality photos in a WORKING conditiong.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Works great - Until it dies...
Comment: Good pictures, easy to use... until it just won't work anymore. After about 10 months of frequent use, the display would periodically get "grainy" and have lines and then finally the power on & off became very sporadic. When we researched the problem on-line, we found that it had been recalled due to a piece malfunction. We turned it in for repairs we were told that the problems weren't due to the recall and we'd need to pay over $100 to repair it. Since we'd had other family members who'd had the same exact problems, we decided to spend the $100 on a new Nikon instead.

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