Canon Powershot A410 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom

Sample pictures at (snipurl com jfki) replace the spaces with a dot and a forwardslash. bandwidth maybe refreshes every hour.

Pros:

mostly over the a510:

·The video mode although choppy is still a few fps(frames per second) better than the a510.

·Auto white balancing occurs during video recording which the a510 doesn't have and it also allows you to zoom 2x while recording.

·Very fast menu navigation and picture viewing. A lot faster than the a510.

·Better shot to shot times(without flash) than the a510.

·Although it is still at USB 1.1 speed, this time Canon got it right with making the plug and play hardware standards compliant with Windows. Basically meaing when you plug the camera in your USB port, windows will show it as a drive letter allowing you to copy the pictures over to your computer without any additional software unlike the a510 which requires you to use Canon's own propietary software.

·Very slick rectangular design, curved edges, and a dark silver color, with all the buttons perfectly in the right place(if your right handed).

·Seems to conserve a lot less battery power than the a510 especially when recording videos witch the a510 would drain at.

·Battery life seems to just go on forever if you don't use the flash.

·Very sufficient manual controls for an entry level camera

Cons:

·I found the a510 , although slower, to be slighty better in picture quality because of more manual control available and less purple fringing than the a410.

·The LCD is smaller, but because of the faster digic II processor you can quickly zoom-in and pan the pictures very very fast.

ONE OF THE BEST FEATURES:

Canon included a feature not found in many entry level cameras. It is a feature I use very often in different indoor to outdoor environments. It is the EVALUATE WHITE BALANCE. Just place the small rectangle in the LCD view on what is supposed to be white and hit set and the a410 automatically adjusts the picture respectively. This drastically improves pictures taken in indoor lowlight environments so much that you don't even have to use the flash in less than adequatly lit rooms. It also keeps the your white walls looking white and not yellow. This improves indoors and night shots but you should still consider putting the camera on a solid surface and set the timer to 3 secs in order to avoid any potential blurring from trembling hands. This feature also doesn't show 'natural' whites but it is still very much pleasant.

I purchased this camera new after discounts for $100 + tax + shipping and for the price difference, smooth operation, high performance, and convenience in hookup/operation compared to the a510 it outweighs the minimal picture quality difference.

By far the best entry level digital camera currently on the market.

Please take few seconds to view the sample images or rate my review if it was helpful. Thanks.

This is a superb camera at an unbelievable price. The camera body is very attractive, it's light and portable, and the controls are very easy and intuitive to use. 3.2MP is more than enough for very high quality prints, though I did add a 512k card. Don't get all caught up with worrying about 3mp vs 5mp vs 7mp unless you plan to print lots of poster size images. Now I can take and store 400 pictures on one battery charge with the LCD on. Simply amazing technology.

I compared all kinds of cameras under $500, and this one not only does everything I need, but it's very affordable. This will keep me happy for many years to come. Now what to do with all the $$$ I saved...

Update: June 2008 I still love this camera and continue to use it frequently.

Update: May 2010 I still love this camera and see no reason to upgrade, it rocks! This baby has now been around the world and taken amazing shots everywhere, day and night.

Thank you Cannon! We need more companies like you instead of the usual cyclical consumption greedy bastard, engineered failure garbage that we usually get at WalMart.

I'm a Cannon fan for life because of this amazing camera.

Buy Canon Powershot A410 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom Now

This relatively new (August 2005) camera is a very interesting offering from Canon, one of the top makers of digicams. As you can see from the other comments here, there are lots of positive things to say about it, given its very reasonable price.

So it will be a great camera for lots of people, especially those new to digital photography. But it has some key features that you might not notice, so be sure to consider these points:

At 4.1 x 2 x 1.6 in, this is not a tiny camera, though not large by any means.

The wide angle only goes to the equivalent of 41mm lots of other cameras go to 35mm. You will likely notice, some of the time, that you have a hard time getting everything into the shot.

Even with the great Canon lenses and electronics, the picture quality won't equal that of other cameras, as this uses a very tiny sensor chip to pick up the images.

This won't be a great camera in low light. The "fastest" ISO setting is 200.

Not a huge point, but it doesn't have an especially high quality video mode. (The silver lining, you probably won't need a high speed memory card!)

The LCD is a little small by current standards, at 1.5"

The camera uses standard size batteries. Some prefer that to buying proprietary battery packs, but it does mean you'll have to buy some NiMH (not NiCad) rechargeable batteries, and a charger, and carry them when you travel.

Being able to get a new Canon at this price is a great option, just be sure it's right for you. If you're still using a film camera, and paying for film developing and prints you don't want, it will probably pay for itself!

Read Best Reviews of Canon Powershot A410 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom Here

I picked out and received the Canon PowerShot A410 as a Christmas gift. I wanted a low to mid priced digital camera with optical zoom and the Canon PowerShot had the features I wanted at the right price. It is my first real digital camera and considering the price it has definitely exceeded my expectations.

Setup was easy and without hassle. There is a basic and an advanced manual and the basic one is all you should need to look at to get started taking pictures, even if you are not familiar with digital cameras. You can read the advanced manual later when you are ready to try other features of the camera.

The display is small, but still easy to read (and I am legally blind with 20/200 vision.) In playback mode you can zoom to 10x to check the quality and clarity of your pictures. Menu and setting text is sharp and easy to read. Some of the icons are a bit small, but when you change a non-text setting, like the flash, the icon is briefly shown larger before shrinking and moving to the corner of the screen.

There are 4 resolutions and with each you can choose either Super Fine, Fine or Normal. The Super Fine setting is the best quality and Normal allows you to take more pictures. The resolution sizes and the average number of pictures you can take with the included 16MB card are: (2048x1536 SF=9, F=16, N=33), (1600x1200 SF=14, F=26, N=50), (1024x768 SF=25, F=45, N=80) and (640x480 SF=56, F=88, N=138.) There is also a 1600x1200 postcard mode which includes the ability to embed a time/date stamp on the picture.

In addition to the 3.2 optical zoom, there is a 3.2(approximate) digital zoom. Digital zoom is off by default so you have to turn it on. When its on you can zoom to 10x. The first 3.2x of the zoom is optical, then the zoom pauses for a second and the rest up to 10x is digital. The 3.2x digital zoom is also available in the macro mode which doesn't have optical zoom.

There are several pre-defined modes for taking pictures in daylight, night, etc. And there are also some interesting effects available. One that I like is color swap which lets you substitute one color with another. It can for example let you change the color of your carpeting while leaving everything else (of different colors) the same. It works pretty well, though sometimes shades of colors like brown and red are treated the same.

There are 3 video modes to choose from. None have audio. The modes are: 640 x 480 x 10 fps, 320 x 240 x 20 fps and 160 x 120 x 15 fps. In the 640 x 480 mode you can zoom digitally to 2x while recording. Approximate recording times with the 16MB card are 640x480: 23 seconds, 320x240: 33 seconds and 160x120: 1 minute 47 seconds. With a larger memory card you can record videos up to 3 minutes in length.

For the most part, the default settings were right for the photos I take. I have found that changing the ISO setting from the default of 50 to "Auto" takes pictures which have more accurate lighting. I also use the White Balance Evaluation for some pictures. See the example (with the Furby) that I posted to see comparison pictures taken with and without white balance. Usually White Balance is not needed, but for some photos it makes a big difference.

Some cautions and cons:

You should put the camera in playback mode when it is turned off. If not and you accidently turn it on the lens will try to extend, even if in the packaging. I saw no mention of this in the manual, but discovered it myself the first time I was putting the camera away. There did not appear to be any permanent harm, however the camera did beep when it couldn't fully extend the lens.

As others have mentioned, the highest ISO speed setting is 200, which makes it difficult to take pictures in low light conditions without the flash and without a tripod (or very steady hands!)

Battery usage does seem a bit fast, especially when the camera is connected to the computer. The manual suggests getting the AC adapter for when connecting the camera to the computer which I may do. The first time I get the low battery warning on a set of batteries has always been just after having the camera connected to the computer.

The included 16MB memory card is probably too small for most people, especially if you want to take videos. But memory cards are relatively cheap, so get a 128 or 256 MB card and you can take plenty of pictures and videos.

Want Canon Powershot A410 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom Discount?

Canon produces reliable cameras that don't eat batteries like some of the other brands, and the A410 is simple for beginners but has enough options to grow with, including a fair zoom (x3) and a macro setting for super close ups. Its small though only fairly slim, a tad thicker than a pack of cigarettes, so it won't slide in your front pants pocket but it will fit. Avoid the expensive kit you'll get offered, instead get a less expensive AA battery charger and buy the case by itself if you want one. An extra Memory card is a nice option if you are away from your computer on vacation and want to store a lot of photos but the included card is fine for around home. If you have a Mac the Canon will load photos right away into iPhoto without having to load the included software.