My mother wanted something more compact (and "cute") so I sprung for a S410 for her. For my step-dad, who has Parkinson's, the A75 has turned out to be PERFECT.
The human engineering on small cameras is a feature people often overlook. I own a large Sony digicam, but I can't handle any of their compacts or their V1 without having to concentrate on where my large-ish fingers are resting. Another thing people sometimes fail to consider is how SECURE the camera is in your hands. A child could grab the S410 from my hands, but no one on Earth could get the A75 loose. My parents are in France with their cameras now and I'm sure that no jarring in a museum or crowded street will dislodge the A75 from my step-dad's weak hands.
One reason for the nice grip is because that's where the four AA batteries go. For some people (me included), this seemed like a weakness of the camera versus the custome Li-ion batteries of the competition. However, once you spring about $25 for four 1850 mAH (or stonger) rechargable batteries, you will find yourself getting double or more the bttery life of a S410 (which with it's 850 mAH battery does surprisingly well). The well-respected dpreview website has tested the A75's predecessor (the A70) in comparison with a slew of other small-format digicams and found it to have the best battery life by a wide margin. WARNING: the AAs that come with the camera only lasted one day of intermittent "training" use...so don't be disappointed.
The A75 takes great pictures. We set up a scene with lots of detail to compare all possible size and resolution settings ("L", "M1" which is 1600x1200, "M2" which is 1024x780, and "S" which is 640x480 (for e-mails)) and took a shot at each of those sizes with the three resolution settings ("Superfine", "Fine", and "Normal"). We printed them at 6"x4" at a local Kodak digital picture kiosk (recently deemed better and cheaper than Fuji's by a consumer group...Consumer Reports IIRC) and compared them with a magnifying glass. There were no easily discernable differences in quality until we got to the M1/Normal setting. Even then it was just a tiny difference in some detail in the pine needles of a distant tree. In other words, if you're starved for storage card space, don't panic -you should be able to get fantastic prints with this camera even with the lower settings. (Another indication that there's rarely a reason to go beyong 3.2-4.0 megapixels in a pocket cam -don't waste your money on ANY compact 5.0 cam, Canon or otherwise (ex. S500 -forget it!).
The A75 uses the ubiquitous Compact Flash Type I cards. That's not as important as it used to be (all cards, SD included, are rapidly getting cheaper). However, you can get these anywhere for cheap in a pinch, and Amazon has GREAT deals on CF cards. I got each of my parents a SanDisk 512 card for ~80 each -that was six weeks ago and they've dropped since. My step-dad's A75 on max size/max-resolution ("L"/"Superfine") will take just over 300 pictures on that card! (My mom's S410 will handle a bit less -280 IIRC).
The picture quality on auto is great, the "panorama" feature is addicting as heck (I'm looking forward to their France panoramas -a feature offered on the A75 and the S410).
The included software is fine -nothing special, but all you need, and it worked on my parent's old PIII running Microsoft Windows 98 (not even "SE"!). If you have a newer computer, you will have a hard time beating the Adobe Elements/Album combo that Amazon offers -well-worth it!
We originally considered paying list price at Be$t Buy in order to get an extended warranty, but we realized that if they go bad in France it won't help, so Amazon saved me a bundle. THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE AFAIC TO BUY DIGI-CAMS AT THIS LEVEL THAN AMAZON. MEMORY CARDS, TOO.
Me, I'm waiting to see how Sony's new W1 looks (I like the huge movie resoultion it offers, perhaps Canon's only weak area compared to the compettion). If the Sony doesn't do anything for me, then I'll probably go with an A75 for myself -the S410 is an awesome little cam, but it's a bit uncomfortable in my hands and the screen is only 1.5" which is another weakness compared to the competition. If they had a 1.8" LCD on the S410 I'd go with it so I could have a great (but not as versatile) cam I could keep in my pocket -heavy though it is.
I hope this helped. The world of digicams is tough, and changing fast. With that said, I don't think you can go wrong with the A75. The S410 is also great (weaknesses noted) but you can get something similar from the competion for $100 less (alhtough you'll sacrifice a bit in picture quality).
Good luck! (And search Amazon on weekends for CF deals -go with a 512!!)
I've had a Kodak DX3400 for about 3 years now, and it came time to upgrade...I wanted a compact point and shoot that had some extra options to take creative photos. As a hobbyist photographer, I managed to get some fantastic photos out of my old Kodak, but it took horrible photos in low light and took poor action shots. After much research and comparison at some fantasic review sites, I decided on the PowerShot A75. I am NOT disappointed.
The Canon Powershot A75 is everything I wanted in a point and shoot. It's small (but comfortable in your hands), has plenty of resolution for point and shoot abilities (great prints up to 8x10) and has enough manual options to take nearly every type of shot. I did some serious experimentation, and found that even in very low light situations, the camera can either capture what it really looks like, or, by using the shutter priority, you can get vibrant, full color shots that look like they were captured in bright daylight. (I photographed my entryway at 9:45 PM, with dusk filtering in through windows 18 feet away, and got a vibrant, perfectly exposed photo...amazing)
The auto mode is good, but should really only be used by inexperienced users...the best shots come from taking advantage of the Scene modes (the indoor scene setting takes PERFECT indoor shots, with perfect exposure, white balance, and color saturation). The portrait mode opens the aperture way up to capture the subject in crisp detail while blurring the background, and it goes on and on. In addition to the Scene modes, there's also a 'fast shutter' and 'slow shutter' mode which are fantastic for taking action shots or blurring moving water, respectively, without having to worry about setting the shutter speed and aperture.
There's also a movie mode and a PhotoStitch mode. The movies are good quality for a still camera, though nowhere near the quality of a digital camcorder. The PhotoStich mode assists you in taking panoramic photos, by showing your last photo and letting you line up the next shot with the first one, so the included PhotoStitch software can automatically merge them on the computer. The panoramas work quite well, and preserve the exposure of the first shot, which limits color variation. The photo stitch software took about 10 seconds to stitch 9 photos together and create the single panorama.
The manual controls are fantastic. Custom white balance for oddly lit areas is extremely easy to use (though the preset white balances and the auto do quite well). Manual focus is outstanding, and can be used in conjunction with any other mode, except full auto. I used it to take great clear photos of my darkened treeline in the moonlight, and got a crisp, beautiful photo. Full manual is tricky if you aren't used to adjusting shutter speed and aperture together, but it will let you know if the camera settings will over or under expose the image (though you can still take the shot).
At the slower shutter speeds, you do need to be steady, so a tripod or setting the camera down helps enormously for night or time exposure shots, but that's the case with any camera. To aid in steadying the camera for these long exposures, the camera has a 2 second self timer in addition to the standard 10 second...so you can take photos without having the jitter from pressing the shutter. That said, in good lighting, the camera is fine to treat like any other point and shoot, and with a fast shutter, you can get crisp images with the camera bouncing all over the place. Shots taken while riding in a car are very crisp and clear while using the 'fast shutter' mode.
Overall, I am extremely impressed. For the price, this camera is just outstanding. In my opinion, you don't need more than 3MP for a point and shoot, so this is a great buy. One thing that I would do, though, is buy a mini tripod to put in your pocket so you can get great photos at night. A larger memory card would be nice too, but I already had a 128MB from my old camera, so I didn't need to worry about it. I'd say this is the best point and shoot for the money.
Buy Canon PowerShot A75 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom Now
If you're looking for a moderately priced digicam with manual features to flex your artistic side I don't think you can go wrong with Canon's A75. With a sub $200 retail price this go any where camera beats larger megapixel competitors with better color fidelity and expansive manual controls. However there are a few flaws in the design. Although you get a low battery indicator a battery meter is missing. This kind of makes you guess how much juice you have left before the low battery warning comes on. Not a deal breaker but a weird design flaw that should be remedied. The plastic door for the memory slot is a bit flimsy in design but does its job well. As a matter of fact the whole camera is made of plastic. I don't think this is a design flaw since it is high quality plastic and does reduce it's overall weight but does have a bit of a cheap feel to it. For anyone getting this camera as a first digital you NEED to buy 2 things. A larger CF memory card. Don't waste your money on ultra speed products. There's only a hand full of prosumer digicams that can take advantage of the extra speed, save your money and buy more megabytes. A 512MB CF card is nice but a 1GB card is better. Some people might think this is over kill but when you're not limited in the number of pictures you can take you can really start having fun and sort out the true winners out of them all. Another must is a couple of sets (pair of 4 AAs) of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries and a good charger. Don't get cheap here as there is a real difference in the amount of pictures you can take between an 1850mAh and 2300mAh batteries. Maha and energizer make dependable batteries. As for chargers the best is made by Maha. One last note about the Canon A75. As with any digital camera check for "dead", "stuck" or "hot" pixels in the CCD. You know you have it if you see any red or white pixels that show up in most or all of your shots. If you see this send it back for an exchange. Happy shooting.
Sam
Read Best Reviews of Canon PowerShot A75 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom Here
I just got my A75, and I must say I'm thoroughly impressed. I've been taking pictures ever since I was 10 (my first camera was a Kodak 126 cartridge model with the flip flash). We have a Canon EOS digital Rebel, which is awesome. That said, I wanted something smaller to tote around, and the A75 fills the bill nicely.
Initial Impressions
This baby is ready to use right out of the box. Although reading the manual is advisable prior to using any new gear, I found the camera's controls to be quite intuitive (perhaps owing to my experience with the EOS). Once you install the included batteries and 32mb CF card, you're ready to start taking pictures. There are many options for various shooting situations (sport mode, portrait, etc.), as well as a "scene" mode for more specialized scenarios such as "snow", "fireworks", and "foliage". The creative zone settings enable the most control I've ever seen in a camera of this class, all the way down to full manual exposure and focus control. Using manual controls can make the camera work faster. For example, go into manual mode, set the focus around 2 feet and f2.8. Everything from 2 feet to infinity will be in focus, and you can zing off hip shots quickly. Although there is no metering in manual mode, the LCD will preview your shot (if your settings are wrong the preview will look too dark, too light, or too blurry). Exposure compensation controls are quickly accessible in most modes. There are three different metering modes, you can adjust the ISO rating of the sensor, and choose from one of several color balance presets (tungsten, fluorescent, etc.), and even define your own. It's got a rapid-fire mode, and can even take short videos with sound. The more you read the manual and play with this camera, the deeper you can get into the feature set, and it's pretty dang deep. Quite a lot of bang for the buck.
PROS
1. Excellent image quality.
2. Ease of use.
3. Lots of features in a relatively small package.
4. High overall quality, good solid feel.
5. Uses standard AA batteries.
CONS
1. Size and weight not quite suitable for shirt pocket. Jacket pocket or purse will be fine.
2. Some shutter lag, which varies depending on selected mode. Not bad for a camera of this type, but certainly not on a par with, say, an SLR.
Although the A75 comes with software, I must recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements. It has a very nice capture feature and photo-organizer that makes managing your image library a pleasure. The editing features are quite extensive, and easy to use with many tutorials and liberal assistance. It's even got a feature that can stitch together the "photo stitch" panoramas from the A75. All in all, PS Elements works a treat with the A75 (and the EOS, for which it offers RAW file support).
Want Canon PowerShot A75 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom Discount?
My first digital camera was a Kodak DC3200 that was purchased two years ago that I am very pleased with and still works to this day. However, the door to the battery compartment no longer closes so I have to use rubber bands tied around the camera to keep the batteries in place (annoying); the batteries are always falling out! The other problem was the lag time between when you actually press the button and the seconds that pass before the image is actually recorded. This is problematic because I mostly take pictures of my toddler who is always in motion.
This is where the Canon A75 enters the picture. I did not want to spend a fortune. I do not have to have the biggest and the best. My list of requirements in a digital camera is as follows: minimal lag time, built-in zoom, point-and-shoot capability, crisp photographs, and affordable price. The Canon A75 fit the bill perfectly!
I've only had my Canon for a few weeks now, so I cannot comment on its durability. So far I've only taken pictures using the "Auto" setting and I've gotten some great shots! This camera is super-easy to use. I immediately changed the resolution to the lowest setting (640x480 pixels) and the pictures come out the perfect size for emailing with no re-sizing required.
If, like me, you are simply looking for a great little camera to take shots of your kids, pets, holidays, etc, I don't think you can go wrong with the Canon A75! Sure, you can pay more and get 5 megapixels and whatnot, but why, when this camera does the trick?!!
I really needed a longer hdmi so i can view my computer thru my big screen. It worked out perfectly.
