Wonderful Professional Camera
I am a professional photographer, and I must say I dont mess with the hassle of a costly SLR with even more costly additional lenses. I use the Fuji S9000 camera as my main camera, and the Fuji S5200 as my back up. Both cameras give excellent photo quality. I bought the Fuji S9000 for the hot shoe mount, the megapixels, and the zoom. It works beautifully. Im even thinking about buying a second one so I have two just incase. I highly recommend this product. If you want to see photos using the camera, go to my website www.jessicanigrophotography.com.

LOVE this camera!
I really love this camera. I debated between this on and the Rebel XTI. And I'm so glad I choose this one! Not only is it cheaper but comparing pictures with others Rebel pictures it blew them out the of the water. Settings take a little work. Flash is a little bright at close range. But nothing a cheap diffuser can't fix.

LOUSY CUSTOMER SERVICE
After my experience with my S7000 I WOULD NEVER RECOMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE!!! BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU BUY THEIR PRODUCTS THEY DON"T STAND BEHIND THEM VERY WELL........

Very rich Colours in Day Light
I had tried Sony DSC H9, Canon S3 IS but compared to all of this i found this to be very good. We can play around with photos when we set it to Program Mode & Manual Mode. In day light i get very rich colors but when it is cloudy you may have to increase exposure.

Hmm just ordered this
I got this and sent it right back - the S5200 is just fine by me - this one has the one thing I wanted - the zoom capability during video taping BUT it had little else to justify the 100 or so more dollars over my S5200 - and the lens was bulky and huge and that was how the zoom worked - unlike the ease of the S5200 which has two small in and out buttons on the back that I can use with my same shutter hand during concerts. It might be fine for other things but not for live concerts where you are trying to watch the show and do too many things at the same time

Good camera 2x
I purchased this camera as an identical replacement for one my daughter had lost in a state park in Calif. She was very happy with the camera so when I saw that the price had dropped significantly, I decided to purchase it for her again since she already knew how to use it and was pleased with the photo results.

As close to a Leica M-series as you will get for 0
Pluses:

- Shutter lag is reduced big time over early Powershot models. It really isn't too much of a problem anymore. But it takes the flash forever to charge up with only 2 AA cells running the show.
- Only weighs a few ounces with 2xAA. A plus if you have an investment in NiMH AA cells, a minus if you compare it to LiIon. Forget about using alkalines, it will only cause you misery.
- Flash exposures, particularly at macro settings, are spectacularly better than older Powershots. Canon really got this right - in "party mode", and in macro (which I use a lot) the camera will get it right every time.
- A bit more aggressive about increasing the "film speed" in auto mode. My old A70 always tried to expose everything at "ASA" 50, even in low light, and I was always manually setting it to "ASA" 200 or 400 and forgetting to set it back. You can leave the A570 on "Auto" more of the time, and not worry about accidentally getting a whole day's worth of grainy, washed-out pictures at "ASA" 200.
- The image stabilization seems to work just fine.

Minuses:

- Still the same puny sub-pencil-eraser sized 1/2.5 sensor as earlier Powershots. "High ASA" exposures are still noisy.
- With only two AA batteries, only 100 or so pictures before your batteries die, even fewer with flash. This may not be much of a minus if you take only a few pictures at a time, and don't use flash too much.
- Optics are a bit better than older Powershots, but that's not saying much. Some distortion and aberration at full aperture. Stopped down, it's OK.

Of course if you think photo quality is proportional to how much money you spend, you'll hate this kind of camera. But I can't stand lugging around a two-pound DSLR brick. I switched to point and shoot cameras long before the world went digital, and for a few lucky years I had a Leica M-series I could borrow. The A570 is only a distant cousin to the Leica, but I won't be heartbroken if it dies or is lost.

Outdated model ! do not buy !
I'm not against this camera
It's just that this model became outdated, and a newer model (A590 IS) is better and even CHEAPER than this

Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Decent... barely
At first blush, I liked the camera a lot - pretty good quality overall. But after using it for a bit, its biggest drawback was apparent - the battery life is terrible. It uses standard AAA batteries, but they just drain down so quickly. In almost a year that I have owned the camera, by my rough calculation, I must have spent half of the camera price in batteries. And I really don't take that many pictures, we only used it on family occassions and other trips once in a while. I would not recommend this camera.

Camera = Good, Batteries / Recharger = DooDoo
Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Purchased camera for anniversary cruise photos, for which purpose the camera was quite satisfactory, with memory card holding over 500 images on the initial set of batteries [rechargeable].

Purchased extra set of rechargeable batteries, Canon batter charger, and Canon a/c auxiliary power setup.

After the first use of each set of new batteries, subsequent overnight recharges indicated "complete" -- i.e., blinking light on charger showed steady indicator. From that time on, the recharged batteries would only function to allow about 50 photos, before another recharge was required.

In addition, purchased AA batteries failed to produce more than 50 photos.

The recharged "rechargeable" batteries, both sets, will charge only to about 1.37 volts, and will not charge to a higher level.

This camera eats batteries, both Canon's "rechargeables" as well as commercial standard AA batteries.

If you plan to use the Canon A570IS as an AC unit only, then it is pretty good.

Last of the "A" series with manual controls
The Canon "A" series have always been rather unique. They are cameras that are economically priced, yet offer capabilities and features that you usually only see on more expensive cameras. Unfortunately, it looks like the A-720is might be the last of the Canon "A" models with full manual control; the newer A-1000 and A-2000 have only Program AE and Auto (plus some scene modes). The A-720is has three exposure modes that the A-1000 and A-2000 don't offer: Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and full Manual, plus the A-720 has Manual Focus control, which has been dropped on the newer "A" series models. Some people might ask, are these manual modes necessary in a compact? I say "yes", because every so often, anyone can get into a photographic situation where you won't be able to "get the shot" with the full-automatic modes. These situations usually involve low-light or poor contrast conditions, for example shooting landscapes at dusk or dawn, or on foggy days. Cameras like the Canon "A" series use "contrast detection" to decide when focus is properly set, and if the scene doesn't have much contrast, the camera's auto-focus will "hunt" excessively and may be unable to find the proper focus at all. When this happens, you can set the camera to manual focus and get the shot, assuming your camera has this capability. As for manual exposure modes, you need Aperture Priority to set specific depth-of-field. For example, in shots where the foreground subject is 4 feet away, and the background is at infinity, you want to use the smallest aperture possible (f8 on most Canon "A" models), so that everything in the frame will be sharply focused. In situations where your subject is in motion, you will often want to control shutter speed - fast for sports and action shots, or perhaps a deliberately slow shutter speed to capture the look of flowing water with motion blur. The Canon A-720is lets you handle any of these situations; the new A-1000 and A-2000 have only some scene modes with no actual manual control.

What's good about the A-720is:
1. Very good value at it's price point. I paid 0 for mine. For this price you get an 8 megapixel sensor, 6x zoom lens, optical image stabilization, full manual controls, 2.5" LCD screen (115,000 pixels), and an optical viewfinder. This last is handy for when your batteries are getting low - you can turn off the LCD and still take pictures with the viewfinder.
2. Excellent image quality. Images are sharp, exposure is generally pretty accurate, and color saturation very nice. Of course this isn't a digital SLR, so don't expect miracles, but for a camera small enough to stick in a shirt pocket, the photos are remarkably good.
3. Optical Image Stabilization. Most cameras have this now, so it's not really remarkable.
4. Uses "AA" batteries instead of a lithium pack. This is actually the defining feature of the Canon "A" series - they all are "AA" battery powered. I prefer this as you can get "AA"'s anywhere. Unfortunately, the A-700 series began the current Canon trend of downsizing from four batteries (in the A-600 cameras), to only two. This has caused a noticeable increase in flash recharge time, plus of course the A-720is itself needs battery changes more often than it would if it used four batteries. However, I don't mean to imply that the A-720is is "slow". It's power-up speed, shutter-lag time, and time to first shot are all pretty good, and are at least equal to the average for other cameras of this class and price point.
5. Very simple, yet powerful, control layout and menus. This camera has only a few buttons on it, and the menu is as simple and user friendly as it could be. This camera would not intimidate an older person unfamiliar with modern electronic gadgets. Even with it's paucity of buttons, it still manages to have full manual controls. A really nice feature is the ability to program the direct print button to another function, most useful is probably to change ISO speed.

6. 640 x 480 x 30 frames-per-second video. This is pretty much standard on cameras in this class, so not really a special feature. Like all compact still cameras, the quality of the sound captured during video shooting is horrible - if you want good sound, get a real video camera - but the video image quality is pretty good. Video is stored in the standard MJPEG format.

7. Uses standard, cheap, easy to find SD and SDHC memory cards. You can put an 8 gig SDHC card in this camera for about and it will capture 2888 stills at max image size and best quality, or about 70 minutes of video clips.

What's bad about the A-720is: There's not much to dislike here. There are a few features that it doesn't have:

1. No flash mounting shoe, although this is such a small camera that sticking a flash gun on top of it would make it so top-heavy it would be hard to control.

2. No RAW capture capability. This has always been one feature that Canon uses to separates the "A" series from the more expensive "G" series. I guess if you are a serious photographer, shooting subjects that would benefit from using RAW format, you're probably going to use a digital SLR rather than a sub-0 compact.

3. Occasional exposure and auto-focusing errors. However, this A-720is seems to perform rather better than my old A-620 did, making fewer mistakes. Again, you shouldn't expect DSLR performance from a 0 compact, but that said, I'd guess that at least 95% of all shots that you might take in average lighting conditions, will be error-free. In poor lighting, if the camera can't manage in full Auto pr Program mode, go to manual control and you can probably get a useable shot.

4. Unrealistic ISO speeds. I have never yet seen a 0 digital camera that can get nice looking photos at ISO speeds above 200, maybe 400 in a pinch. The A-720is offers ISO 800 and even ISO 1600. At these settings, the CCD gain has been boosted so much that electronic noise in the image gets really noticeable. The only time I would use these speeds is in a really dark indoor shooting situation where you can't get close enough to the subject for the camera's flash to light it sufficiently. For example at a birthday party where you have only this one opportunity to "get the shot" of your kid blowing out the candles on the cake, using high ISO speeds will get you that once-in-a-lifetime shot, but don't expect to be able to make larger than a 4" x 6" print. High ISO shots from these compact cameras will probably be too "noisy" to make decent 8 x 10 enlargements. If you often need to shoot subjects like this, get a DSLR with a CMOS sensor - some of those cameras can shoot at ISO 1600 with no more noise than at ISO 100.

5. The tripod socket is plastic, and is placed way over on the outside edge of the camera's bottom plate - about the worst placement of a tripod socket I've ever seen, but the camera is so small and light that this shouldn't be too much of a problem in most tripod situations. If you needed to orient the camera on a tripod looking vertically downward, the offset tripod socket could potentially be a real problem. In that case, I'd probably try to secure the side of the camera opposite to the tripod socket to the tripod plate with a large rubber band, rather than clamping down really tight on those plastic threads. A big rubber band would be somewhat inelegant, but better that than risk dropping the camera or stripping the tripod socket threads by tightening down too much.

In my opinion, there are two primary reasons to buy a Canon "A" or "SD" series camera:
1) You absolutely have to have a shirt-pocket size camera and nothing larger will do. And you want a camera that has reasonably good image quality at an economy price.
2) You are buying an "expendable" camera that can be used in an waterproof housing for scuba diving or snorkeling. The Canon "WP-DC" underwater housings are economically priced, and you can generally get maybe 100 dives out of one before the o-rings are shot and the housing fails. Any underwater photographer will tell you that NO camera housing is 100% fail-safe. All scuba divers that carry cameras will sooner or later suffer a housing failure, which of course is the end of that camera. The Canon "A" and "SD" cameras with a "WP-DC" housing offer scuba photography up to 130' depth for as little as 0, compared to the thousands of dollars you would risk on a DSLR camera body and lens in an underwater housing. And the image quality from these little cameras is amazing, especially if you use an underwater flash gun like the SeaLife SL-960D.

If your photographic needs don't fall into either of the two categories stated above, but you are not quite ready to step up to a full DSLR, I'd suggest you look at one of the newer generation of Ultra-Zoom "performance compact" cameras from Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, and Olympus. Canon's version is the SX10is. Panasonic's is the DMC-FZ28, a camera that is being very highly rated for performance and value, and that has WAY more capability than any compact like the A-720is, for only about more.

CONCLUSION: If you can still find a new one, I'd recommend this camera over an A-2000 or any of the Canon "SD" models (none of the SD's have manual controls, and all of them use proprietary lithium batteries). If you can't find a new A-720is at a reasonable price (0 or less), and you can live without manual controls, the A-2000is would be my second choice. It's primary image sensor has two-megapixels more resolution than the A-720is (10 vs 8), and a much better LCD screen with double the resolution. The A-2000 has the same 6x lens and is nearly identical in size and weight to the A-720is, and probably has about equal image quality. NOTE: Canon does not currently offer a WP-DC underwater housing for either the A-1000 or A-2000, but they might in the near future. Canon's web page for underwater housings is at: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=StandardDisplayAct&fcategoryid=113&keycode=underwater_photo

I give the A-720is a "highly recommended" rating for quality and value. I just wish Canon was still making it, or that the A-2000is had all of the A-720is's features and controls.

Good Camera. Slow response time.
Excellent camera with good zoom for the price. Only complaint I have is that it takes somewhat longer for it to be ready for a second photo

Great camera, but it's picky about batteries.
PROS:
1. Great images. Canon rarely disappoints. Highly rated by many professional camera reviewers.
2. Good selection of menu options
3. Good "auto" setting for the amateur.
4. Good size, though not an ultra-thin pocket camera. I personally like the 'grip' that juts out a little, and it fits in a coat pocket fine.
5. Best feature: old school optical viewfinder -and- LCD screen (LCD screens are fine, but they eat batteries, and are nearly useless in bright sunlight).
6. Good OPTICAL zoom (and digital zoom can be turned off via the menu).
7. Uses AA batteries (rechargeable highly recommended), so no need for a custom battery pack or unique charge cord/device). I despise expensive, propietary battery packs, so AA batteries in the A720IS is great.

I got it for under 0, but this model has been replaced by newer models (which in my opinion are not that different), and the A720IS now usually costs more since it is getting rare.

CON:
1. Eats regular AA batteries like a hungry King Kong.
2. Low battery indicator lights up long before batteries are depleted.
3. Flash recycle time slow, but no worse than some similar models.

IMPORTANT:
It is highly recommended you use GOOD rechargeable batteries (supposedly Sony Eneloop or Rayovac Hybrid work best), or you will never get more than a few dozen shots. I find that turning off the LCD preview, red-eye reduction, and a few other options does extend battery life. I mainly use the optical viewfinder, then review my pics periodically on the LCD screen, rather than leaving it on all the time to drain the battery.

If even rechargeable batteries don't last long in your A720IS, you may have received a flawed camera. Send it back to Canon immediately while your warranty is in effect; it is possible they can do a software update to improve the battery sensor/life.

Camera Works Well for Me
This camera is just what I needed to take pictures of items for my Etsy store and my blog. It's easy, straightforward, and takes lovely pictures.
The only ackward feature for me is working the little door to the photo cards and batteries.

Best Camera Ever and Very Durable!!!
This is the Best camera I have ever owned. I liked it so much that I bought another one for my wife. I fly a AirCreation Trike and I take photos from the air. It handles very well with one hand operation, (the other hand is doing the flying). Very clear pictures because of the stabilization. Easy to review pictures on the back of the camera and is also nice to have a viewfinder for very sunny days. Very good price. 0 plus for a Kingston 2GB, 120X ultimate SD card.

R. Holm

A good camera with a fatal flaw
I've had this camera for almost two years now, and have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. It's a fabulous little machine, takes super-fast pictures, is wonderfully compact yet functional, and I hardly ever need to use the flash which saves me on constant battery charging. It has everything going for it... except the fact that it has now broken twice in the same way.

When you turn on the camera, the lens moves in and out of its own accord, and the screen stays blank with only the word "Access". Nothing you press has any effect, except possibly to conjure up the message "Turn camera off and on again" which never ever works. This is not fun.

It seems to have happened around the same time each of these past two years, which is incredibly frustrating. The first time, it was still under warranty so I paid for shipping and Sony fixed it for me, which was fine. But the second time was the last straw. I'm currently studying abroad, and like to take lots of pictures to remember my trip by, but after talking to Sony's online customer support (which was as helpful as they could be, I suppose) I realized that the only way to fix it was to send it in, AGAIN. Grr. I really love the way this camera works, and think it takes fabulous pictures. And I want to buy another Sony camera because this one has done such a good job... BUT I'm not sure I'm willing to risk this happening all over again.

I realize this camera's not really on the market any more, so this probably doesn't even matter, but I would say there are few enough people who've had this problem that it shouldn't necessarily discourage someone from buying the camera, although I think people should be warned. It sounds like this issue crops up with other Sony products, from reviews I've been looking at. Yet, what digital camera is perfect? Every brand has its own quirks and screw-ups, I suppose. What frustrates me most about this one is the repetition of the problem, especially when no probable cause can be identified.

Decent camera but we're buying another one
My wife and I bought this camera for travel and family photos. It may be that we just haven't figured out how to determine what settings are necessary but picture quality is not consistent. Landscape shots seem to be very nice even though we would like to have more zoom than 3x. Indoor shots have never turned out well for us. Very difficult to capture moving shots and some shots seem to have a lot of noise, especially in ISO setting. Camera is fairly intuitive and I love the size of it. But we're looking for a different camera after 3 years because we just can't take the bad pictures anymore.
Pros:
Size
Look
Battery life
Quick start-up
Good landscape shots
Cons:
Inconsistent picture quality
Poor indoor shots
Slow shut-down

Nice outdoor, daylight pictures. Otherwise, hit or miss
I bought this camera from a large retail chain about 3 years ago (yes, the model is that old). First thing I must say: The price here is ridiculous for this camera. Its not worth 8, or whatever they have it listed for. That said, onto the pros and cons:

PROS
- Takes EXCELLENT pictures in any type of daylight (even mostly cloudy skies), including beautiful sunrise and sunset pictures (so long as its not too far along). Great clarity, excellent color, and wonderful balance. Can't beat this camera there.
- The movie setting is quite good. Not HD, but it doesn't have a limit on the video length (like many point-and-shoots do). If you have the memory, you can take as long a video as you want.
On that same note, the mic on this is actually quite good! Excellent for recording convos or even concerts (as long as you aren't standing right in front of the speakers).
- The camera does have a lot of settings, and the ability to create a 'custom' setting too by moving around ISO, flash, zoom, balance, and other settings.
- Macro mode is nice for up close shots
- The battery lasts FOREVER! On one charge, I've gotten 250 pics and a couple 2 minute videos while using the preview screen quite generously (still had some life too). Use a couple of the power save options, and I have no doubts you could easily hit 350-400 pictures on one charge.
- Turn it on, and a second later you can take a picture. Another second, and you can take another picture. Very quick turnaround.
- ISO setting isn't terrible (not great either) at taking low light pics w/o flash. Pics tend to be grainy though.
- Great, clear lens and a decent optical zoom (the digital zoom is fine, but I find using it tends to make it difficult to get a non-blurry shot).

CONS
- The root of many of this camera's problems: NO image stabilization feature! Be prepared to delete or re-take half of your pictures because of this, unless you have nerve and stability of an army sniper. W/o the flash in anything but direct sunlight, you are in trouble. Even with the flash, you need to hold the camera as still as possible. This wouldn't be as a big an issue, but...
- The 2.5 inch LCD is decent sized, but its difficult to see how good the picture actually is UNTIL you see it on your computer. So, you may take 10 pictures and think you have 10 winners, but turns out only 2 or 3 are keepers.
- The click/rotating wheel that has chooses one of the 10 modes of the camera is very easily turned by accident. Thus, you get the perfect shot, click the shutter...and find out that the camera was actually on video mode. Shot missed. Disappointment abounds.
- These 10 functions are also...shall we say...questionable as to there actual operation. Let me say this: Out of the 10 modes, I use just 3 of them (Auto, Landscape, and Video) 98% of the time. The others are pretty specific to certain scenarios, and I question if a couple of them actually do anything special (one setting is for beach shots, and it reportedly 'accentuates' the blue color. Compared to an auto beach shot, I can see no difference between the two).
- The flash has a 'groove zone', which I have found is about 4 to 6 feet away. Anywhere outside of that zone, and the flash does not perform as well. Closer and people look like they are bio-luminescent. Further away, and things start getting shadowy. There's also no options to change the flash intensity (fill, close, etc). So, you get the same flash each time. Red Eye is tough to avoid too. The flash indicator/RE light helps SOMETIMES (70% of the time), but the slow-synchro flash option is only effective maybe 15% of the time.
- Taking shots at night is the worst. Blurry without the flash, and the flash is usually too weak to make the shot look good regardless. The 'twilight modes' are also useless, as the lack of image stabilization comes back into play.
- Small quips: In video mode, you can't zoom at all while recording. You can only stop, zoom, and restart. Settings and features are not intuitive, but a quick read of the manual usually suffices. Cyber-shot software is awful. It runs EXTREMELY slow, doesn't offer many features compared to EasyShare, and its red eye fix (arguably the most used aspect of basic editing software) makes eyes look gray, dead, and unnatural.

This camera isn't bad, and has some nice features. However, image stabilization, IMO, is the reason why this camera isn't recommended.

Good camera, resistant and long lasting battery
I bought this camera through amazon.com two years ago, and I still use it a lot. I bought a more advanced model of the panasonic lumix one because I wanted to try a different brand (nothing really bad ever happened to this one, I just wanted a newer one). It is indeed a good camera, and I took amazing pictures of it, plus the videos. It comes with a built in mic, which is good, and the battery runs out pretty slow, which is great. I cant remember how many times I may have dropped it and it is still sturdy and fine. The pictures come out good, except when there is very little lights, then, it may get blurry. The other con is that even though it says it corrects red eyes, it never did the job well, but I dont know if that is common or not with other brands too (also, I like altering the pictures myself, so the red eyes ain't that big of a deal, I would say).
It is definitely NOT the best camera in the world, but if you're looking for something practical, small and handy, this one can be the one. The 7.2 MP model sold much more, and it is the exact same camera with a bit more definition.

Great camera...
Takes good pictures, wasn't horribly expensive. I got this for my girlfriend a year ago and so far she has loved it. The rolling wheel menu is a really cool feature. If you're going for a compact digital I highly recommend the Sony ones in general along with Canon. Both are excellent. This one hasn't let down.

A Disappointment.
I'm a loyal Amazon customer, and I have to say this is the first thing I've bought from here that's disappointed me.

I didn't expect it to be an amazing video camera for only 0, but the quality I got with mine isn't anywhere near good enough to spend money on. It's webcam quality at best.

Maybe it was just the particular camera I received, I'm not sure, but the video came out blurry and so did the pictures.

I will say one good thing about it was the sound. The sound it picked up was great, if the video and picture modes worked as well as the sound does, it'd be a perfect little camera.

I'm returning mine and looking for something else.

Sent it right back
I got one of these very stylish cameras and tho't it could be used one-handed----I found that difficult as your grasp covered the flash/speaker on the front and it was difficult to press the appropriate button for movie or still shot, which are up high on the back edge. The only way I could see was to use it two handed and I wanted to be able to just as easily use it one handed. I would love to see some comments on that feature. So I sent it back to look for what might meet my needs best. Photo Queen.

Neat little gadget for the price.
I have owned the iSonic HD665 Snapbox for about four days. I am writing this to make some information available for others considering a purchase.

The native resolution of the image sensor is 5 mega pixels. The video codec is a 'MPEG-4 AVC (H .264)'.

The microphone is mounted on top of the device so it will pick up the camera operator's voice way louder than that of someone in front of the camera at an equal distance.

For still pictures, The camera allows you to select from 2MP(1600x1200), 5MP (2592x1944), and 11MP (3744x2808) resolutions. The last setting is just a 'blow up' of the native resolution. Most any picture editing program will do that. There might be some hidden advantage to it so I will reserve further comment. The pictures I took indoors with room light or the built in 'flash' came out a bit blurry due to the slow 'shutter' speeds and my hand movement. The 'flash' is actually a bright white LED that seemed to help, only out to a few feet in distance. The pictures I took outdoors, in well lit areas, came out in good focus. Compression on the jpg pictures 'seems' a bit high to me and is not selectable. The 5M setting will produce a file of about 1.25MB in size. I have uploaded a picture to the Image Gallery so that you all could judge the quality for yourselves.

The HD video recorder did not do well in low light as compared to a 'Flip Video Ultra'. The Flip Video is only 640x480, so that might not be a fair comparison. The HD665 performed well, outdoors, in well lit locations and in brightly lit rooms. The compression, again, 'seemed' a bit too high, if I viewed the videos within about two feet of my 42 inch HDTV I could easily see the compression artifacts (noise). From eight or ten feet away the videos looked good (maybe SVHS quality or better) to me. On a 17 inch computer monitor, they looked very good.

The lens has a three position switch on the side to adjust the focus distance. Macro mode has a center of 20cm as the focus, max and min distances were not listed. Portrait mode is listed as 90cm to 200cm as the focus range. Normal mode has a range listed of 200cm to infinity.

The battery is a Lithium-ion rechargeable NP60, 1050 mAh (If buying a replacement, be sure to look at a picture, it seems the NP60 has two different form factors). The NP60 type is apparently a common battery that can be had for around .

The HD665 is listed a being able to use standard SD/MMC memory cards. I had an old no-name 2GB SD card that did not work. Luckily, I bought a 2GB Kingston SD for about (here on Amazon.com) that worked just fine. With the 2GB SD card, the HD665 reports one hour of video recording capacity available and/or 1392 5MP jpg picture storage space available.

This device is also a MP3 player and a voice recorder. I did not buy it for that so I will reserve comment until I get time to play.

I will update this later, after I have more time to play with the HD665. I hesitated to award a score of any stars due to my lack of use with the product. I only went for 4 stars because the advertisement mentions a 'photo flash' and a 11MP resolution. That is, from my experience, just a tiny bit deceptive. Otherwise, the unit seems to work well.

ken

Added info:

I have had a full week to experiment with this camera and have really started to like it, a lot. It just took a little 'getting used to'. I discovered a setting called 'Night Mode' that greatly improved the low light performance, on both motion and still pix. The indoor still pix are no longer blurred, with reasonable light.

I purchased a 133x 4GB SD memory card for about .00. That gives me over two hours of HD video storage, and about 4 hours of VGA video.

I also purchased a spare battery. The battery is a 1200 mAh that is listed as being compatible with a Fuji NP60. The battery was a bargain at about .00.

The camera turns on when I flip open the monitor screen and turns off when the screen is moved to the closed position. There are two record buttons, one for video and one for still pictures. I found this very easy to use.

If there were some way to tweak the amount of video compression this camera would be a solid 5 star unit. I will, however, stick with my initial 4 star rating.

:)

k

Isonic HD camera review
This camera has been perfect for me. All I was after was something digital to get some practice sessions to the computer. I was expecting poor quality for 150 dollars. What I got was a lot better then what I thought I would get.

The interface has been easy to use even with my large fingers. It attached to my tripod perfectly. I got about 40 minutes of standard def video on a battery charge. The device is extremely light weight and black is a great color. No shiny silver object dangling above the table distracting people.

This camera does not take breathtaking pictures. I takes pictures that are good if things are situated. This camera just doesn't have effective image stabilization or great exposure control. Low light is grainy. Your not going to take great photos with any 150 dollar camera. However, the quality of videos and photos have been perfect for my needs.

This was a great purchase for me. I gave it 5 stars based on its merits as a 150 dollar camera. For 400 I would be disappointed. But I didn't pay 400

It came with a belt loop case software HDMI(custom interface to the camera looks like a mini cable on one end) cable USB cable Battery..... I was impressed with the cable selection.

I have shot 5 hours of video with it and have owned it for a week. So far I am happy with my purchase

Absolutely Terrible
I wish I could tell you (the reader) what a great camera this is. I wish I could say it was a great buy. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Today marks the third time since April, 2008 (which is when I originally purchased the camera) that I am having to send the camera back to Sony for repairs. I've had problems with the display not working properly, flickering, not showing colors, or simply not working at all; the facial recognition has not worked since day one; and the battery has not held a decent charge since day one either. To top it all off, every time I send the camera in for repairs, I have to pay for the shipping -- if that's not a slap in the face, then I don't know what is.

Now, for the period of time in between repairs that the camera has worked, it's had its good points and its bad points (more of the latter than the former).

The good:

The zoom on this camera is great, particularly the ability to zoom while filming (which from what I've heard isn't available on all cameras in this price range). Also, the continuous shutter works well and is really fast (there is no way to turn the flash on, however, which is a disappointment).


The bad:

Everything else. The pictures are simply terrible. I've adjusted the settings countless times, I've even set it on automatic to let the camera decide which settings are best; however, without fail, every time I plug the camera into the television to view the pictures, they look absolutely terrible. I've played old VHS tapes that have better quality than what this camera puts out. The same goes for the video quality.

My sister purchased a Canon camera that has the same features as this Sony (minus the ability to zoom while taking a video) plus more freedom to edit the photos in the camera, but her camera cost one hundred dollars less than this one, AND it hasn't given her any problems whatsoever. All in all, this purchase was a major disappointment. I truly expected more out of Sony, and I also expected that a corporation as large and as rich as Sony would at least have the decency to pay for the shipping when a customer is sending in their faulty product for repairs. This is most certainly the last time I ever purchase a Sony product.

* * * W a r n i n g * * *
I normally never write reviews but after owning one myself I felt it necessary to help others not end up with the same problems I had.

Camera looks great, compact, and takes ok pictures in outdoors with bright lights, but indoors don't even use it. Florescent lighting makes the pictures yellow orange. Face recognition does'nt work all the time. Most indoor pictures are blurry and soft. Red eye does not work all the time. I own a 4 megapixel sony and it takes better pictures than this camera. Flash is dissapointing making pictures dark if not close (5-10ft). This camera should have never even been released to the market. This camera is a waste of your money. Please don't make the same mistake I did! The pictures were so bad in the end that I now use it as a paper weight.

Good for it's purpose
I had no intentions of buying a camera, but I stumbled upon this one on clearance for 0 bucks at Best Buy. With an upcoming trip to Italy and my Pentax DSLR our only camera option I decided to buy it. Had I known it would be so difficult to find another one at that price, I would have bought them all. I'm happy with the purchase at my price, but would have been disappointed with the 0-600 everyone else seems to be paying.
The touchscreen works well, it's very responsive and easy to use. There could be some design improvements with the interface, but it's not too bad.
Well lit outdoor pics look great. Indoor, lowlight pics are mediocre.
File sizes are ok. Unfortunately no option for RAW files and it also doesn't use SD which is all but standard now, so i had to buy an additional memory card.

The bottom line is that it's perfect if your expectations are appropriate. Don't expect it to replace a DSLR, or take professional quality images. It's small, fits in my shirt pocket, is easy to use and easy to travel with. The images are good enough for a slideshow or scrapbooking--if that's your thing. Pick one up if you can find it under 0

excellent!
I know that it is very expensive, but if you can afford it, don't think twice about it. I had the model before this one but gave it away to my nephew and run home to buy another one and found this new model. Takes the pictures fast, the clarity and sharpeness is amazing. Many choices and simple to navegate. Easy to learn. Fits in your pocket and ready to shoot in half a second. If I lose it tomorrow, I will buy another one the day after.

very good camera
Good product from sony.
I am surprised to see its price getting increased after I had purchased the product.

Amazing compact camera
This camera is absolutely amazing. I have had it for over a year now and have used it in almost every imaginable environment. It is ideal for snorkeling and I have not had a single issue with temperature extremes from 120 to 0 degrees F. This is a perfect camera to pack along anywhere you go. A would recommend this to anyone who needs a simple compact camera for most activities.

poor overall design
Olympus Stylus 790SW 7.1MP Waterproof Digital Camera with Dual Image Stabilized 3x Optical Zoom (Orange)

Very disappointing camera. The lens is right where your finger needs to be to hold the camera well. You cannot shoot before a 2 second delay and having to press OK buttons. Overall poor ergonomic and software design (includes all the other 1 star issues mentioned: poor image quality, poor video quality, etc.). The Pentax is a much better product, I have now used 2 very happily.
Bernard

Bad water proof system
I bought this camera because i was traveling to galapagos and i thought that this trip deserves a water proof camera. But at the third day that I sumerge the camera in to the sea it got water inside. The camara broke down and i couldnt take any more pic in my trip. :(

It's Ok but not great
I purchased this camera for vacations on the water and the ability to take shots in rainy weather. It is indeed waterproof and durable, however the shutter lag makes it very frustrating when photographing children. I have a lot of just missed shots because of the delay.
Once taken, the colors seem very vibrant. Once again it is Ok but not great.

Best camera for a kid
This is a great camera for a kid. It looks good and is water resistant and shockproof. However, make sure to read the directions together to learn to use it well. They're easy to follow and have plenty of pictures. This camera is kid and user friendly.

Good product
Good entry level camera. Easy to use. Takes decent pics and videos, but not great.

broke before I even used it!
This is the second kodak 743 I had. The first one just stopped working for no reason. It was past the 1 year warranty,so nothing I could do. I loved the camera and wanted another,but when I received it and put the battery in,the screen was cracked. I guess I'll try another model

I Like my Kodak C743 Camera so Far
I bought this camera as a replacement for my KodakCx7530 for about the same money it would have cost me to have the 7530 repaired. I was very happy with the 7530 until it started to put pink overtones on all PICS.
My new C743 is even better than the 7530. I love it.I have not taken any Sepia or Black and whites yet so have no comment on them.
My only complaint so far is that I was told by Kodak that I could use my existing camera dock with the C743 camera by simply buying a Kodak D-22 Adapter. I can't find any tho I have tried everywhere even pre ordering a used one on your site.

kodak c743 digital camere
I previously owned this camera and I broke it on my wedding night!(totally my neglegence) I loved this camera because it took great pictures and they were so clear when viewing on my computer as well as when printed. I was so diappointed that it was a older model and not carried in stores because I needed one immediatley to take a picture to create my thank you card. I was desperate so I decided to by a canon. To my dissapointment, the pictures were not as clear. So, I searched the internet and happily found it avaible on Amazon.com. I was able to soon get started on my thank you cards because my new camera arrived within 3 days! Not only is this a great camera, it's aslo very easy to use!

Look befor you buy!
Well i have been checking out the reviews on this package deal that i got on the kodak c743 and printer g600! wow i feel pretty good about it now. All i paid was 2.00 at shopko! from the prices i have seen i think i got a heck of a deal!

Not what we had hoped
We bought this for our son in March. He only was able to use it a few times before the lense would no longer retract. Unfortunately, we were on vacation for 3 weeks when it happened and the camera only had a 90 day warranty, which ran out while we were gone. Now we have an expensive, useless camera. I expected more from HP.

good camera
THIS CAMERA PERFORMS WELL AND OUT PERFORMS SOME 8 PIXEL CAMERAS.IT STOPS MOTION REALLY WELL. MADE MY CEILING FAN AT FULL SPEED LOOK LIKE IT WAS STANDING STILL SO IMAGINE WHAT IT WILL DO AT THE GAME. vERY GOOD FOR THE PRICE.

HP M547 Photosmart rated So So
The 6.2MP HP M547 Photosmart's not a bad utilitarian camera and good overall value for the Online price, and the 2GB SD Card I got on Amazon using the Google Checkout discount was a great deal; But the 6.2 HP M547 Photosmart camera is not anywhere close to the camera my 4MP Nikon digital is. Good thing I found my Nikon again. I guess it's true, you get what you pay for, even if I did pay 0 for the 4MP Nikon 2 Chrismas' ago.

So easy even you can use it.
HP Photosmart M547 6.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
This is my second HP after 7 years. HP was my choice again for the ease of use, ease of understanding the
instructions and ease of connecting to the printer and the MAC computer. The screen is large, and what you see in the screen is the you picture get.

For the price is was THE RIGHT CHOICE AGAIN ----HP.

Charmaine

Really nice
My sister bought this camera for my daughter for Christmas. We are really impressed with it's quality. I own a Canon A560 and I think the pictures taken with this camera are even nicer. It's very user friendly and you can do some nice editing on the camera itself. I am very impressed. (And I have to be pretty impressed or not impressed to go out of my way to write a review).

Canon S-70 is NOT worth more than 0max!!
It was a descent camera at the time. I bought it in 2005 for about 0 something from BuyDig(finally a place that gave me no hassle, or the ussual run around.)
With wide angle lens, sliding lens cover. But here's what I learned: The slider is flimsy, and comes off of it's sliding rails sometimes, it doesn't do too well in low light. Forget about trying to take a candle lit shot of an altar. I ended up taping a piece of tissue to compensate for the overly bright flash. Above 100iso setting things tend to get rather grainy. This is a very sensitive and finicky camera to work with, you can have it on a setting that you like and as soon as you close the clam shell your setting disappears, and you're back to the default settings that may or may not work for you. Also the mode dial moves too easily, so you gotta be careful when you pull it out of your bag.

So save yourself the money. Because if you were to look on current market for point & Shoot digi cam, you'll find other cameras that are (1)cheaper, with (2)higher mega pixel counts, (3)Built in image stabilization/vibration reduction etc. (4)Slimmer body(so you don't look like you're overly excited, or have a pet gerbil hiding in your pants)

Finally, if you've been shooting film SLR you probably won't be satisfied with most digicam unless you're getting Nikon D3, or Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII.
Because unlike film cameras, the processor in those little digicam decides almost everything if it doesn't live up to standards you're stuck! ...with grainy, unnaturally color balanced images.

Nice camera
Nothing to complain, except slightly heavy and bulky (not too much though). Compare to my old S30, the battery life is greatly improved, and the turn-on time is shorter too. Picture quality and functions are also very good. Really love it. And its control is quite user friendly.

Excellent little camera - Great bang for the buck
I have owned this camera since it came out on the market. I have used many different digital cameras - and I believe this one has been the most user friendly and produces very fine images. It is well constructed- I take mostly outdoor/nature photos and having traveled extensively with this camera it has held up remarkably well.

I spent over 8 months in one year on fishing boats in the Bering Sea...no problems. This camera captured thousands of images (intervolometer option - awesome!) inside it's waterproof housing while strapped to the steel gantry's of 100' ships in less than ideal weather...no problem.

This camera went with me to the top of Ecuador's highest volcanos...only problem was the LCD freezing - now there are a few 'spots' on it...but hey...that was my fault and it wasn't exactly warm up there at 20,000'

So, yeah...it's a nice tuff little camera.

If you want to see some of my images from AK, check out - [...]
you'll need to click on each underlined link...and of course the image size has been reduced to save space....

Check it out!

Great Camera
A friend at work was just asking for advice on a camera as she had an early digital compact that was very un-user friendly. The conversation inspired me to post a review as this camera is so easy to use and takes fantastic photos.

Pros:
- Easy to use
- Picture quality is great
- Video is pretty good (not amazing but better than most out there)
- Size is good - not tiny but not big for the quality you get
- Stylish; looks nice
- You can buy a waterproof casing for it

Cons:
- The only thing that is probably the case with all compacts is its not super fast taking a photo. If you have used an SLR this will be a little annoying but overall its not a great problem and something you get used to with automatic focus.

I've been very very happy with this camera using it for travel and family shots. Thumbs up.

Good for us
Love this digital camera compared to our previous ones. We're mostly a point-and-click family, and this is an easy-to-use camera that does a good point-and-click and gives an opportunity to do more if you should so choose some day.