Canon PowerShot A2000 IS

I think this camera deserves four stars. I have used at least 10 digital cameras in the past 10 years, not counting the SLRs. At this price, $249, I think what this camera offers is as good as you can get from a pocket camera. There are some pros and cons but the pros far outweigh the cons. I like the A2000's solid feel and weight, unlike the flimsy feel of the most other recent A series, such as my A570is. The pictures are as good as, if not better than, any pocket camera at this price. There are complaints about noise, but again find me better pictures from the same class of cameras.

The features, however, are what please me. I am not going to repeat them since it's on the product description, but the use of AA batteries and 6x zoom are must haves for me. For better pictures quality, I use my SLR, but for pocket convenience, I'll just enjoy this for the time being, until the technology catches up with our unquenchable taste.

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After using it for a while, I couldn't understand how anyone would rate this camera lower than 3 stars without good reasons. Try http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2008/09/19/Canon-PowerShot-A2000-IS for a fair review.

I bought this new Canon A2000IS camera right after it was issued (September 2008)for my China trip. It replaced my old Canon A470, which got wet on Iguassu Falls, Brazil and as a result got a problem with full opening lens.
First of all, new camera has perfect 6X zoom and of cause very convenient big 3" screen. It works just great even compare with higher class and much more expensive cameras by another brands. A few people of our tour group made pictures at the same conditions (for example on acrobats show) using different type of cameras. My photos were the best, even without flush and far from the stage.
Yes, you have to wait a few seconds to recharge the flush, but it compensates with using just 2 AA batteries (you always have spare).
By the way, I am using Sony rechargeable battery (thanks for one of Amazon reviewer)and it works perfect for quite long time and hundreds of pictures made even in the night.
So if you are not so picky and not professional, but average user,like me, it is a really great camera for universal purposes. I am very satisfied with my purchase.

This is an excellent compact digital camera. After my Fuji MX600ZOOM finally called it quits after 10 years, I chose the Canon A2000-IS after a pretty extensive search. Pictures are excellent, macro works incredibly well, video is clear and smooth as my video camera, and it's so nice to have a 6X optical camera that will easily fit in my shirt pocket.

Some complained about poor write speeds, and I can tell you at max resolution, max picture size, it takes just about 2 seconds for mine to write. The reason is, I didn't skimp on the SD card. I bought Sandisk's 20 MB/s SDHC in 8 GB size. ($47, but $20 rebate) I almost went for their 30 MB/s card ($67) but I figureed 20 was fast enough for me. Now if you stick a $12 Walmart special in, then yea, it will take a while to write the photo to it.

In closing, i your looking for a high quality compact digital camera, you won't go wrong with this one as long as you don't feed it crappy SD cards.

The camera takes great pictures and videos, but it has one big problem: It takes around 5 seconds to load the picture you just took, making it a slow camera.
With the cameras outhere nowadays, this sort of thing shouldn't happen.

It is definitely disappointing to have to wait so long to see the picture you just took, and to have to wait so long to actually take another picture. This happens only using the flash, so at least you won't have this problem during the day.

The other minor problem is that it is way too big.. it is not a pocket camera that's for sure. If you're looking for a small camera don't buy this one.

Aside from those problems, the camera is very good, your typical cannon camera.

I bought this camera after trying the latest pocket Nikon, the L20. I found the menus on the L20 a little frustrating and the colors recorded in dim light (outdoor twilight) to be a little off. I also have a Canon SX10 which I have been very pleased with, so I thought I would try one of the Canon pocket offerings and I have indeed been pleased. I'll give the usual pros and cons:

Pros:
Takes great shots on the auto setting.

The optical image stablization works excellent even on maximum zoom. I shot quite a few indoor photos at full zoom and about 90% came out great. Granted, it was pretty brightly lit indoors, but previous cameras I've owned usually wound up with blurry photos.

The dial on the top makes it easy to flip between different shooting modes. I was surprised how much I liked having this dial vs. the Nikon L20 which is all menu-driven.

The camera survived a drop from about 4' onto cement without a scratch or any internal damage. And no, I didn't do that on purpose. ;)

The camera takes AA batteries which I have always liked - great when traveling.

The display on the back is large and easy to see even in bright light.

The 6x zoom lens is great.

The battery life is great. I shot about 140 shots, some of them with flash, and the "low battery" light didn't even come on.

Cons:
It's awfully big for a pocket camera. It just barely fits in my front pocket. It may not seem much bigger than the Nikon L20, but when you hold it in your hand you realize it's a fair bit heavier and noticeably larger.

The flash does take a long time to recharge, depending on the strength it used in the previous photo. I have read numerous other reviews stating the same thing. It's about what you would expect from a AA-powered camera.

Lastly, it's not as sexy-looking as other offerings from Nikon. All they would have to do is paint it red... oh well.

Final thoughts:

I have own some Kodak pocket-sized AA cameras before and found them generally poorly-made. So, I ruled them out on this purchase. I also looked at an Olympus, but in the end went with the Canon and have not been disappointed.