New Digital Camera (a540)

[zachary]

Hi,

 

I am looking to buy my mom a digital camera for her birthday. She's not too

tech savvy and needs something with a big LCD so she won't need here reading

glasses just to use it simply. It doesn't need to be super-small, but it can't

be too bulky (like a DSLR or the like). Price range is somewhere between $200

and $300. I came across the Canon A540 as meeting my needs but since its

relativley new I see very little info here on it. Is there something else I

should look at? I really like the a620 more but its lcd is 'only' 2 inches. I

think I should go for the 2.5" one, eventhough I will sacrifice some other

qualities of the a620. Please mention any camera that you think might work, I

would like to order it tomorrow.

 

Thanks,

:)

 

ZAch

[zachary]

I forgot to mention two things...

 

1)Most of here photos are of children (indoors and outdoors) and at parties and weddings (mostly indoors)

 

2)The main concerns I have with the a540 are a) Noise at higher ISOs since she takes a lot of indoor pics b)Flash power and coverage c) The quality of the LCD, I hear it is grainy...

 

Zach

[chuck_c_charlottenc_]

Zachary,

 

The Canon A540 is a very good camera. But, I feel the Canon A620 is the camera to buy, even though the LCD screen is slightly smaller. The overall specifications of the A620 are better in all catagories, except size ( the A620 is slightly larger). But I personally like the size of the A620 better, for feel.

 

The A620 provides the photographer with many automatic settings and also manual-like control (Aperature Priority or Shutter Priority Control) of the camera for the more experienced photographer. The A620 "noise" or "picture grain" at ISO settings (50, 100, 200, & 400) produce excellent pictures at ISO 50 and 100 and 200, and very acceptable pictures even at ISO 400. Not many Point and Shoot cameras can make this claim... except a few of the Fujifilm P&S's that are reportably better.

 

Check out these two reviews by Steve's Digicam and DPReview.

 

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/a620.html

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona620/

 

I'd buy the Canon A620... it's a quality camera, overall.

 

Use the search function of this forum... you'll find plenty of opinions on the cameras that interest you within this forum.

 

I hope this helps.

 

//Chuck

[Brad_]

Another A620 vote. Especially at $220.

[terry_rory]

<p> here is a scene taken by my daughter on her new Canon A620 a few weeks ago. Camera is probably set to all 'auto' defaults as she hates 'fussing' with technical things. </p>

 

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4609918-lg.jpg"></center>

[zachary]

What about the a700? Is it similar to the a620 in quality? I am willing to pay that much more for the 2.5" screen.

 

Zach

[phule]

The A700 has the advantage of including image stabilization and should certainly be considered.

 

Regardless of your choice, you should not make this a surprise. You should take her to a camera store and have her hold various models. See which ones she can use and can hold.

[phule]

Sorry, sorry, the coffee hasn't kicked in.

 

There is NO image stabilization in the A700. I was thinking of the SD700.

[chuck_c_charlottenc_]

Zach,

 

The A700 doesn't have the "solid feel" that the A620 does, but it does provide additional features that the A620 doesn't have... like a 6 times optical zoom, ISO to 800 (not sure it's clean enough to use), and, of course the 2.5" LCD screen.

 

It is about $30 more than the A602 at B&H Photo.

 

Here's a link to DPReview of the Canon A700.

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona700/

 

//Chuck

[jcuknz]

I too need reading glasses to see the LCD of the camera so I normally use the Electronic Viewfinder. You DO NOT HAVE to use the LCD with a digital ... you can use the optical or EVF just the same as she has done with the film cameras she has used in the past.