Canon PowerShot A300 3.2MP Digital Camera with 5.1x Digital Zoom by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon PowerShot A300 3.2MP Digital Camera with 5.1x Digital Zoom
Digital camera Review: Excellent camera at a very reasonable price!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Canon A300 knowing full well that it doesn't have optical zoom. To me, a typical 3X optical zoom simply doesn't do much. Further, the added moving lens of a zoom camera is prone to mechanical problems. It is simply NOT worth the [money amount]or more for this feature. What the Canon A300 offers is a compact camera that takes shockingly detailed pictures, especially in outdoor light. In macro mode, the fine detail that I see in the pics is astounding! They are better than my Nikon SLR film camera. Indoor shots with flash do not turn out as sharp as outdoor shots, but still very good nevertheless. Sure there are negatives. Do not use this camera for action shots or sports photography. The auto-focus and light-metering will be too slow for that. However, for general use, such as scenic shots, this camera is more than adequate. Don't let the complaints about excessive battery drainage scare you away! It is simply not true! The original alkaline batteries did NOT last very long, but the NiMH batteries I got seems to last longer each time I recharge them! I can get at least 60 shots using these batteries with the camera in full function. One negative is the very tiny icons. They are hard to see and they are not very intuitive. Navigating the menus is also confusing at first. But once you get it, it is quite easy. Suggestion: go through the very long owner's manual first to see WHAT the camera can do, then go through it again to see HOW to do it! The software that comes with the camera is also very nice and easy to use. I did not have to read the manual for the software before using it. But I did later because I did not want to miss anything. In summary, this is a very competent camera and a great value. At [money amount], there is simply nothing close to it in terms of features, quality, and value.Digital camera Review: Excellent camera for the money
Summary: 5 Stars
I upgraded to this model from a polaroid pdc640, so its lightyears better than what I'm used to. I'm a bargain hunter so I got a good deal on this and a 256meg CF card. As mentioned by most all previous reviews, this thing EATS regular alkalines. Buy some decent NI-MH AAs and a charger...and save some benjamins, seriously. Here's a list of what I like about this camera:-easy to switch to movie mode and back
-15fps movies are excellent quality and have SOUND!
-easy to change picture quality (hit FUNC>left or right>FUNC)
-no drivers needed with Windows XP (just plug it in and POOF!)
-excellent quality pictures even at low-res
-changable startup image/theme and sounds
-powerful flash lights up a pitch black room
-lens protector keeps the lens cleen/unscratched
-auto focus works well in good-light conditions and easy to use
Things that aren't as good
-auto focusing takes a while in low light, I turn AF off most times
-EATS batteries, buy rechargables. do it.
-digital zoom...what do you expect for the money (compare a 3.2mp sony)
-no TV-out (no complaint here)
-16mb card will last you about 20 pictures at the highest resolution (fortunately CF is cheaper than memory stick, SD, MMC...)
This camera is great for close-ups, short videos, any generally any type of picture that zoom is not a priority. Personally I love it, but if you want to be able to zoom in on your subjects, definitely pony up the cash and move up to a more expensive camera.
Digital camera Review: FANTASTIC
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a surprising camera. I have no idea why it's so inexpensive. The video alone is amazing! Those who complain that it has no optical zoom have never used a digital camera before. You don't need a zoom in the view finder. I hear it uses batteries quickly, but it only takes 2. I use the rechargable batteries and I can fill up a 256 mb card twice before I need to replace them. This is my second digital camera, I got my first one 4 years ago and just moved up to this one. It's not very user-friendly. You will need to refer to the book often for a while. The programs that it comes with are fantastic, too. You can convert the .avi to .mpeg, you can put them on disk and play them on your dvd player and watch on your t.v. or that also makes the files small enough to email them to family and friends. I love this camera!!!Digital camera Review: Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
The Powershot A300 was my first digital camera. In that sense, it's like your first car. You knew you weren't going to win any points for style or speed, but it got you from point A to point B and introduced you to what you knew you wanted in future cars.The picture quality is, in a word, superb. I took a picture of my daughter at the 2 megapixel equivalent setting (1600 x 1200), and I was stunned. I had that photo blown up to 8 x 10 and you cannot tell it was taken with a digital camera (no pixellation). The colors are rich, and the only down side to that shot was that it made me realize that my little girl is becoming a young woman. My wife, who does not give out compliments easily, said that the picture rivaled what you'd pay for in a studio shoot.
I have not had the battery life problems others have mentioned. In fact, AA usage is pretty good, all things considered. This is the ideal point and shoot camera for travel, but as battery life erodes, writing the picture to the compact flash card becomes noticeably slower.
This camera now goes with me everywhere. It is much more convenient to use than my EOS Rebel 2000, but I miss the creative zone controls on the Rebel. These same controls are on such Canon Powershot models as the A60, A70, S45, S50, G3 and G5.
The manual is comprehensive, and from what I've seen, most of the complaints addressed in this board can be solved or addressed by reading the manual.
All in all, this camera yields dynamite pictures and you cannot beat the price. If you're thinking about trying out digital, or you want a durable camera you can take with you on your travels and have a ready access to power (AA batteries are almost worldwide universal), get the A300. You will not be disappointed. It won't make you Ansel Adams, but if you've done even 30 seconds of homework before you make your purchase, you'll know this going in.
Digital camera Review: First Impressions: Excellent Value for money
Summary: 4 Stars
Given that digital camera prices keep falling, and steeply for the higher end models, this camera is almost a steal. At under $200 for a 3.2 megapixels this camera is an excellent buy (at least in 2003!). I have had this camera for less than a month and first impressions:
- Photo quality is excellent. Best results if you are shooting with lots of light, either daylight or indoors.
- ISO 50 mode gives you the best results.
- Consumes lots and lots of battery power. Trying to learn the camera controls used up a two AA pack in less than 90 mts. Go for the NiMH rechargeables. Will save $$$
- Most of the controls can be understood without reading the manual. The manual itself can be quite intimidating, so try to understand the controls by tinkering around with the camera itself.
- Best photo quality is to be had under the Superfine and Large settings. File sizes at this setting can be as large as 2MB.
- Get a 256 MB or larger flash card.
- File transfer with the usb connection seems a bit slow, especially when transfering a full 256 MB flash card worth of contents.
- Flash is quite difficult to use. At close distances it tends to whiten everything in its wake, and at moderate distances it seems too weak to do anything useful!
- Noise is considerable at ISO 400 setting. Therefore, shoot at 50 or 100.
- Videos are reasonably sharp. the 640x480 mode creates large files (approx 25MB) of ok sharpness.
- the images tend to be a bit on the softer side.
For the price this camera is an absolute steal. Of course you do not get an optical zoom, nor can you control the depth of field, or the shutter speed with this model, but this model is meant to be a starter model...