Canon - PowerShot A550 Digital Camera Review

When I decided to replace my outdated digital camera, I researched like crazy.  Trying to get good quality without spending both arms and legs.  I finally went with the Canon PowerShot A550.

At first I loved it.  Good quality pictures, easy enought to use.  But I think what I liked about it was that it was so much better than my old 1.3 megapixel unit.  After using for a while, I disliked it more and more.

The quality of the pictures is OK, not great.  The scroll to view pictures is slow and it does not have a thumbnail view.  The settings (outdoor, nighttime, etc) are labeled with pictures that don't really help indicate what they are for.  I am a dummy when it comes to cameras and could use something easier.  Sometimes I set it on "night shots" and the flash does not go off.  Other times I can't get the flash to NOT go off and the pictures are all washed out.

I also found that the camera eats batteries WAY too quickly.  I was taking photos for ebay listings and found the batteries dead after about 30 shots.  While I know some people prefer cameras that run on AA's instead of a chargeable unit, I wish I had rechargables or a built-in power source.

Bottom line-- pictures are pretty good when I can get the settings I want and get them to work properly.  Ease of use is medium and battery life is sub-par.