The canon power shot is definitely a step up from our old Kodak easy share camera.  It comes with a compact battery charger which is very nice, especially with travelling and not having to worry about constantly buying and carrying around new batteries.  The charge on the battery lasts quite a while - I probably only charge it every 2-3 months and we take many pictures/videos a week with our camera.  There is an automatic option for taking pictures and then other options for manual set up...quite a few options actually.  It isn't the smallest camera on the market but it still comfortably fits into a pocket or small purse.  The camera also takes pretty good home videos and it is nice to get little blips of video of my kids when we are out and about and I don't have the video camera.  We have been using the canon power shot for the past 2 and a half years and we are still happy with it, even though there are many other options we could upgrade to. 

kristenbranham

Folsom, CA

It is reliable and takes pictures, like a camera should, but I'm sure tehre are better cameras developing out there now that have better settings. One pro is taht it is pretty easy to use for the average customer and i've never had too much trouble with it. one thing i disliked about it was how it was hard to take nonstill photos unless i somehow adjusted the settings. i'm not quite sure what the criteria was for why they were not still and why they were, but most of the time it wasn't too much of a problem. i'm not sure if this is how cameras normally are, one con about it was that the color setting sometimes changed when it was dark or light.

cupiddosntlie

Irvine, CA

I was very impressed of the small package of this camera and still have quality photos come out of it.  Fits easily in a pocket or a purse, and can be straped around your hand or around your neck with included straps.  The menu system is very easy to navigate.  In less than 10 minutes I was up and running taking valuable photos for our memories.

mamadealex

West Palm Beach, FL

I bought my camera a couple of years ago and I like it a lot. I just point and shoot and it works well for that. I have had a very big problem with red eye. All of the pictures of me are red eyed and when you go to fix it up it doesn't work very well. The eyes just come out funny. Since I use my camera a lot the screen gets dirty but when you go to wipe it off it gets scratched way too easily. If you take the time to read all of the features this camera can do a lot if you know how. I like how small it is and I like that it can do small videos. You can't zoom in or out while filming but it is pretty good quality.

irehsheri

Beverly Hills, CA

Canon's 4-megapixel PowerShot A430 is a bit of an oddity these days. New 4-megapixel cameras have all but gone the way of vinyl records and slide projectors. With even bargain-bin digital cameras sporting 5-megapixel sensors, why is Canon releasing the A430? The Canon PowerShot A430 is an upgraded version of the bottom-of-the-line 3-megapixel PowerShot A410, which it replaces as Canon's cheap, no-frills digital camera. In that role, the camera actually performs pretty well. Despite some irritating image-quality problems, the A430 is a nice, simple point-and-shoot camera with solid performance and a decent feature set.The blocky A430 is about the size of a large bar of soap; the right size to fit into a jacket pocket or a purse. Its silver plastic body feels solid and weighs a relatively light 7.5 ounces with two AA batteries and an SD card. Its LCD is a puny 1.8 inches, but the small screen leaves room for a surprisingly decent optical viewfinder.

mich111

Redwood City, CA

i recieved this camera for my shower as a gift. I used it maybe about 7 times in one year. then about 13 months later i go to use it and my lens won't come out. i keep on getting a e18 error. i called canon and they told me that i would have to repair it myself. the damage will cost me close to 200. it's not worth it, they won't cover it at all. i read up on this problem and a lot of people are complaining about this and say that the same thing happened. i would not recommend this to anyone. trust me it's not worth it.

renee1977

South Elgin, IL

The Canon PowerShot SD450 is the best digital cameral I've ever had.  In fact, my first was stolen and I went right out and bought another.  It's so easy to carry around - I have it on the strap of my purse so that it's with me all the time.  No excuse for not being able to capture that extraordinary moment with the pets or grandkids.

cribby

Dorothy, NJ

The camera functions well all modes, however, the focus tends to be soft regardless of the settings you use.  While the ISO can go as high as 1600, there is considerable digital noise after 400.  The shutter speed is capable of going up to 32, but at that setting you must use a tripod and a remote control otherwise you will capture every tiny movement as blur. There is a tendency toward purple fringing in bright sunlight.  This is most evident in the outlines of trees.  Portraits come out nice and clear. The kit lens performs fine.  Most of the problems are in the design.  There is no way to eliminate the soft focus issue.  The soft focus is more apparent when shooting in any of the manual or "full control" modes.  It is less apparent when using "full auto" or "landscape."

Marburg

77511

I bought the cannon powershot about a year ago and haven't had any problems with it at all other then it eats batteries and the shutter speed seems a bit slow. The pictures are nice and clear with great color, interface with the computer makes it easy to download pictures. It's just and easy to use camera that I'm happy to own.  

hogman10

Benton, AR

So, this isn't my camera, but I did have to use it for a school project.  The project involved taking close up pictures of nature and insects, and boy, did this camera live up to expectations. It's very slim and portable, and has a lot of settings that you can play around with: auto, manual, digital macro, portrait, night, my colors, kids & pets, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, and underwater. You can also take video. In auto, the settings are pre-selected. (Ex. flash on/off) In manual, you can choose all of the settings, and it's just a basic picture taking mode. Digital macro is ah-mazing when taking close up pictures!  After you focus the camera, you can also zoom in more.  The zoom is a little bit misleading, though.  On the screen, it will look very blurry, but after you take the picture, it will become incredibly clear. Portrait provides a soft effect when taking a picture. Night, indoor, foliage, snow, foliage, beach, fireworks, and underwater all enhance what you are taking the picture of, or where you are taking it. (Note: You can only take pictures underwater if you have a special underwater case.) Even though I never use it, my colors is a really cute feature.  You can swap the color of a certain object.  You first center a small square on that color, and everything in the viewfinder with that color will change.  The only problem with this is that there can be no shadow on that object, because then the color will not be consistent. Kids and pets is good if you have, well, kids and pets.  Since they tend to move around a lot, they invented this nifty feature that won't create a blurry picture if your child or pet is moving around a lot.  The only downside is that the picture isn't as high quality as some of the other settings. The LCD screen is great, bright and colorful.  The only bad side is that you really can't tell if your picture might be blurry; it has to be on a computer screen to really see all of the detail. The battery is okay, but you might find that you won't know when the battery is all.  I don't think it indicates anywhere how much life is left.  At least I havent' noticed it; the only thing I noticed is the red flashing battery icon when the life is low.  It tends to happen at the most inconvenient of times, and take about three hours to charge. There are two things I really don't like about this camera: the focus, and having a shaky hand. To focus the camera, you press down the "shoot" button, but not all the way. Most times, especially in digital macro, it does not focus on what you want it to focus on, and the picture will come out blurry.  Sometimes, I'll be trying to focus on something for ten minutes, until I finally realize that my efforts are futile and it's a waste of time trying. Another thing that I don't like is something that I guess you could blame on me.  I cannot for the life of me hold the camera still when trying to take a picture.  I don't have a tripod, but the only way I can keep it still is by resting it on something, like a table or the ground.  An interesting shot of a leaf hanging off of a branch? Forget it.  It is **so** hard to keep my hand straight.  At least it tells you when your hand isn't straight.  There's a little red camera picture in the lower left corner with lines around it to indicate shaking.  You can bet that that icon does not go away until I put the camera down. In summary, unless you have a completely straight hand, this may not be the camera for you.  On the other hand, it does take great pictures and does have some really cool settings. Rating: **4 Stars**

Brittanyls

A Small Town, NJ