Canon PowerShot A650IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

This is the perfect take-anywhere camera for someone who wants it all in one device that's simple and portable. Hi-res photos, flexibility, movable screen to capture shots around obstacles, and clear movies, all using the great image stabilization tech that's built in. Super product.

i have this camera as a backup to my dslr (canon xsi at this moment)...

the quality of the pictures is amazing for point and shoot! it can rival xsi occasionally!

works off 4 AA batteries:
+ can buy them anywhere
+ flash loads fast
+ takes humongous amount of shots before replacement is needed

image stabilization is a dream :)

some people say that it does not feel solid - feels pretty darn solid to me :)

Do not waste your money on the wide angle lens adapter and filter kit. The adapter and all accessories will not work if you need to use the flash. The adapter is so big it blocks the flash in the scene creating a dark spot in the bottom right hand corner. Stupid design. Camera needs a hot shoe for an external flash. Also, when using wide angle, it makes a cameo image...meaning each corner has a black triangle where the camera can not see becuase the adapter blocks the light. So you have to zooom in to get them out of your picture....defeats the purpose of a wide angle lens. Spent an extra $250 on these parts and it was a waste of money. I like to do interior shots of home for real estate but the wide angle is useless if you use flash....big black spot in each corner.

It is a great camera... The only downside is the flash it leaves much to be desire t would be nice if I had a hot shoe. But I have a slave flash that i can use the old fashioned way... manually. I love the picture quality.

This is a good little camera. I bought it to upgrade my ancient A70, which I liked except for its postage stamp lcd. My main complaint about the camera is the price, and that's why I don't give it a higher rating. It was selling for under $300 in the early summer. I watched the price rise to over $400, looked around, and bought it elsewhere for $350 by a supplier who hadn't apparently caught on to the price increase. The $475 that it's selling for today is way too much; you can get an excellent digital slr, the Canon Rebel XSi for $650! Anyone know why the price increased?

Pro:
Great Canon interface and controls.
Lots of great manual controls.
Good videos with sound.
I like and use the neat hinge on the lcd.
Lcd size is sufficient.
Histograms on the photo playback.
Good optical and digital zoom with a little color-coded bar on the lcd that tells you when you're zoom is getting into an area where your photos could suffer from camera shake.
Image stabilization.

Cons:
Overpriced.
The 12 megapixels is overkill. If you need great resolution, why not get a slr with a good lens? I shoot at 5 or 8 mp.
Narrow range of aperture compared to a slr. At the small end, it only goes to f8. You can stop it down to f2.8--not bad, I suppose.
Photos are noisy at higher ISO numbers.

When I was shopping I recall seeing other point-and-shoot Canons for quite a bit less. You might have to drop down a few megapixels, give up image stabilization, and/or the lcd hinge. Sorry, I don't recall the model numbers, but it might be worth looking around. If I were to do it over, I'd buy a less expensive super compact and a Rebel xsi.

I have had no problems so far with this camera. I particularly like the increased resolution on the LCD. It makes it easier to see if the pic was out of focus. I also have found that pictures in low lighting have been coming out well using the ISO feature. The 6x optical zoom is also great for this type of camera. 12.1 Mega pixels allows you to take a picture and zoom way in on details without losing resolution. Make sure you have at least a 2mb card if you plan to shoot regularly at 12.1.

I have had this camera for 9 months now and yes-it takes great pictures and the swivel LCD screen is wonderful to see what you are photographing in tough to shoot areas. HOWEVER, after 6 months of owning this camera, the lens started getting stuck outside the body, the shutter would not close, and the inside of the lens attracted condensation. I live in a very hot and humid environment (Southern Japan) and the camera would do this every time it got humid, which is almost every day. I persisted on because it took such great pictures. After 9 months, the LCD screen went black and the whole camera stopped working. I sent it in to Canon for repair since it is under warranty and they refuse to repair the camera. First they told me it was "beyond economically repair" to fix the camera. With further calling and questioning, they instead told me that due to "water damage" they would not repair the camera because I "misused" the device - new excuse. I have never had water near my camera, let alone ever dropped or misused it in any way. I am a doctor and use this camera for patient documentation and occasional personal use. Apparently, my mistake was living in an environment with "extreme conditions" which is what humidity is to Canon Cameras and what they replied after further argument. SO MORALE OF THE STORY is DO NOT buy this camera if you live in a humid environment or even want a camera you can depend on with great customer service in case something does happen. I am very displeased with the company and their lack of support for their products and in maintaining customer loyalty. I am switching to SONY cameras now, which are rated higher by Consumer Reports anyways. Take my advice, don't waste you time because Canon will do that for you if you do buy this camera.

This is my first experience with a Canon product and I'm really impressed. That's hard to say for a Nikon guy who has used everything from an F2 to a D1x professionally for over 30 years.

I've only had the camera for a couple of weeks, but the A 650 has done most things very well and its relatively easy to figure out. I bought it for the rotating display but its overall performance has been great. I have been using an ancient Nikon 990 all this time because I love the low angles you can get from its "twist body" design. The display on the A650 allows me to do the same thing. The software is fast and easy to use.

My only complaint so far, and this could be due to inexperience with the camera, is that the image stabilization is not great and the video tends to over expose. These are tiny problems for a generally terrific product.

The Canon A650 has some features that take a bit of getting used to. Particularly the ISO, the Image Stabilizer, 'noise' at high settings. There was also a glitch in the software, the photos didn't properly download from the camera. This aside, the A650 allows me to shoot in other than perfect conditions and get very good shots.

The most interesting feature is a good zoom lens that allows crisp pictures at a good distance. Also, I have not had any of my pictures wash out even in really bright sunlight.

As I learn more about the features of the camera and the individual settings in different conditions,I am sure the end product is going to look better and better.

This camera gets 5 Stars but I felt compelled to write a review for the Amazon acolytes who may stumble across this. About a week ago, Amazon was selling this camera for about $300. Now, it appears that Amazon is no longer selling this camera but a different seller, Wall Street Photo, is. Because there are no other sellers, it looks like that is the going price for the camera, when it is not; not by a mile. They are currectly charging the egregious amount of $521.59 ($509.43 + $12.16 shipping).

Don't get suckered in by these bad sellers. Even the most expensive brick and mortar camera store is much cheaper.

Caveat emptor. Big time!

I am a canon powershot fan, and have been for a while now. I did a great deal of research before deciding on this particular camera, and I must say, I think I picked a great one! I love the variable angle screen and the quality of pictures is quite good. I appreciate that I can take great looking shots both with or without manual features.

This is the best camera I could ever imagine! We took it on vacation and found it to be versatile and fun to use. I was taking shots out of the windshield and side passenger window and you would have never known it. We were at an airport and the chain link fence was too high, so I used the swivel screen and stood under it and got an awesome shot. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone. The zoom is more than adequate. My last one had a 10x zoom so was afraid I would be a little disappointed. I have mine set on 8 megapixels and the pictures from vacation turned out better than I could have imagined. I had read negative reviews about the card being where the batteries are. I haven't found that to be a problem. I love the swivel screen and the fact that when you shut the machine off, the lens automatically is covered. On my last one, I had to put a cap on and that took extra time. It is quick to turn on and shoot when there is something you want to catch. Good job Canon!! The A650IS is a great camera. You get a lot of performance for your money!

The Canon A650IS is a small digicam that is easy to use and takes reasonably good pictures. I bought it as a "grab-and-go" camera for when I don't want to lug along my DSLR and lenses. If you are a DSLR owner, then you're probably spoiled by your main camera. As such, it is not fair to compare it to the A650 IS - it's an apples and oranges comparison. With this in mind, the Canon A650IS is a bargain for what it does: 12MP, 6X zoom, AA batteries, articulating LCD. It can take an 8Gb SDHC card so you'll have plenty of room for stills and movies. As with virtually ALL small digital cameras, noise levels above ISO 200 are quite annoying, but there is software out there that can reduce this noise. My one pet peeve with this camera is that you need to open the battery door to take out the SD card.
The camera does its best work in good daylight. It's one of the better small digicams out there, and I've tried quite a few.
Now here's something you won't read in most reviews of the Canon A650IS - this camera is a bit "dumbed-down". That is to say, it's distant cousin, the Canon G9, has more flexibility even though it has the virtually the same optics and sensor. I guess that Canon can thereby sell a cheaper camera by intentionally not providing what it provides in the G9. BUT inquisitive photographers can make their Canon A650IS into a camera that,
for example, shoots RAW, has a live histogram, bracketing, and has a full-time battery indicator. In this light, the A650 IS, a solid small camera as sold, becomes even more worth the price of admission. This information is on the internet for any enthusiast to find, as I did (and there are NO warranty issues to do this).

Fantastic camera. We needed something to capture our two little boys (ages 3 and 1) in their active states.

After doing a ton of research I decided on the Powershot A650. Amazon gets a 5+ for customer service, because my one day shipping took 4 days and they reimbursed me for it. Back to the camera, I have had it since March and I like it so far. It is much more camera than I need as I was told by friends but I plan on learning how to use all the extra features that it has. I love the software that came with it how it only loads the previously unloaded pictures to the computer, my old camera didnt do that. The reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is (unless I missed something somewhere) it doesn't let you know that your batteries are low until its to late, and that it is slow in taking multiple pictures one right after the other, that may be in part that I currently have a sandisk 2gb ultra II and I have read that there are some better cards. All in all I'm happy with it.

Before I go on about how wonderful this camera is, you should know that RITZ CAMERA is the place from which you should buy it! I might sound as though I'm doing a commercial, but honestly, I do NOT work for Ritz Camera - I'm simply a consumer who did my homework before making a purchase, and was Very pleased to learn that Ritz Camera gives you FREE CLASSES on how to use all of the functions on this camera, PLUS they gave me a mail-in rebate for a free photo printer, free paper & other stuff!! ....The classes are invaluable in order to get the most out of this fine camera! I mean, sure, it's very easy to use - you just point 'n click. BUT, keep in mind, there are 21 different settings for taking the best pics in different places! This depends on the distance of your subject, and the amount of light, and whether or not your subject is moving quickly or standing still, and depending what sorts of colors are in-frame & what's in the background, etc. So, even though this camera will take fantastics pics in the first place, an educated user will know how to capture the absolute Best picture, every time! And, as long as you're gonna buy a camera which has all of those funny-looking symbols on the dial - hey, you may as well learn how to take advantage of em, right?! ......Oh, and even though my local Ritz Camera shop didn't have this particular model in-stock, they were able to get it from their warehouse in 3 days, no additional cost! ...I called around to 3 other stores (ie: Wal-mart, Sears and Staples), and none of them could match the deal I got from Ritz Camera. Although their prices were all about the same, they either didn't have this camera in-stock, couldn't order it, did not offer free stuff with it, and none of them offered free classes! So, obviously, I'm highly impressed with the way Ritz Camera does business -- they really go the extra mile for their customers! Highly recommended!! ....Now, about this camera - what more can I say which other buyers haven't already said?? It's absolutely wonderful! I previously owned a Canon Powershot A620 (which has a mexapixel rate of 7.1), and I loved that so much, I knew that I wanted to buy another Powershot - I simply wanted to upgrade the megapixel rate (and, of course, still have a camera which has the flip-open viewer, opposed to the stationary LCD screen). So, basically, this is the same camera as the one I was using but it has a significantly higher megapixel rate, plus it has 6x optical zoom instead of 4x. ...Overall, this is an Awesome upgrade, and highly recommended!!! Once you see the photos that this camera is capable of producing, there's no going back!

I also own a Canon Powershot 2.1MP and love it. For a 2.1 the pictures are impressive, focus is crisp and overall images look to be from a much better (more resolution) camera. The Powershot A650IS 12.1 Mpix is somewhat of a disappointment. When zooming the image stabilization is just not able to take care of vibration. If I use a tripod it is better but overall compared to my older Canon I am disappointed. I bought this for the point and shoot and the 6X optical zoom but it looks like I will have to use a tripod. I frequently get images that are not perfectly focused and if I really zoom in when reviewing, there seem to be spots across the image as if the image sensor quality is not too good. I did notice that my first camera is heavier and was made in Japan as opposed to the new one that is lighter and made in China. For $300 it is hard to get a 12.1 w/6x zoom but I'm not overwhelmed with the quality of the image. I may need to work with the manual settings to get a better image.

Really great cameras.

Positives:
-manual controls
-large CCD for a point and shoot
-can install CHDK on a memory card to add a histogram and shoot in RAW
-4 AA batteries (will be adding rechargeable batteries next)
-relatively small size for the quality of photos you are getting
-6x optical zoom
-swivel screen means you can shoot from many different angles

Negatives:
-large body for a point and shoot
-was priced a little higher than I was anticipating spending
-can't zoom while shooting movies (not that uncommon since the zoom would make too much noise)

I am very satisfied with my purchase. I wanted a good introductory camera for something looking to dabble in digital photography and it is perfect. Small enough to stick in a backpack but takes very good quality photographs, even for a beginner.

I am a big fan of CANON CAMERAS and I am happy to add this one to my list. I just upgraded from the Canon A640 and the A650IS delivers everything it says. The "IS" is a great feature and the addition of the AQUARIUM mode is great. I love shooting at zoos and aquariums and this camera is an unexpected pleasure to do that job.

I used to own the CANON DSLR REBEL XT and thought that I would only be able to get great zoo shots with this camera. I am happy to report that the CANON A650IS can do the job just as well. While I am not saying that it is as good as having a 300mm lens (which I also had) the shots that I got from a distance were remarkable. And it is a lot easier to carry around with you then a DSLR.

I am going to add the telephoto and wide angle lenses to my collection and will report back to let you know how they work with the A650IS.

If you are on the fence about what kind of camera to get the CANON A650IS is the way to go.

You will love it!!!

I wanted this camera primarily for two features: 1) it uses ordinary AA batteries, 2) the tilt and swivel display.

I really don't like proprietary rechargeble batteries. They always seem to poop out way too soon and, as a result, I wind up carrying several of them. They also impose the burden of needing to be recharged which, in most cases, means carrying yet another gadget, the recharger.

Sometimes I just want the convenience of carrying a camera with AA cells that I can buy anywhere should the need arise.

So the A650 is very appealing to me for that reason alone.

Next big feature is the tilt and swivel screen. You can use the camera at virtually any angle, which if you're feeling creative, is a huge plus, especially if you're old like I am and not quite as supple as you were 40 years ago. The A650 makes it easy for me to get pictures of my toddler grandchild at her level, not five feet up! Used with a QwikPod or similar device, you'll have no trouble creating well composed pictures that include you, which is nice when you are travelling. No need to rely on strangers.

Those are the big features for me - the rest of this camera's assets are frosting on the cake. The image quality is excellent at lower ISO equivalents. As with all point 'n shoot cameras and many DSLRs, as you increase the speed, you increase the noise. Can't be helped.

The zoom range is adequate, though I would rather have a 28mm capability and less telephoto. I suspect, considering what Panasonic, Olympus and Nikon are doing, that a future A model may have both a wider angle at one end and a higher telephoto at the other. The one thing I hope is that they don't get rid of the optical viewfinder or, in the alternative, include an optical LCD viewer as in the new Nikon Coolpix. You can, by the way, get supplementary wide-angle and telephoto lenses.

The video capability of this camera is terrific, which was a big consideration for me. I want to use video for blogging and hobby purposes. The built-in microphone is excellent though, as you might expect, a tad too sensitive to finger noise on the camera. It also, predictably, becomes less than optimal for voice when the speaker is more than a few feet away.

Optical stabilization works well.

Shot-to-shot time feels a bit on the slow side.

The zoom control is a bit too small and zooming is a bit on the sluggish side.

Autofocus is inconsistent. It is usually tack-sharp, but sometimes it starts to hunt and is slow.

Color rendition is excellent.

Battery life with the four AAs is surprisingly good.

The camera is somewhat on the large side and the pocket you put it in had best be large. It is also a bit heavy, coming in at just under a pound.

Available controls are terrific, including full manual operation.

Overall, the A650 is a continuation of the traditionally excellent Canon A series. There are much smaller and lighter cameras available that provide many of the same features. But if you want the convenience of AA batteries, the versatility of a tilt and swivel screen (and an optical viewfinder) and manual controls, the A650 is just about the only game in town in this form factor.

Jerry

This the best Cam I've ever had,
i'ts very easy to use equaly taking pictures and dowloading to a PC
and editing them with software provided.
VERY GOOD CAMERA.

This camera (A 650 IS) has two problems on "Auto":

Unreliable autofocus: At my grandson's soccer game the first photo is properly focused but the next one is not. Does the "face detection" system conflict with the "image stabilization" system? Minus one star.

Unreliable exposure: Still at my grandson's soccer game the first photo is F:4 at 1/200 sec, the second is F:4 at 1/400 (dark), the third is F:4 at 1/600 (very dark) all taken within 60 seconds. Minus one star.

With a "point 'n shoot" camera it is essential that after you point it and shoot it you get a good image. This one only does that sometimes.

Amazon itself gets the full 5 stars. I ordered the camera April 4, they shipped April 5, I shot 500+ images including the soccer game April 12, contacted the "online returns center" April 14 and shipped it back the same day, Amazon processed the refund April 18 with no charge for the return shipping. No problems at all and no delays.

I will buy my next camera from Amazon!

Excellent small camera for serious photographers who don't always want to carry something larger. Articulated screen lets you shoot low to the ground, Hasselblad style, for great angles with kids, pets, etc. And over your head, which would wouldn't do with a 5 lb Hassy.

High pixel count makes the digital zoom a real usable option (on the telephoto end) instead of a toy. Lots of control, unbelievably long battery life.

Overall, a fabulous camera.

Canon PowerShot A650IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THIS CAMERA'S FEATURES: 12 Mp RESOLUTION, 6X OPTICAL AND 4X MECH ZOOM FOR 24X ZOOM. THE HIGH RESOLUTION PERMITS THE FULL ZOOM WITH GOOD OPTICAL RESULTS. FEATURES LIKE AN OPTICAL VIEWFINDER, THE HIGH ISO, AN ARTICULATED LCD SCREEN AND AN AUTOMATIC LENS COVER ARE VERY HANDY. I'M A LANDSCAPE PAINTER AND USE THE CAMERA FOR INITIAL DESIGN IMAGES WHICH I ENHANCE WITH PHOTOSHOP. WITH THIS CAMERA I CAN USE JUST THE SMALLEST PORTION OF THE IMAGE BLOWN UP 20 OR 30 TIMES WITH GOOD RESULTS. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH ITS' PERFORMANCE.

This is an update to my previous review. I've now taken almost 3,000 images with the A650is. Here is what I have found that I like and some things I don't like. The flip out swiveling LCD lets me EASILY take shots that I just could not make with any standard camera DSLR or not!!! Canon when will you make a DSLR with this feature??? The auto focusing works so well so I almost never need to use the manual focusing feature unless I want to lock the focus for several shots. This includes macro work. Well done Canon! The optics appear to be nearly flawless producing extremely sharp images. Minor faults: The mode selection wheel easily (when you are not expecting it) gets rotated from its desired setting to a different position. So you may get a surprise when you start taking pictures and find you are not in the mode you wanted/expected. The exposure mode setting (Evaluative, Center, Spot) does not get saved when you turn the camera off, it always reverts to Evaluative. I usually use spot mode so this is a bit of a pain having to always go reset this. The custom mode can save this setting but it doesn't seem to allow use of this saved setting with the Aperture Mode. The manual could use some improvement in the explanation of the custom mode! The camera still could use some more detail on finish quality. So far no problems with anything but I wonder if the Mode slection wheel, zoom control, and camera mode switch (Take Pictures/Review Pictures) will last as they "feel and operate" cheap. All in all I love this camera!!

I've enjoyed taking pictures ever since I was a kid. I'm not a pro by any means but I do get some amazing shots at times. Now those times are way more frequent since the purchase of this incredible Canon Powershot A650IS!

I nabbed this beauty when it was first released and went through the whole purple fringe issue for the recall. Amazon took it back no problems and later when the new batches came out that didn't have the light leak issues, I reordered it from here again because I simply fell in love with the camera.

I had taken it on a trip to Colorado and used it extensively capturing photos and videos from the airplane, at Rocky Mountain National Park, and various other places. The outdoor shots were amazing, I was able to take a picture of an elk from a far distance away (perhaps 100yards) using the 6x optical zoom.

What was great also was that after I snapped the shot, I could preview it using the zoom lever (pardon my non-technical names for actual parts) to zoom in and out on different sections of the image. Then I can navigate within that photo with that round function dial to see different parts...this worked great because I was able to see just how focused or not the elk was in the photo! It brought the image of the animal closer to my eyes at that moment than with me physically looking at it.

That zoom lever is great for previewing the images in thumbnail size instead of image by image. I actually didn't know the camera could do that and discovered it by accident...but I'm sure the manual I thumbed through mentioned it somewhere!

Video quality was actually very decent for a digital camera when using the standard mode, not the smaller emailable size. I was able to capture video in lower light conditions that I thought would be impossible. This of course isn't some super great video camcorder but it does an adequate job for those moments you like a small video too along with pictures.

I recently took the camera to the circus and was able to capture some very nice shots! When I got home, I used the included AV cables to hook my camera up to the tv and was able to show the rest of the family instantly what they had missed out on, both pictures and videos came out well, except for the emailable smaller mode for video, they were not good at all but that's low quality to save space.

Speaking of space, I am using a 2gb card and if you're going to be doing photos and videos, you may want to take along a spare...and buy a larger hard drive for your computer because you can't help but snap here and there and film this or that, this camera is fun to use and everyone I've shown the pictures to were impressed by what they saw.

Another outstanding quality is the use of the 4 AA batteries! That alone saved me from the heartache and embarrassment of forgetting to recharge my camera batteries. I was in such a rush getting ready to go to the circus with my little niece that I forgot to check my battery status. After two pictures, my camera shut off because of low battery. I didn't think to bring a spare set so I ventured out to look for batteries. Luckily I asked one of the circus vendors if they sold batteries and he ended up just giving me a set of 4 AA batteries which of course saved the day! You can't do that with a proprietary battery just anywhere *cough cough sony*.

The flip and swivel screen is very handy and I love that I can close it up to protect my lcd screen from damage and smudges!

The included canon software works fine and I like the zoom browser's ability to show the full image specs of each photo I capture on the side panel.

Taking stitched photos takes a little practice but I did manage to get some nice panoramic mountainscapes.

I have uploaded a few photos in the customer image gallery that I thought would be helpful, the more recent ones being the pictures I took in macro view! I was really impressed with how close I could get and still get a focused photograph showing all the details!

With 12 megapixels, you can crop til your heart's content and still retain a lot of the details that otherwise with other cameras be blurry.

I have also figured out through playing with the custom settings how to capture the murals I paint in the dark! It's nearly impossible to capture photos of my artwork because I do ceiling murals of the starry night sky and those glow in the dark stars does not emit a ton of light and have to be seen in a dark setting. With this camera, I was able to tinker with settings my older camera didn't have and thus capturing actual photos of my work without manually manipulating them digitally! I'm a happy gal with this camera!

I do notice that the processing time in low light conditions will take a bit longer between shots. I'm not sure if that's due to the camera processor or the SD card I use. I've heard the speed of the card would make a difference but I haven't venture as far to the better cards yet.

In the end, I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants one that will not only take amazing photos in auto mode but also have the freedom to use other settings to suit ones needs! It's a lovely solid feeling camera that fits well in my hands and has given me new found inspiration to photography again, perhaps it will do the same for you!

The Camera has almost everything. The various picture modes are superb for almost all situations.
The things that are missing are: Battery lifetime indication, date on picture.
One thing that is better then on any compact camera is the speed of taking pictures. It is just 1 sec below the Canon SLR's.

La verdad esta camara,es de las mejores que he tenido, me gusta mucho y es muy facil de manejar, el video es tambien de muy buena calidad...recomendada al 100%...

I bought the camera to replace my Canon A530 which still takes great pictures. The camera takes wonderful pictures in auto, but also provides a fully manual mode. The pictures can be noisy above ISO 200 but it doesnt distract from the picture unless you are doing large prints or zooming in. The flash recharges quickly, compared to my A530. One of the features that i enjoyed using the most on this camera was the digital teleconverter. The digital teleconverter which can be set at 1.5x or 2.0x conbined with the 6x optical zoom allows you to take great pictures at a distance, absolutely a great feature. The camera also has no problem focusing on objects whether far or upclose. Overall a very solid camera a bit on the heavy side but it can still fit in the pocket.

Great camera. I had used the Canon a720is and wanted a bit more camera. This is a good choice if you don't want to jump up to an SLR, or get bogged down by the G9's raw images. Recycle time for the flash is decent. Shutter speed/lag isn't bad. I've mostly taken indoor shots sofar and I've had it for close to a month. Outdoor shots in the sun were functional with the lcd. The auto adjustment/polarized screen seemed to work well.
My only issues sofar are... 1- Why does it take 4AA batteries when it doesn't do much more than the 720is which takes only two, which adds to it's size, and 2- There is no 1 second viewing of the image after snapping it. It starts at 2 seconds and goes up to 10 or so. Who looks at the picture for 10 seconds? It would be more useable if it were 1/2 second increments on the shorter end.
I've taken at least 100 pictures with the original supplied batteries. Sofar I'm happy with battery life.
It's a good choice if size doesn't matter.
I also bought the canon over the panasonic for the lens adapters... telephoto/wide angle, but I haven't purchased them yet.

I researched for months before deciding to purchase this camera! I could not be happier! I have 2 small, very active children and was worried about the delay. I turned off the picture review and it seemed to speed things up! I will never miss an important shot again. The flipout screen is a huge plus. I am using an 4GB card and have plenty of room. The videos I have taken have come out clear! It is a bit bulky at first but you get used to it! Great camera!

Bought this for my wife for Valentines Day, and she loves it!! The face detection is great, and it is very user friendly. Red eye works real well, and the zoom is perfect for typical family outings and home photography. The built in flash isn't the pop up type, and that is a bonus, since our last Canon flash started hanging up. Would highly recommend it!!

As good as this camera seems to be - to me - they have left out 2 important items. 1) The "DATE/TIME-STAMP" function works only in the "postcard" mode. WHY would anyone write software with such an important (at least to me) limit for an otherwise good unit. 2) There isn't a jack to plug in an external flash. Sure - they have what looks like some little wimpy thing that best I can tell - it senses the main flash on the camera and blinks in responce to it? Are there others that will work? I don't know yet, I am looking... If it wasn't for those 2 things, I would say this is as good or better than you could ask for for the price...