Canon Powershot A570 IS - A Great Little Camera

Author's Rating:

Pros: Small, Light, AA batteries, Takes great pictures, Image Stabilization, Fast start up, Optical Viewfinder

Cons: The memory card is under the battery cover door which seems a bit fragile.

The Bottom Line: 
It's a great little camera that takes sharp pictures, uses AA batteries, starts up fast and has very good shutter lag. Several exposure options and an optical viewfinder too.

Author's Review
We got the Canon PowerShot A570 IS last year to replace my old digital camera. The Image Stabilization is my favorite feature as my pictures come out sharp far more often. Battery life is decent, especially with Lithium AAs. Flash recharge time is decent for a AA battery powered camera. The start-up time seems very fast and the first (non-flash) picture can be taken in about 1 second. Shutter lag is much better than my old camera, especially if you hold the shutter halfway down before taking a picture. Movies are recorded in .AVI format with sound and seem pretty decent. The menu system is easy to use and the controls straightforward. A separate switch toggles between "view pictures" and "take pictures" mode I like this better than "shared" buttons or navigating through menus. The LCD is big, bright and clear and there is an optical viewfinder for those of us who prefer it or for saving battery power by turning the LCD off. This is an ideal camera to carry about in your purse or bag as it seems a little bulky for a pocket. My only misgiving is that the memory card and batteries share a cover door which seems like it might eventually break.