Buying a new Canon - Need Advice

[Gabriel&Nana]

I have a Canon A70 (3.2 Mp) and I like the photo quality very much .

After almost 2 years of use, my camera is presenting 2 problems :
1) The lens cover broke and now the lenses remains open all the time.
2) This month, in some cases, the display shows horizontal stripes. I noticed that after shaking , sometimes they disappear, sometimes not.

I decided to buy a new one.

I want a smaller camera, and I don't need more than 4Mp/5Mp.
I'm trying to decide between Canon Powershot SD300, SD400, S60 or a similar one.

I value Optical Zoom, Vivid Colors, Sharpen Images and Night/Flash Photos Quality...

Your comments would be very helpful ...

 

[FergieTCat]

You can get good values on Canon A510 or A520. I just got a A520 for $170. They aren't as sleek as the Elph series, but I am very happy with mine.

 

[MICKEY88]

I have a Canon A70 (3.2 Mp) and I like the photo quality very much .

After almost 2 years of use, my camera is presenting 2 problems :
1) The lens cover broke and now the lenses remains open all the time.
2) This month, in some cases, the display shows horizontal stripes. I noticed that after shaking , sometimes they disappear, sometimes not.

I decided to buy a new one.

I want a smaller camera, and I don't need more than 4Mp/5Mp.
I'm trying to decide between Canon Powershot SD300, SD400, S60 or a similar one.

I value Optical Zoom, Vivid Colors, Sharpen Images and Night/Flash Photos Quality...

Your comments would be very helpful ...

friendly advice,,,shaking electronic equipment and cameras is generally not a good idea...it may temporarily fix your problem but may cause other more serious damage...

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

friendly advice,,,shaking electronic equipment and cameras is generally not a good idea...it may temporarily fix your problem but may cause other more serious damage...

I totally agree with you ! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a camera shaker...

What I was trying to say is that maybe the camera has some cable unfixed or something like that and I noticed after moving it gently. But after some time, it started to happen frequently and it only "fixed" temporarily after some shaking ...

This problem combined with the broken lens cover, made me decide to buy a new smaller camera , instead of fixing this one...

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

You can get good values on Canon A510 or A520. I just got a A520 for $170. They aren't as sleek as the Elph series, but I am very happy with mine.

Thanks, FergieTCat
I'm gonna take a look at them , but it seems that they are the same size as my A70 ...

 

[ukcatfan]

Your problem with the LCD sounds like a known problem with this camera. The Sony sensor in this camera (and many other cameras of varying brands) has a recall. It is especially bad when exposed to hot and/or humid conditions. The good news is that they will repair it for free even though it is out of warranty. Check this site for details: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&keycode=2112&fcategoryid=221&modelid=8776

I am having the same problem with my A70 and they are sending me a pre-paid shipping label to send it in. I do not know if hey are actually going to repair it or just send a new one. The different brands having this problem are all handling it a different way. Believe it or not, a new model may cost them less than repairing your old one. Unless you have a need for using it in the next month or so, you might want to consider riding this option out before buying a new one. They told me to give a week to receive my shipping label, two weeks for processing, and then another week for the return. Luckily, I had already upgraded to the S1 IS, so the A70 got moved to the kid's camera spot. They will not miss it for a month. Good luck. I will keep everyone posted on the results.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I just got a Canon S2 IS, seems great so far.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/s2is.html

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

Your problem with the LCD sounds like a known problem with this camera. The Sony sensor in this camera (and many other cameras of varying brands) has a recall. It is especially bad when exposed to hot and/or humid conditions. The good news is that they will repair it for free even though it is out of warranty. Check this site for details: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&keycode=2112&fcategoryid=221&modelid=8776

I am having the same problem with my A70 and they are sending me a pre-paid shipping label to send it in. I do not know if hey are actually going to repair it or just send a new one. The different brands having this problem are all handling it a different way. Believe it or not, a new model may cost them less than repairing your old one. Unless you have a need for using it in the next month or so, you might want to consider riding this option out before buying a new one. They told me to give a week to receive my shipping label, two weeks for processing, and then another week for the return. Luckily, I had already upgraded to the S1 IS, so the A70 got moved to the kid's camera spot. They will not miss it for a month. Good luck. I will keep everyone posted on the results.

Thank you ukcatfan ! I'm glad to know about it.
I'm gonna check if I can do the same...
I'm also thinking about letting this A70 to the children and getting a new one.


Dan,
I'm gonna take a look at the Canon S2 IS, too. Thank you !

 

[ukcatfan]

Good news!!!

Instead of fixing my A70, they sent me an A520! And it included a 128MB SD card with it. As if this was not good enough, they will also trade me out any CF cards that I have for SD cards of the same size. I found out too late that if I had included them with my original shipment, they would have done the trade out then.

The A520 is not only newer, but is also a 4MP, smaller, and only uses 2 AAs. Functionally it is almost exactly the same as the A70. It does add some new sceen presets which I think the kids and wife will like. The only thing that I did not like is that ISO 400 is a little noisier on the A520. It is nothing that Noise Ninja, Noiseware, etc. can not handle.

I am still sticking to my S1 IS, but I am very pleased with Canon for honoring this replacement even though I was out of warranty.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Congratulations. Canon customer service, in most cases, are top notch. A couple of years back when my A80 broke, they replaced it with a brand-new, sealed in a box, A95 !!

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

We just bought our SD550 2 months ago and I love it. It is so small and the pics are great!! I have used almost every setting on the camera (night/fireworks/snow ect..) and the pictures turned out beautiful. I love the size because you can put it in a purse or even coat pocket for those gotta have moments. I looked at some other canons but I just really wanted a small point and shoot camera and I didn't want to deal with anything to big. That is just more stuff I would have to carry around with me. Well that is just my opinion, have fun looking.