Canon PowerShot A650 IS > Reviews > Everything I need!

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Excellent
Range & Quality of Features	Excellent
Ease of Use	Easy
Overall Look & Design	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	AA batteries, flip screen, auto/manual, optical viewfinder
Disadvantages:	Not very quick at processing .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My plan was to find a camera that didn't keep me waiting on expensive batteries to recharge and an optical viewfinder for when the sun was too bright to read the screen. With the Canon A650 IS the optical viewfinder did not show the same amount as the screen and that was my only real complaint. Yes, it's a little bulky (300g - finding the right case did take some time) but very comfortable in my hands with all the buttons easily available. It's not pretty but the plastic construction feels sturdy enough for me. The flash is occasionally obtrusive but generally very efficient. It was only after seeing the pictures that I wished for RAW mode but, at £228, no real loss. The camera has 21 other modes from fireworks to marina and full manual. The included memory card is too small to make sense but there are tele converters and external flashes available for those who want more. The flip screen is as posey as it is practical but my favourite feature was the removal of red eye from pictures already taken. The menu is clear and easy to navigate. As with all high pixel cameras (a whopping 12.1) there is noise with the higher ISO and processing times are slow but neither is excessive. It took more than a busy week of Xmas photos to drain the set of four AA batteries and the camera performed well in all conditions. If you're not interested in constantly re-charging batteries or fighting to see the screen in bright sunlight but still want top photos, I don't think there are many other cameras you can get better than this.