Out of the box defective - lens cover.
By the specifications and my previous experience with Canon cameras, I assume that this camera is a great deal for the 180 dollars I spent for it. Therefore I'm giving the camera 3 stars instead of one - even though I need to replace it.

Unfortunately, when I opened up the box and stuck the batteries in and powered it up, the lens cover only partially opened when the lens extended and then only closed partially when the camera was turned off.

I'm getting it replaced now and will happily update my review when I can.

UPDATE:
Replaced camera works great. No issues whatsoever.

Excellent camera for the price
The Canon A530 is an amazing camera for the price or anyone on a slightly tighter budget. The first thing that surprised me about it was how small it was; at only 3.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches high, it fits easily into your pocket, and serves well as a travel companion.

Pros:
- Amazing image quality for a camera in this price range
- Excellent clarity in macro mode
- ISO 800 is useful to have when taking night shots without a tripod or flash
- My colors settings are useful and surprisingly intricate; you can set a custom setting for levels in red, green, and blue individually, as well as contrast, sharpness, saturation, and skin tone
- Color accent and swap are nice features for the creative type, and are often more accurate than I had expected
- Stitch assist mode automatically locks exposure compensation and aperture to make panoramas easier and consistent (I would really recommend a tripod when doing this to keep the camera level, though. Stitch assist software isn't perfect)
- Widescreen 16:9 framing is a nice feature (not to be confused with true widescreen, but automatically frames and crops in 16:9 ratio)
- 4x optical zoom works very well
- Extremely fast start-up time (about one second)
- Excellent auto-focus features
- Amazing battery-life (a pair of Energizer lithiums lasted me about 800 shots with LCD)

Cons:
- Only two aperture settings per zoom level in manual mode. ex. f/2.6 and f/5.6 at 1x, but nothing in-between (the A540 has in-between values for each zoom)
- Would have been nice to have had a flip-out LCD like the A610
- No Aperture or Shutter Speed priority modes (the A540 does have them)
- LCD screen extremely hard to see in very bright conditions (although to be fair, this seems like a more common issue among digital cameras)

All in all, the Canon A530 is an excellent choice for the price, and might be the best bang for your buck if you're looking for something with more features than your standard point-and-shoot, along with excellent image quality.

Terrible for indoor pictures
I bought this mostly to take pictures of items I was selling on Ebay. For this purpose, it's a terrible camera. Although it claims to be ISO 800, it's really closer to ISO 40. You cannot take pictures indoors without it using the flash. Even with 500 watts of extra lights suspended over my subject, it still wouldn't take a picture without the flash. Contrast this with my $79 Intel camera from years ago. That worked fine indoors with no flash or extra lights at all. I wish that hadn't broken; the Canon was a waste of money.

It's also very difficult to use. There are hundreds of pages of manuals that come with it, and there's no way to use it without constantly referring to them. There's no sense to the controls. For example, you have to turn a knob and press four different buttons to change the shutter speed. I still don't know what the button with the flower on it does; that must be in the Advanced manual somewhere. The zoom control is not where you'd expect it to be, nor does it move in the direction you'd expect.

The only good thing I can say about it, is that outdoors, or with kilowatts of extra lights, it does take very good pictures. Just make sure you add some extra tons of air conditioning to cool all those.

Excellent value for the money
I don't want to trash the reviewer from Florida, but reading the manual will take care of all of your problems. The flower icon is for the Macro setting. There's an easy-to-read chart of icons in the manual and if you can't figure out the icon from a chart that shows all of the icons it's no wonder that you found an actual written manual too complex. The macro produces crisp pictures with excellent color.
I also use this to take pictures for eBay and it works wonderfully and needs no additional lighting. I have a simple 200watt soft light and the flash doesn't go off when I shoot items. Turning off the flash is even easier - it's just one button to push and I can't fathom why anyone can't figure that out.
The ISO 800 setting is much better than on the previous PowerShots, but still isn't perfect. However, this is a point-and-shoot camera and is adaquate for almost all needs if you remember that. I shot some wonderful pictures in a dark concert hall and got excellent clarity on about 80% of the pictures - the rest had some slight blurring.
I enjoyed the various settings, especially the stitching, and found them all easy to use and useful. The videos are of pretty decent quality as well, though it's not a video camera.
For the price, this is an excellent camera for everyday use and special occasions.

Great Point and Shoot Camera
I thought this Canon deserved more than an average of 3.5 stars, so I'm adding my comments.

I bought the A530 for my daughter when it became available on Amazon. She had taken photos, with her three-year-old Sony 5MP, of her roses in macro mode. Most of the photos were out of focus. The Sony just seemed to have trouble focusing on the right subject in macro mode. I have found that Canon cameras take excellent photos, especially in macro mode, and the A530 has not disappointed. She (and I) have taken many sharply focused photos of flowers, up close.

LIKES: Very good quality, features, and price. Sharp and colorful photos. Easy to use, small and lightweight. Improved over the A520 with 5MP instead of 4MP and MUCH faster performance.

DISLIKES: Canon's decrease of LCD pixel resolution per inch on the lastest models - A430, A530, A540. A disappointment, but only a small annoyance.

ADDED NOTE: Daylight photos are always better over indoor flash shots, whenever possible, with any camera.

Defective lens cover?
Message for the person with the defective lens cover:

I don't have this camera, but I did read on some other customer review site that some digital cameras come with AA batteries that aren't fully charged, and the camera has enough power to turn on, but not enough to properly open the lens cover and whatnot.

So maybe you should try some brand new batteries that you know for sure are in a good state.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Canon digital cameras. I've had an S400 for about three years, and I love it.

Great Buy
We got this camera about 3 weeks back and it has delivered beautiful pictures ourdoors and decent ones indoors. The start up is fast and this is particularly helpful to me since I use it extensively to shoot pictures of our toddler who is always on the move and decides to do something new and interesting without a warning. With my old Samsung digital camera I missed capturing a lot of moments due to the slow startup. Also, in my old camera there was a lag between the flash coming on and the actual clicking. My daughter would invariably close her eyes after the flash and all her pictures came out with her eyes closed. Not the case with the A530. The color accent feature is very addictive. It does not gobble up batteries like many other cameras do and the video quality is good too. On the whole I would definitely recommend this camera. It is a steal for the price.

disappointing
Im a professional photographer who was looking for a point and shoot for my wife. She was previously using the 2mp powershot A60 which was AWESOME but had been dropped on its head one too many times in the 3 years she had it. This was NOT a good replacement. Noisy noisy images, slow to write to the card. I could go on, but overall, just not a good camera.

great camera
here is something just to get this cameras stars up. because this is an awsome camera!

great for the price!! :D
here is something just to get this cameras stars up. because this is an awsome camera!

This unit cannot take underwater photos
I just received this items yesterday and LOVE it! I was able to figure out the basics without reading the manual, which is great.

I'm writing this review to clarify one point. Amazon states that this camera has a setting for underwater photos with an optional waterproof case. That is NOT true. The underwater feature is on the A540 only.

I did not buy the camera for this feature, so it's no skin off my nose. But for others, it may be a big deal!

Great camera, great price
This is a great digital camera for the price. It takes beautiful pictures and is very easy to use. You can take it right out of the box and start shooting great pictures, or if you're like me and need to know every ability of the camera, you can take a minute and read through the manual. The manual is not long and is very easy to understand. I don't know why some people have such a hard time reading instructions... Anyway, this is a perfect point-and-shoot camera. The only thing I would change is the size of the LCD.

Great camera !
Just ordered this camera and I'm really enjoying it. Great picture quality and eaxctly what I wanted. I'm getting ready to take it on a camping/ hiking trip and am excited to use the panoramic feature. Good buy for the price!

A530 5MP Digital Camera
I love to finally have 4x optical zoom, but the small LCD screen bothered me a bit more than I thought it would. Otherwise typical Canon quality - excellent!

Great product
I bought this product after my previous camera broke. I love Canon and would continue to buy it after this one dies on me. (what can I say, I take my camera everywhere, it goes through a lot)

A distinguisable and influential CAMERA
I M THRILLED TO HAVE CANON POWER SHOT A53O .ITS BY MY SIDE ALL THE TIME ITS SO HANDY AND PORTABLE.ITS SHOOTING TECHNIQUE IS MARVELLOUS WITH OTHERS ADDITIONAL QUALITY WHICH MAKE ITS A REALLY DISTINGUISABLE FROM OTHERS N A V. V.V.INFLUENTIAL ONE.

So far, so great
This is my first digital camera, I've waited far too long to get one. Anyone can pick up this camera and use it but if you want really really good pictures, you should read up about the shooting modes and such. So far, the picture quality has been great, close-up shots with macro mode are amazing. I'm yet to figure out the perfect mode for outside daylight shooting, motion shots seem to also be great. As I have previously read, the camera does feel like its made of cheap-china plastic when you pull it out of the box, and seems easily breakable. However, once you put the batteries in it, it gets some weight and feels fine. The only thing I don't like so far, is the door you have to open to put in the batteries and memory card, it is very poorly designed and a bit tricky to open and close. I will try to post some images later, or maybe update this review if anything changes. After reading the manual, I discovered that the A540 has a lot of features that the A530 doesn't have... expandability wise especially. So, if the price difference isn't that much, or you really really like features, get the A540

More then what needed
This camera has everything point and shoot type need and quality is excellent..features are easy ..reading manual is not needed, u can carry it in ur pocket....money v.v.v.v well spend

Very Pleased
I was skeptical at first ordering online for a camera, but I've been delighted with it and had no problems with shipment or quality.

No dudes en comprarla y has el cambio a la fotografía digital.
Mi primera Cámara digital es Grandiosa. Una marca que la respalda, excelente calidad, fácil manejo y un precio de primera. Si vas a comprar una cámara esta es tu mejor opción.

Easy to use and maintain
I am a hack photographer. Mostly, I take pictures of my kids. I have just changed to digital, as I spent $15 for my last development job.

I walked into a store, picked up this guy. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out everything I needed to understand about this camera.

It uses AA batteries - no weird size that you have to buy specially.

It has a USB cord, and the software to get the pictures took about 30 seconds to install.

Ease of use, decent pictures, and price make this a great buy.
(*)>

Excellent Digital Camera
The PowerShot A530 is an awesome digital camera. Others can give you the detailed specs, but what's most impressive to me is its ease of use, small size and weight, and ability to zoom. Overall, a good value for the cost.

Excellent camera for digicam beginners like us
This is our first digital camera, and I tried to do quite abit of research on the Internet and chatted with budz who own digicams - before buying it. The processor (Digic II) and the iSAPs software in the A530 is the same that Canon uses in their more expensive cameras (e.g., Elph line). With the price on Amazon, coupled with a first time purchase with a new Amazon credit card - the camera (SD card and NiMh batteries/charger package that I put together) was a very good deal. We are very pleased with the photos. The colors, the clarity, speed of shooting photos (using a Sandisk Ultra Plus 1 Gig card) etc are all quite good. The videos it takes are not TV quality, but they are OK for our needs; and the LCD screen is pretty small compared to other digicams. We have nothing to compare this camera experience with (no prior digital camera), but it is easy to use, quite small, and there are tons of features/modes/etc that we haven't really tried out yet. The Amazon shopping experience is superb. From shopping around, to purchase, to tracking the items - first class, professional job!!

Canon Powershot
Camera is everything and more than I expected. It has more capabilities than I will probably use. The basic photography is simple and captures excellent images. Compared to previous digital cameras I have used, the batteries last much longer than I expected.

Wonderful for snapping quick shots.
I thought this Canon deserved more than an average of 3.5 stars, so I'm adding my comments.

I bought the A530 for my daughter when it became available on Amazon. She had taken photos, with her three-year-old Sony 5MP, of her roses in macro mode. Most of the photos were out of focus. The Sony just seemed to have trouble focusing on the right subject in macro mode. I have found that Canon cameras take excellent photos, especially in macro mode, and the A530 has not disappointed. She (and I) have taken many sharply focused photos of flowers, up close.

LIKES: Very good quality, features, and price. Sharp and colorful photos. Easy to use, small and lightweight. Improved over the A520 with 5MP instead of 4MP and MUCH faster performance.

DISLIKES: Canon's decrease of LCD pixel resolution per inch on the lastest models - A430, A530, A540. A disappointment, but only a small annoyance.

ADDED NOTE: Daylight photos are always better over indoor flash shots, whenever possible, with any camera.

Beware the dreaded e18 error that renders your camera useless
Google "Canon" and "e18" before you buy this camera! They have a mnajor flaw in the lens mechanism of all their cameras.

Great camera for a beginner like me!
I looked at all different kinds of cameras before deciding. I heard consistently that Canon's PowerShot line is among the best, and out of those this one appeared to be the best value. It has been great so far, with the detailed manual making everything easy to understand, even for someone who is still getting used to digital cameras such as myself.

Before I had never been big on taking pictures, but this camera has made it quite enjoyable and easy to do!

Good choice
Good points:
Price, zooms, battery, easy use, quick reactions.

Weak point:
LCD could be bigger.

Canon PowerShot A530 5MP with 4x Optical Zoom
I have only had this camera for a month but I love it and it works great with my Macintosh computer. I bought it for the 5 megs and the 4x Zoom combination.

Junk
Biggest piece of crap I have ever bought. Got it for my wife's birthday two years ago. Had to send it in for repairs right out of the box. Again 4 months later. And once again a year after that. With a turnaround time of almost two months each time, it has been in the repair shop almost as much time as she has got to use it.

Nice camera
Good product quality, ease to use. I liked the ability to display the pictures on TV. Easy sharing althoug the software might need to be improved to allow similtaneous selection of pictures with the mouse instead of having to go picture after picture to select the ones you want to transfer. Very good battery life I shot +100 pictures using flash and lots of zoom and the rechargeable batteries (NiMH 2500 mA) still had enough juice for another +100 pictures on daytime. I'm very happy with this purchase.

Canon PowerShot A530 5MP
I love this little camera. After originally owning a Canon, when I wanted to update, I bought a Kodak thinking there couldn't be that much difference and I would save some money. There is no comparison between a Canon and a Kodak.
This camera is easy to use and takes great pictures. I will never stray from the Canon name brand again. Sorry Kodak!

Canon PowerShot A530
I purchased this camera to replace my last camera that had gotten damaged. For the money this camera is a good deal. It takes very good pictures and I would reccommend it to anyone on a budget. If you can afford to spend more, I would buy the SONY.

I had a great experience
I had a great experience with amazon.The price was great,I received the product exactly when they said I would.I tell everyone I come across that if they need something to order it from amazon.com.

A530 lens problems
I have had the camera about 4 months.
It is now in for repair for the second time with the e18 error.
This error stops the lens from going in and out correctly.

When the camera works it works fine and is easy to use, but for me the camera has been in 1/3 of the time I owned it.

I had a A520 before updating and it also broke.
I have had cameras for years and never had a repair until these 2.

I am very nervous about the powershot series now.

Canon Powershot A530
The camera is great and came in the the time it was expected. I would order from this company again.

Great images out of the box
This little gem takes great images as soon as you pull it out of the box and insert the battery and memmory card. This was a gift for our daughters 16th birthday, and she loves it.

Never seen such a sick cam...
I have got 5 cams and this one is the worst I have ever got. Its canon...its supposed to be good but I will not recommend this cam to anyone. Pay 50-60 bucks more and get a beter one...

Great deal for the price.
I won't mention any specs or camera features since Amazon already lists them; instead I'll just give my impression of the camera. At first glance the camera seemed a bit flimsy being made of plastic and the battery compartment being a tiny, tiny bit loose when closed, but I have to say despite that flaw, the camera is a great buy for the price. The pictures are very clear, the camera is very portable, although it is a bit thick, and the fact that it uses 2x AA batteries makes it much better than my former camera which uses a proprietary battery. I bought some rechargeable AA batteries and I'm good to go! It does only come with a 15Meg SD card, which I replaced with a 2Gig SD card I got for around $40 and now I have no worries about running out of space.
Overall, it is a great buy and does what a good camera should - take good pictures!

Excellent First Camera
I bought this camera because it had been reccomended to me before and it was in my price range. It was easy to use and the instruction manuals were great. The only thing that bothered me was that the picture gets a little blurry if you move at all while taking a picture in some modes. One feature that I love that i did not realize the camera had when i bought it is that if you turn the camera for some reason when viewing your photos the picture turns with it so the picture is right side up no matter what angle youre holding the camera. I love the kids and pets mode because my dog is always doing something crazy and that mode makes it super easy to take pictures of her. I have yet to find a need for the other modes besides AUTO but I absoulutly love that i didnt have to get the manual out just to take a picture. I also love how small and lightweight the camera is. I just drop it in my purse and then i have it with me whenever i might want to take a picture.

Great Camera
This camera is my first digital and I am very pleased with the results. The features are great and the shooting modes help you capture the photo you want....All and all a great product and great price! The only con I have is the battery life...but then again they are easily replaced with 2AA batteries!

Very Good camera
Por the price it's a good item, it has 5 megapixels and 4 optical zoom, aditionally use sd card. Good Flash and you can add a aditional one: HD-FC1. Only we can't add aditional lenses. A540 do, but is more expensive (60$ aprox).

Great camera!!!!!
It is a great camera for the price. It has wonderful features for a point and shoot. I had a Kodak before and there is NO comparison. Love it!!!!

excelente!!!
Antes tenia una camara sony, pero siempre habia querido evolucionar a una canon por tener una mayor tradicion en lo que respecta a camaras fotograficas. La verdad no solo lleno mis espectativas sino que las sobrepaso. excelente calidad en las fotos, muy comodo el tamaño y la apariencia fisica de la camara es muy atractiva. el unico detalle es que no trae las baterias recargables incluidas pero fuera de eso ha sido una excelente compra!!

Great camera for the price
I recently purchased this camera and have no complaints. If your like me and basically take photos of the kids, pets, and the annual family vacation, this is the perfect camera. It is pretty easy to learn the features and basic operation. I purchased a better memory card to hold more photos. Only thing Im not yet aware of is the battery life - hopefully it performs as well as the rest.

Canon A530--great buy
Excellent camera for the money. I use only the minimum of this camera's functions and it produces wonderful pictures.

Sunshine hurts performance
This is basically a good camera if you shoot only indoors or in cloudy conditions. The display is absolutely useless in strong light and only passable the rest of the time. That means that the cool feature of Stitch Assist is unuseable unless you are in dim light since you need to see the display clearly in order to line up the images. Very Dissappointing!!!! When using this camera I found that I had to look through the viewfinder more often than not in order to get a look at how the photo would shape up. Not what I expected when I invested in my first digital camera.

Buyer beware of how you intend to use this camera before buying.

AWESOME
I shopped around for this along time. The camera is amazingly easy to use and the photo quality is fantastic,,,and the price worked into the factor quite well. I can't wait to go on a vacation with it..outside shoots are gorgeous and close ups at 100 percent look great, too. A great little score. Very, very pleased so far.Re-chargeable energizers last a long time and i've put in a sd 2g card and i'm ready to rock and roll.

PowerShot A530 great camera for the price
This camera is being used for work projects. It is easy to use,
4x optical is a bonus for the price. Pictures turn out excellant. We liked it so well, we just ordered a second one!! Like the fact
that standard AA batteries can be used in a pinch.

Great little shooter!
This is my first digital camera and I really like it. Easy to use and excellent quality pictures. Took a lot of pix in dim light which turned out great and no red eye problem. It's small but not too small and love the grip part on the side. The AA alkalines run out quickly but I just bring extras with me. I would definitely recommend this camera.

Great buy!
Easy to use, easy to download images, great for smal video.
It was more than what i expected to be.

Thank you!

Very Happy
I got this camera as a baby shower gift. I needed a camera that was quick and easy to use. When you're taking pictures of the funny things kids do, you have to be quick. This camera is exactly what I needed. Once I spot the kids doing something funny, I have time to turn the camera on and get the picture before they even realize they're in the spotlight. It has a great zoom and red-eye protection. I am really happy with the quality especially for the price.

Bacon
This camera took fantastic pics but the batts would die instantly-I'd put in new batts and it would tell me to change the batteries right away. This happened more than once. The size with the handle is a little too large. I was unable to fit it into my small purse.
I returned it within 2 wks.

The Cannon A530 5MP Digital Camera
Before purchased the Cannon A530, I compared it with several other 5MP cameras.(Kodak, Sony, Nikon, Polaroid, HP, Vivitar). I chose the A530 for several reasons: 1- The number of shooting modes (over 17), 2- It uses two inexpensive AA batteries rather that more expensive Lithium, or other specialty batteries, 3- The new ISO 800 setting which reduces camera shake, 4- The White Balance Control (Auto, preset for Cloudy, Tungsten, & Flourescent, and the 4X Optical zoom lens, and 5- The Post Card Size and the Date Imprint.

I takes excellent clear pictures. The color is very true. The exposure is right on. I have tried editing a few photos, and cannot make them any better by editing brightness, contrast,saturation,and color.

Although it has an optical viewfinder, the LCD is bright and clear even in sunlight for composing a shot.

It is on the verge of being too bulky, but Cannon has other smaller models with similar features (at a higher price). I am very happy with this camera and haven't wished I had chosen a different camera.

A review from a non-camera-saavy student
I bought this camera simply because it was a good deal, fit my budget, and received decent reviews on amazon. I've had it for a few weeks now and I'm pretty happy with it. It's really easy to understand and ESPECIALLY easy to get my pictures onto my computer. That what I wanted and that's what I got. The shots have all come out pretty well too.
I don't want to say too much, considering I haven't owned or used it very long, but I sure cannot say anything bad about it.

got the camera in a flash
The camera is excellent and works as expected. It was delevered in a flash.

Great value
This camera is a great, great value for the price. This is not to infer that the actual performance of the camera is anything other than excellent i was just surprised how low the price was! It is a great camera and a great price and i recommend it highly but be sure to purchase a fairly large memory card also.

Quality of photo and video are great
I already own few digital camera and surely canon performance is much better.

Pretty good!
I'm very happy with this camera. The video feature comes out to a nice size on my 15 inch screen, it covers about 1/3 of the screen. The pictures are nice, too, and cover my whole screen.

My only complaint is that nighttime pictures/video require a lot of lighting. I took a video in a dim room and it was grainy, and a picture I took at night blurred. That is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

However, overall it is a wonderful purchase!

Great for outdoors; flash is a showstopper!
I've had this camera since March 2006. Bought it to replace my venerable 2.1MP Oly C2040. Wife wanted a smaller camera (the Oly got left behind a lot simply because it was so bulky), and liked the feel of the A530.

Outdoors, it's a great camera -- great zoom for a compact, good viewfinder for when the sun washes out the display, and continuous shoot mode gives well over 2 shots per second (with a 150X SD card anyhow -- I found my old 40X SD card bogged the camera down in continuous shoot mode). Resolution and color are quite good.

Indoors is a different story, 'tho -- the flash maxes out about around 10ft, so shots of most indoor sports are either dark, grainy, or blurry, depending on your settings. Even worse, the flash takes nearly 10 seconds to recharge, even with freshly charged NiMH batteries. This is an eternity when you're trying to do any sort of indoor photography.

Unless you're planning to do all of your shooting outdoors, I'd stay away from the A530 (and the A540, which has the same issues indoors). If you want small, take a look at the Canon Elph series -- spendy, proprietary batteries, and fragile screens, but the flash recharge time is roughly half that of the A530/A540. The Canon A6xx series (which use 4 AA batteries instead of 2) are quite a bit bulkier than the A530/A540, but they also have good flash recharge times.

Very Poor Indoor Pics
Good outdoor pics. Terrible, grainy indoor pics. Not a camera to buy if you take lots of indoor pics.

Great camera all-around
I've had this camera for about 2 weeks. It's definately the best digital camera I have ever owned.

Pros: Small, compact size, yet not so small that its hard to hold; 4x optical zoom is very effective; takes 2 AA instead of the 4 AA I'm used to - this is a good thing as long as the camera lasts a while on the two batteries; many shooting modes available, and they work well; manual shooting controls available if you need them (though I will probably not use this, the shooting modes are what I use); video mode shoots VGA (640x480 - full DVD quality) as well as a compressed mode which generates file sizes suitable for e-mail.

Cons: the only con I've found so far is the SD card slot is in the same compartment as the batteries, and since the batteries are spring-loaded, it makes it a little annoying to open the battery/SD card door every time you want to get the card out to download images/video to your computer. To solve this, I've just been using the USB cable that came with the camera to download, this way the card can stay in the camera. The only drawback to this is the camera must be turned on in order to access the images/video, but it's a minor problem.

Overall, this camera is excellent. You get a whole lot for the money you pay. I would definately recommend purchasing a 1 GB card; the camera only comes with a 16 MB card, which you will fill up with 20 seconds of VGA video.

Does it come with a tutor? :-)
I have had my new Powershot A530 for about 7 days now and this seems to be a tiny little camera that packs quite a punch. I didn't realize that it had so many options when I made the purchase! This camera has MANY more bells and whistles than I need and although I am looking forward to learning them all I feel that it is a little overwhelming right out of the box. Don't get me wrong - right out of the box you can take a great picture even if you did not want to learn anything more about the camera and its other capabilities at all! It is very easy -- insert batteries, insert memory card, push the power button and you are ready to roll but MY GOSH the options on this little thing!
I really enjoy learning and using all the functions on my cameras and home electronics but this one may take me a while. You can make adjustments in the functions of this camera very similar to how you would in a regular 35mm camera! Which would be really great if I remembered ANY of my high school photography class lectures.. sadly - I don't. It feels like it is something that could take years to really get genuinely familiar with which will be a fun process in itself.
I am planning a trip to Italy and I wanted to get a digital camera (my first one) in plenty of time to have a couple of months to learn how to use it properly.. WOW, I may have to postpone my trip! :-)
The software that comes with it is SUPER easy to navigate, incredibly easy to install and downloading pix from the camera is a snap-snap-snap!
I also picked up the 1 GB memory card, the 2 year warranty, and thanks to so many reviews talking about the short battery life I got a dozen AA batteries - so I am pretty well set! :-)
I can't wait to get buckled in, take her out and really open her up.:-)
A great little camera and a great value, 7 days into the experience anyway :-)

Very useful camera
I've owned this camera for a couple of months and have had the A510 (very similar) as a work camera for 18 months. I have been very pleased and feel that the money was well spent.

I was a little surprised that this camera still comes with the 16 MG card - definitely upgrade to the 512 or 1 GB card. I use the video function infrequently and if this is an important feature for you there are probably better cameras out there. But if you need great pictures in almost every possible light setting, this camera will be excellent.

I read a couple of reviews that slammed the indoor light conditions - not true. There are a lot of settings, as one reviewer noted, and a few minutes working with the instructions will have you taking great shots in any light. Anyway, if you upgrade to the 1 GB card, you can take lots of practice shots.

Nice camera for the price
We needed a relatively inexpensive small camera to carry in a pocket while out with the children and this Canon fills our needs very well. It takes good pictures, and has a suprising number of pre-defined scenes as well as manual controls. The 4X optical is nice for a camera this small, as most of the competition come equipped with 3X.

We have taken pictures in the woods, at the beach, and indoors and are always happy with the results. For the price, I could not find a camera that was better suited to an active families needs. If small size is critical, this camera is pretty small but you could spend a little more and go with one the Canon Elph line. However you will give up a little bit of lens (3X versus 4X).

great camera for photography-impaired
This little camera is a gem. (I had a Fuji FinePix, which was darned unintuitive. And it broke!) It's small, lightweight (even with the batteries). Software for transfer to computer is excellent and pretty intuitive, but do read the manual for the transfer software. Cables and all that included. It takes AA batteries, which add to the weight but are easy to find. No proprietary battery pack. Guess you could use rechargeables, but I go to Costco and get their gazillion-battery package. AA battery-run was a deal-breaker for me. Buy an extra memory card (the one that comes with it holds about 8 pix!). Also, having a non-proprietary memory card was a deal-breaker. Buy the case. I couldn't be happier with this camera. I can even take decent pix with it. I wish the "refresh time" were shorter, but you can't get everything in one machine! And this is about the only negative I can think of. While 1-2 seconds to refresh seems long....aren't we all spoiled with instantaneous-ness?!...it's not that bad! Great camera. I shopped this purchase long and thoroughly (many places, many brands, many types), and it was hands-down the best one for my needs and deal-breakers. Don't hesitate to get this camera.

Cannon 530 A great camera
I purchased this as a travel camera. I wanted something compact, easy to use, flexable, and took great pictures. This camera does it all. I use it with the viewfinder unless I am doing an important shot where composition counts. Then the LED display is perfect. You can even see it clearly in the daytime.

The only downside I found with this camera is a 4X optical zoom which is not enough for distant animal shots or extream range pictures such as at the racetrack for example. This camera takes beautiful pictures with vibarent colors the rest of the time. This camera is great for most kinds of pictures and it has the anti-shake feature that saved many of my shots.

When I print out my pictures I find that the 5 megapixel is not a problem. However if I print anything bigger than an 8x10 the quality begins to fade and the pictures pixelate. For most people like myself, it is not a problem. Many of my shots are scenery or point and shoot. This camera will not print for poster or large commercial publicity venue. In that case use another camera but for all the rest I recommend this Canon 530.

great camera
I bought it for a 4 week trip to Europe where I took 2,500 pics. I love this little camera. Lightweight and takes good quality images. The batteries are easy to find. And the macro focusing came in handy too.

Canon PowerShot A530 5MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
Excellent camera - for the price,especially at Amazon. Their price was below the Best Buy $50 discount. The camera takes great photos and has the same capabilities as a SLR for almost all logistical conditions. Highly recommend for a mid-range digital camera.

PERFECT
THIS IS THE PERFECT CAMERA FOR OUR FAMILY. NOT TOO TECHNOLOGICAL TO CONFUSE THE WIFE AND ENOUGH SETTINGS TO KEEP THE HUSBAND INTERESTED. IT TAKES AMAZING PICTURES. THE CLARITY AND DEFINTION OF THE PICTURES CLEAR AS A BELL. THERE ARE JUST ENOUGH FEATURES. THE ABILITY TO RECORD SHORT VIDEOS IS A GREAT TOOL AND ACTIONS SHOTS COME OUT LIKE A PROFESSIONAL TOOK THEM. WE ARE MORE THAN IMPRESSED AND COULDN'T BE HAPPIER WITH OUR CHOICE. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, THIS CAMERA IS ONE OF THE MOST AFFORDABLE ON THE MARKET. GREAT DEAL, GREAT CAMERA, HIGHLY RECCOMENDED ON ALL LEVELS.

Don't buy if you have kids
I have a 10 month old and wanted an inexpensive camera that would hold me over until I could get an D-SLR camera. The lag when indoors between when the button is pressed and the time the picture is way way way too long. This is reduced outdoors, making it bearable. Unfortunately, my 10 month old isn't walking yet so we still spend quite a bit of time indoors. Also, time between pictures indoors is around 6 seconds, this is unacceptable.

Just what I wanted!
The camera is easy to use and takes excellent pictures without having to edit. I needed 5 mega pixels to print up to 8.5" X 11" prints, and this camera does the job. The pictures are in JPG format so I doen't have to comvert the format.

good value
Takes really good pictures and It's easy to operate. The software that comes with the camera is pretty good also. I got this with a 1 gig memory card and a card reader. I hardly use the card reader b/c the camara downloads my pics really fast. If you want great pictures, easy to use software, and fast file transfer, this is the camera for you. for the price it's hard to beat.

A little money can get you a great deal with the Canon A530.
I have owned several A series Canon cameras in the past, as well as the Canon SD series, the Canon S series and also the S2 IS.

A series - In my opinion, the A series is best for you if you're looking for a low cost camera that gives you a wide range of features, many manual controls and great image quality. Especially if you love the convenience of AA batteries which are available in every corner of the world.

The SD series cameras are smaller and fit into small pockets but more expensive and their smallness makes some features only accessible through the menu which makes changing between modes more cumbersome. They also have less manual controls. I also find that the smallness and lightness of the SD series makes my hand shake more than when I'm holding the A series camera with the side grip. I get more fuzzy pics with the SD series and I hardly ever got any fuzzies with my A series.

The S2 and S3 have great image sensors, a great zoom and super macro function but are also more expensive and pretty bulky.

The A530 comes to you at a super low price with some great features, and at this price is an easy upgrade. At this price, it is just a tiny bit more expensive than some toy cameras and makes a great gift for a "tween" or teen who is just starting to learn about the power of the camera lens.

The A530 gives you:

- A nice sized 1.8 inch LCD screen, and 5MP resolution. Seriously, you don't need any more to for regular sized prints. The higher MP cameras also create giant files and fill up my hard disk too quickly!
- It has an intelligent focusing system AiAF and a DIGIC II processor which can give some pretty good results on auto mode
- SD card slot - cheap to buy 1 GB. You can choose from 4 sizes for the pics depending on the size you may want to store/ print.
-The controls are pretty simple too. The top dial helps you scroll through modes including the special SCN mode
-Photo-stitch - For stitching together panoramic views. I have shot countless seascapes, 'bridge'scapes, and landscapes from all my Canons using this function and stitching together 6-10 shots in one. It is really easy too with the software provided which does it intuitively!
- Portrait, Landscape and Night shot modes. The night shot mode gives great results if you can hold the camera steady with the delayed shutter response.
-Macro mode - Great for close ups of babies or product shots
- The SCN mode is great for point and shoot convenience in special situations- Fireworks, Beach, Snow, kids and pets, Underwater (with the waterproof case), Foliage and Indoor. Now even amateurs can use Canon experience to get the best shot quickly before they miss the photo opportunity while fiddling with manual controls.
-The "My colors" option allows you to choose a color you want to highlight or darken and lighten skin tones. It also allows you to capture only a particular color in a shot while the rest of the picture is black and white. So you can do a black and white portrait of your child with a red ribbon or red ball. Or you can swap out one color with the other, like change your car color to blue from red...In a nutshell, it allows for some creativity in your pictures.
-Complete Manual functions available - shutter priority, Aperture priority, White balancing, Manual focusing etc.
- Tone settings for different lighting (Tungsten, Sunlight, Cloudy etc.) which helps correct the White balance
-Special effects (B/W, Sepia, Vivid, Nuetral etc.) I have used sepia a lot when taking potraits giving them an 'old world' feel. Vivid has been helpful in special situations like a red kite against a blue sky to bring out the colors.
-You can also take videos in 3 different resolutions with this camera and edit them right on the camera. And you can create a slide show of all the images you took on the camera itself with fancy transition effects of your choice. The zoom button shows one or many images at a time in the replay mode and you can zoom into each individual image to see parts of it closely.
-Free Canon software, which though not the best in the world works well and allows you to edit images, photo-stitch images, maintain an album, change camera settings from your computer, subtitle and edit videos, upload images back to camera to transfer to another computer etc.
-It uses AA batteries which are available anywhere in the world.
A Sony Super Quick Charger (5 hours) with 4 rechargeable 2300mAH NiMH batteries is available for around 20 bucks Amazon! Charge these batteries up to 1000 times. I keep the LCD on for all my shots and usually I get 300-400 shots from each charge.

Overall, you are getting a great deal for the price you pay for this camera. With all the features available even amateurs can take pictures like pros!

Didn't like it as much as I thought
Battery doesn't last for one day. I have to change every day a new battery. I am looking into the options of returning it.

Even the prints are darker than what I see on the PC, I don't know if its the issue with the printing but it doesn;t happen with my other SONY camera.

Quality and Simplicity
This camera takes high definition shots that look great . The zoom is good enough to get detailed shots of alligators in the water or birds in trees.It is simple to us and so compact and light that I can take it with me every day. This was very useful when I was on vacation recently in South Carolina.
I also bought the rechargable battery pack as it goes through a lot of power, a 1gb memory card and a cary case.It's good to get these at the same time.

Handy Camera with Contrast Issues
The price is right, it has lots of features and a strong review from Consumer Reports.

Unfortunately I bought this camera before a mountain trekking trip and it did a poor job shooting severe light contrast. In other words, pretty much any scene with snow either washes out on the bright end, or underexposes dark objects in the frame (people, landscape, etc.).

Get this camera if you're going to use it for indoor shooting, normal outside lighting conditions, etc.

I love it!
I love the camera, it is small and compact, and it takes great pictures. It is easy to use, even my husband can take a good picture, which didn't happen too often with our old camera! The only thing I don't like about it is how fast it burns through batteries. I have rechargeables and it doesn't take long for the batteries to die. I have been meaning to buy energizers to see if they last longer, but I haven't yet. I love the movie setting! We do not have a digital camcorder, but I have always wanted one, and this is great! I do not like the software that came with it, so I am looking for a different program to use.

Great camera Great Pictures
After hearing that Consumer Reports gave the Canon A520 a BEST BUY rating, I decided this must be a good family of cameras. It has been a joy to own and use. Easy to take pictures, easy to work and yes, it takes great pictures. It has more bells on it than I will ever use. I have been very satisfied with 4 and 5 MP cameras and have not wanted to spend a fortune for more. I just need to take pictures, review them and easily download to my computer. This does that and much, much more.

Camera
Very quick delivery. Product was exactly as advertised. Very happy with the whole process and the product.

Excellent camera
I am very happy with the product, it is very very good, the only thing was that it does not bring the multiple pictures leaving the button pressed, but the image quality is outstanding!!

TOO DAMN SLOW!!
It takes around 3-4 seconds to take the picture after I click the button!!
And then another 8-10 seconds just to store that picture on the SD card!!

So basically, I cant take another picture until atleast 10-15 seconds of one picture!!!

Purchase of Digicam
I recently bought a Canon Powershot A530 from Amazon.com. I must say the overall experience has been fantastic. The ease of purchasing online could never be better. Even though i opted for free shipping, i got the camera delivered 2 days ahead of schedule, neatly packed so as to prevent any damage whatsoever. Thanks Amazon!

2 reviews
The camera is the perfect solution for someone who does not want exchangable lensesand some items for more professional results. Combined with a direct photo printer it is easy and fun with plenty of photo options on the dial.
My only problem is that I did not receive with the camera the software to alllow me to download to the computer from the from the Memory chip itself. Is there any way to get this software?

fun for nature shots
This camera is the first digital for me, and the only camera I have ever enjoyed having. The macro setting gives amazing closeups of bugs, flowers, etc. With the purchase of a charger and some batteries, I've kept it going for almost nothing. Better get a big memory card, too. The silly settings like "color swap" and "fireworks" are fun to play with. My only complaint is it is slow to recover between shots, so you miss some action of kids, etc. For the price, it can't be beat.
gramma t

Great Camera
Im a graphic design student in college, so i really needed a camera. I decided on this one and i am really glad i did. The pictures are nice and clean. The camera itslef is a very sleek looking one and is very compact. The only downfall to this is that it eats batteries pretty quick, but i just took them out when i wasnt using them. Buy this camera.

Excellent picture clarity
This camera is a steal. The reviews on amazon helped me decide on this camera and sure it is worth it.

Canon Power Shot A530 5MP Digital Camera
Easy to use, including zoom and uploading to computer. Nice clear photos when printed out.

Disappointed
From reading the other reviews, I seem to be one of the few to have mechanical issues with my A530. Within a month after buying it, the lens cover began remaining half closed when the power is turned on. I have to manually flick open the shutter/cover. Then, the flash began intermittently malfunctioning and now the zoom function will only work in one direction (that is, it works to "zoom in" on something, to zoom back out I have to turn the camera off and back on. To my knowledge, the camera has not been dropped or otherwise physically abused to cause these problems.
I'm disappointed because I do like the photos that the camera takes when it does function properly.
Fortunately, I bought it at Costco, so it's going back.

Waste of time and money
I got this camera back in May and lost it (but this camera seemed to be the best). I ordered the same camera from Amazon but had to return it because one of the pixels were blown. I got my replacement but the amount of time it takes to take a picture is an eternity.

Look for some other camera. If people are posing you better hope you get it on the 1st shot, because if you don't it takes too long to take another.

Good performance for the price...
This is the fourth digital camera I've purchased in the last five years (a point-shoot and DSLR for myself, and two point-shoots as gifts for others).

If you were spending nearly $400 for 3 megapixel cameras in 2001, it's amazing to see what's available for half that price today.

This was purchased for my mom, who is well into her 70s, and has been selling on Ebay for a few years. Her product pictures on a very low end camera she bought a few years ago really needed some help.

This camera is fairly intuitive, and worked well out of the box.

No strong negatives, but prepare for the following:

Some of the the menus are complex and options I would consider commonly used (like photo resolution) are rather deeply buried.

The memory card and batteries are located within the same access door on the bottom of the camera. This seems like a good way to end up picking up batteries.

The bundled software is only OK. You can get a better organizer for free (Google's Picasa) and the editing software is nothing to get excited about.

The flash options are limited to "auto flash" and "no flash". I was surprised not to find a "manual flash" to force flash operation (this may be one of the deeply buried options).

It has lots of "scenario" presets (kids and pets, landscape, etc), but none of these seemed to offer any improvement over full auto. Inexplicably, the "nightscape" setting doesn't turn of the flash.

If you're needs are simple (and if you are already running an organizer like Picasa or the one in Photoshop Elements v5) then this camera should be more than adequate.

DO NOT BUY
Thus far I had been very happy with Canon - I had a 35mm Rebel and then upgraded to a digital Rebel XT for the majority of my photography. However, I wanted a small point and shoot (that had a viewfinder)that I can put in my purse to take to social functions, put in a diaper bag, etc. The majority of the reviews I've read (and I did a LOT of research) claimed that this was a great camera well I beg to differ. I have continously seen recharge times of 6-7 seconds between pictures which is unacceptable in my eyes. I've compared my camera to other manufacturers with similar functionality, megapixels, etc. and the majority of the rest of them recharge in 1-2 seconds. I've also noticed that the camera doesn't take very good pictures in low light.

Short end of it - if you want to be able to capture any memories that happen fairly quickly do not buy this camera.

I am a beginner...but this camera is in a lower level
I bought this camera mainly because of its fair reviews on the internet. Customer ratings were around 4 stars, so i thought it was very smart to buy this camera and become my first digital one.

What i found?
- The pictures are slightly darker than its competitors with the same specification.
- Usually marks you are shaken to take the picture
- In other ocassion you are not notify about the shaken status and even though the photos are blurred.
- Size is ok
- You have to wait about 6 or 7 seconds to take your next picture (too much time!)
- The outside photos are the better ones, but the one taken inside are too dark for my expectations.

I definetly think you may invest 40 or 50 extra bucks and get something better. As i will do right now.

I have it and I love it!
I got this camere for my birthday and I love it!
It has tons of cool features, and is really easy
to use. It is a great gift!
It is a pretty reasonable size, but it could
be a bit smaller.

Fantastic Value
I bought this camera to supplement my DSLR. DSLR's are great but I have neither the need nor the desire to lug mine around to parties and such. Anyway, here's what I think about this one:

Pros:

Small, lightweight
Takes AA's, and only two
Fast start-up and operation
Fully manual mode, useful P mode
ISO up to 800
Great picture quality
Great menu system
Lots of options
Can't beat the price

Cons:

Spotty auto-focus (can tend to hunt quite a bit indoors)
Flash recycle time slow (because of only two AA's, but it's not that big of a deal)
Occasional lens flare inside with flash

---

Overall though, if you're looking for a cheap camera, I think this one is tough to beat. 5 MPs give you quite a bit of detail; if you think you need more than that, think twice, because you probably don't. Excellent picture quality from this camera and it has a great feature set, especially for its price. If you want something smaller or a little fancier try the Canon SD series; however, be prepared to spend more. At this price range, this is an obvious winner.

Great buy!!
I recieved this camera as a gift about 6 months ago. I have had great experiences with it. The picture quality is amazing. The amaount at which you can zoom in on your pictures is amazing. For instance, we took a picture of a police car accross the street and kept zooming in just to see how far it would let us until it got blury. We could see what was in his backseat!! This camera never ceases to amaze me. It is a great gift! And an excellent camera for the price. I recently had the honor of taking my friend's engagement pictures with my camera...here is a slideshow of them....they look professional.

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