About to Buy an A95 Powershot

[LikeNAngel]

After much research I've decided upon the Canon Powershot A95.

I'm an owner of a Sony Cybershot W-1 and I've taken nothing but blurry photos with it. At the time of purchase it was rated highly on Consumer Reports, yet, I never got anything besides blurry photographs. Now, if I tried several times and REALLY worked with the thing, THEN I got a nice picture, but anything spontaneous was not going to happen with this camera.

After all I've read, I've become suspcious of the combination of compact camera and high megapixels as possibly being the culprit for my crappy results.

Granted, I'm not a photographer, but I honestly don't want to be, I don't want to know ISO from a hole in the ground, so its frustrating when I want to just get the clear photographs my friends enjoy with their digital cameras.

After much looking around, I think A95 meets my needs. I like the swivel LCD and I want the higher pixels at 5 just in case I want to blow up a photograph. I also like what appears to be a more substantial body as I suspect the squareness of many compacts to be part of what contributes to the "shakiness" of a photo. I was even amenable to the A75 or A85 b/c I read that they had better red eye control and were great in dimly lit environments (imagine wanting a family photo in a living room or kitchen??)

The reason I am sharing my thoughts is b/c, while $200+ is moderately priced it is quite a bit for me personally and I'd love any feedback. Will I get what I am expecting or should I look at a different model?

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks

[mes444]

I bought a Sony W5, which is just a redressed W1, and returned it after one week due to blurry photos. I looked at the A95 and was about to buy it but I too was somewhat worried about the 5MP due to the Sony experience. I probably would have bought it, but at the time the A510 came out and was less expensive, lighter, used fewer batteries and less MP. So I got the A510 and have been very satisfied. But I do read everywhere how good the A95 is for the reasons you mentioned, so for your purposes (enlarging photos, swivel lcd) it sounds great. Canon are just much better than Sony.

[EAP]

I have been amazed at some of the photos I've taken with my A95. It's a wonderful little camera. In my opinion, the photo quality is vastly superior to the A510 or A520, with less shot-to-shot lag time as well. I think you will really enjoy it. I found it very fun and educational to play around with the manual settings, and compare them to what the camera shot when it was on full automatic. I would highly recommend this camera. You should spend some time with the manual, though, to get the most from all the different settings.

[Matthew]

Indeed. Though I play to upgrade to a Rebel XT or EOS-20d soon, my a95 is what got me started (though I had a cheap fuji before, yeah). And it is a great camera! Compared with all the other cameras that have a max 3x optical zoom and are 5mp, I would put it at the top.

[lgvelez]

I love my little A95 .. it gets great pictures, and is easy to use. I have since purchased the S2, which in some ways is like the A95 with a big zoom. I haven't really gotten into any of the programming modes, but the Scenes are fantastic on both cameras.

My A95 live sin my purse ... not so small as some of the others, but very very reliable!

Laura in TX

[Dan the Man]

Hello,
There are 2 best thing about the A95.

1. It takes 4 AA batteries. All of the ohter point and shoot camera's only take 2 batteries and they take 10 seconds for the flash to recharge. You won't have that problem.

2. The view finder is a lot of fun and is useful.

I also feel that the more megapixels, the blurrier the picture... Just my opinion. I like the A95 and am working towards the S2IS.
Don't be fooled by smaller camera's with 2 AA Batteries.

[ale_g]

I have a friend with a Sony W1. While using The full auto mode he also got blurry pictures, but after switching to P mode his pictures looked great.
Perhaps I will double check why the Sony W1 is not giving you the :o sharp pictures as should be.

B. Regards
Ale_G

[vedanthi]

Suggestion is, read the manual, always (as far as possible) use Manual Mode. Great learning and amazing pictures. Let us all know, when you buy it. :) welcome to the club in advance.

[spoonbill1970]

Hi LikeNAngel,

I agree with Ale_G, try to find out why W-1 is giving you blurry pics before shelling out on a new camera - what if it's something you're not doing right and you still have the same problem with the A-95?

Reason I say this, is that I have an A95 and, at first, my pics were coming out blurred too. Realised i was pressing the button before the focus locked and result was blurred.

Having said that, I've had A95 for two months and LOVE it! It is a great camera capable of taking really satisfying shots. I am a novice hoping to learn all about photography, and with it's manual settings this camera is ideal.

You won't be disappointed if you buy one.

Happy snappin'.

Spoonbill1970 in Scotland!