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| Canon PowerShot A650IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | 
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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
Buy New: $396.11
Buy New/Used/Refurbished from $279.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (76 reviews)
Sales Rank: 961
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 6
Digital Zoom: 4
Display Size: 2.5
Battery: 4 AA
Maximum Focal Length: 44.4
Minimum Focal Length: 7.4
Maximum Resolution: 12.1
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 4.4 x 2.7 x 2.2
MPN: A650IS
Model: A650IS
UPC: 013803086461
EAN: 0013803086461
ASIN: B000V20R28
Release Date: September 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 I'm in Heaven December 27, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Before I received this camera I was using an HP M22, which is a 4MP with 3x digital zoom. It was a great little camera for a digital beginner, but using the A650 is like I died and went to heaven. The shots are so clear - no grain! It's like I have my old Canon AE-1 back. When you take shots inside there is little, if any, red-eye...and if there is, the computer program takes it away without any problem. This camera is so "flexible". If you want to point and shoot you can, but if you are into doing it the old way you can use the manual mode! I absolutely love this camera!!
 I like it December 25, 2007
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
I have used A710IS before I bought A650. A650 is really bulky camera. It's heavy and big compared to A710. You won't carry it in your pocket. Bigger sensor means larger lens to achieve same zoom range as in A710. Also it has 4 AA batteries instead of 2 in A710.
Bigger sensor but more pixels so noise is just about the same as in A710: ISO200 is the maximum I can accept. Thanks to image stabilization I shoot at ISO80 most of the time. IS works perfectly.
Display quality is really good. Swivel screen really helps. Screen is not protected well so you have to turn the screen up side down each time you turn off the camera.
Photo quality is good with ISO 100 + Large + SuperFine settings. I have an impression that the lens is better than A710's lens.
Camera is fast. But I don't like flash charge time and autofocus speed compared to SLR. With 4 AA batteries flash charges a little faster than in A710.
Grip is not very comfortable for such a heavy camera but I got accustomed to it.
I did not like materials and build quality: my camera has a small chink between two body parts. I don't really care.
I don't like weak flash.
I don't like new controls behavior (compared to A710). For instance, to enable/disable flash you had to press Flash button only once on A710, but on A650 first press just opens Flash Mode selection Pop Up window. And second press changes current mode.
Camera does not support 1024x768 video resolution. Why have swivel screen if you still need separate video camera?
I would have changed dedicated ISO button with Slow sync which is available from Main menu only.
All in all, I like this camera.
Layman's review December 22, 2007
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
I won't go into any technical specs about this camera, previous reviewers who are far more knowledgeable have already done this.
I upgraded to this camera from a simple Nikon Coolpix, as I wanted a few more options and better picture quality and a little more performance than the basic coolpix could offer. I also didn't want to go all the way up to a bulky Digital SLR either. This camera bridges the gap between a basic camera and one for advanced users.
It's not as big/bulky as the SLR's like the rebel but it isn't a shirt pocket camera like the Elph's either.
It has plenty of features to allow you to learn how to take photo's, allowing you to experiment with some of the more manual functions and not always rely on using the old point and shoot "auto" function but for those times you need to, that option is still there to fall back on.
The photo quality is excellent and at 12.0MP you get plenty of room to crop your photo's. I would recommend a larger memory card as the one you get with it isn't good for much of anything.
This camera is also compatible with the newer SDHC cards and I put in one of the 8Gb cards whis has plenty of storage for photo's and some decent length Mpeg's.
It takes 4AA batteries but is not as much of a battery hog as I had thought it would be. The rechargeables are great to have but the new AA lithiums do last quite well under heavy use.
Another nice feature, if you are low on power you can turn off the screen (which is a beefy 2.5" variable angle by the way) and use the viewfinder...a feature other camera's have started to leave out.
With some of the other whistles and bells, face detection, Image stabilization and a 6X zoom and this is a solid purchase for the price.
All that and its still very user friendly....
Great Camera with tons of features for an excellent price ! December 11, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
All previous reviewers have done a fantastic job so I won't bore you with the same. All I can say is that I bought it about two weeks ago, took it to a trip to Southern California and took over 500 pix and 4/5 flix using a 4GB and a 1GB SD card.
The outdoor pix are absolutely phenomenal, indoor ones with out using flash are too noisy and the ones with flash using Auto are extra ordinarily yellow, but I am too new to it to play with the settings. Plus this is my first Canon Digicam so I am not familiar with the menus and settings that much.
Overall the pix are great, size & weight is OK, I love the swivel LCD screen (a must have for me, coming from Nikon CP4500) 6X zoom is much better than generic 3X. I wish it were a little faster. I found it to be a bit slow to start and in between shots.
Six Mega-Pixels better than Twelve November 27, 2007
62 out of 65 found this review helpful
After several weeks and 500 photos this seems a fine technically advanced replacement for a trusty A80 which finally died. With four batteries and a flip out higher-resolution screen I much prefer it to the somewhat similar A710 (now A720) that is in my family.
While generally agreeing with all the positive things and extensive details in the reviews written before Thanksgiving, one can wish for what Canon chose not to do.
A smaller lens is not the big reason that the A650 images are not up to the quality of a big digital SLR. Camera people know one problem is the race to have very high pixel counts on the image sensor that has replaced the film. The prominent 12.1MP in the advertising.
The same sized sensor with only 6 MP instead of 12 would result in better pictures. With fewer pixels you get a bigger cell size for each pixel. A bigger cell will collect more dim light. That means a stronger signal, less noise, when you are shooting in moderate light. Less need for the camera to fuzz the lens's sharp details to conceal the speckles of noise.
If you are comfortable with the bulk of this camera that barely fits into a pants pocket, as I am, then this is a very good choice. However I bought it with a tinge of regret at what might have been. I could have had better pictures from a camera with less flashy specs. If more of us feel regret your next camera may have fewer pixels and take better pictures.
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Update August 2008, eight months and 8,000 pictures later: This is a very good camera.
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