Canon PowerShot A640

portability, performance, usability, zoom, exposure

screen, battery

100% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Flip-out, 2.5-inch LCD can be angled to snap over crowds. Movie mode shoots at 30 frames per second. Included A/V cables for big-screen connectivity. Can shoot underwater with optional case. AA batteries means never having to wait for a charge

Not super portable at 4.3 x 2.6 x 2 inches and 12 ounces. Bundled with a rinky-dink and borderline useless 32MB memory card

Very good resolution, very clean results at lower ISO settings Bright, but natural colors Excellent handling Decent edge-to-edge lens performance Useful 35-140mm equiv. 4x zoom lens with decent F2.8-4.1 max aperture range Reliable focus in most...

Clipped highlights in bright, contrasty conditions (not helped by high default contrast) Focusing at tele end in low light can hunt Zoom is not very smooth - only 7 steps from wide to tele No ISO button - WB, drive, metering etc only accessible via...

Canon is one of the few companies still producing solid photographic feature-rich compact cameras like this, offering a genuine alternative for the serious photographer on a budget wanting SLR-level control.

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I think that Canon's success with its digital camera range is set to continue thanks to the excellent quality of the Canon PowerShot A640. I really liked this camera when I tried it out. The handy format with good grip, and more importantly, the...

Excellent value for the money ; Bright, attractive color that stops short of seeming overdone ; Good skin tones ; Auto white balance handles a wide range of lighting well ; Better than average exposure accuracy ; Good lens, generally low distortion and...

Inaccurate optical viewfinder ; Flash vignetting in the corners at wide angle ; Too many manuals to find what you need when you need it ; Auto rotation not recognized by many other standard applications

Very good photo quality, noise levels stay low through ISO 200; ISO 400 still usable too, especially on the A640 ; A bit more zoom than your typical camera in this price range ; Large 2.5" LCD can flip out and rotate; screen is visible in low light ;...

Redeye a problem ; LCD resolution isn't great ; Current zoom setting not shown on LCD ; Can only record about 8 minutes of VGA video due to 1GB file size limit ; Plastic tripod mount; can't swap memory cards while camera is on tripod ; Included memory...

The Canon PowerShot A630 and A640 are two very capable digital cameras that are suitable to beginners and advanced users alike. They offer far more than most cameras in this price range, which is why they earn my enthusiastic recommendation. I would...

The PowerShot A640 has more pros than cons. It has a lot of resolution at 10 megapixels, but that won’t be necessary for most users of this camera. Point-and-shooters won’t need to create life-size prints since most will make small prints with an...