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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
List Price: $149.99
Buy New: $110.95
You Save: $39.04 (26%)
New (99)
Avg. Customer Rating:  295 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 4
Digital Zoom: 4
Connectivity: AV
Display Size: 2.5
Battery: aa size alkoline
Maximum Focal Length: 23.2
Minimum Focal Length: 5.8
Maximum Resolution: 8
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3.7 x 1.6 x 2.5
MPN: A590IS
Model: A590IS
UPC: 013803089325
EAN: 0013803089325
Release Date: February 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 New Yorker June 25, 2008
37 out of 49 found this review helpful
Buyer beware! The A590IS requires two alkaline batteries; however the batteries last approximately one to two weeks or less than approx. 75 photos. The low battery indicator appears way too often.
The A590IS has 8MP packed into a small sensor chip which causes the photo details/sharpness to be less than say a 5MP on the same size chip (it's called "noise" in a photo). Advice when buying a digital camera; more MP is not necessarily better. Look at the ratio of MP to chip size/capacity. The lower the ratio of MP to chip capacity = more noise, because the MP take too much space on the chip thus blurring the photo with more pixels. If you buy the A590IS, Canon packs 8MP on a small chip thus creating noise. I had a Canon A610 for two years; 5MP on a small chip but alot less noise than the A590. My A610's sensor chip died after two years (black LCD screen). Bottom line, digital camera technology is not reliable; the life expectancy is not long. At least film cameras lasted more than two years . . .
 Excellent Value! March 20, 2008
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
The Canon 590 takes fantastic photos! I've had trouble in the past with shaky pictures from other digital cameras. But with the built-in image stabilizer, they are clear and beautiful, even up close! I've gotten some great shots. I can even take close up photos of books to show on computer monitor and the text is clear and readable. Love the movie mode, too. I like the ease of point and shoot, but if you want to change manual settings are available too.
Super Camera - Great Price June 3, 2008
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
I have had this camera a little less than a month and have already taken 1200 pictures on it! 1089 of these were on on a trip to Alaska, while the rest were "practice" shots to become familiar with the camera. I am very impressed with the results as the beauty of our trip comes through perfectly in the photos.
I bought this camera as a backup to my aging Canon S2IS with its 12X zoom, just in case it decided to quit during the trip. The S2 survived and was used almost as much as the 590 - just the opposite of what I expected. The size and convenience of the larger LCD screen on the 590 quickly made it a favorite of mine, and my wife's. Because the Canon controls were very similar on both cameras, it was easy to learn, and switch between cameras. The newer Zoom Browser software is better than the S2's, but similar and was easy to learn.
I have not figured out how to disable the flash on the Auto setting, other than after I turn the camera on. The camera takes great shots inside with some light, and the flash washes some of these out, if used. I feel the default setting should be "Off" for the flash, even in the Auto setting, but can understand why it is "On". I just have to remember to turn the flash off whenever I turn the 590 on.
The only complaint I had of the 590 was the slowness of taking a picture. However, I discovered in my haste to get a new memory card before the trip, I had picked up an SD card, rather than an SDHC card. I feel the new SDHC card I ordered will solve that problem.
I used the Landscape setting for many shots of Mt. McKinley, Denali, glaciers, and others with great results.
Thanks to Amazon and the reviews submitted by other 590 owners, I am really enjoying this PowerShot and the unbelievable beauty of Alaska that it captured!
The Canon A590IS has it all. September 7, 2008
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
The A590IS, based on price, is considered to be a budget or entry level camera. However, especially at this price point, it is feature rich including many not found in more expensive models. The feature set will appeal to a wide variety of people from those who want nothing more than an auto-focus point-and-shoot to the camera buff who wants a full set of manual controls, including manual focus, and to everyone in between. I was especially pleased that Canon included a viewfinder on this model, something that is being dropped from many product lines in favor of only an LCD screen. Anyone who has ever tried to compose a shot in bright sunlight only to find the LCD screen washed out or impossible to see will appreciate this feature.
I applaud Canon for developing a small camera with more attention to function rather than to style and minimal size. Many cameras can be found with dimensions smaller than a playing card or credit card but lack even basic controls, much less easy to use buttons. While the A590IS may not fit in the pocket of your jeans, it will fit into a jacket pocket or a moderately sized shirt pocket. Rather than being a flat or rounded rectangle this camera design feels good in your hand and feels secure during use.
Performance and picture quality was another pleasant surprise at this price point. Picture noise is not noticeable until ISO 400 and degrades rapidly at ISO 800 and above. Translated to laymen's terms, this means your shots will be crystal clear unless you specifically set the ISO to a high number for non-flash, low-light shots. Image stabilization is excellent throughout the three settings (off is also selectable). There are three auto-focus modes plus off including face detect which will automatically detect up to 9 faces in a shot and adjust the camera settings automatically so that faces are correctly exposed in your shot. Unless one of your subjects is moving fast, the camera detects the movement and adjusts according. The 4X optical zoom is a rarity in this price range with most not exceeding 3X. Combined with the 4X digital zoom you have a camera that is capable of mild wide angle to moderate telephoto. Color rendition is excellent and I have read a number of technical reviews that place it as nearly perfect. One of your many shooting options is "vivid" which increases contrast and heightens the colors in your shot. The camera's ability to shoot movies with sound is better than expected. However Canon did reduce the performance from the A590's predecessor to only 20 fps in 640x480. To get 30 fps you must drop down to the 320x240 size. Unlike my old digital, you can continue to shoot in movie mode until your memory card is full, not in shorter segments. Redeye reduction is accomplished with two methods which can be combined or shut off entirely, a redeye light and digital correction. Unfortunately, no camera manufacturer I am away of offers something that will work with pets so their eyes will often come out glowing green or gold in a flash shot.
Canon's decision to power the A590IS with AA batteries was sound. Avoiding a proprietary battery aided them in keeping the cost low. Replacement of a proprietary battery can cost upwards of $40. I would recommend purchasing a set of 2500 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries and a good charger if you use your camera a lot. If you find your batteries dying and unable to plug in your charger, you can always pick up a set of AA batteries nearly anywhere. Battery life with the A590IS is reportedly one of the best with up to 450 shots. But if you are like I am and use all the bells and whistles as well as flash, expect battery life to be much lower, typical with any camera.
As with anything, there are always some cons. Writing to the memory card is a bit slow, especially in continuous shooting mode although still respectable for a camera in this class. I found that it did improve when I upgraded to a faster SD card (class 6+). As with all of Canon's A-series PowerShot cameras, flash recycle time leaves something to be desired approaching 5 seconds. Unless you are someone who wants to take rapid-fire shots using a flash, performance is acceptable. The LCD view screen is pretty low resolution and displays a lot of noise. Much to my relief the actual shots turn out much better than what you see on the view screen. When in movie mode with sound, I found that using the zoom or other buttons translates into an audible sound during playback.
In summary, I suppose it is possible to find a budget camera that will exceed the A590IS in one or two categories but the Canon has good, solid, balanced performance in all areas. I'd much prefer solid performance over stellar performance in one or two areas and below average performance everywhere else. It is by no means a high-performance SLR, but at $149 I can buy 10 of these before approaching what I paid for my SLR 10 years ago and I don't need to drag along 2 camera bags to take good quality shots. If I'd paid over $500 for the A590IS I'd probably rate it at 4 stars, but at $149 it earns a solid 5 stars for performance, features, and quality with the Pro's far outweighing the Con's.
A note about using SDHC (high capacity) memory cards. The a590IS comes with a regular 32mb SD card but can utilize the SDHC format. Make sure your computer (or other device) can utilize the SDHC format before buying a SDHC card as the format is not the same as an SD card. The SDHC is nearly idential in size and shape to the SD card which has led to some confusion. However, all is not lost. There are plenty of very inexpensive card readers out there that can read the SDHC format and upload to your computer or other device. SCHC cards are most often found in 4gb, 8gb, and 16gb capacities.
Optional Purchase April 4, 2008
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
This camera is really nice. I like that you can add external lenses (sold seperately) to the camera. If you are interested in this option, check out the bundle package from 49 St. Photo (sold through Amazon) that includes two lenses and lots of other goodies for only $100 more.
My favorite features of this camera include manual mode (or shutter or aperature priorty), auto rotates pictures, long battery life, great movie quality w/ sound, can turn off digital zoom, has an easy mode, face detection is cool, and you can add an external lens.
Cons to the camera include a little bit bulky, slow recharge time after each picture, and that's about it. I never write reviews but I felt I needed to for this since I liked it so much.
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