Introduction
Canon is in the process of rolling out a trio of new “A” series digicams that sell by the container load…and we mean tons. These point-and-shoots run on AA batteries so you’ll never run out of juice—as long as there’s a 24-hour drug store around. Beyond the ubiquitous power source, they’re cheap. The new 7-megapixel PowerShot A470 is only $129 USD, the 8MP A580 costs $149 USD while the one we’re testing is $179 USD. This 8MP camera has a 4x zoom, true optical image stabilization, Face Detection and manual controls for less than $180. Pretty startling stuff. Still even with the low price the camera has to perform in order for it to be a great deal. With that in mind it was time to test this 2008 model out…

Shots taken outdoors were very solid with accurate colors in the ‘natural' Canon style I've always liked.

by F. Dabu on July 9, 2008:
“I bought this camera as a replacement for my Kodak Z740 during our trip to the Philippines. It is a good camera with a solid feel to it, a good LCD display and a rare optical viewfinder. Zoom is OK but I miss a much longer zoom. Photos are good and video is...” More...