Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot A650 IS Digital Camera - Silver (12.1MP, 6x Optical Zoom) 2.5" LCD

I am very happy with this camera. The image quality is good at low ISO. The lens, features, and LCD are all good. I chose this instead of the Canon Powershot G9 partially because this was £80 cheaper with most of the same features. The main features this camera is missing are RAW and auto-bracketing, things I can live without. The camera is I admit a bit plasticky, not as solid as my Canon IXUS 850 IS, but if treated carefully this shouldnt be a problem!

I already owned a Nikon 8700 semi-pro camera but was finding it too heavy (I am disabled and not as fit as I was). I had a very clear idea of what I wanted and did a great deal of web searching before settling on the Canon A650 IS. One thing that has always annoyed me was having to take a charger, cable and spare batteries with me wherever I went. The "A" in "A650" stands for AA - yes, it will run on those cheap, easilly available batteries rather than expensive unique fits. I also wanted a build quality similar to the Nikon and this Canon is largely made from magnesium alloy and feels solid in the hand. My final choice must also offer full manual control - the Canon has excellent manual facilities including a very good focus system. My final wish was for an electronic view finder (EVF) as good or better than that fitted in my Nikon. Sadly I was unable to find a camera which offered this facility in combination with my other requirements - Sony do a couple but they seem more like snapshot cameras to me.

Whilst bereft of an EVF the Canon has an adequate optical view finder. It zooms with the 6x zoom lens but sadly does not have any focus ability. Still, an optical view finder is certainly far, far better than most modern cameras - I can't believe that Leica, Nikon and many other quality makers feel a real view finder is no longer needed; I bought my wife a Casio which had no view finder and tried to use it myself. It felt like a toy and was unuseable in bright sun - need I say more.

I have now taken several hundred pictures with the new Canon and am more than impressed with the quality. It is amazing at light and shade and the macro ability is breath taking with focussing almost to 1:1 (the lens almost touching the objective).

The menu system is good and makes it easy to access all the bells and whistles - face recognition, image stabalisation, semi-optical zoom boost, programmeable button and custom mode to name a few. Taking everything into consideration, this is a mature camera, more reminiscent in handling of a film compact, which is capable of results easily as good as any DSLR. I would like to see raw mode and, as I have said, an EVF, but it would be very difficult to better this camera without spending several times as much.

I had the Canon a620 which on first encounter I had thought plasticky...but the pictures it produced were outstanding quality for such a compact camera...a few minus points with it as there is with anything,I never upgraded to 640 because it didn't convince me it was worthwhile, when I saw the 650is with the image stabiliser I went for it,Oh Boy...no bad move at all....ok so 12mp is giving a massive file so be sure to get an SD card that's fast,it can use SDHC..if you have a reader that can read them....and you may want to use the USB to Camera cable as the memory card in the camera is in the same door as the batteries....not a good move...but nothing is perfect,in my short one day ownership I took it out against the a620....and the 650 leaves it standing...the detail is amazing...comments about the 650 feeling very poorly made is aimed I feel at the surface used on the finger grip...where they've tried to emulate a satin finish,2.5" screen with the same action as the 620 is a big plus,easier iso button on the back...more info. in the viewfinder too....6x zoom......I also used this against my EOS 350D....the SLR has less noise of course but the pictures I have from the 650is convinced me it's a really good buy....and from Amazon at the price it has to be a winner...like I say...I've only had it one day...but I don't see any regrets at the moment......wanna buy an A620 anyone????

Bought this from Amazon last Christmas, and used it extensively since. this is a great camera - not the smallest or lightest thing you can buy, but if you're looking for outstanding performance for around £200, then buy this. Build quality is excellent. I've dropped this a couple of times and managed to get it wet once, and had no trouble. I previously had a Canon A640 and a A320 before that. These A series Powershots are great, and this one is the best so far.

MY TIP: Buy Energizer Lithium batteries for this - they last ages and are really light! They save a surprising amount of weight!

I purchased this because of my frustration at the difficulty of using my previous point-and-shoot in sunny conditions. There aren't that many cameras around now with viewfinders. The electronic viewfinder on this one is absolutely fine, and the swivel screen is also useful on occasions. Everything else on the camera works very well. The only gripe is opening and closing the battery/SD card compartment - after a month of almost daily use I still find it temperamental. But at this price -it's a fantastic camera and you won't regret buying it.