[starstrewnnight]

I have a Canon 300D and a Sony P10. I've just made a deal with my cousin to sell my P10 to her for $100, and so now I want to buy a new point and shoot (for quick trips, etc. Don't want to be lugging my huge canon around).

I've had my eye on the Canon A630 for a while because I think it's a good price and I hear it has good picture quality. I frequent dpreview.com a lot but there aren't any sample galleries for the A630, so if anyone has the camera, provide pictures please =].

If I do buy this camera, it'll be my first time using alkaline batteries. I'm a little skeptical since I've been using lithium. How's the battery life?

I'm thinking of buying it off of beachcamera.com for $229 (or the bundle for $268). What are your opinions? If you have other suggestions, please tell me (preferrably under $300). Thank you.

[DaRkViEt73]

I don't have any opinions but I do know of a great resource for info on digicams. Sadly I'd forgotten all about this great site until just now.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A630/A630A.HTM - A630 using AA batteries
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SD630/SD630A.HTM - SD630 using lithium


That site has VERY INDEPTH reviews on almost any digital camera you can think of. As far as alkaline batteries don't bother because battery life will suck. You're gonna either want to go with the lithium battery version of that camera (SD630 for about $100 more I think) or a better option is to invest in some AA nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries [at least 1800ma or higher capacity] and a good NiMH AA charger [preferably Maha or another good brand]. You will get much longer battery life (many times more pictures per charge) than alkalines and they're rechargable. NiMH batteries were designed for high-drain electronic devices like digicams.

One thing you might want to keep in mind is NiMH batteries lose their charge quickly if not used. They usually drain completely in a month or two... requiring a recharge before using again. If you only use your camera like once a year then you'll either need to remember to recharge the batteries before use... or use those special high drain alkalines [like Duracell Ultra for example]... or consider a lithium battery camera instead. But for heavy users, NiMH is definitely the way to go!

Note: NiMH is NOT the same kind of batteries like the older nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries. DO NOT recharge a NiMH battery in an older NiCd charger!

Edit: I think the SD630 is 6 megapixels instead of 8 megapixels on the A630. It's obvious I got the two cameras confused. I thought they were related when they infact aren't. The A630 is a far superior model and I don't know what the lithium equivalent to it is if it exists yet.

[Janice<3]

IMO, based on DaRkViEt73's site the A630 looks pretty good. the price isn't too bad for a 8-megapixel camera! i like it.. you should consider it a high possibility

[starstrewnnight]

Thanks for your input. I think I will buy it. I was looking at the G7 and got tempted, but it's way too much $$ for me. haha