The Canon PowerShot A2500 16MP Digital Camera with 2.7-Inch LCD

When people shop for digital cameras, they usually fall into one of two categories: those who want good picture quality at a low price, and those who want exceptional picture quality, period. The PowerShot A2500, though not the least expensive digital camera out there, is still affordable for most digital photographers. It has been described as being worth every penny of its moderate price. It would make a wonderful gift for a budding photographer or new parents who want to document their child's early years in clear, vivid color.

The PowerShot A2500 makes highly advanced imaging technology fun and easy to use, so you'll capture beautiful stills and video. The camera's 16.0 Megapixel sensor and DIGIC 4 Image Processor capture a wealth of detail and natural color, so even your enlarged images have impressive resolution. With the 5x Optical Zoom with 28mm Wide-Angle lens, everything from close-up snaps to breathtaking landscapes is within your reach. Smart AUTO recognizes 32 shooting situations and automatically chooses the proper camera settings, and Digital IS keeps even dark scenes and fast-moving subjects sharp and steady. Preserving memories in rich, lifelike 720p HD video is as easy as pressing the dedicated movie button, and Scene Modes like Fisheye Effect, Toy Camera Effect and Monochrome give you new ways to shoot more creatively. Plus, you can shoot longer with new ECO Mode, which reduces power consumption. A Help Button makes the PowerShot A2500 perfect even for beginners, with one-touch access to helpful instructions and advice.

High Resolution, Highly Advanced Performance

16.0 Megapixel sensor

With the camera's 16.0 Megapixels of resolution, your images are rich and clear, with textures and tiny details faithfully reproduced even at the long end of the 5x Optical Zoom. This high level of resolution is ideal for creating the largest prints, and allows you the flexibility to blow up and crop any section of an image to express your creativity. The DIGIC 4 Image Processor powers the camera's advanced systems and features, ensuring fast, reliable performance with low battery consumption.

DIGIC 4 Image Processor

Canon DIGIC Image Processors have set the standard for functionality and performance since their groundbreaking introduction in 1999. With each successive generation, DIGIC processors have brought elevated performance and powerful new features to PowerShot digital cameras. The DIGIC 4 Image Processor has ushered in a new level of picture quality and accelerated processing, making possible features such as high-speed continuous shooting, HD video and Face Detection Self-timer.

Zoom in on Wider, Steadier Shots

5x Optical Zoom with 28mm Wide-Angle lens delivers stunning images

The 5x Optical Zoom (35mm equivalent: 28–140mm) in the PowerShot A2500 digital camera delivers outstanding optical performance and versatility. It gives you a great range of potential images from a single location, which is perfect for sporting events and other occasions when your shooting stance is fixed, or times when moving in too close might disrupt the action you're trying to capture. The lens' 28mm wide-angle perspective puts more image in every frame for dynamic, exciting shots.

A Smarter Camera Means Better Photos

Smart AUTO

Photographers of all levels appreciate a camera – especially a go-anywhere compact digital – that takes the hassle out of capturing beautiful images. The PowerShot A2500 gives you Smart AUTO – sophisticated Canon technology that makes getting that great shot as simple as pressing the shutter button. Smart AUTO automatically detects scenes by assessing various factors in both the background and the subject. Detected scenes are analyzed using 32 predefined shooting situations. The camera then makes optimal settings to ensure the best possible image capture when shooting still images. Smart AUTO also includes Advanced Subject Detection, which allows the camera to detect and track non-human moving subjects like animals and vehicles. With Smart AUTO, all you have to do is frame your shot and capture away.

Shooting Modes/Special Scene Modes

Smart AUTO	The camera automatically selects the best shooting settings for optimal quality based on subjects and environmental factors to provide point-and-shoot simplicity.
Program	The camera automatically and intelligently selects the aperture/shutter speed combination based on the shooting conditions.
Live View Control	Enables Brightness, Color, and Tone adjustments to your images using easy-to-understand controls.
Digital IS	The camera digitally corrects image blur by analyzing the subject prior to choosing the best correction method.
Portrait	Brings the subject into focus while beautifully blurring the background.
Face Self-timer	The camera waits for a face to enter the frame before releasing the shutter.
Low Light	For high quality image capture in an amazing range of dimly lit situations.
Fisheye Effect	Now you can get the fisheye effect – a classic photographic distortion – without a fisheye lens.
Miniature Effect	Give images a miniature look with an effect that emphasizes perspective by blurring the top and bottom of the image.
Toy Camera Effect	Simulates photos taken with "toy" or pinhole cameras, darkening the image at the edges to create a vignette effect.
Monochrome	Choose from three single-tone effects: Black-and-White, Sepia, or Blue.
Super Vivid	Super Vivid intensifies existing hues, saturating the scene with bright colors.
Poster Effect	Poster Effect combines several similar shades into one color, turning subtle gradations into eye-catching, scene-popping contrasts.
Snow	Shoot clear snow scenes without darkened subjects or an unnatural bluish tint.
Fireworks	Create brilliant images of skyrocketing fireworks.
Long Shutter	Use to blur moving subjects for artistic effect, ideal for urban night photography.
Movie	Record video; unwanted scenes can be deleted in playback mode.

Gorgeous HD Video From Your Still Camera

Shoot brilliant 720p HD video

Using the pocket-sized PowerShot A2500, you can shoot high definition video anytime, anywhere. With a simple push of the dedicated movie button, you'll be able to instantly record every moment in motion. 720p HD video is smooth, vivid, and beautifully lifelike, making it an ideal way to capture special memories. In addition to being able to shoot 720p HD video at 25 frames per second, the PowerShot A2500 can also shoot 640 x 480 VGA video at 30^* frames per second.
^*Actual frame rate is 29.97 fps.

Dedicated movie button for easy video capture

It's never been easier to shoot videos with a PowerShot digital camera. To make shooting video as natural as snapping pictures, the PowerShot A2500 has a dedicated movie button. No need to plan ahead, no need to search through menus on the LCD screen; when you feel a moment would be best captured in 720p HD, simply press the button and recording begins. The camera is always ready to shoot stills or video whenever you want.

Say Goodbye to Blur

Digital IS reduces the effect of camera shake and subject movement

Digital IS beats the blur that mars many shots by recognizing the main subject, then automatically applying the camera shake correction that best suits the situation. If the subject is a person, blur reduction processing is performed. For landscapes, cityscapes and other still scenes, the camera takes three quick successive shots and composes them into a single clear image. If the subject is moving, the camera takes three successive shots, then automatically saves the clearest image.

A Charge that Lasts as Long as a Memory

New ECO Mode helps reduce power consumption for longer battery life

The PowerShot A2500 takes energy conservation to the next level with ECO Mode, which provides more shots per single charge through LCD monitor and camera power management. ECO Mode can be activated via a dedicated button for easy power preservation when an outlet is unavailable or the moment is too exciting to put the camera down. ECO Mode quickly wakes the camera from sleep when a button is pressed so you won't miss the moment. When the fun with family and friends runs late into the evening, ECO Mode on the PowerShot A2500 makes sure your camera keeps up.

More Ways to Get Creative

Scene Modes

Scene Modes are fun, easy ways to give your shots a distinctly artistic feel without the need for any extra lenses and filters. Super Vivid heightens and saturates colors for eye-popping intensity. Poster Effect eliminates gradations between colors for an illustrative feel. Miniature Effect enhances perspective in a scene, blurring the top and bottom to make it look as if it were created with miniature models. You can also make a quirky portrait using the Fisheye Effect or add a beautiful single-tone effect with Monochrome. Toy Camera Effect simulates a vintage look as it capturing the photo using a "toy" or pinhole camera.

Help You Won't Need Help to Find

Help Button

The PowerShot A2500 digital camera is designed to be fun and easy to use, even for beginners. A Help Button on the camera's exterior brings up the help menu any time you need it, right on the LCD screen. From here, you can scroll through a variety of topics that answer your questions with clear explanations, offer helpful shooting advice, and show you diagrams highlighting the position of any buttons you'll need.

HP PhotoSmart E337

As digital cameras go, price is often an indicator of quality. But there are a surprising number of lower-end cameras tailored to the skills of new photographers that perform on par with or even better than their more expensive competitors. The HP PhotoSmart E337 is inexpensive, but users are full of glowing reviews – provided that you don’t expect too much out of the camera.

What should you expect from the HP PhotoSmart E337? Customers who have used the camera rave about the intuitive button layout and menu navigation. In fact, this camera is so easy to use that many customers have bought a PhotoSmart E337 for their children or parents. (Younger children should get digital cameras made specifically with kids in mind; the PhotoSmart E337 has a rather flimsy and insubstantial body that would break if tossed or dropped.)

Most customers bought this camera to have a simple point-and-shoot device for parties and special events. Others purchased bundles of the cameras to give as Christmas gifts for the younger photographers in the family. For what it is, the HP PhotoSmart E337 is an adequate camera. Its color and image clarity are on track with similarly priced competitors, and its ease of use even surpasses some of the more expensive models out there.

In keeping with the competition in its price range, the HP PhotoSmart E337 has plenty of internal memory (16MB) so that it can be used without a memory card. The camera comes with a USB port and cable for easy photo sharing. It’s also got leading-edge internal red eye removal. Windows Vista fans will appreciate that this camera comes fully Vista ready. It is also fully compatible with Mac OS X v10.3.9 and 10.4.

The HP PhotoSmart E337 runs on two AA batteries. Other camera features include motion video and direct printing to any PictBridge certified printer. The camera comes with a 90 day limited warranty and 24/7 customer support. It also has a hand strap, user manual, and software CD.

So what are the drawbacks of owning an HP PhotoSmart E337? Unfortunately, there are a few. As mentioned before, the camera isn’t the sturdiest on the market. It’s light and feels rather fragile. Image quality has been described as “acceptable”, but not great. The camera is best used for point and shoot pictures; it has no optical zoom. Finally, the 1.5 inch LCD preview screen has been described as small and grainy. Kids and novice photographers would probably have fun with this camera, but real photography enthusiasts are advised to look elsewhere.

The HP PhotoSmart E337 can be found wherever digital cameras are sold. It retails for about $80 US. (now cheaper / not available)

Digital Cameras

A digital camera is an electronic device used to photograph and store images in place of using the former photographic film used in the more conventional cameras.

With additions to the technology of digital cameras, many of them are now multifunctional, including the ability to record sound and videos. In the modern Western market they currently outsell the 35 mm cameras.

Digital cameras can be found in several categories:

* Video cameras: These are designed to record moving images. Those used in movie and television production usually have many image sensors, usually one per color, which enhances the resolution. The professional video cameras don't usually have a built-in microphone of VCR.

* Camcorders: These are the video camera of the amateur. They usually have a built-in microphone and a viewing screen to watch the video during recording and playback. Many of the new camcorders can now take still photographs, but even the low-end LPD takes better still photographs than the best of the camcorders. Some of the newer camcorders record directly to flash memory and transfer the data over USB or FireWire.

* Webcams: These are attached to computers for video conferences and viewing of those you talk to while on an IM or video phone call. They have full-motion abilities, while some have zoom abilities and microphones included.

* Movies: Some digital cameras have a movie capability that allows taking movies.

* Live-Preview Digital Cameras (LPD): These are cameras that use live preview on an electronic screen to allow previewing a photograph before you take it. Most digital cameras fall into this category.

Most digital cameras are also known as digicams. Characterized by ease of operation and focusing, the design allows for limited video capability.

The zoom ability of these cameras is quite a bit smaller than on the predecessor of film cameras. With and extended dept of field, objects that are further away can easily be in focus. This accounts for the increased ease of use.