Canon Powershot A1200 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Black)

I bought two of these cameras, one for my 10-year-old and one for my 14-year-old, because it has all these features I was looking for:(1) the image-quality is superb;(2) it is one of the few compact digital cameras that run on AA batteries (a feature my 14-year-old son will find useful when he studies and travels in Europe this fall);(3) it is one of the extremely few compact digital cameras that have a viewfinder (a feature that my 10-year-old daughter wanted);(4) it has a "smart auto" setting and, even more foolproof, an "easy" setting for the simplest use possible;(5) it can store a lot of images on a 32-GB SD card (a feature that is good to have when cameras are taken away to summer camps or boarding schools);(6) taking HD movies is simple; and(7) it comes at an unbeatably low price, making it a great value.My children had no problem operating this camera from minute one. I highly recommend this camera!

The A1200 is just what I wanted; a point-and-shoot with an optical viewfinder at a veryreasonable price. I am not thrifty, but I wanted a camera that I can keep on handwithout worrying about damage or loss.The pictures are pretty good--this is a point-and-shoot after all. The resolution noticeably betterthan my wife's Droid and it is slightly better than my old Olympus with 2.1 MP. Meaningthat pixel count ain't everything. The files are huge--like 2-3 megabytes.The controls are easy to use. It has seven knob-selectable shooting modes, like "auto", "scenes""live" and more. This is not really good; I cannot always remember what each mode is for. The 196-pagemanual is on disk, so if you are in the field and really need the "toy camera" setting you may beout of luck. On the other hand you could carry a real toy camera as a backup.The viewfinder is adequate, but barely. The screen is only so-so.I am satisfied with the camera and would recommend it to a friend who wanted a point-and-shoot.

I ordered a Canon Powershot A1200 because it was suppose to shoot in HD....NOPE...not even close.The still shots were very poor and grainy. The video was grainy and far from HD.I have a Nikon from four years ago...like 3Megapixels and that camera makes me want to take this Canon Powershot and throw it SUPER far in to a field. I am very sad about this because I was hoping that this camera would be perfect for shooting a small documentary for the internet. There is no way that I could film anything with this camera. I got it five hours ago and I am finding tape to ship this camera back to Amazon TONIGHT. The camera came fast and was the process was awesome but the item----- thumbs down. Amazon's return policy is a life saver!!!!!

We purchased this camera to replace an aging Canon A520. It is quite remarkable how much these cameras have improved in the last few years. This camera takes excellent photos. It is light, small, uses AA batteries and has a view-finder. The photos are very sharp if you take them in "Program" mode and set the ASA very low. In some of the other modes, the camera sacrifices sharpness by automatically setting the camera to a high ASA. This is good for some low-light situation when you wouldn't want to use a flash, but not good in many others. Sometimes the automated decisions the camera makes about ASA don't make any sense. Since I normally leave the camera in P mode all the time, it is not a problem for me. If you are looking to have the camera make decisions about ASA and flash, you might be disappointed. If you are looking for AA batteries, a view finder, and don't want to spend more than about a hundred dollars, this is a great choice. I wish Canon made a model that was the same size and added full 1080 HD video and image stabilization while keeping the AA batteries and the view-finder.

I've owned other Canon cameras, DSLR and point and shoots. This is an okay starter camera, but the shutter lag is so miserable I have to buy another camera. After clicking the button, it takes over a second for the camera to take a picture--I used a stopwatch to measure. Picture quality is decent and so is the easy set-up. Really, the lag is so bad that it makes the camera pretty useless.

Nice point and shoot camera although the "shutter" button requires a lot of pressure to take the picture. Haven't had it out for a trip yet (primary purpose is just happy snaps) but it seems to do what I want it to do. AND it HAS a viewfinder. I hate my wife's Olympus point and shoot because half the time you can't see the screen well enough to figure out what you are pointing at. First one I received the screen didn't work. Returned it to Amazon and received a replacement within 4 days. That was nice. Little hassle, but there shouldn't have been any.--UPDATE--Have had the camera for a little over a year. Have really learned to love this camera. You have to spend a little time learning which settings work best in what environments (bright or low light, still or fast action) because they are not intuitive. But once you know what works it takes really good pictures and videos (note for reviewers denigrating video quality: Buy a dedicated video camera). And at a price that is very reasonable.