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I purchased this camera about 3 months ago from Amazon, which had the best price. I spent a bit of time learning about the features, trying them out, testing the camera, and finally, USING the camera.
All in all I am mostly pleased with this camera. My previous digital camera was an Olympus D550 zoom, which took great pictures and was very easy to use. The Canon camera is also easy to use, if you want to keep it in AUTO mode, which I often do. If you want to use a different mode or change one of the settings, there are so many different combinations and possibilities that I find it can be a bit overwhelming. I think I just need to get used to it more. I thought I was pretty proficient with it at first, but if I don't use it frequently and consistently, I tend to forget which menu the feature I'm looking for is on.
One thing I really like about this camera is the feel of it in my hands. I was torn between one of the smaller Camera SD models and this one, but the A590 felt so good and comfortable in my hand, I figured it would be easier to hold it steady. (My sister has a Canon SD camera and it is so small, her pictures often come out blurry because she has difficulty holding it steady when she takes a shot.) My old Olympus was much bigger than either camera, so I figured the A590 would be an improvement over it and I shouldn't worry so much about the size. I also liked the idea of having it use AA batteries, vs. the Canon rechargable one in the smaller cameras. (While on vacation, my sister would go to take a picture and lament that her battery needed charging. With AA batteries, if you run out of power, just go buy more.)
I am pleased with the photos I have taken so far, for the most part. It does not do well outdoors at dusk, but my Olympus didn't, either, and I suspect more savy users would know what to set to make these kinds of photos come out better. One thing I noticed in a lot of my photos is that if there is a lamp or light near the subject, or if the subject is near a window letting in bright light, you'll get a bright, overexposed area in the photo. I never noticed this problem with my Olympus, and friends/relatives who have taken shots of the same subject with their cameras did not have this problem. For this reason I am taking away one star.
One thing I was concerned about after reading a lot of the reviews here was bettery life. I preferred a camera that ran on AA batteries, but not if it was going to eat up batteries. My Olympus ran on 4 AA batteries, so I bought rechargeable ones. The A590 only uses 2 AA batteries, so I figured I'd be changing batteries often. Not so! I started off using the 2 Panasonic batteries that came with the camera. I figured I'd use them up just playing with the camera. I kept turning it on and off as I was reading the manual, trying the different menus and features. Surely they'd be dead in a couple of days. Nope. I took many test shots in different lighting, with different settings, and downloaded them to my laptop. Still the batteries continued working. I took a LOT of photos at my and my husband's anniversary party, when all our relatives came in from out of town, but still the batteries lasted. Then I took the camera on a trip and took many more photos, then a couple of birthdays, then my son's college apartment and STILL the batteries lasted. (I must've taken over 100 photos, not to mention my training sessions). It's been a month since I've used the camera and just now I noticed the low battery warning is coming on, so I replaced the Panasonics with 2 rechargeable batteries.
I am happy with my purchase. When I compared photos that I took with my camera with the same photos my relatives took with their digital cameras, many of them much more expensive than my A590, I generally preferred my photos, and at the very least my photos were equally as good. As I mentioned above, the only photos that weren't as good was when there was bright light from a window or lamp near (though not necessarily behind) the subject.
UPDATE 12/15/08:
The first time I reviewed this camera, I had only used it on a few occasions. I was pretty happy with it at the time. However, it's been six months and the more I use it, the unhappier I become with it. It's enough to make me consider buying a new, different camera. I wonder if it's too late to return it to Amazon.
Yes it's easy to use and yes, it has a lot of nice features. But generally it doesn't take very good pictures. Some shots come out very nice - especially ones taken outdoors in full light. But there are too many problems with pictures taken if the light isn't just so. If there is a light on in the background, you get bright halos around the light source. If you use natural light on indoor shots, the colors look washed out. Even indoor shots taken with the flash look washed out.
Then there's the problem with batteries. If I buy regular batteries, they seem to last pretty well. If I use chargeable batteries, I get about 2 or 3 shots before the low battery light comes on, and maybe 2 or 3 after that before they need to be replaced. Someone suggested that maybe the problem was with the batteries or my charger, but I didn't have this problem with my old camera, which used the same batteries/charger. The fact that regular batteries last much longer does give merit to this theory.
I now give this camera 2.5 stars because of the so-so photos it takes, and the somewhat faded looking colors. If I had to do it again, I would buy a different camera.
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