IS

My first digital camera, a Sony Mavica CD1000 has IS and it takes
very good shots but only has 2.1 megapixels. I still use my Mavica
because it is so good. Having said that, I wanted a smaller, higher
megapixel camera to take with me everywhere. I bought the Canon A640
and am in love. It doesvery well in most conditions. Even gotten super
Northern Lights shots and night time pics of lighted ice carvings. At
first I was concerned that the A640 doesn't have IS. But then my logic
for buying it anyway was that NONE, of my film cameras ever had image
stabilization and I got good shots with them. So. At least with
digital you don't have to pay for any bad shots! Snap away. I have
been enjoying my A640 for about 4 months now and no real complaints. I
take it with me everywhere. I did purchase a small tripod to improve
the odds of better shots. But I also have gotten good shots while I'm
driving along, snapping away.
I do plan on purchasing the extra add on lenses Canon offers for
this camera. Happy Snapping!

On 19 Apr 2007 01:20:58 -0700, wrote:

I have been enjoying my A640 for about 4 months now and no real
complaints. I take it with me everywhere. I did purchase a small
tripod to improve the odds of better shots. But I also have gotten
good shots while I'm driving along, snapping away.
I do plan on purchasing the extra add on lenses Canon offers for
this camera. Happy Snapping!

Congratulations on, umm, enjoying your A640. I have the
similar A620 and it's a very nice camera. The only quibble I have
with it is that I prefer using the viewfinder, but when the LCD is
closed I don't have the feeling of control that I do with a larger
P&S that provides lots of information in its EVF. But the smaller
A620 makes it much easier to remain inconspicuous than if I was
shooting with my larger cameras and I often take it with me for
situations or locations where I wouldn't take one of the larger
ones. I guess that for those such as us the title of the thread
could have been "IS Isn't". g

wrote in message
oups.com...
My first digital camera, a Sony Mavica CD1000 has IS and it takes
very good shots but only has 2.1 megapixels. I still use my Mavica
because it is so good. Having said that, I wanted a smaller, higher
megapixel camera to take with me everywhere. I bought the Canon A640
and am in love. It doesvery well in most conditions. Even gotten super
Northern Lights shots and night time pics of lighted ice carvings. At
first I was concerned that the A640 doesn't have IS. But then my logic
for buying it anyway was that NONE, of my film cameras ever had image
stabilization and I got good shots with them. So. At least with
digital you don't have to pay for any bad shots! Snap away. I have
been enjoying my A640 for about 4 months now and no real complaints. I
take it with me everywhere. I did purchase a small tripod to improve
the odds of better shots. But I also have gotten good shots while I'm
driving along, snapping away.
I do plan on purchasing the extra add on lenses Canon offers for
this camera. Happy Snapping!

Your Canon doesn't have enough telephoto/zoom to need IS. IS might help you
in some low light situations though.

Ron

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:33:45 -0500, "Ron Recer" wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
My first digital camera, a Sony Mavica CD1000 has IS and it takes
very good shots but only has 2.1 megapixels. I still use my Mavica
because it is so good. Having said that, I wanted a smaller, higher
megapixel camera to take with me everywhere. I bought the Canon A640
and am in love. It doesvery well in most conditions. Even gotten super
Northern Lights shots and night time pics of lighted ice carvings. At
first I was concerned that the A640 doesn't have IS. But then my logic
for buying it anyway was that NONE, of my film cameras ever had image
stabilization and I got good shots with them. So. At least with
digital you don't have to pay for any bad shots! Snap away. I have
been enjoying my A640 for about 4 months now and no real complaints. I
take it with me everywhere. I did purchase a small tripod to improve
the odds of better shots. But I also have gotten good shots while I'm
driving along, snapping away.
I do plan on purchasing the extra add on lenses Canon offers for
this camera. Happy Snapping!

Your Canon doesn't have enough telephoto/zoom to need IS. IS might help you
in some low light situations though.

Ron

Ron,
In *most* situations the equivalent 140mm telephoto
on the A640 won't benefit from "IS" but this is far from always true.
If for some reason you are unable to hold the camera steady, "IS" can
be of considerable benefit.

If you find yourself engaged in some physical activity that
get's your heart rate jacked & a rare photographic opportunity
presents it's self, waiting till you recover steady hands may not be
an option. The same can be said for certain environmental vibrations
as well as some medical conditions that my result is less than steady
hands. With all due respect, our hands generally become less steady
as we age.

I own & use a Canon EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM lens on both my
300D & 30D D-SLR. They both have the same 1.6x crop factor so it's
effective/equivalent focal length becomes similar to a 27.2 to 136mm
zoom lens. There have been times when I am certain that having "IS"
turned on saved the shot even when not @ full telephoto. The "IS"
function has an on/off switch because most of the time it's not needed
or might make things worst but it's nice to have it available in some
situations.

To the OP: Enjoy your A640. The Swivel LCD can be very
useful @ times as I have learned on both my A95 & A610. I was tempted
to upgrade to the A630 or A640 because of it's even larger LCD of 2.5"
but decided that for what I would use it for the cost to benefit
ration was not enough.

Also remember that most Canon P&S cameras employ "dark frame
subtraction" noise reduction on any picture taken @ 1.3" or longer.
Set it to Tv mode & 1.3" or longer if needed & you may be quite
impressed. The results can be quite impressive in capturing the
ambiance of a room. Yes this assumes that you place the camera on
something stable, set the self timer, turn off the flash, set the ISO
to it's lowest setting & maybe even set WB to tungsten or cloudy
depending on what is illuminating the room.

Best of luck with your A640 camera.

Respectfully, DHB

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918