I've owned the Canon PowerShot A70 for about 18 months and loved - LOVED! - it. Simple to use, plenty of options for full auto or manual operation, a ton of extras, efficient battery usage, great companion software for easy uploading - all in a compact, attractive, sturdy package. Then the lens retraction mechanism failed and I got the dreaded "E18" error message. I emailed Canon's support desk and got a speedy and thorough reply. But since the one year warranty had expired, I was told my only options were that I could send in the camera to its service center (average cost of repair: $100 - $200) or I could pay $150 and they'd send me a factory refurbished A70. Considering the expense, I'll just spend a little more to get a brand new camera. Unless somebody from Canon is monitoring these posts and wants to cut me a deal on repair costs for my beloved but broken PowerShot A70...

Although this camera takes wonderful pictures and it easy to use, I wouldn't buy it. We bought it for about $300 and we've had it for less than 3 years. We've need to repair it 2 times. After using it for less than a year, the LCD screen stopped working and the camera took all-black pictures. Canon fixed it because it was still under warranty. A year later, the camera had the same problem but Canon would not fix it. They said I could pay them $150 for a "refurbished" exact same model and send them my old camera. Humm...doesn't make much sense since this camera sells for a little over $190 now anyway. I think it is a bit of a scam. I'd look for something different.

Nice camera - until it stopped working. The lens mechanism jammed, i got an E18 error and the camera would have cost too much to repair by canon so i've had to spend money twice for a camera: one that doenst work and a new one. Never again

This camera was a good one as long as it lasted. However, we have used it lightly less than two years, and it has stopped working. We've been told that cost to repair these cameras is frequently more than replacement cost. Since we paid over $300 for this camera, I expected it to last longer.

I bought this camera in May 2004 and have been extremely happy. It takes excellent videos and pictures ofcourse! I bought a 256 MB card and it works great. It is very frugal on the use of battery so my regular batteries last for a very long time. A great buy I would say.