Canon PowerShot A85

The Canon PowerShot A85 rounds out a solid line of point-and-shoot digital cameras from Canon. The 4 megapixel A85 is meant to lure beginners into digital photography and help them transition to an intermediate level of shooting. The 13 shooting modes have enough automatic functions to make this camera easy for anyone to use, but enough semi-automatic and manual features to allow a learning photographer to improve their skills. With a 3x optical and 3.6x digital zoom on the 35-105mm lens, the Canon PowerShot A85 can zoom in to capture images with its 1/2.7-inch CCD and produce good prints up to an 8 x 10-inch size. The A85 has a 1.8-inch LCD screen for viewing photos and menus and a Print/Share button to make using the camera even easier. This camera was announced in August 2004 at a suggested retail price of $299.