Likes

-Overall ease of use -Spaced buttons -This camera slowly advances the shooter from novice to intermediate skill levels. -The price -Adjustable flash power levels

Dislikes

-Manual focus is difficult to adjust (no manual focus ring) -Fingers get in the way of the flash -horrible handling of noise -15 fps is fastest speed for motion video capture

Conclusion
The Canon PowerShot A85 is perfect for newcomers to the photography world. At $299, the A85 is priced well for a 4 megapixel digital camera. It provides automatic and semi-automatic functions that are solid enough to give a shooter confidence while allowing the flexibility to learn and grow. The A85 is great for starters who are intimidated by other digital cameras, but wish they could operate the bigger, better, faster camera models. Eventually, users of the Canon PowerShot A85 will want to graduate to a camera with more megapixels, but they can still rely on this digital camera as a solid start. While its handling of noise leaves much to be desired, the camera records images with excellent clarity given ample lighting. Therefore, as long as there is time to set up and profuse light to shoot in, the A85 user should be content with the images they get from this camera.