Is the Canon A640 a quality digital camera?

It is an excellent camera.

Consumer Reports for November 2006 has ranked the Canon Powershot A620 as the best compact digital camera. It is becoming almost a legend for longevity at the top of various consumer lists. It looks like this model has been replaced by the A630, which I would expect to be just as popular. The A640 appears quite similar and shares the "600" series numbering, so I guess it's just another upgraded version of the now-classic A620. It looks pretty much the same except for being a 10 MP camera.

I own a few Nikon DSLR's and I'd buy the Canon A630 or A640 for myself.

The A620 was rated about twice as good as any as far a battery life. I hope the A630 and A640 are just as good. Use Energizer e2 LITHIUM batteries and you will be happy with battery life.

With this camera, you will find the memory card is a cute little token of thanks from Canon, but not much more. Buy a 1 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera. I see a rebate on the Sandisk Extreme III cards that actually makes them cheaper than the Ultra II's, so there is no reason not to buy the faster card. The rebate offer ends 12-31-06, though. If you don't find this elsewhere, I saw it at http://www.bhphotovideo.com

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...

If you want a sleek, smaller camera that will easily fit in your pocket, consider the Canon Powershot SD600. It gives up some of the features of the A630 and 640, but at least it still has an optical viewfinder, which I consider to be essential.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...