Canon PowerShot A640 Camera

The versatile A640 caters to the auteur and amateur alike by cramming DSLR features into a point-and-shoot body. Continuous shooting, manual aperture and shutter speed settings, and the option to add wide and telephoto lenses will help satisfy the pros. But it's also equipped to guide a budding Diane Arbus with a super-intuitive menus and 21 separate shooting modes. Whatever your skill set, this shooter's 4x optical zoom and 10-megapixel resolution can turn out images so true-to-life, friends might swear you're the next Ansel Adams.

WIRED Flip-out, 2.5-inch LCD can be angled to snap over crowds. Movie mode shoots at 30 frames per second. Included A/V cables for big-screen connectivity. Can shoot underwater with optional case. AA batteries means never having to wait for a charge.

TIRED Not super portable at 4.3 x 2.6 x 2 inches and 12 ounces. Bundled with a rinky-dink and borderline useless 32MB memory card.

• Camera Resolution: 10.0 megapixels
• Optical Zoom: 4x
• Digital Zoom: 4x

• Style: Ultracompact
• Media Format: Flash, SD Card
• Manufacturer: Canon
• Price: $400
Release Date: September 15, 2006