Canon Powershot A495 vs. A1000

Ok, first of all I have to admit that I don't actually own an SLR. I want one badly, but unfortunately it just isn't possible at the moment. Every picture you've seen so far was taken with my Canon Powershot A520. It's about 8 years old, only has 4 megapixels (meaning it can print good 8x10s, but good luck going bigger), 4 times zoom and full manual mode (as well as program, shutter priority and aperture priority modes). Honestly, you don't need much more. It allowed me to learn everything I needed to know about photography without spending thousands of dollars. This little camera took me through Communications Tech, Yearbook, my college photography course and tons of beautiful shots. Of course, I would love to have the extra flexibility offered by an SLR but even when I get one I'll still want a camera I can fit in my pocket some days.

Anyways, back on track... My husband and I just got married, and we were given a Canon Powershot A495. 10 megapixels, 3.3x zoom, 2.5" LCD and no viewfinder. They've also changed the basic navigation of the Powershots over the past few years. The zoom toggles differently and the different modes are in a menu instead of a knob on top of the camera.

Honestly, it's a nice camera... I'm just too picky for my own good. My plan is to trade it in for a Canon Powershot A1000. It's an older model, but it's much better than this new one if you don't mind the extra chunkiness. It has 10 megapixels, just like the A495 - but it has the 4x zoom that I'm used to as well as the navigation I like. It also has a lot more shooting modes available.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to make Powershots with manual mode anymore. These two cameras only have Program mode.

Whether I keep the A495 or trade it in for an A1000 (fingers crossed), you'll be able to order larger prints soon. I'm still in the process of going through all my old albums, though, and those photos can only go as big as 8x10.