Need any help I can get! Greetings members of this group.

[Paper Roses]

I hope you can give me some help. Anyone here familiar with the Canon A590IS camera?
This was given to me 2 years ago by my daughter. She hardly used it because she bought a phone with camera.
Since I am a dummy, I don't know how to address the problem I am having. I called Canon and the warranty expired December 2014.
No help available.

I find this camera easy to use but I always get the notification "replace batteries". I have wasted so many batteries and am now really upset. Today I needed the camera, same message, put in new batteries. Same message.
The lens won't even engage. It might as well be dead.

Is this camera 'kaput'? I like the fact that it is easy to use but am very frustrated. The camera might as well be considered new because it has been used so little. I cannot figure out what to do with it. Should I just give up?
I don't want to go to a camera shop and pay a zillion dollars for repair of camera that has major flaws.
Since Canon was of no help, can you give me any suggestions?

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Hi, Paper Roses!

I am not trying to be a smartass here, but are you sure you are putting the batteries in correctly? And that they are the right batteries? I have a different camera, but it uses a special battery, and I don't know if yours does or not.

Also, do you have the book? Is there a troubleshooting section? Here is the manual, with troubleshooting starting on page 150.

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/6/0400000016/01/PSA590IS_CUG_EN.pdf

Good luck. I am sure that someone else will be by who knows more than I do, but this is a start.

[Mira]

2. My opinion will not make you happy

I have had Canon point and shoot cameras in the past. One had the same problem you had, and it never got better, another just ate batteries but took a few photos in between wasting them.
I have a friend with one and she has that issue as well and she gets very upset and curses, but does not have the funds to replace it.

If I were you I'd buy something else. Try Craigslist. But never a Canon Point and Shoot again, and complain bitterly to them if you still have a connection with them.
You can tell them about me and my friend as well.

[alfredo]

3. poor contact with battery. Here's a fix

You can see it is trial and error for him.

[hunter]

4. This, but the battery voltage sensing circuits also go bad.

I once "fixed" a camera by using higher voltage rechargeable batteries, but that's not a trivial solution, and could fry a camera that might otherwise be repairable.

I have another camera that refuses to run on slightly over-voltage and alternate chemistry generic lithium cells, but runs fine on two alkaline "AA" cells or a manufacturer approved lithium pack.

[alfredo]

6. This camera seems to have had little use, so let's see if the tightening the contacts

fix works. I've had to do the same thing with flashlights.

This looks like a good inexpensive P&S.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-EC-WB350FBPBUS-16-3Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B00HZE2PYI/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1427501459&sr=1-12&keywords=point+and+shoot+cameras

[A Little Weird]

5. We had an A590IS at work

The cost of point and shoot cameras is pretty low so I wouldn't pay for to have it repaired either. If it were me, I would try the solution posted in the video above. It seems like a pretty simple fix and if it works you'll have a nice camera. Ours took excellent pictures and was easy to use. We found that it worked best with lithium batteries although we used many different kinds over the years.