I don’t care for the factory default settings of most digital cameras, so I change them as soon as I get a new camera. These are the settings I generally use for the Canon A570IS.

• Shooting mode: P
• Focus mode - use center point; turn on AiAF/Face Detection only if taking photos of people
• Metering - Evaluative
• Image Stabilization: Shoot Only
• Sensitivity - 80
• Exposure Compensation: -1/3 (live in sunny area)
• Print/Share button programmed for quick access to ISO settings
• Auto focus assist lamp- ON
• Red-eye mode - OFF (doesn’t really help in my experience)
• White balance - AUTO
• Flash: OFF
• Grid: ON
• Digital Zoom - OFF
• LCD Review: OFF