Canon Powershot A620 Review

Specifications :

Manufacturers specifications :

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=ModelFeaturesTabAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=12072&pageno=6

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Features

High-performance, feature-rich 7.1 Megapixel digital camera with a long 4x Optical Zoom

Large 2.0 inch Vari-Angle LCD screen and optical viewfinder for easy on-camera viewing

Steady grip for better handling and Mode Dial for easy access to 20 Shooting Modes, including 8 Special Scene Modes

DIGIC II Image Processor for even faster processing speed, crisp vibrant colors and excellent image quality

Fully loaded with Movie Mode recording up to 60 fps (320 x 240) and a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed interface for fast downloads

Compatible with a complete range of optional accessories, including supplementary lenses and an auxiliary flash unit

Print/Share Button for easy direct printing and downloading plus ID Photo Print and Movie Print with Canon CP and SELPHY Photo Printers

This is the product released in the thrid quarter of 2005.

The Canon PowerShot A620 has it all: full manual exposure controls; auto, program, and scene modes for snapshooting; and a high-quality video mode--there's something for every photographer and every shooting situation. You can even choose a shooting mode that fits your mood. After all, some days you might just want to point and shoot; other days, you might feel more enthused about manual controls.While you won't find as many advanced features as on some more sophisticated cameras, the Canon PowerShot A620 provides enough to keep most control-happy photographers satisfied. They include manual white balance, low sharpening, sepia and black-and-white effects, three metering options, and settings for vivid and neutral color.We particularly like two features: the camera's Flexizone focusing option and the ability to layer a grid over the LCD to line up horizons and other straight edges. The Flexizone option lets you manually move the focus point so that your off-center subjects come out sharp. Another helpful feature is Safety Shift, which functions in aperture-priority or shutter mode and selects the proper aperture or shutter-speed setting if your choice doesn't quite work out. For instance, if your selected shutter speed requires an aperture wider than the PowerShot A620 can produce, the camera compensates to prevent an underexposed shot. You can also save your settings so that you don't have to dig around the setup menu to prevent the camera from resetting everything when it powers down.On the easy-to-use side, the camera offers a point-and-shoot automatic mode, as well as a program mode that allows you to adjust pretty much everything except the aperture and shutter speed. Of course, the scene modes make shooting easy by automatically choosing the best settings for a particular type of subject. To use them, you select standard modes such as Portrait and Landscape via the mode dial; a special scene-mode setting then makes other options available via the menu system. These include Kids And Pets, Foliage, Fireworks, Snow, Beach, and even an Underwater setting for use with Canon's underwater housing, which is good to a depth of 130 feet. Other optional accessories include wide, telephoto, and macro add-on lenses as well as a higher-powered flash.Canon has upped the video ante with this camera: you can now shoot 30fps VGA movies with sound up to 1GB.

Conclusion - Pros

Good resolution, very clean results
Very natural color
Good edge-to-edge sharpness
Useful 35-140mm equiv. 4x zoom lens with decent F2.8-4.1 max aperture range
Reliable - and much faster - focus
Sophisticated and comprehensive range of features and controls
Excellent build quality for a budget camera
Very little purple fringing
Excellent flash exposures and color
Bright, clear vari-angle screen
Excellent battery life from 4x NiMH batteries
Very smooth ISO 50 & 100 results
Good balance of noise reduction and detail retention at ISO 400
Excellent macro mode
Optional add-on lenses, filters and slave flash
Excellent value for money

Cons

Clipped highlights and occasional exposure problems in bright, contrasty conditions
Focusing at tele end in low light can hunt
Zoom is not very smooth - only 7 steps from wide to tele
No ISO button
Images slightly soft, but they sharpen up well in post-processing

Size of the camera

Not a rechargable battery