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Canon PowerShot A620 Review
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Review
Date: Jan 5, 2006 |
 
User's Experience
Friday, Dec 16, 2005 - Here's what I receive
in the box:
- PowerShot A620
- Wrist Strap
- 4 AA Alkaline Batteries
- 32MB Secure Digital (SD) Card
- Interface Cables: A/V; USB
- Documentation (English and French): User Guide
Basic, User Guide Advanced, System Map, Direct
Print User Guide, Software Starter Guide
- Software CDs: Digital Camera Solution 26.0
The Canon PowerShot A620 is targeted to
beginner and serious amateur photographers, providing
full exposure flexibility. First impressions when
you first pick it up is that this is a "chunky"
camera. It has a nice big handgrip for a comfortable
hold.
It is well built and in spite of the plastic
construction, there is an overall feeling of quality.
The only disappointment is the Terminal cover
that seems too thin and never seems to want to
close properly because of the wrist strap that
gets in the way.
One great thing about this versatile digital
camera is that it uses AA Alkaline batteries.
I would recommend that you purchase 4 rechargeable
AA Ni-MH batteries and an optional battery charger.
There is an optical viewfinder but you'll use
the 2 in. LCD monitor most of the time. It flips
out and rotates to allow you to take images from
above your head, close to the ground, around the
corner, etc. without having to adopt arkward and
compromising poses. A fast refresh rate makes
viewing images smooth, though I've noticed that
it does get choppy in extreme low-light. One feature
I was glad to see is that the LCD gains up very
well in low light to permit composing.
In the Menu, you can obtain a Framing Guide of
horizontal and vertical lines overlayed on the
screen by setting Grid Lines ON. This is very
helpful if you take lots of pictures of buildings
or pictures with lots of horizontals and/or verticals.
There is a very effective AF Illuminator and
the AF is quite fast and precise at all times.
Even in extreme low-light, at wide-angle focal
length, it locks focus quickly and accurately
without hunting.
In the field, the Canon A620 performed extremely
well. There was no fumbling with the controls,
no frustration trying to set the functions you
want, and the camera was point-and-shoot simplicity.
Even though most of the functions are accessed
thru the FUNC. menu, I found it well implemented
and fast.
You can even zoom during movie recording though
it is not displayed as a smooth zooming in Playback.
Sound is recorded.
The zoom definitely needs improvement. There
is just not enough intermediate steps; I counted
6 steps, so it's challenging to stop exactly where
you want to.
Another feature I really like is AF Frame FlexiZone.
To access it, you must first have set it in the
Menu. Then, whenever you want to use it, press
the Exposure Compensation button until the AF
Frame turns green; then use the Right and Left
arrows to move the AF Frame on screen.
Transferring images to your PC is simply a matter
of connecting the USB cable and either using the
Canon ZoomBrowser EX to index the images or simply
drag-n-drop in Windows Explorer.
The ZoomBrowser EX software is very user-friendly
and complete. Each image's filename is clearly
visible and you do not need to launch another
window to view the EXIF info. You can do basic
image editing, re: Red Eye Correction, Auto Adjustment,
Color/Brightness Adjustment, Sharpness. In the
above image, we selected the Preview Mode. Another
included software is PhotoStitch which allows
you to stitch images taken as a Panoramic shot.
There are 2 User Guides: a Basic and an Advaced
one. They are both well illustrated and written,
and the print font is easy to read.
The Canon PowerShot A620 is excellent
value for money: excellent image quality with
lots of detail, fast operations with no practical
shutter lag, fast and precise AF that works in
low-light, intuitive operation, full exposure
flexibility, accurate exposure metering, an immensely
practical flip-and-rotate LCD.... if you're not
sure which digital camera to buy, you can't go
wrong with the Canon A620.
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