25 out of 25 people found this review helpful.
To Buy or Not To Buy, That is the Question
Date of Review: Apr 18, 2006
The Bottom Line: If 7.1 MegaPixels excites you,make this your camera. If price is a factor, I'd go with the 610. Both are fine cameras, unfortunately this one comes in plastic.
The electronics store that I frequent recently upgraded to advertise this solid, albeit somewhat poorly constructed camera. Of course the construction issues I have with the Powershot are merely my opinion; however, I do feel they can be significant and can possibly enter into play for most users like myself. While the merits of this piece of equipment are many and are indeed varied, there are a few notable detractions, which for a price of over 300 dollars (at most stores) I personally would not accept.
Features
Let me first state that the features and possibilities of this camera are abundant. I find that the The Canon PowerShot A620 7.1-Megapixel compact digital camera stacks up well here and is quite comparable to other devices in this price range. Also, of obvious interest, it is important to note that this device runs on 4 AA batteries which have been nicely supplied with purchase. I have heard boasts that the Powershot A620 can take about 350 shots on alkaline batteries or 500 shots on AA rechargeable power providers. I found these claims to be accurate as I took 353 shots on my alkalines. It is further of note that this little beast can run for almost 1000 minutes in playback mode. I tested this feature as well and found that 1000 minutes corresponded nearly (give or take a few minutes) to the amount of time I had in invested therein.
The size of the camera would be classified as compact and can easily fit into the hands of most users. The device enjoys a 4x optical zoom, 20 shooting modes and a 2-inch LCD screen to view the target or photo. I find the 2 inch screen more than ample; however, users may want more depending on their vision and how serious a user they might be. The LCD screen has a sizable 115,000 pixels of resolution. Further, the vari-angle design lets you swivel the LCD screen 180? to the front of the camera and display either a mirror image or a non-reversed image so you can shoot from just about any position. The camera boasts a USB jack, DC power input and an A/V jack for users who will find such things necessary Out of the 20 shooting modes, some that I found notable were P Program, Landscape, Nightscene, Auto, indoor, Movie, Foliage, and Kids and Pets. The Kids and Pets mode I found to be especially valuable as most of my subjects are moving and this mode allows such objects to be frozen through reduced lag time. Of course, in Manual mode, you can do things like changing the Shutter or Aperture speeds amongst other expected personalizations. Further, some modes allow you to change the color of the photo as well as make adjustments for those who may have a lighter or darker skin tone. The camera boasts the DIGIC II Image processor for quick processing speed, a movie mode which records up to 60fps and a USB 2.0 high speed interface which works well for downloads. The movie-mode runs at 15 frames per second which I have found to be quite adequate for general or home usage.
This camera features Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot metering modes. The camera has a built-in flash with adjustable output and the ever-popular red-eye reduction mode which I found to do just what the name implies. The camera has Auto or selectable ISO of 50-400. The camera acts as a recorder of sorts (with memory card), as most all such-devices do these days, and photos can be printed through your computer and viewed and stored there as well. This storage is done on SecureDiital memory cards which were supplied with my purchase. This device is compatible with all operating systems that I utilized (Windows and Mac). If you do not have a printer available, you will still be able to print using PictBridge printers which, of course, would only be available at an extra cost. Using my printer I found images to be fairly nice and enjoyable up to 11x14. I believe it is even possible to print larger scale images than this, but I cannot speak to the quality although I would expect it to be adequate given the various ISO modes.
Usage
Overall, I have found this device to be very simple to use. Granted, I consider myself a somewhat experienced photographer, but I have not found anything too difficult or out of the ordinary here. Of course, all users are different and a fairly detailed instruction manual is provided. I have always been impressed with such manuals from Canon as I find them to be the most comprehensive and explanatory of the major photography equipment manufacturers. If you were curious, there is no real assembly required with this device, just pop in the batteries and memory card and you re off. Also, please note that the camera will turn off when the memory card is removed. This practice is not recommended anyway, as most photographers should realize. As for timing issues, flash recycle time is nearly 7 seconds, it takes 2 seconds to turn the device on/off, and a full 4x zoom may take 3 seconds. All told, not bad for this level of camera. In any event, all levels of photographers should, if not immediately, eventually be able to use this camera with ease as it is not terribly complex.
Photo Quality
The picture quality is not lacking with this camera in the least. The colors are very distinct, full and beautiful. All the colors of springtime are all visible and seem to come to life when using this little beast. I have been quite impressed with my recent shots of trees in bloom. It is also important to note that while the colors are full and beautiful, they are also very sharp. I did not notice any blending and found that individual twigs are very visible on my recent tree-shots. I have not noticed this great feature to decrease in the least when using the zoom, even up to 4x. Overall, quality is paramount, which can be expected from this 7.1 megapixel offering from Canon. I have even used the camera in low-light or shadows and still find the quality to be excellent. I recommend that the average user play around a bit with the various modes and see which works the best for your particular situation. I find that photography, much like most things, requires trial and error.
Construction
This is the main area where I found a problem. I use my cameras quite often and have found sturdy construction to be of unparalleled importance. I also have a cat, Buford, who runs my house fairly freely and it is important that he not knock over my electronic equipment and cause it s eventual demise. Unfortunately, Buford knocked this camera from a table merely 2.5 feet high the other day and to my disappointment, I now need to take it to the shop for repairs as it will no longer zoom, nor work well in certain modes of operation.
The question is: Who do I blame for this unfortunate event, 1) Buford for having so much energy and running through the house with unbridled joy? 2) Myself, for being so careless as to leave a 300 dollar piece of machinery lying around in the living room? 3) The folks at Canon for not making it nearly indestructible as I would wish?..............Well I m going to go with choice 3, first of all because it s the easiest for me to reconcile and secondly because after some investigation I have truly found that this camera isn t as sturdy as I would expect for this price range. Unfortunately, the majority of the outer shell of this camera is made of plastic and it quite breakable/crackable. Now I don t expect some space age material for 300 dollars, but then again, we can do better than plastic can t we Canon? Anyway, some of this is in lighthearted jest, but in seriousness, you will need to be very careful with this camera, or you too, might have to pay for the cost of its unfortunate demise or semi-demise.
Summary
All told, I m not completely disappointed here. This camera was great for performance, features and picture quality. I really couldn t ask for too much more at this price other than for this Powershot to be a little sturdier. In fact, if not for Buford, I probably wouldn t have even noticed the breakability or construction issues. I doubt I ll pay another 150 to get it fixed, I ll probably just wait for the next device of this kind to come out and enjoy the new technology.
On a final pricing note for those seriously considering the 620, the lowest price for this camera I found would be $263 at an online vendor(search for it and ye shall find) but most stores will sell it for 300-340
If I were you, I might even go with the 610 and save yourself 50-75 bucks as I don t find 5 MegaPixels (the 610) to be too bad given the cost. Considering the cost savings, I find it somewhat comparable unless you are a very advanced and discerning user. Enjoy
