Canon PowerShot A620 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Fast, Pleasing Photos, But Flimsy
Written: Oct 12 '05 (Updated Oct 06 '06)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: High resolution, sharp photos with pleasing colors, features, battery life, LCD
Cons: Flimsy, noise at ISO 400, uses 4 AA batteries, price
The Bottom Line: I have to say that the build quality of the A620 is too flimsy for such an expensive camera. But if you do not abuse it, it will probably...
dkozin's Full Review: Canon PowerShot A620 Digital Camera
I wanted to check out the new 7.1-Megapixel Canon PowerShot A620 ever since it was released. Once I saw that I could get it for only $324, I immediately ordered it. I also got the 5-Megapixel Canon PowerShot A610 for $249 and reviewed it earlier. So is Canon A620 a good buy?
Pictures
The pictures of the Canon PowerShot A620 as well as sample photos I took using it are available at the address below:
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Two Reviews
I will provide two reviews below. The first one (shorter version) will be targeted to people who don't want to read through multiple pages of text to figure out if the camera has what they want and if it performs well. It is targeted to a casual user rather than somebody who cares about the small details and features.
The second version will contain the description of the more advanced aspects for those who are interested in them. By separating this information into a second, larger review, I hope to avoid boring casual shooters to death with information about things they might not need or care about.
What is Canon PowerShot A620?
The Canon PowerShot A620 is a 7.1-Megapixel compact digital camera with a 4x optical zoom (35-140 mm equivalent), 2-inch articulated Vari-Angle LCD screen, zooming optical viewfinder, acclaimed Canon DiG!C II (Digic 2) Image Processor, 20 shooting modes including Full Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual Mode and 8 Special Scene modes.
The camera stores pictures on SD (Secure Digital) or MultiMedia memory cards (32 MB SD card supplied) and features USB connection to PC and Mac computers. The camera supports direct printing (without a computer) with PictBridge compatible printers. The camera is powered by 4 AA batteries (four disposable alkaline AA batteries are supplied, rechargeable NiMH batteries are recommended). The A620 is very similar to 5-Megapixel Canon A610, but has higher resolution.
Features
The Canon A620 features a newly designed sharp 4x optical zoom (35-140 mm in 35mm equivalent with maximum apertures f/2.8-f/4.1). The shutter speed range is 15-1/2,000 sec. with noise reduction at speeds slower than 1.3 sec.
The camera is powered by 4 AA-type batteries. Canon claims that the camera can take about 350 shots on alkaline batteries or 500 shots on AA NiMH rechargeable ones or be powered by either for 960 minutes in playback mode.
The camera has a low-light focus assist illuminator that helps it focus in low light. The orientation sensor detects if the camera is held horizontally or vertically and saves the pictures appropriately. It works well, unless you point the camera upward or downward, in which case it might get confused. The resultant pictures are printed well regardless of what orientation sensor detected, but it helps when you open the image in the image editing software. There is no need to rotate the portrait-orientation photos. My Adobe Photoshop CS2 automatically rotates such pictures based on information recorded by the camera using the orientation sensor.
The A620 features selectable Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot metering modes. The mode is selected in the menu. The camera has a built-in flash with adjustable output (+/- 2 stops in 1/3 EV steps) and red-eye reduction mode. The camera has Auto or selectable ISO of 50-400 (ISO selection required in manual modes).
The camera also has a Macro mode, which can be engaged with a single push of a button, where it can focus as close as 0.4 inches (1 cm) at wide angle or 9.8 inches (25 cm) at telephoto end.
The available movie mode records movies with sound (the camera has a microphone and a speaker) at 640x480 with 30 or 15 fps frame rate, 320x240 at 15, 30 or 60 fps and an economy movie resolution of 160x120 at 15 frames per second.
The camera can record images at up to 7.1-Megapixel resolution. The available resolutions are 3,072 x 2,304 (Large), 2,592 x 1,944 (Medium 1), 2,048 x 1,536 (Medium 2), 1,600 x 1,200 (Medium 3), 640 x 480 (Small). Each can be combined with one of three compression modes: Normal, Fine or SuperFine.
I opened the box with A620 after using the A610 and discovered a lot of similarities. In fact, the only difference I noticed about the A620 is the color, which was slightly darker than the A610. The accessories were the same as well, except for the fact that the A620 ships with a larger starter memory card (32 MB vs. 16 MB).
I decided against using the supplied disposable alkaline AA batteries, but inserted four of my rechargeable AA NiMH batteries (Panasonic 1600 mAh) and my SD memory card. I have to mention that the camera is smart enough to make sure you will not insert or remove the memory card while the camera is on. This could cause data corruption or a malfunction.
If the camera is on and you open the memory card door, the camera turns off. The Canon PoweShot A620 is nice-looking. Its body is made of combination metal/polycarbonate. It is rather compact and convenient to hold. The camera itself is rather light for its size, but gains weight once loaded with four NiMH batteries.
Build Quality
Just as the new A610, the A620 does not seem to be as well made as the A-series cameras of the previous generation. The removable ring around the lens (can be removed to attach accessories) rattles slightly when touched. The zoom control is not smooth when moved and makes a slight scraping sound. It feels like there is some unnecessary friction is going on there. And when you grab the handgrip, you can hear and feel the plastic panels squeak/move slightly against each other.
Although, unlike the A610 that I go, the buttons on the back panel did not require different amount of effort to engage, some of them still need to be pushed slightly further in than others to engage. The lids for the battery compartment and the ports/inputs seem to be on the flimsy side as well. The battery door is light and is made of plastic, which does not feel good when you try to close it. The springs that push on the four AA batteries are strong and you are afraid to break the plastic lid when closing it.
Despite of this, everything works well and I would not really call the A620 flimsy. But it could have been better built and it does not seem to be as well built as its predecessors from the A series.
Controls
The A620 has an on/off button on the top deck as well as a zoom rocker, large shutter release button and a rotating mode wheel. The mode wheel can be set to Auto mode, Program mode, multiple scene modes as well as, more advanced, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual mode as well as Custom setting. It comes pre-set to Auto mode, in which you can just point and shoot.
The bottom of the camera has a threaded tripod mount made of plastic and a battery compartment lid. The rear houses a 2-inch LCD monitor that can be flipped out and rotated, an optical zooming viewfinder, a review/shoot switch and control buttons. The buttons are well-arranged and clearly marked.
The side has a cover, underneath which you can find a USB jack, A/V jack and a DC power input. Below it, there is a cover for the SD card compartment. It is rather sturdy and if you open it while the camera is on, the camera turns off automatically to prevent data corruption.
In Operation
The first time you power the camera on, it asks you to set the time and date. It is rather easy to do. The camera has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens when the camera is powered on. This does not happen if you turn the camera on in the review mode.
The LCD can be rotated so that it faces the back of the camera. In this position it is protected from impact and smudges. You obviously will have to rotate it so that it faces you to be able to use it.
When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes. The camera takes about 2 seconds to power on and can capture images at about 1-2-second intervals (I used my Kingston Elite Pro SD memory card). The focusing takes less than a second and the shutter lag, when pre-focused, is almost unnoticeable. The zooming from wide angle to telephoto (or back) takes about 2-3 seconds. I would prefer that it was smoother and more responsive, but it works well enough. While zooming, the camera makes a buzzing sound.
Batteries
The camera can take more than 400 pictures on one charge of high-capacity NiMH batteries (I recommend at least 2000 mAh). I was able to take 160 photos using my old 1600 mAh batteries and the low battery warning has not appeared yet. Unfortunately, unlike cameras that use proprietary batteries, this camera does not show you the battery status. It can only detect when the battery is low. But since the camera has good battery life, you do not have to worry much.
I prefer cameras that use only 2 AA batteries, but there are people who do not mind the fact that the A620 uses four.
Usage
The camera can be used in full auto mode (by rotating the mode dial to Auto position), where it is extremely easy to use. In this mode the camera sets all parameters automatically and you only have to point and shoot.
You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and the camera shows you (on the LCD screen) where it focused by displaying one or more green rectangles. Then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way.
You can go one step further and select an appropriate scene mode (e.g. Portrait, Landscape, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Kids & Pets, etc.) to let camera know what effect you want. For example, in the Portrait mode the camera will try to keep the subject sharp while keeping the background blurry, but will try to keep both foreground and background sharp in the Landscape mode.
When you are ready to take control, you can use the Aperture Priority mode (to control how much of your picture will be in focus) or Shutter Priority mode (to freeze fast motion or, on contrary, create motion blur) or even full Manual mode to control both the Aperture and Shutter Speed.
Keep in mind that in most modes you can use Exposure Compensation to make pictures the camera takes brighter or darker. You engage it by pushing the upper-left button and then using the right and left arrows on the control disk. I discovered that it is slightly inconvenient that in the Aperture Priority mode you have to use the same left and right buttons to adjust the aperture.
I find that it makes it a little difficult to adjust the aperture and the exposure compensation at the same time. You have to set the aperture first, then push the Exposure Compensation button and adjust the exposure compensation. Then push the button again to get back to the aperture adjustment. No big deal, however.
DIGIC II
The camera uses the newest version on DIGIC processor: DIGIC II. It is the same generation that is used in expensive Canon digital SLR cameras. It makes the camera fast in operation, responsive and helps it produce excellent pictures.
Ease of Use
I found the A620 to be very easy to use. I have not read the manual, but was able to use all of its functions. If you have seen Canon menus before, your learning curve will be short or non-existent.
LCD
The 2-inch LCD is one part of the camera that feels very solid and well-built. The screen flips out and can be rotated in all directions. Its hinges feel very well-built. The amount of effort required to open, close or rotate the screen is a bit on the high side, but it gives impression of solidity.
The LCD screen itself features pleasing colors, has good visibility in sunlight and is very fluid in good light. It gains-up in dark environments (increases brightness) but gets a little noisy and less fluid. Still, it is useful in situations where LCD screens on other cameras would be of no use at all. And the camera has an optical zooming viewfinder as well.
Flash
The flash has an effective red-eye reduction mode and is sufficient at up to 10-12 feet away. It has a recycle time of about 6-7 seconds (depending on output and battery status). I find the flash powerful enough for most indoor situations.
Picture Quality
With 7.1 Megapixels and sharp optics, the A620 produces excellent photos that are very sharp, contrasty and have beautiful colors. The automatic white balance worked very well outdoors and produced nice green foliage, sky and richly-saturated greens, reds and yellows. Although the colors are probably not very technically correct, they are very pleasing and will serve most consumers better than the technically correct colors.
The camera has good detail level in both shadows and highlights. The pictures are very sharp and you can see individual blades of grass in the sample photo I took at moderate wide angle setting.
Just as with other recent Canon cameras, the A620 produces pleasing skin colors that are true to life and pleasing. This is unlike some Sony cameras that features unnaturally-pink skin tones (which are pleasing as well). And unlike some other cameras (including Canon SD Digital Elph series) that have noticeably softer edges of the frame, the photos taken with the A620 are sharp corner to corner.
Usually, the smaller the camera and the higher the optical zoom it can provide, the softer the image becomes, especially at the corners of the frame as it is difficult to produce compact optics with high zoom levels. But the optics of the A620 is very good, despite its compact dimensions and the 4x power and produces sharp photos at all zoom levels.
I had to use small amounts of exposure compensation for some situations. In my sample shot, I used -2/3 EV compensation (in default mode: evaluative metering mode) exposure compensation to prevent the sky from becoming too bright. The camera was still able to capture shadow detail at this exposure compensation level. See the aforementioned 7.1-Megapixel sample made with -2/3 EV compensation at http://www.review-shop.com/Canon_A620/Canon_A620_Samples_1.html
Noise and Print Sizes
The A620 image situation is rather typical for a compact digital camera. It is absent at ISO 50 and appears at the ISO 100 in the shadows. It gets more pronounced at ISO 200 and gets pretty bad at ISO 400. Still, if you are printing 6x4 or 5x7 pictures, the noise should not be visible up to (and including) ISO 200 and barely visible at ISO 400. And with 7.1-megapixel images the A620 produces, you can print your photos at up to 11x14 (ISO 50-200) and even 13x19 inches with good detail (ISO 50-100).
Recommendation
I have to say that the build quality of the A620 is too flimsy for such an expensive camera. But if you do not abuse it, it will probably serve you forever. I highly recommended the Canon PowerShot A620 if you need a capable compact camera that produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches or images with heavy cropping, has 4x zoom and uses AA batteries. The A620 provides the best of both worlds: point-and-shoot simplicity or full manual control and will be usable by any member of the family or photographers of all levels. The camera produces sharp, pleasantly-colored photos at large resolution.
The camera produces sharp and contrasty photos that have a pleasing "Canon" color with slight over-saturation and the kind of color consumers like. The automatic white balance works well, especially outdoors.
The camera has virtually no noise at ISO 50 and very minimal amount of noise in the shadows at ISO 100. But the noise at ISO 400 makes the ISO 400 barely usable and only at small print sizes. The photos seem to have good dynamic range and preserve detail in both shadow and detail well. I was able to find only small amounts of chromatic aberration (purple fringing) in the areas of high contrast.
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a 2-inch articulated (rotating) LCD screen and an optical zooming viewfinder. The LCD coverage as about 100% - you can see exactly what will be recorded. The viewfinder, however, is tight and does not cover everything that will be recorded. This is typical for a compact digital camera.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB connection to transfer pictures to a computer. It is located behind a lid on the side of the camera. You can also remove the SD memory card and use a memory card reader (if you have one), which I do.
Color Effects
You can adjust color saturation by selecting Vivid or Neutral color in addition to the standard setting. In Vivid mode, the saturation is increased and I find that it provides too much saturation. I don't use this mode.
In the Neutral mode, the saturation is decreased. I find it useful mainly in the low light conditions to reduce noise and make images more true-to-life color-wise. Also available Black and White, Sepia and Low Sharpening effects. The former two are nothing to write home about - just regular modes that are quite useful if you want to give your photos an old look. The Low Sharpening effect reduces in-camera sharpening and lets you sharpen your photos later, in software (e.g. Photoshop).
Image Quality Settings
The camera lets you select between Standard, Fine and Superfine compression levels (regardless of resolution). At the highest resolution of 3072x2304 pixels, the Fine JPEG can be of about 2.3-2.5-Megabyte size. This is the setting I used more often. It provides a good compromise between the file size and the image quality.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
As I mentioned before, some camera elements are on the flimsy side, but the materials as well as fit and finish are good. The rotating mode dial and the sliding review/shoot switch require just the right amount of effort. The LCD hinges are a bit stiff. The battery door could be more solid.
Menu System
The camera uses a typical Canon menu system, which is rather easy to use and has pleasing colors. It is not as easy to use as Panasonic menu system, but it is good enough. The menus are pretty responsive: is an improvement over the previous cameras as well as the A520 and A510, which use older version of DIGIC (first version of it).
Focusing
You can let camera focus using its AiAF 9-area focusing system and the camera will show you green rectangles over the areas where it focused so that you can confirm the focus areas. You can also switch to the 1-point focusing or use the manual focus capability.
The arrow down button switches the camera to Macro mode when pushed once, and to the manual mode when pushed again. The camera shows you a scale in your chosen units (cm or inches) and magnifies the central portion of the screen to let you confirm the focus. Cumbersome but it works. In dim lighting the magnified portion can get pretty noisy, however, which makes focus more difficult to confirm.
Manual Mode
You can adjust both the aperture and shutter speed in the Manual mode. The camera shows you the under/overexposure as evaluated by the camera once the shutter button is half-pressed. You can also adjust the flash output (albeit only in three steps) in the manual mode. The ISO has to be set to a specific value on Manual, Aperture or Shutter Priority modes.
How Does It Compare to Canon PowerShot A610?
There are only a couple of key differences between the A620 and A610. The A620 has 7.1MP resolution vs. 5MP on the A610. The A610 has slightly different color and ships with a smaller starter SD card. Since I had to pay $75 more for my A620 than for the A610, I would have to say that the A610 is a better value. Unless you need the full 7.1-Megapixel resolution.
What I Like
I like that the camera is fast in ooperation, easy to use and produces excellent picture quality with high resolution. It has a lot of features and manual controls. It has good size and weight and excellent LCD screen. The battery life is very good as well. And it uses widely available and inexpensive SD memory.
What I Dislike
The camera could have better build quality and use sturdier materials. I also would prefer if the camera used only two AA batteries instead of the four it uses. The A520 and A510 use two batteries. The noise at ISO 400 is too high as well.
Bottom Line
I have to say that the build quality of the A620 is too flimsy for such an expensive camera. But if you do not abuse it, it will probably serve you forever. I highly recommended the Canon PowerShot A620 if you need a capable compact camera that produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches or images with heavy cropping, has 4x zoom and uses AA batteries. The A620 provides the best of both worlds: point-and-shoot simplicity or full manual control and will be usable by any member of the family or photographers of all levels. The camera produces sharp, pleasantly-colored photos at large resolution.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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