Canon PowerShot A510

Reviewed June 2005

Introduction

Canon's A-series is a well-established camera line and the PowerShot A510, along with the A520, are its newest members. Both these new models offer a sleek design and a 4X optical zoom; the major difference between them being resolution. The A510 is a 3.2 megapixel, while the A520 is 4-megapixel.

The shutter release is the usual 2-stage system that provides auto focus and auto exposure lock when half-pressed, and which releases the shutter when fully depressed. And, as is common to many Canon cameras, the zoom control does double duty, displaying 9 thumbnails of the captured images when pushed to the / side, and magnifying an image up to 10X when pulled to the / side.

Located closest to the back, the Mode Dial is placed so that it can easily be turned with the thumb, and each of its 13 positions is announced with a very noticeable click.

With the A510, as with others before it, Canon divides the Mode Dial with the Auto mode:

Fully automatic, the Auto mode takes care of all settings, leaving the user in charge of the image size and quality, the flash modes and the self-timer.

To the north of the Auto mode, Canon organizes modes into what is referred to as the Creative Zone:

	Program AE leaves the selection of aperture and shutter speed up to the camera, but provides control over all other parameters to the user.
	Time Value is a shutter priority auto exposure mode that provides control over the way the camera records movement. The user selects a shutter speed — from 1/2000 second to 15 seconds — while the camera matches that selection to an aperture.
	Aperture Value is the same as aperture priority auto exposure, placing the selection of the aperture — the depth of field — in the hands of the user while the camera matches it to a shutter speed.
	Manual Mode leaves the user in charge of everything, but offers guidance to a correctly exposed image.

To the south of the Auto mode, and closed off by the Movie mode, Canon arranges its subject-specific modes which are referred to as the Image Zone. Five of these have their own dial position, while eight others are grouped under a single setting, SCN, and selected using the right and left arrows of the 4-direction control.

The five modes with their own dial positions are commonly found on a number of Canon cameras:

	Portrait: uses a wide aperture to blur the background while having the subject in focus. (The effect of the portrait mode is more pronounced if the telephoto is used.)
	Landscape: maximizes depth of field by using a smaller aperture, which can also mean a slow shutter speed.
	Night Scene: uses a slow shutter speed and flash to capture foreground and background. The flash can be controlled and even turned off, but the ISO setting is under the camera's control.
	Fast Shutter Speed: maximizes the shutter speed to capture fast-moving action. CCD sensitivity cannot be selected, and will increase to allow a faster shutter speed.
	Slow Shutter Speed: is intended to capture images showing a flowing movement by forcing a slow shutter speed. Camera sensitivity is also set to maximize the effect of the slow shutter speed.

The 8 other Scene modes, accessed via the SCN setting, are relatively new and found only on the most recent Canon digital cameras:

Foliage: is intended to enhance the colours of subjects that contain flowers, leaves or trees. Snow: this mode is intended to capture snow accurately. Beach: is also intended to avoid underexposing subjects photographed in very reflective areas, such as sandy beaches or by the sea.

	Fireworks: optimizes the image by using a long exposure, setting the focus to infinity and forcing the flash off. The use of a tripod is encouraged.
	Underwater: corrects the white balance so as to obtain natural colours and reduce bluish tones when photos are captured underwater with the camera inside the optional waterproof case (WP-DC60). The flash is controlled so as to fire as seldom as possible.
	Indoor: sets the white balance to incandescent (tungsten), increases sensitivity as needed and controls the flash so it only fires when absolutely necessary.
	Kids and Pets: optimizes the shutter speed and sensitivity to capture fast moving subjects.
	Night Snapshot: this mode is intended to capture a subject against the backdrop of an evening sky or a night scene without the use of a tripod by increasing sensitivity.

Rounding off the modes that offer their own dial position, are the Stitch Assist mode, and the Movie mode:

The stitch assist mode is designed to capture a series of images, maintaining the exposure parameters so that the brightness of each new frame is comparable to the previous one, and ensuring that each frame has an overlap so that it can be stitched together later on a computer using the software provided with the A510.

The Movie Mode: serves to record video clips with mono sound at any one of 3 different frame sizes: 640 x 480 pixels, at 10 frames per second for a recording time of up to 30 seconds, 320 x 240 pixels, at 15 frames per second for a recording time lasting up to 3 minutes. 160 x 120 pixels, at 15 frames per second for a maximum recording time of up to 3 minutes. Exposure, focus, white balance and zoom position are locked at the first frame.

Moving to the back of the A510, the remaining controls are grouped on the right side of the 1.8 inch, 115,000 pixel LCD monitor. Nearest the top is the Mode Switch which decides whether the A510 is in capture mode (), or playback mode ().

The next control is the 4-direction controller, which occupies the greatest surface after the monitor, making it easy to use. While the control provides navigation for the menus of the A510, its UP and DOWN directions also function as controls when the camera is in the Recording mode:

	The UP button is used to choose the Flash Mode: Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Auto, Forced On with Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced Off.
	The DOWN button starts the Macro Mode when pressed once. The Macro Mode allows the A510 to focus on subjects between 5 and 45 cm (2 and 17.5 inches) when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and from 30 to 45 cm (11.8 to 18 inches) when it is at the maximum telephoto end.

Pressed a second time, the button engages the Manual Focus Mode which requires the use of the monitor. Using the right and left buttons, the lens can be focused with the assistance of a distance scale that is shown on the lower part of the monitor, and a magnified central portion of the frame.

The next control is located on the lower right of the monitor:

The Display button turns the LCD monitor On or Off, and controls the amount of information superimposed on the monitor. The settings shown are quite complete: AF brackets, capture mode, single or continuous mode, ISO, metering, compression and resolution, flash mode and battery charge; or alternatively, just the AF brackets. In either case, shutter speed and aperture are shown only when the shutter release is pressed halfway. In Playback the button has a similar role, starting out with its default presentation mode that overlays the image file name at the top of the screen, the image number within the group of images in the folder, the image size and compression, the date and the time. Pressed once, the DISP. button adds basic shooting data: the shutter speed, the aperture, the shooting mode used, the exposure compensation, the white balance and ISO settings, and the focus mode and metering pattern used, in addition to a histogram. A second press of the button removes all information, leaving only the image.

Three other buttons are aligned below the monitor. Starting on the right, the first is labelled FUNC. and serves to:

The second button is labelled and serves to display the menu that corresponds to the current camera mode.

Last, the third button is reserved for image transfers to a computer running Canon's software (included with the A510), or to print images when the camera is connected directly to a printer that is compatible with PictBridge, Canon Direct Print, Bubble Jet Direct, or DPOF (Digital Print Order Format):

An LED at the centre of the Print/Share button lights up blue when the A510 is connected via USB. The button starts the automatic transfer of previously selected images when the camera is connected to a computer running the software Canon includes with the camera, or when the A510 is connected directly to a compatible printer which displays a printing menu.