Canon PowerShot A510

Reviewed June 2005

Image Quality

With its 3.2 megapixel resolution, the PowerShot A510 is definitely "entry-level". Yet, it is also proof that the term "entry-level" is not always a euphemism for "lower performance".

Unlike many other entry-level cameras, the A510 is feature-rich. A full selection of program modes and a manual mode are included, as are scene modes. The A510 also offers a panoramic mode (Stitch Assist) that is easy to use, and which, when the images are assembled using the software Canon provides, gives very good results.

The A510 also provides a full range of sensitivity besides an Auto mode, covering from 50 to 400 ISO. While at 400 ISO noise is easily detectable in both shadow areas and areas of uniform colour, the A510's 400 ISO images seem to be less noisy than many other cameras are at 200 ISO.

Set to 200 ISO, noise diminishes, and if the sensitivity is used to allow a boost in the shutter speed when shooting outdoors under good light, the images are perfectly useable.

Another feature of the A510 is rare, and probably unique on an entry-level model, the Custom Self-timer which allows setting the timer delay from 0 to 10 seconds, and moreover, allows capturing from 1 to 10 shots.

With group shots, the system goes a long way to ensure that at least one photo will turn out well, with everyone's eyes open. And with night photography, the Custom Self-timer makes it possible capture up to 10 images, even with a long exposure time and noise reduction.

Photos captured using the wide angle end of the zoom show very little barrel distortion, while those captured using the telephoto end exhibit no pincushion distortion at all.

This said, it should be noted that a faint violet line — a chromatic aberration — can sometimes appear on the edges of high contrast areas with photos captured with the lens at the wide angle setting.

But, when it appears, the phenomenon is generally subtle and unlikely to affect the image quality unless the image is printed to a very large size.

Indeed, the image quality of the PowerShot A510 is generally excellent, and quite consistent. Set to its defaults and to the highest image quality, the camera yields sharp images with bright and accurate colours.

And, although an uncompressed image format is not available, the JPEG compression that is applied with the Super fine mode is devoid of artefacts, and even small details such as the textures of textiles are well-rendered.

Overall the negatives are few with the A510. The most notable is that the LCD monitor is hard to see in relatively bright light outdoors, its surface being a bit too reflective.

The alternative is to rely on the optical viewfinder, but since it shows only 80% of the frame, care has to be taken to avoid accidentally cropping parts of the image.

Another negative aspect is that the orientation sensor has a 50/50 chance of being wrong when a shot is captured with the camera pointing mostly down, or mostly up. While in general this is of no serious consequence, should the image size be set to Postcard and the time/date stamp feature available with this format be turned on, the image can easily be permanently stamped in an unexpected location.

Finally, while the A510 reacts relatively quickly to the shutter release — especially when set to centre focus — menus are a bit slow to appear when solicited.

Clearly, these minor drawbacks pale in view of the A510's long list of positive attributes and its very competitive price, making it in our opinion one of the best value for money on the market today.