Canon PowerShot A620

Reviewed November 2005

Image Quality

Canon is well-known for its digital cameras, be it for their digital SLRs — they were the first to commercialize a mass-market dSLR — or for their ultra compact and luxurious digital Elph series. But their A-series cameras, devised as "entry-level," rightly deserve as much attention.

The PowerShot A620, the current flagship of the A-series, is an excellent example of a camera that integrates some the most recent developments in digital photography such as a 7-megapixel CCD, while remaining affordable.

The zoom lens of the A620, a 7.3 to 29.2 mm is equivalent to a 35 to 140mm. It captures sharp images that show little barrel distortion when the lens is at the widest angle, no pincushion distortion at the telephoto end, and only a negligible chromatic aberration throughout all focal lengths.

In addition, the design of the camera even provides for the use of a lens adapter. With it, it is possible to mount a wide angle that yields a 25mm focal length, or a telephoto converter that captures the equivalent of a 245mm.

Furthermore, the adapter can also be used to mount 58mm diameter filters on the A620, opening a broad range of possibilities.

The other photographic components of the A620 are also worthwhile. For instance, the default Evaluative metering pattern is very reliable, even under complex lighting conditions, and can be expected to produce well-exposed images.

And, alongside the Evaluative metering, the A620 is also equipped with a standard Centre-weighted pattern and a spot meter. Worth noting: with this camera the spot metering can also be tied to the focus point, useful to obtain a correct exposure when the focus point is off-centre, and the frame contains a variety of zones of differing brightness.

Similarly, the A620's auto white balance is quite accurate and produces very natural and pleasing colours.

Flash photography with the A620 has the benefit of a small but powerful flash that can be directly controlled by the user. The flash provides good coverage with wide angle shots, and light falloff in the corners of the frame is minimal. Indeed, the flash's power only starts to fall short at the 5 meter mark (15 feet), a very respectable performance.

The A620 offers an excellent image quality. Most notably, images are normally noise-free, and the entire ISO range is effectively useable as even at 400 ISO photos remain completely useable. Still, with flash photos the best images are obtained with the Auto setting, which allows the A620 to tweak the sensitivity and brightness of the flash, resulting in images that are commonly noise-free and very well-lit.

Long exposures at night are also excellent (see the end of the Test Photos section of the review), and remain sharp, even after noise processing.

The high resolution 7-megapixel CCD is also greatly responsible for the quality of the A620's images. Images are full of detail and can easily be printed at 10.25 x 7.4 inches (25 x 20 cm) using a printer dpi of 300, which produces images that are equivalent to continuous tone for the naked eye.

The PowerShot A620 is a camera that should fit the needs of many people. It is useable as a point and shoot in Auto mode, and its scene modes — although few in comparison to the proliferation offered on some current models — are well-suited to real-life uses.

But, more importantly, it is equipped with a complete set of advanced shooting modes, which include both priority modes and a manual mode, offering the casual user a chance to grow into the camera and explore its features and capabilities. In its price range, the A620 should make it to the top of many short lists.