Canon PowerShot A640

Reviewed April 2007

Interface & Software

Interface

A mix of straightforward icons and symbols, superimposed in white on the periphery of the monitor's image, serve to let the user know of the camera's current settings. Helped along by the large 2.5-inch screen, the interface is easy to read and remains legible even under bright outdoor light.

Settings for the camera are organized into two distinct menu interfaces: the Function menu, which contains all the most commonly accessed settings while shooting and which appears as an overlay, and the more standard menus for the Recording and Playback options. These menus are designed with a mix of bright colours on light and dark gray backgrounds that are likewise very legible. Each menu option is clearly labeled, using text, and in many cases an option's current setting is also shown.

Irrespective of the Mode Switch's position, capture or playback, an access to the most basic Setup options is provided, appearing in second position when the camera is in Capture mode and in third position when the camera is in playback mode:

• Mute: mutes all sounds produced by the A640, except for warning sounds.
• Volume: serves to adjust the volume of each item listed below over 5 increments, or to turn the sound off:
  • Start-up Volume
  • Operations Volume
  • Self-Timer Volume
  • Shutter Volume
  • Playback Volume
• Power Saving controls two items: whether or not the camera powers off automatically (On or Off); and the time delay before it turns off the monitor if the camera is inactive (10, 20, 30 seconds or 1, 2, 3 minutes).
• Date/Time: serves to set the date and time on the A640.
• Format: allows formatting a memory card, which deletes all files, including protected images. In addition, an option is available to "low-level" format the card, returning it to its original read-write speed.

• File Numbering: offers two options: Continuous, which numbers image files consecutively, or Auto Reset, which restarts numbering images from 1 when a new or freshly formatted memory card is used in the camera.
• Create Folder offers two options:
  • Create New Folder: automatically creates a new folder into which images are saved every time the camera is turned on.
  • Auto Create: to decide when the camera creates a new folder (Off, Daily— Monday through Sunday — or Monthly).

• Auto Rotate: On or Off. Determines whether images captured vertically are automatically played back vertically.
• Distance Units: decides the measuring units used when the camera is focused manually (metres and centimetres, or feet and inches).
• Lens Retract: decides the delay until the camera retracts the lens when it has been switched to the Playback mode.
• Language: English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Lithuanian, Swedish, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Romanian and Japanese.
• Video System: NTSC or PAL.
• Print Method: this option makes it possible to change the printing method when the A640 is connected to a Canon Selphy printer equipped with roll paper, making it possible to print borderless wide format images (16:9).
• Reset All: returns all camera settings to their factory defaults, with the exception of the date and time, the interface language, the video system, the custom white balance and the colour mode.

Software

This North American retail PowerShot A640 includes a CD called Digital Camera Solution Disk (version 29.0), containing the following software:

Macintosh:

• Image Browser 5.7
• PhotoStitch 3.1
• EOS Utility 1.0
• Apple Quicktime

Windows:

• ZoomBrowser EX 5.7
• PhotoStitch 3.1
• Twain (6.6) and WIA (6.4) drivers
• EOS Utility 1.0
• Apple Quicktime

ZoomBrowser can display photos as a slide show, using any of 32 transition effects. It can equally be used to "export" images, a title which includes such activities as printing photos, creating a smaller copy of any image in order to e-mail it, exporting, resizing, and even burning the images to a CD, extracting frames from a movie, and exporting as a screen saver or as a wallpaper. ZoomBrowser also allows for some basic image editing.

The image editing capabilities of ZoomBrowser are limited to red-eye reduction, auto adjustment, colour and brightness adjustment, trimming, and the insertion of text, but the program can be configured to launch another more powerful image editor and load the photo selected for editing directly into it.

EOS Utility 1.0 is now commonly supplied with all Canon cameras, be they EOS DSLR or Powershot. The utility serves to download images, or change camera settings (including the start-up image and the sounds produced by the camera while it is operated), and also allows for remote shooting.

Finally, the last program included on the disc is PhotoStitch 3.1, also a standard, that serves to create panoramic images from the shots captured with the Stitch Assist mode.