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| Canon PowerShot A10 |
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Hardware Reviews September 2001 • Vol.12 Issue 9 Page(s) 18 in print issue |
Canon PowerShot A10 | ||
 Canon's PowerShot A10 is a step above entry-level digital cameras in both features and price. Our tests indicate Canon has another winner here: the A10 is feature-rich and easy to use. It also comes wrapped in a snazzy-looking sleek, silver case. Unlike some cameras, this point-and-shoot is sized just right; it's not so small that it slips between your fingers, yet it's not too big to slide into your pocket. It measures 2.8 inches high x 4.3 inches wide x 1.5 inches deep and weighs less than 9 ounces minus the four AA batteries needed for power. The A10 is a 1.3-megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom lens (digital zoom is 2X). It comes with an 8MB CompactFlash memory card, a detachable wrist strap, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, and a number of useful Canon software utilities to help you store and manipulate your photos. A 1.5-inch LCD (liquid-crystal display) monitor displays vivid colors with excellent brightness. Near the monitor are seven buttons used to control the camera features, including a familiar rotating dial and zoom button. The zoom control is nice, perfectly located for your thumb, and the lens moves quickly to the desired target. From the number of buttons alone you know this isn't a bare-bones camera; all the extra options and settings mean the camera is harder to use. But it only has seven basic menu options, so there aren't a lot of places to get lost. We were adjusting settings with ease after a few minutes despite skipping the well-written users manual. Our first few photos showed us the A10 takes great photos, especially at its highest resolution of 1,280 x 960 pixels. The Macro mode creates excellent close-ups, with our flower pictures sporting vibrant, clear colors. In SuperFine mode at 1,280 x 960 pixels, the included memory card stores about 10 photos. Nearly 90 photos will save to the card if you set the camera to Normal mode at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, but photo quality deteriorates noticeably. One nice feature is the Panorama mode, which assists you in setting up a sequence of photos that you'll "stitch" together later using the software on your PC. This technology isn't perfect—not yet, anyway—but it still lets you create a decent panoramic photo. Once you have some photos in memory, there are plenty of methods to view them. View pictures one at a time and zoom in and out to check details, or display up to nine photos at once via thumbnails. The camera also lets you attach different lenses. Simply twist the removable plastic ring around the main lens and insert a supplemental lens. If you're really motivated, buy the underwater case, which lets you submerge the camera in water up to 100 feet. The A10 offers an impressive number of features for a point-and-shoot camera, and its imaging capabilities are high quality. You also have the option of buying the camera bundled with Canon's CP-10 photo printer, which will save you some cash if you'd like photo-printing capabilities. by Nathan Chandler
$349 Canon (800) 652-2666 (714) 438-3000 http://www.powershot.com
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