Canon quality is worth splashing out a litle mor ethan normal and I had no hesitation when it came to replacing my Kodak EasyShare in switching make and model and opting for the PowerShot A560 despite the difference in prices. A bit of searching around enabled me to pick up the A560 for only £112, with standard retailers asking in the region of £150.
In the box came the camera, a nice strong and flexible wrist strap, the 16MB memory card, some batteries, an AV cable and a user manual that explained in graphic detail written in plain English every function of the camera.
Ergonomically speaking the A560 could not be designed any better. The slight bulking to the right hand side is perfect to increase grip on the camera and thus reduce on judders and movements while taking pictures. There is a real zoom optical viewfinder plus a 2.5" amorphous silicon TFT screen on the back of the camera which has approximately 115,000 pixels.
The camera uses a 5.8 –23.2mm lens (35mm equivalent: 35 –140mm), f/2.6 –f/5.5,7. In laymans terms, its good and combined with the 7.1 megpixels picture capture, x4 zoom and 15 - 1/2000 second shutter speed make this an amazing digital camera for the price.
Problems I have experienced with the camera are:
1. Poor memory - 16MB is not enough and to purchase an upgrade memory stick cost £12.50, not a lot but an additional cost all the same.
2. Weak flash - The built in flash is not very bright so taking pictures in dodgy light is a hit and miss affair. I have resolved this by using a flash gun which plugs into the camera. I already owned this so there was no additional cost to me relating to this problem.
3. Batteries - This baby drinks the juice and I'm contsantly changing the batteries. I haven't yet got my hands on a set of rechargeable batteries but I have just ordered a set from Canon for £30.
Taking the additional expenditure into account I still think I have made a great purchase with the PowerShot A560. It is a camera for the serious photgrapher and is worth every penny.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) Ultra-compact dimensions, fun automatic tools, good performance for the asking price (-) Cluttered menu layout, camera buttons are scarce, specs are almost identical to the Samsung ES15
May 6th, 2007
very helpful by (52%):
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