Canon PowerShot A590 IS

...have still the feeling that Canon engineers should work a little bit more in the reduction of buttons with more clever software programming/overall logic.

Pity there is not a dedicated button for ISO setting. ISO can be set from ISO 80 to 1600, Auto - ISO 80 to ISO 200 or High Auto ISO 400 to ISO 1600. I have found particularly useful the button that allows to manually compensate the exposure from -2 to 2 stops with 1/3 steps. Most ...
...compact camera and according to Canon its range is from 0,5m to 3,5m (wide) or 2,5m (telephoto). For my needs it is sufficient, somebody complained because the charge time is somewhat slow (around 10s due to the decision to use only 2 AA batteries). That is of course not good if you want to take indoor photos, frankly speaking that was never a problem for me as I mainly take pictures outside.

Photo resolution can be set at 3264x2448, ... more

- Premise

The A590is the latest addition of the A5x0 series: A550, A560, A570is, A580. All these cameras have similar characteristics. For sake of completeness I have to say that I already own an EOS 400 camera and a Powershot A720is which I particularly like. I have bought the A590is for my wife so this review is based on real usage. At the cheapest shops you can get it at around 100 pounds which is very good value for money.

- Technical Description

In the technical description I will provide some comparison with the "big brother" A720is which could be a good alternative with some better features but at a higher prices. This could help you to choose between the A590is and the A720is. I have reviewed the A720is here on Ciao if you are interested

- Display (fairly good)
The display is a 2,5" LCD, resolution is 115K so it is average (it is much better on other cameras but here we have to consider that we have also the viewfinder the takes some space). In bright light conditions, as most of the other cameras, the view on the LCD could be not easy but the A590is on this respect behaves quite well. The viewfinder (with no dioptre adjustment) is quite good.

- Lens, CCD and Zoom

The lens (35-140mm with 35mm equivalence) and the 8,1 Mpixel CCD gives always good results. The optical stabilizer is very useful as it will reduce to a not negligible level the risk of obtaining blurred photos.

The Macro function is not particularly good as it allows to shot to objects at a minimum distance of 5cm (the A720is obtains a very good result of 1 cm). With respect to the A720is however the minimum focusing distance is better (around 20cm instead of 35-45cm) so you will have to set the macro mode rarely, i.e. when you will have really to take pictures at object that are very close.

- ISO modes

ISO modes range from ISO 80 to ISO 1600. Like the A720is, which shares same CCD and DIGIC III processor, at ISO 800 noise is quite noticeable (much worse than the corresponding EOS/Rebel cameras) while ISO 1600 has been introduced for commercial purposes to be aligned with the competition but the results are bad. This is one of the aspects that I more dislike both for A590 and A790, even at ISO 400 I found the noise already too high for a good quality print.

- In use

The camera is activated pushing the on/off button on the top. Roughly in one second you are ready to shot, so it is quite fast. The mode dial, also on the top, offers the usual range of settings: fully automatic, Program, Tv (shutter priority mode), Av (Aperture priority mode), Manual, Video mode plus many other custom modes (indoor, snow, underwater...). I guess somebody is using these modes because in 6 years of digital photography they only caused me some headaches when I discovered that the dialler position was changed inadvertently. A good point, at least for me, of the mode dial is that it needs some force to be rotated and that should allow to avoid unwanted changes (pulling it out from a pocket for instance). Maximum exposure time is limited to 15s, this allows to take pictures also when in the darkness (of course a tripod is needed). Minimum exposure time is 1/2000s. A burst mode is available allowing to take roughly 2 pictures per seconds.

On the top of the camera you have the shutter bottom and the zoom control. Zooming from wideangle to telephoto (35-140mm) is also quite fast, less than 2 seconds. Overall handling and handgrip is pretty good for me. On the front size you will find the LCD, the selector that allows to shot photos or view photos, a kind of joystick and four buttons with lot of functions. Though I found quite easy the learning curve in order to understand all the meaning of the different buttons I have still the feeling that Canon engineers should work a little bit more in the reduction of buttons with more clever software programming/overall logic.

Pity there is not a dedicated button for ISO setting. ISO can be set from ISO 80 to 1600, Auto - ISO 80 to ISO 200 or High Auto ISO 400 to ISO 1600. I have found particularly useful the button that allows to manually compensate the exposure from -2 to 2 stops with 1/3 steps. Most of the parameters are set by pushing the central joystick button (also named Function selection). A menu will allow you to easily set ISO mode, bracketing, White Balance mode, shutter mode resolution and other settings. Focusing can be automatic (9 points are available) or manual. You can decide to have fixed focus position or use the intelligent camera system. Focusing is fast, also when you are in the darkness a special red light allow the camera to focus quickly.

The picture format like all other compact digital cameras is 4:3 instead of the 3:2 of SLR cameras. The flash is quite good for such a compact camera and according to Canon its range is from 0,5m to 3,5m (wide) or 2,5m (telephoto). For my needs it is sufficient, somebody complained because the charge time is somewhat slow (around 10s due to the decision to use only 2 AA batteries). That is of course not good if you want to take indoor photos, frankly speaking that was never a problem for me as I mainly take pictures outside.

Photo resolution can be set at 3264x2448, 5 Mp, 3 Mp, 2 Mp, VGA and there is also a widescreen mode 3264x1832 that simply crops the image. That could be also done when post processing the image but I found this setting very useful as I use this widescreen mode very often and it saved me the time of cropping the image on the PC. With respect to the A720is the A590is has a useful additional 2Mpixel mode where the date and/or time is stamped on the photo.

- Video recording

You can record videos with maximum resolution of 640x480 at 20fps with mono audio. Maximum recording time is roughly 25 minutes at the highest resolution with a 2 Gb memory card (46 min at 320x240). The recording format is MJPEG (AVI file) with mono audio, so it can be easily processed by software like Virtual Dub and you can further compress it by using for instance divx or xvid video codecs. In this way you will reduce the size of the video up to 5 /10 times saving lot of space on your hard disk. I found the video recording capabilities more than adequate for my own purposes. While recording you can also zoom in or zoom out, this is made step by step and is not smooth as on a normal video camera but that is something you cannot of course expect.

The 20 Hz frame rate is a little bit disappointing from my standpoint as the playback is not as good as with a 30 Hz recording (like on the A720is).

- Memory

The A590is uses SD (SecureDigital) or SDHC (high capacity) cards. They are the cheapest and more common memory types. That is definitely a good news. In order to access the SD slot you have to open the battery cover. I used both 2 Gb microSD and 4 Gb SDHC cards without any problem.

At the highest quality (8 Mp super fine) a 2 Gb memory will hold around 500 pictures, 900 pictures at 8 Mpixel standard compression, 1900 pictures at 8 Mpixel with high compression. Personally I have always used the standard compression algorithm as I did not notice appreciable differences while the size of the photo is halved. That is important not only because you camera will hold double the pictures but also because you will save lot of space in your hard disk. The size of a photo at maximum resolution standard quality can vary from 1,5 to 3,5 Mb.

- Battery life

With 2650mA AA batteries I am able to shot around 500 photos. Like for the SD cards the usage of AA rechargeable batteries instead of custom batteries is to my standpoint always a pro when choosing among different camera models.

- Manual

The case contains a simple manual (quick guide) to start playing with the camera. The full manual is found in the enclosed CD ROM or it can be freely downloaded from the website. Both the quick-guide and the full manual are quite well organized even if I admit I only looked at them a few times.

- Software

I particularly like the Canon suite of software and the regular support (upgrades) given on the web site. Main program is Zoom Browser: it gives you nice ways to look and classify your pictures, examine photo parameters etcetera.

- Accessories

The list is pretty long: you can get wide angle and telephoto converter, close-up lens, external flash, soft case.

- What you get in the box (in Italy at least)

You will find the camera, USB cable, CD ROMs with full manuals and software, alkaline batteries (good for your TV remote control) and A/V cable. So the first thing to do after buying the camera is to get SD card (2Gb is advisable) and NiMh AA batteries.

- Pros
Here are the characteristics I particularly like

- Good photo quality
- Light and compact camera (238 gr)
- AA NiMh batteries (cheap and standardized)
- SD/SDHC memory (the most common and cheapest available)
- Good battery life (having only two AAs)
- Lot of features also for the semi-pro user
- Good software (a part for what I reported before on Camera Windows)
- Data transfer via standard USB cable (can be used also for other peripherals like 2,5" external hard disks)

- Cons
Here are the few things I do no like about this camera:

- Video mode at 20Hz instead of 30 Hz
- No bluetooth or wi-fi data transfer (but the cable luckily is a standard USB type that can be used also with other peripherals)
- Average macro mode
- Poor equipment in the box (no NiMh batteris, useless 32 Mb memory card, no protection bag)

- Conclusions

I particularly liked the A720is which I own (before I owned the A710is) and the smaller and cheaper A590is shares most of the good qualities. The A590is has most of the features that both a beginner and a semi-pro user can ask for and the quality of the photos are good. The final question is whether it is worth to spend some more money and invest in the A720is. Personal answer would be yes especially if you look at some details that could be important for you. In particular the better video mode with 30 Hz frame rate and the 35-210mm zoom which offers some more flexibility at the telephoto end. If you do not care at these details the A590is will be definitely a good choice. 

...less