Overview
The Canon Powershot A410 is an entry level digital camera. In many ways the Powershot A410 shows just how far digital cameras have advanced over the last couple of years. It has three megapixels plus a 3.2x optical zoom lens and is available for around £100. It is not so long ago that an entry level model would have one or two megapixels and no optical zoom, so progress is there for all to see.
In terms of features this is a cut down model of more powerful Powershot cameras. It will appeal to anyone who is looking for a straightforward point and shoot camera that does not break the bank.
Image Quality
Overall I would say I was delighted with the quality of the photos I managed to produce with the Powershot A410. There was only one I was not satisfied with and that was the indoor portrait. The rest though I would have been very happy to produce with a digital camera that was far more expensive.
The outdoor landscape shots are very good. I particularly like the balance of the colours. Each shot is also sharp and clear. There is a loss of detail in the darkest areas of the pictures. This is most noticeable in the shady areas under trees. Almost all consumer level digital cameras have a problem in this area.
The dedicated colour test shot produced a strong result as well. This reinforces my view that the colour in any pictures you take with this camera are likely to be strong and true. The camera seems to pick out blue especially well and this bodes well for landscape type shots taken on pleasant sunny days.
Indoors I produced my only disappointing shot. This was the indoor portrait. The Powershot A410 just fails to focus properly in the conditions. There is also a touch of red eye in the shot too. It is feasible that you will be able to take better indoor shots if more light is available to you. This will help the camera to focus. One word of caution. The built in flash unit does not have a great range and the effect of the flash falls away quite quickly.
By way of contrast the test shot of bottles produces an excellent result. This shot is taken in almost complete darkness yet it is very sharp and again the camera clearly outperforms more expensive models. Sometimes I get asked why a camera can produce a better photo of the bottles in darkness than it can with the indoor portrait in better light. I believe the reason for this is that the camera finds it easier to focus on the group of bottles. This is because they offer a greater degree of contrast against the background. The camera is also much closer in this shot. This gives the Auto Focus (AF) beam a much greater level of concentration for the camera to pick up and focus with.
Finishing on another high note, the macro shot is another example of the camera achieving a better result than more advanced models. The picture produced is very bright and clear.
All in all a very encouraging set of test photos from a digital camera at this level.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
The Powershot A410 managed to take a single shot in 0.40 seconds. Although this time is slower than the average for all digital cameras it is fast for cameras in this price bracket. It took 8.71 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo more or less every 1.7 seconds. This is a also a fast time for this type of camera. Therefore you should get a good response from this camera if you wish to reel off two or three pictures in a row.
If you would like a faster method of shooting a number of pictures in a row there is also a continuous shooting feature. This is selected through the menu system. I was able to take a picture every 0.4 seconds using this feature with the flash unit turned off.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The 3.2x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 41 - 131mm in 35mm format. In addition there is a 3.2x digital zoom. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 (wide) and f/5.1 (tele). For close up work there is a macro mode that lets you get in as close as 1.5cms to the subject.
There are three metering modes you can choose from: Evaluative, Centre-weighted average and Spot (centre). Exposure compensation is available (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments). Shutter speeds can range between 1 and 1/2000 seconds and the camera uses ISO equivalents of 50, 100 and 200. There are a number of white balance settings available too. These are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H and Custom.
For composing images you can choose between an optical viewfinder and a 1.5" LCD screen. The LCD screen has approximately 120,000 pixels. You can also adjust the brightness of the LCD screen. This can be useful in dark conditions and on sunny days, although there is a limit to exactly how much improvement there is in the display.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3m. This falls to 2m when the zoom lens is fully extended. You need to take into account that 3m is not the largest of areas to light up. To increase the power of the flash you can opt to buy Canon's High Power Flash. The camera has five flash modes automatic, always on, always off, red eye reduction and slow sync. Slow sync is often used at night when you would like not only the subject, but some of the background lit too.
As well as taking pictures in automatic mode there are a number of pre programmed scene modes you can try. These help the camera to take the best possible shots for a variety of different photographic subjects. All you need to do is select the most appropriate scene. The preset scenes are Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach and Fireworks. There is also a stitch assist mode to help you "stitch" together panoramic type shots. There is also a continuous shooting mode that lets you shoot at a rate of 2.5 frames per second until the memory card is full. I tested this mode out and found that with the flash off I was able to take shots at a rate of one every 0.4 seconds.
Other effects you can use to add something different to a picture include vivid colour, natural colour, low sharpening, sepia and black and white.
For when you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer with a delay of two or ten seconds. You can also set a custom time delay yourself. The custom time delay lets you select a delay of up to 30 seconds. You can also set the camera to reel off up to ten shots with this setting.
Short movies can be recorded. The maximum duration is up to three minutes. The highest resolution available is 640x480. With this setting the maximum speed of the movie is ten frames per second. A speed of twenty frames per second is available at a resolution of 320x240. You can also use the zoom when taking a movie. Movies are silent and there is no sound.
Ease of Use
As with most point and shoot digital cameras you should find the Powershot A410 easy enough to use. There is a control dial on the back of the camera that allows you to select the shooting mode (automatic still photo, scene mode, movie mode or image review). There are other buttons controlling macro mode, flash and zoom. Although I am getting used to the standard Canon menu system I still feel it is not the easiest one to get to grips with.
Cost
You can pick up a Canon Powershot A410 for around £102. This compares to around £120 for a Sony DSC S40, £85 for a Olympus C-370 and £95 for a Fuji Finepix A345. As you can see there is not too much to choose between these cameras when it comes to price. I would say the Powershot A410 is a fairly priced.
Style
The Powershot A410 is a typical shiny, silver rectangle. It is longer and a bit shorter than many other entry level models. There is a raised area on the right hand side on the front of the camera. This is to make it easier to grip the camera while you are taking a picture. The body is made mainly of plastic with an aluminium section on the front.
It weighs 150g and has dimensions of 103.0 x 51.8 x 40.3 mm. This makes it too large to fit comfortable in a pocket, but at the same time it is not exactly cumbersome.
Batteries and Memory Cards
Two AA batteries are required to power the camera. Canon estimates you should be able to take around 100 shots with the Powershot A410 before you need to change the batteries. This is based on a typical set of alkaline batteries. By using a pair of high quality rechargeable batteries you should be able to take significantly more shots before the power runs out and you will also keep running costs down.
Images are stored on SD memory cards. A 16mb card was supplied with the camera. I was able to take 23 photos with the card before it became full. This was using the camera's default settings. As you can see a high capacity memory card is likely to come in handy.
Click here to save money on SD cards.
Points I like:
Image quality
Where it is not so hot:
Limited movie mode
Summary
The most important feature of any digital camera is the picture quality it manages to produce. The Canon Powershot A410 did exceptionally well in this area. I have no hesitation in recommending it if you are looking for an entry level camera. Priced at just under £100 it is a bit of a bargain.
Canon Powershot A410 Front View
Canon Powershot A410 Back View
Canon Powershot A410 Top View
Sample Menus
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Canon Powershot A410 Review Canon Powershot A410 Specification Canon Powershot A410 Sample Images
