Canon Powershot A1000 IS Review

The Canon Powershot A1000 IS is a step up from the most basic digital cameras. For example it has a viewfinder, image stabilisation plus extra options for colours and flash. There are also a number of options within the menu that allow you to fine tune the camera to meet your own needs. It has 10 megapixels and a 4x optical zoom lens.

The Powershot A1000 IS offers good photo quality at a reasonable price. While it can be used in fully automatic mode it has a number of options that make it a step up from more basic models.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
As with other Canon digital cameras I like the overall way this photo looks. This is mainly down to the colours and brightness that the Powershot A1000 IS manages to produce. The key colours in this shot are the blue from the sky and the darker greens of the foliage and trees. The combination of these colours makes the scene look vivid without going overboard. This bodes well for all landscape style photos.

There are a couple of minor niggles. Some detail is lost through sun glare and some of the blue lines on the boat have picked up a purple tinge where they are caught by the sun.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
Considering how distant parts of the scene are the Powershot A1000 IS produces a sharp picture in the main. It is only the parts furthest away from the camera that struggle for clarity. In the sky I can see some jagged areas, where the camera has failed to create a smooth looking image. This problem is sometimes referred to as digital artifacts. These will tend to show up if you are planning to make large prints.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the lens zoomed all the way in the camera is able to make a sharp photo. This is especially true in the centre of the shot as focusing is not quite as sharp towards the edges. As with the second shot the sky suffers from a number of jagged looking pixels.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
Overall the Powershot A1000 IS has produced sharp shots at distance. Most of the brickwork on the building is picked out in sharp focus. The sky is not perfect with a greater number of jagged pixels showing than I am used to seeing.

Outdoor Portrait
Looking at this picture suggests the camera will be able to take decent portrait shots. I like the colours in this shot. The skin tones show a natural level of pink and the lighting is even too.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This picture is sharply focused. In a similar way to the outdoor portrait the lighting works well. Although there is plenty of light the Powershot A1000 IS is able to control the power of the flash unit and retains plenty of colour in the shot.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Without the flash unit the picture is not quite pin sharp. Even so the camera has outperformed most of the other cameras I tested at the same time.

Colours
I like the colours that Canon digital cameras produce. In fact it is one of the key reasons why I think their photographs look so good.

Macro
Macro shots are another area where this range of cameras tends to do well. The Powershot A1000 IS has produced a sharp photo with plenty of detail.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
Noise is a problem. At ISO 400 in fair to good light noise is kept to acceptable limits. If you go any higher than this or the level of lighting dips then picture quality is low.

Overall
Considering the price of this camera it does very well. It is quite versatile and does well in most situations.

When the flash is not turned on response times are inline with the majority of other digital cameras. A single photo was captured in 0.38 seconds and five in 9.7 seconds. Turning on flash noticeably slows down the camera. A single shot with flash took 1.1 seconds and five took 23.47 seconds.

To turn the camera on and take the first photo took 2.45 seconds.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The Powershot A1000 IS is similar in design to many digital camera that are too large to slip into a pocket. It has a raised grip area on one side to help you hold the camera steady. It is a two tone camera and is available in four colours: blue, grey, brown and purple.

95.4 x 62.4 x 31mm

155g

Two AA batteries are used to provide power. Canon suggest a standard set of alkaline batteries should be capable of taking up to 220 shots.

Instead of building memory into the camera like other brands do Canon supply a 32mb SD card with the Powershot A1000 IS. As a rough guide this should be enough for around 10 photos. The camera is also compatible with SDHC cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Very Good. Although this camera is not as easy to use as some of the most basic point and shoot models you should still be able to find your way around without a problem.

Picture quality - value for money

Slow when flash is turned on

There is another very similar camera in the Canon range. This is the Canon Powershot A2000 IS. The Powershot A2000 IS offers extra zoom with a 6x optical zoom lens.

If you are not worried whether or not your camera will slip into a pocket then the Canon Powershot A1000 IS provides good value for money. It takes a decent shot in most situations and offers a few extra features over and above more basic digital cameras.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Canon Powershot A1000 IS