Canon Powershot A470 Review

The Canon Powershot A470 digital camera is Canon's entry level model. It has 7 megapixels and a 3.4x optical zoom lens.

As you will see from my review the sharpness of the photos and the general picture quality achieved by the Powershot A470 is very difficult for other digital cameras in this price range to match. So if it's picture quality you want at a low price you will find this camera hard to beat.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
Right from the start I can see that focusing from the Powershot A470 digital camera is well above average even for more expensive cameras. This is not really a surprise to me as Canon digital cameras tend to outperform all other makes when it comes to sharpness.

Colours are about right and the camera handles the scene well.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
With the lens zoomed all the way out I am used to seeing more than a degree of softness in this test shot. The Powershot A470 performs very well though and this is one of the sharper wide angle test results.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
Again the digital camera is outstanding when it comes to the sharpness of the photo. Looking at a larger version of the photo I can make out the writing on a placard on the left hand side of the photo. The tiles on the roofs in a more central position are also very clear indeed.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
This shot is always a good test for whether or not a camera can take a sharp shot. This Canon digital camera has no problems and the brickwork in the shaded area of the shot is still in sharp focus.

Outdoor Portrait
I like this portrait. The colours add a little warmth to the shot and the skin tones work well too. I have used face detection focusing to help with sharpness and a white balance setting of cloudy to boost colours.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This is another good test result. There is plenty of detail in the shot and it works well in general. The only way I would improve it is to add a touch more brightness.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
The Powershot A470 once again outperforms a number of more expensive digital cameras. There is plenty of definition in this photo and it suggests the camera should be able to handle situations where the light is not perfect.

Colours
Throughout my test shots the colours have been strong without being overpowering.

Macro
This is not a bad effort, but it lacks the overall clarity of the test shot produced by the more advanced Canon Powershot A590 IS.

ISO 400
At this level noise does start to creep in, especially in darker areas of the shot.

ISO 1600
Boost the ISO rating up further and picture quality really begins to suffer. Only use this setting in an emergency.

Overall
Taking into account the cost of the Powershot A470, Canon have produced an excellent digital camera when it comes to picture quality.

Without flash the shutter lag figures are good. A single shot was captured in 0.28 seconds and five shots too 7.6 seconds. With flash on it was very different and lag times are very slow. A single shot was taken in 1.13 seconds, while five shots took a slow 23.29 seconds.

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

In my opinion this digital camera will not win any beauty competitions! It is an elongated, rectangular shape. The camera is manly silver, but you can get models with different coloured centre pieces on the front. These colours are blue, silver, red and green.

104.8 x 55.1 x 40.7mm

165g

Two AA batteries. Canon estimates you should be able to take around 150 shots with a standard set of batteries.

Canon supplies a 32mb SD memory card with the Powershot A470. This is enough for around 18 pictures. The camera is also compatible with SDHC memory cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Good. The Powershot A470 is easy enough to use, but there are more straightforward, entry level digital cameras around.

Overall picture quality - sharpness of photos - value for money

Shutter lag with flash

Another entry level camera I like that will not break the bank is the Samsung Digimax S760.

If you are looking for a cheaper digital camera then the Canon Powershot A470 is one of the best choices you can make. It may not be the most stylish camera in the shops, but it takes a very good picture.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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 A470