Overview
The Canon Powershot A570 IS is a seven megapixel digital camera with a 4x optical zoom lens. Taking its price into account (a little under £150), the Powershot A570 IS has a surprising amount of features. These include manual exposure controls, image stabilisation, face detection software, red eye correction, plus a viewfinder. As you can see there are a few extras packed into the camera that you will find hard to beat for the price.
You can also pick up wide, telephoto and close up conversion lenses to further increase the capabilities of the camera.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
7
4x
2.5 inches
89.5 x 64.3 x 42.8mm
175g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
5cm
No
Manual, Ap
AA
SD/MMC
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Outdoor Scenic Shots in Good Light
The first outdoor shot gets my tests off to a good start. What I like to see in this picture is a high degree of sharpness, natural colours and the ability to handle sun glare. The Powershot A570 IS does well on all counts. The sharpness levels are particularly impressive and there is just a small loss of detail from the boats where the sun falls directly on them.
My main comment for this photo is how sharp it is. Many digital cameras struggle to produce sharp landscape style shots when the scene gets a bit distant. The Powershot A570 IS is someway ahead of most of its rivals.
With the lens zoomed into its maximum focusing is strong once again. I like the colours in this photo as well.
Portraits
Face detection has been turned on and I have used the cloudy white balance setting to boost the colours. It seems to have worked well with the face in sharp focus and just the right level of colour for my taste.
I'm pretty pleased with this shot. Focusing, colour and brightness are all impressive. There was a degree of red eye in the shot. I was able to correct this satisfactorily using the built in red eye correction tool.
The extreme lowlight test keeps up the run of very good photos. Sharpness is very good once again and the photo is very bright considering the conditions.
Macro, Colours and Noise
Another Canon digital camera, another sharp macro shot. The numbers on the watch really stand out and there is a good level of clarity to the shot.
The colours produced by the camera have been consistently good throughout my tests. In all the tests they show a fair reflection of how the scene was at the time each photo was taken.
As with any digital camera there is a loss of quality when taking photos at ISO 400. The Powershot A570 IS makes a fair attempt at this level without being one of the very best.
ISO 1600 is a bit of a blot to be honest. Luckily it is very rare that you will need to use this setting, if at all.
Summary
I am delighted with the results of the tests. In just about every area the Powershot A570 IS has performed very well.
Style
The Powershot A570 IS bears a resemblance to a digital SLR only much smaller. It has a grip on the front for holding steady and even someone with larger hands should be able to get a decent hold.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
0.33 seconds
8.02 seconds
1.23 seconds
22.25 seconds
Ease of Use
It does take a bit of time to get to know this camera with the extra features it has.
Points I Like
Sharpness of photo - viewfinder - red eye correction tool
Where it Could Improve
Shutter lag with flash on
Verdict
With the Canon Powershot A570 IS you get a lot of camera for your money. You will certainly be hard pressed to find this many features on another digital camera for a similar price. When you take into account the picture quality this is a very good camera. Recommended.
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
Top Rated Cameras in this Category
Related Pages
Canon Powershot A570 IS Review Canon Powershot A570 IS Specification Canon Powershot A570 IS Sample Images Canon Powershot A570 IS Features
Review Date
September 2007
