Canon Powershot A630 Review

I was just recently in the market for a new digital camera to replace my wife’s old Sony digital cam. The world of digital photography has advanced quite a bit and the number of options out there is truly staggering. It is to the point where it is hard to shop for a digital camera today. Canon cameras are generally thought to be the best. They have been in the camera business for a long time now, and seem to offer great features in their cams. I eventually settled on the Canon Powershot A630, mainly because I wanted some manual controls. Read on to see my thoughts on the camera.

First, The Specs

The Powershot A630 is directly related to the A640, with the only real difference being the image resolution. The A630 offers the following:

• 8 MegaPixel Resolution
• 4X optical zoom, with 16X digital zoom
• F2.8 – F4.1 lens aperture
• 35 – 140 mm focal length
• 2.5″ rotating LCD screen

The camera uses 4 AA batteries for power. Both cameras come with a USB cable and an A/V cable in box. The A630 also comes with a puny 16MB SD card, so you’re definitely going to want to buy a larger card while you’re at it. Luckily, the prices on SD cards have dropped significantly. I was able to pick up a 2 GIG SD card by Sandisk with this camera for about $30 at the time.

Using the Camera

Since I picked up this camera, I have used it on one business trip to Seattle, as well as some random fun shots. I have used several cameras in the past, but I am not coming at you here from the perspective of a photo pro. That I am not. So, I will give you my perspective as what I consider to be an average user.

My experience thus far is that the A630 is a very easy camera to use. The unit is not large, although it is bulkier than some of the other compacts. The 4 battery compartment gives you a nice grip for single-handing the camera. The 2.5″ LCD is very clear, although it can be a bit hard to see in the sunlight. The fact that the LCD flips out is extremely convenient. This allows for holding the camera up over your head and still getting a full view of what the camera sees on the LCD. The rotary dial at the top for choosing different picture modes is really easy. It’s not so tight that it is hard to use, but you won’t be able to move it accidentally either. The camera also has a glass viewfinder on it, something you often don’t see on compact digitals. In practice, I don’t use it too often, but it would come in handy if the battery is running low or when the LCD is hard to see (as in the sunlight).

The simplest method of using the camera is the full AUTO mode. In this mode, the camera chooses everything. The other shooting modes include Program, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority, Manual, and Custom with additional modes including Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Special Scene (10 varieties), Stitch Assist and Movie. Stitch mode allows you to take panarama shots by taking a few different shots and the camera will assist in splicing them together. In movie mode, the camera can take 30 fps motion video with sound, however this isn’t going to compare to a standard video camera. I find myself using either the AUTO modes or the additional custom scene modes.

The A630 is equipped with a 9-point AiAF “Smart” autofocus system, which means that it will autofocus on your subject using 9 different points in order to provide accurate focus. In practice, it works well for most shots. However, in some darker scenes or in up-close shots, I found that the autofocus had a really hard time with accuracy. I would need to use the manual focus to fine-tune it. And on real close-ups, it just couldn’t focus well. In many cases, I would back out further from the subject and just use the zoom to get closer in. All in all, the camera can take some sweet close-ups, but focus was one of the issues I had to deal with.

One of the reasons I bought this camera was that it allows full manual control, should you want to use it.

Image Quality

There are certainly higher resolution cameras out there. At 8 megapixels, the A630 is certainly respectable, but not cream of the crop. That said, the image quality is fantastic. Canon packs on good lenses. The only complaint I have is that there is a lot of noise in photos using higher ISO settings. Also, when taking low-light pictures coupled with the digital zoom, I noticed a lot of noise in the photos. I think this is pretty common to digital cameras, and not something particular to the A630. Almost all daylight shots turn out great. When using natural light, the quality is good as well, although you start to notice the noise. Sometimes the cam would underexpose the photo when not using a flash, however you can easily adjust the flash level and exposure level.

This camera does not have image stabilization. This feature DOES make a difference, and I miss the feature when I am using high-zoom or working in low light. Fortunately, the camera’s processor does a pretty decent job of processing the image and reducing the effects of shaking. But, in low light, you depend on your steady hand.

When it comes to compact cameras, the A630 is among the best, for sure. Will the quality of your photos be just as good as those taken by digital SLRs? No. But, you will be able to pull off some decent shots with the A630.

Sample Images

OK, let’s look at some images I shot with the Powershot A630. These are a few I chose to illustrate some points, however you can view all of my photos in my Flickr gallery.

A sunset shot. It did well in low light, but I had to not use the digital zoom to get it to look right.

I thought this one came out well. I want to mention that all of these were taken with the camera and no modifications were made on my computer.

Chris Pirillo, from Gnomedex. Now, this was taken in low light and with digital zoom. There is noticeable digital noise in the photo.

Another low-light, zoom situation, the subject being Justin from Justin.tv. The noise is even more noticeable.

A marina in Seattle, Washington.

Using the A630′s black-and-white setting, a shot of my cat, Bella.

My View

If you are in the market for a compact camera, the A630 is a very good option for you. If size is an issue for you, you might want a smaller camera because the A630 isn’t exactly the most compact camera on the market. However, if you want a compact that provides great quality and good manual control, the A630 is great. It is particularly good for photographers who want a quick point-and-shoot with some capability when they don’t want to lug around their SLRs.

The Canon Powershot A630 represents a great, all around balance of features for a digital compact camera, taking respectable shots in quick situations while also offering plenty of image customization options for your artistic side. For that, I give the A630 high marks.

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