Canon PowerShot A2300 First Impressions Review

Lens & Sensor

The A2300 is built around the same lens and sensor combo as most of its A-series comrades, from the A3400 down through the A810.

The sensor is a typical point-and-shoot chip—16 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch CCD-type. The lens is a 5x optical zoomer with a 28mm equivalent wide-angle setting. Most notably, it uses the DIGIC 4 processor used in higher-end Canons like the G12. (Many of those more-advanced cameras have since moved up to the DIGIC 5.)

LCD

The LCD is a 2.7-inch, 230,000-pixel screen—about as small and low-res as you’ll find on any new camera. Even so, it's good enough to get the job done, and there are plenty of cameras that cost upwards of $200 using a similar screen.

Flash

The built-in flash is only effective up to about 10 feet—enough to light up a small room, but not much else. Canon also notes that the flash can take around 10 seconds to recharge between shots, which is pretty sluggish.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

A single port pulls double-duty as a USB and A/V hookup.

Battery

The A2300 ships with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, rated for 210 shots per charge.

Memory

Just like almost every other camera out there, the A2300 captures to SD/SDHC/SDXC media cards.