Canon PowerShot A460

Viewfinder (3.5)
The Canon PowerShot A460 comes with an in-camera real image optical viewfinder. While optical viewfinders have begun appearing less and less in more expensive point-and-shoot digital cameras, the lower-priced budget models have continued to include this feature as a general rule. There is one major asset to having an optical viewfinder and that is when conserving battery life is necessary. An LCD screen will drain batteries at a much faster rate than an identical camera shooting with an optical viewfinder and if nearly out of power, this can be a lifesaver. However, when shooting with the viewfinder, the framing accuracy drops dramatically. While this type of optical viewfinder is great in a battery pinch, it would be nice to see manufacturers equipping cameras with Lithium Ion batteries and eliminating the viewfinder in favor of a higher-resolution LCD screen or providing a more accurate optical alternative. 

LCD Screen (2.0)
The A460’s 2.0-inch, 86,000-pixel LCD screen is nothing to write home about. Its low resolution makes it difficult to accurately judge exposure levels, ISO settings, white balance, focus and other controls. Additionally, the underwhelming LCD has a slow refresh rate that displays a stuttering image whenever the camera pans or the subject is moving quickly. More problems occurred when trying to view the LCD at an angle. Solarizing was apparent almost as soon as the camera was slightly tilted off axis. When shooting outside on a snowy and overcast day, the LCD struggled to reproduce a range of white tones, instead blowing out all the detail in the whites. These issues made the LCD hard to use and doesn’t bode well for the beginning user looking for visual cues while shooting.

Flash (5.75)
The Canon PowerShot A460 comes with an in-camera flash that is positioned to the left of the lens’ center axis. The flash position should be worrisome for users looking for an even diffusion of light since the off-center position will result in shadows cast to the side of subjects. Surprisingly, the flash seemed to perform quite competently when shooting in low light situations and at a close, portrait range. The flash settings for the camera can be accessed and altered by pressing the right arrow of the four-way control. Pressing the right arrow repeatedly will allow the user to scroll through auto, on and off. In addition to these features the photographer will be able to turn red-eye correction on and off through a sub-menu listed in the record menu. There is a slow-syncro shooting mode located in the record menu.

The flash range for the A460 is a bit limited: 1.5 feet to 9.8 feet inches wide and 1.5 feet to 6.6 feet inches telephoto. Shooting in the macro mode will alter the flash range to a 12-inch minimum distance and a 1.5 foot maximum for both wide and telephoto.

Zoom Lens (7.0)
The Canon PowerShot A460 comes with a 4x optical Canon Zoom telescoping lens. A polished silver ring surrounds the lens barrel and is raised slightly from the camera body. The barrel retracts into the camera body and the lens cover closes when the playback mode is engaged for an extended period of time. The Canon Zoom lens has a variable focal length of 5.4 to 21.6 mm with a 35mm film equivalency measuring 38 to 152 mm. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at its widest setting while it reduces to a maximum aperture of f/5.8 in telephoto. While similar to the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W35 at the widest aperture of f/2.8 the DSC-W35 does eke out a better maximum aperture of f/5.2 in telephoto.

The zoom control itself on the A460 is terrible, with the user having to press the up and down arrows on the four-way control to activate. Zoom steps were few and far between and the control's sluggish reaction left many action shots un-captured.