Canon PowerShot A570 IS

Viewfinder (3.5)
The PowerShot A570IS's viewfinder is tiny, inaccurate and hard to see. The status LCDs next to it are distracting. The viewfinder is centered on the camera's image, but only shows about 75 or 80 percent of the final image. Canon's literature suggests that the viewfinder is just a battery-saving option, and that most users will frame shots with the LCD most of the time. That's a good idea.

LCD Screen (6.0)
The PowerShot A570IS sports a 2.5-inch, 115,000-pixel LCD. The field of view is narrow, which means that the image is hard to see unless the viewer's eyes are lined up with the screen. The LCD is a little dim for outdoor use, though its color rendition is pleasing, and will be a good indicator of the colors in typical prints. The 115,000-pixel resolution is remarkably low for a 7-megapixel camera. It's really not enough to tell if the image is in sharp focus.

Flash (4.75)
The PowerShot A570IS's flash is just about everything a camera's flash shouldn’t be: small, weak, off-centered and very close to the lens.

The size of a light source influences the quality of light it shines. Small light sources, like the A570IS's flash, make harsh light which accentuates skin blemishes and creates hard shadows. The fact that the flash is close to the lens increases the likelihood that it will produce red-eye. The A570IS's red-eye reduction scheme is a light that shines briefly before the exposure. The light slows down operation of the camera, and can annoy photographic subjects even more than the flash itself. The flash has a range of about 11 feet for wide-angle shots, and only 7 feet for telephoto images. Flash exposure is automatic, but the flash can also be set to full, 1/2 and1/4 power.

Zoom Lens (7.25)
The 5.8 – 23.2 mm f/2.8 – 5.5 lens is comparable to a 35 – 140 mm lens on a 35mm camera. The wide-angle end isn't quite wide enough for large group pictures. The telephoto end is plenty for portraits and candid closeups, but it is not long enough for sports or nature photography. It's a general purpose focal range that will serve casual users well enough, but its limitations are one of the reasons some shoppers will step up to a more advanced camera.
The A570IS's aperture range is a mixed bag: the maximum aperture at the wide-angle end, f/2.8, is bright enough for some available light photography, but at telephoto, it's nearly 2 stops darker, which is very limiting for indoor use.

The PowerShot A570IS has image stabilization, and Canon's implementation works very well throughout the zoom range. Because the A570IS is small and light, stabilization is important – it's harder to steady a light camera than a heavier one. Though manufacturers tout stabilization as a means of allowing slower shutter speeds, it only helps when the subject stays still – it doesn't compensate for jumping puppies or quick-moving athletes.