Connectivity
Software (6.75)
The Canon PowerShot A620 comes with ZoomBrowser EX and PhotoRecord software on a CD-ROM. With ZoomBrowser, users can view pictures in three modes: zoom mode, scroll mode and preview mode. The zoom mode shows lots of thumbnails of pictures that enlarge when scrolled over. The scroll mode is similar to the zoom mode except that the scroll mode’s thumbnails are larger, so less fit on the screen. The preview mode shows the thumbnails across the bottom of the screen and the selected image above. The image’s file info, comments and histogram are displayed to its right. By clicking on pictures, another window opens that allows users to zoom in and out of a picture and do some basic image editing. Users can rotate, trim and eliminate red-eye from images. They can also adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness. If this is too complicated, there is an Auto Adjust function that works very well. Movies can be played, but not edited. Additionally, the included Canon PhotoRecord software lets users add pictures and captions to photo album pages. This “digital scrapbooking” software allows users to print their pictures straight into photo albums.
Jacks, Ports, Plugs (5.0)
The Canon PowerShot A620 has three ports that hide beneath a flimsy door on the right side. The USB 2.0 jack gets its own port, rather than sharing a port with the A/V cable as is the case on so many recent models. The A/V-out function is NTSC and PAL selectable. There is also a DC in jack for the optional power adaptor and flash accessories.
Direct Print Options (7.0)
The A620 has a designated Print button that can be pressed when the camera is connected to a PictBridge compatible printer to transfer the images and DPOF print order. From the camera, users can choose which pictures to print, how many copies of each image to print and whether or not date stamps and file numbers are printed on the pictures. Users can print index prints, but can’t do anything incredibly fancy like select the paper type or size.
Battery (6.5)
The Canon PowerShot A620 takes AA batteries like its A-series siblings. Four AA alkaline batteries are included, but the camera also accepts AA rechargeable NiMH batteries. The alkaline set can get 350 shots with the LCD on and 1,200 pictures with it off. The rechargeable set gets 500 shots with the LCD on and 1,500 with it off. This is very impressive for AA batteries.
Memory (3.5)
The Canon PowerShot A620 comes with a 16MB SD card, but can accept other SD or MMC cards. 16 MB isn’t much memory to work with, so users should plan on getting a card up to 2 GB.
Other Features (5.0)
My Camera – This tab in the menu system lets users customize the A620 to their personal tastes. Users can select a startup image and then choose from various sounds to customize the startup, operation, self-timer and shutter noises. The choices range from the traditional beeps to wolves howling, birds chirping and springs bouncing.
