Canon PowerShot A620

Model Design / Appearance (6.75)
This digital camera definitely didn’t make it into the Digital ELPH series. The Canon A620 has a thick frame with a chunky right-hand grip and slightly protruding lens. It is not skinny in any way and certainly doesn’t win points for style. Its housing has a slick feel and the LCD monitor adds an interesting element, but the A620 is an overall bread-and-butter digital camera. The A620 doesn’t win points for style, but the design is functional and utilitarian.

Size / Portability (6.25)
The Canon PowerShot A620 isn’t anywhere near the size of a single lens reflex camera, but it’s definitely larger than most compact models. It measures 4.13 x 2.6 x 1.93 inches, so it’s boxy and way too thick to slide into a pocket. The A620 fits much better into purses and backpacks that have ample space. The dimensions are substantial, but its weight is even more so. It weighs 8.29 ounces – and that’s not including the card or batteries. Put the SD card and four AA batteries in and the A620 doubles as a solid paperweight. This Canon PowerShot has a wrist strap on the right side for streamlined portability, but carrying the A620 on a wrist could be quite uncomfortable for some. The weight of this camera merits a neck strap, but there is no way to attach one.

Handling Ability (7.0)
The A620 was built with easy handling in mind, for the most part. The mode dial is easy to rotate, there is a comfortable right-hand grip, the control buttons are all within reach of the right thumb, and there is even a textured grip for the right thumb when it’s not accessing controls. But the LCD monitor is surprisingly one element of the camera that was made without handling in mind. The LCD must be rotated and twisted to be effectively viewed because of its shallow angle of view, so while it’s nice if the user is taking self-portraits, it requires constant twisting of the wrist and fingers.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.0)
Consumers familiar with the Canon setup won’t need a tutorial to figure the A620 out. Its control buttons are very typical of this manufacturer. The mode dial sits on top with its letters and icons to label certain positions. Most are intuitive, although beginners may be confused by the My Colors and Panorama Stitch icons; they’re not very intuitive. The icons and text on the camera body are quite large and easy to read and distinguish. Overall, the buttons are easy to find and easy to use. The only undesirable control is the zoom toggle, which surrounds the shutter release button near the front and seems to be on a short leash. It’s not hard to turn, but it’s hard to zoom in and out quickly.

ISO	50, 100, 200, 400
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Underwater, Custom
Drive Mode	Single, Continuous, 10-sec self-timer, 2-sec self-timer, Custom timer (0-30 sec delay, 1-10 shots)
Effects	Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White
Flash Output	+/- 2
Metering	Evaluative, Center-weighted Average, Spot
Compression	SuperFine, Fine, Normal
Image Size	L (3072 x 2304), M1 (2592 x 1944), M2 (2048 x 1536), M3 (1600 x 1200), S (640 x 480), Postcard (1600 x 1200)

Mute	On, Off
Volume	Start-up Volume, Operation Volume, Self-timer Volume, Shutter Volume, Playback Volume (5 steps each)
Power Saving	Auto Power Down On, Off and Display Off (10 sec-3 min)
Date/Time	Time and Month, Day, Year
Format	Cancel, OK
File No. Reset	On, Off
Auto Rotate	On, Off
Distance Units	m/cm, ft/in
Language	English, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Czech, Polish, Greek, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Thai
Video System	NTSC, PAL
Reset All	Cancel, OK

Theme	Off, Canon logo, Canon logo with sky background, Yellow bird on branch scene
Start-up Image	Off, Canon logo, Canon logo with sky background, Yellow bird on branch scene
Start-up Sound	Off, Electronic chime, Bell, Chirping birds
Operation Sound	Off, Beep, Laser, Single bird chip
Self-timer Sound	Off, Beeps, Phone ring, Wolf howl
Shutter Sound	Off, Shutter snap, Laser, Dog bark

Protect	Cancel, OK
Rotate	Cancel, OK
Sound Memo	Record, Pause, Play, Erase
Erase All	Cancel, OK
Auto Play	Play, Pause
Print Order	Order, Mark All, Set up (Print Type, Date, File No), Reset
Transfer Order	Order, Mark All, Reset

Ease of Use (7.0)
The PowerShot A620 is one of Canon’s better labeled digital cameras. It has large icons and text that aren’t lost on the body. The modes are easily found on the large mode dial; all are included directly on the dial except for a few scene modes grouped under the SCN position. Navigating the menus can be a little confusing because of the split-menu setup, but once that is figured out its pretty easy to navigate.

Handling is a bit complicated with the rotating LCD. The monitor has its pros and cons. While it is nice that users can see at just about any angle, they also have to flip the screen to that angle because the screen itself has a very limited angle of view. So consumers are left just where they started – twisting a digital camera around to view the screen. Still, the A620 is generally easy to use.