Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Apr 12, 2006 - By Emily Raymond
The Canon PowerShot A620 is a member of Canon’s A-series, one of the most popular series of digital cameras. The A-series offers easy to use models with a significant amount of manual control. The 7.1 megapixel A620 stays true to its A-series roots with a thick handgrip, 2-inch LCD monitor that folds out and rotates, and AA battery power. The Canon PowerShot A620 was
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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.

Menu (7.0)
The Canon A620 has the same menu system that is available on most PowerShot cameras. It has three folder tabs across the top that are color coded and labeled with an icon. The red tab on the left has an icon of a camera and contains the shooting settings. The yellow middle tab has a tool on it and signifies the setup menu. The purple tab on the right has a person on it and is for the customized camera settings. Navigation is simple with the multi-selector to the right of the LCD monitor; it’s just like any other digital camera. The following is from the red recording menu. 

Red-Eye
On, Off
AF-assist Beam
On, Off
Digital Zoom
On, Off
Review
Off, 2-10 seconds, Hold
Reverse Disp.
On, Off
Grid Lines
On, Off
Date Stamp
On, Off

Most photographers are probably wondering where the exposure controls are in this menu. Indeed, the shutter speed and aperture can be found directly on the screen without accessing any menus at all and the other options – white balance, ISO, color effects, etc – can be found by pushing the Func./Set button.  

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)

There are live views available while scrolling through many of these options. This is especially helpful for beginners who don’t know the difference between evaluative and spot metering. They don’t really need to know the difference since there is the live view; they just need to scroll through the options and find the best-looking one – although users should be aware that the view on the LCD is not calibrated to match the recorded file.
 
This split-menu system is loved by some and hated by others. Sure, options are in two different places, but it also keeps items from being impossibly buried.
 
The setup menu is as follows: 

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

There isn’t anything fancy about the setup menu. The customized My Camera menu gets a bit more exciting though.  

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

Going through that menu can be a little noisy if you don’t mute the camera. Scrolling through the options sounds like a video game; small children might be entertained by this alone.
 
The playback menu is quite simple:

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

Canon has used these menus on many PowerShot models with little tweaking. For the most part, Canon users love the system. While the split-menu system may seem a little non-intuitive, others find it helps keep frequently used options from being lost in the mix. Consumers who can remember where they put their keys every morning will do well with the split-menu system.

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.

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