Canon PowerShot A650 IS

Value
The Canon A650 IS is an excellent all-around camera for taking vacation snapshots and family pictures. How many people actually need 12 megapixels or more? Not many, but it doesn’t hurt too much either, and it lets people be a little more sloppy on their zooming and cropping. The 6x zoom range is more than offered by its competitors. It performed well in our color, white balance, and resolution tests.

If you must have a 12-megapixel camera, the Canon PowerShot A650 IS is a good choice. But if zoom is the more important feature, the 8-megapixel Fujifilm S8000fd and Panasonic FZ18 both have 18x optical zoom lenses and sell for the same price.

Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters - This is squarely the market for this camera. It is the ultimate general-purpose family snapshot and travel camera. It will appeal to people who just want to take fairly decent pictures without having to think too hard about them. It has enough spare pixels that people can be a bit sloppy about framing and cropping.

Budget Consumers - At $399, the A650 IS pushes the high end of the price range for a budget camera. It offers good value for that price, and may appeal to budget-minded consumers who put a premium on value. It will not appeal to those shopping primarily by price.

Gadget Freaks - The 12 megapixels may be enticing, but the rest of this camera’s features are offered by most cameras on the market.

Manual Control Freaks – The PASM modes and manual control options will appeal to this crowd.

Pros / Serious Hobbyists - Pros are not likely to see much in this camera to get excited about. Serious amateurs might consider one as a small, portable alternative to a DSLR for travel. Cumbersome manual controls might prove frustrating to some in this category, though.

Casio EX-Z1200 – This 12-megapixel model has a shorter 3x optical zoom lens than the Canon’s 6x lens. The Canon’s aperture range is also superior to the Casio, allowing for photography in low light without a flash. Both cameras have image stabilization; the Z1200 has CCD-shift stabilization and the A650 IS has optical image stabilization. The Casio has a slightly larger 2.8-inch LCD monitor with better resolution.

The Casio is primarily an automatic camera while the Canon’s PASM modes give the user more control. The Z1200’s ISO has a short ISO range (50-400), so it will struggle to expose in low light. The PowerShot A650 IS’s range reaches ISO 1600 at full resolution and ISO 3200 at a reduced resolution. The Canon also has a superior Movie mode. Both have face detection. The Casio retails for $349.99.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Casio-Unveils-Flagship-Z1200-with-12MP-.htm

Fujifilm FinePix F50fd - This is an aggressively priced 12-megapixel camera with some interesting specs and some interesting letdowns. It features Fuji’s second generation of face detection, which enables it to detect faces and angles and in profiles. It’s quite fast, a bit smaller and lighter than the Canon, has a good resolution, and a nice flash. The Achilles’ heel? Poor overall image quality. The F50fd struggles with noise and color and has limited dynamic range. It also has slow processing and is difficult to handle. It does, however, cost $100 less than the Canon.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Fuji-FinePix-F50fd-Digital-Camera-Review-16019.htm

Kodak Z1275 – Kodak’s 12-megapixel model has a 5x optical zoom lens, slightly shorter than the Kodak’s 6x range. The Z1275 does not have mechanical nor optical image stabilization and a limited aperture range at the telephoto end of the lens.

The Canon has a manual white balance option while the Kodak relies on presets. Both cameras have PASM modes, but the Kodak lacks face detection. The Z1275 is one of a handful of digital cameras on the market that can record high definition (HD) video, but this feature is only really useful if you have an HDTV. It requires the purchase of a $100 HDTV dock. The Kodak Z1275 retails for $229.95.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Kodak-UK-Adds-Two-Cameras-to-its-Z-Series--13285.htm

Nikon P5100 – Priced the same as the Canon, the 12-megapixel Nikon P5100 has a shorter optically stabilized 3.5x optical zoom lens, but a superior 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD monitor. Its ISO range spans 64 to 3200, similar to the Canon’s ISO 80 to 3200 range. Both cameras have PASM modes and face detection. Both have a protruding handgrip, but the Nikon is slightly smaller and lighter than the Canon.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Nikon-Unveils-P5100-and-P50-with-Expeed-Processor-15374.htm

Olympus Stylus 1200 - Another 12-megapixel camera with face detection and a large LCD, but an average 3x zoom range. The Stylus 1200 lacks mechanical or optical image stabilization, superior to digital image stabilization, which degrades image quality. The Olympus has a slightly bigger 2.7-inch LCD monitor with better 230,000-pixel resolution. The Olympus has a slim, all-weather body versus the Canon A650 IS’s bulkier build. The Olympus Stylus 1200 retails for $349.99, $50 less than the Canon.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Olympus-Updates-Stylus-Weatherproof-Cameras-15192.htm

Panasonic FX100 - A 12-megapixel image-stabilized camera with a slightly sharper LCD (207K pixels), a 3.6x zoom lens that has a wider angle of coverage (35mm equivalent of 28mm vs. the A650 IS wide limit of 35mm), a more powerful flash, and a faster 2 fps burst rate. It has some interesting high-resolution video modes, but doesn’t have as many manual exposure modes as the Canon A650 IS. The Panasonic also retails for $399.95.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Panasonic-Launches-12MP-Lumix-FX100.htm

Sony Cybershot DSC-W200 - Another slim, fast, aggressively priced 12-megapixel camera. It has a 3x zoom and optical image stabilization. The W200’s face detection can recognize up to eight faces in a scene and set the exposure, white balance, and determine if the flash needs to be fired. Most manufacturers’ face detection only sets the focus and exposure for faces.

The Sony’s 2.5-inch LCD has poor resolution at 115,000 pixels. The W200 has HD output for viewing images and slidehows on high definition televisions, again, a feature only useful if you have an HDTV. The Sony also features a range of in-camera editing options. It retails for $399.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Sony-Launches-Face-Detection-Included-on-W-Series.htm



CONCLUSION

Likes
- 6x optical zoom lens
- Manual controls
- Movie mode
- Accurate coors
- Good resolution
- Low noise under ISO 400


Dislikes
- Weak flash
- LCD
- Poor video quality in low light
- High noise levels over ISO 400



Conclusion

The Canon A650 IS tries to be all things to all people. It succeeds well at some things and falls flat at others.

As an automated point-and-shoot camera it excels, with some of the better image quality and ergonomics in the business. I would recommend it as a general-purpose family and travel camera.

With a mid-range zoom (6x), it might have aspirations as a sports camera. However, this is not quite the range you need for sports action. And the camera also lacks the speed needed for sports. Soccer moms, don’t rush out and buy it quite yet!

The camera also tries to appeal to those who might use manual control features, but it fails to impress here. Manual controls range from usable but slow-to-get-at, to barely usable (like manual focus).


SPECS TABLE

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