Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

The Canon PowerShot A85 rounds out a solid line of point-and-shoot digital cameras from Canon. The 4 megapixel A85 is meant to lure beginners into digital photography and help them transition to an intermediate level of shooting. The 13 shooting modes have enough automatic functions to make this camera easy for anyone to use, but enough semi-automatic and manual features to allow a learning photographer to improve their skills. With a 3x optical and 3.6x digital zoom on the 35-105mm lens, the Canon PowerShot A85 can zoom in to capture images with its 1/2.7-inch CCD and produce good prints up to an 8 x 10-inch size. The A85 has a 1.8-inch LCD screen for viewing photos and menus and a Print/Share button to make using the camera even easier. This camera was announced in August 2004 at a suggested retail price of $299.
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Connectivity
Software (6.0)
The Canon PowerShot A85 comes with Canon’s Digital Camera Solution and ArcSoft’s Camera Suite software for editing on a personal computer.

Jacks, ports, plugs (6.0)
The Canon PowerShot A85 comes with a USB port and an A/V out port located on the left side of the camera body, and a DC in port located in the lower left-hand corner on the back of the camera body. The right side houses the memory card, and the bottom right side of the camera houses the camera's batteries.

Direct Print Options (7.0)
The Canon PowerShot A85 has a Print/Share button that allows the user to print with the touch of a single button. This is quite a convenient feature and simplifies the printing process immensely. The A85 is also capable of printing directly to PictBridge compliant printers, Bubble Jet Printers, and CP printers.

 

Memory (6.5)
Included with the Canon PowerShot A85 is a 32MB CompactFlash Type I memory card, but larger memory options are available and recommended for this camera.

 

 

Other features (4.0)
The My Camera menu provides the user with some interesting features. Users can customize the startup image: a black screen, a Canon logo, a Canon logo in the sunset, a nature scene… you can even apply your own images. Once you have an image, add a personalized startup sound. Options include a musical tone or chirping birds; with Canon software, you can add your own startup sound, too. Operation sounds like beeps, chirps, and springy “boings” can be selected. The self-timer can beep, ring like a phone, or howl like a wolf. The shutter sound can be set to beep, boing, bark, or sound like an analog shutter release.

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