Canon A2000 IS Digital Camera Review

Canon A2000 IS

Digital Camera Review

1.9 The PowerShot A2000 IS from Canon is a compact point-and-shoot with a 10-megapixel sensor, a noteworthy 6x zoom, and a $229.99 pricetag. We were initially slightly taken aback by the odd wedge shape of the camera, but it slowly grew on us. In our extensive lab tests, it didn't fare particularly well, and we would have liked a greater degree of manual control. Read on for more details.
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PowerShot A2000

Viewfinder (0)
As with so many point-and-shoots, the Canon PowerShot A2000 IS has no optical viewfinder.

LCD Screen (5.00)
The LCD is a stock-standard 3", 230,000 pixel job which can be set to five levels of brightness. There are some slight solarization problems when the camera is tilted extremely up or down, but these aren't present on the left/right axis. Under bright light, the live view manages to keep up with motion admirably, but once you move into the dark, you'll have a lot more trouble.

The 3" LCD

Hitting the Disp. button while shooting or during image playback varies the amount of information shown on screen. In shooting mode it flips between no information overlay at all to basic settings display, while in playback mode you toggle between no information; shooting date and image number; full EXIF information and brightness histogram; and finally focus check. This last setting shows an enlarged section at the very center of the image, so you can see if the picture is perfectly in focus.


Pressing the Disp button toggles the amount of information displayed (in Playback mode on the left, and Record mode on the right)


Flash (5.00)
The A2000's flash is positioned in a location where it will very easily get covered by your fingers if you're using two hands to shoot, which is hardly ideal. It's also placed very close to the lens, which leads to a greater occurrence of red-eye. For its size, the flash seems quite bright, though a bit slow to re-cycle. While shooting, you can use the right button on the camera's back to turn the flash off, on or to auto. If you go through the menu system, however, automatically process your image for red-eye correction, decide whether or not to use the autofocus assist lamp to reduce red-eye, or use the flash on slow-syncro. This last setting uses a slightly longer exposure to increase brightness in both the foreground and background when photographing at night.


The flash can easily get blocked by fingers.


Lens
(6.50)

Compared to the otherwise humdrum hardware of the A2000, the lens really stands out, due to its impressive 6x optical zoom. Considering that this camera retails for $230, you'll be hard-pressed to find another camera at the price with such a substantial zoom ratio in a relatively petite size. The lens is 6.8-38.4mm (equivalent to 36-216mm in 35mm photography) and has an aperture range of f/3.2 to f/9 at its widest setting and  f/5.9 to  f/17 at maximum telephoto.  This is  a bit on the slow side, especially when zoomed all the way in, making it difficult to handhold telephoto shots in low light.


The lens has an impressive 6x zoom.

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