GE A830

Manual Control Options
The GE A830 has a few manual controls, but its top level of control is more of a Program mode than a truly Manual mode (despite the "M" label on the mode dial). The next few sections outline those few manual controls.

Focus
Autofocus (7.0)
The GE A830 has a nine-point autofocus system that has Single and Multi modes. The Single mode focuses only on the center and the Multi uses nine points around the frame; the camera automatically chooses which point of the nine to use, although it often chooses the center point anyway.

The A830’s 3x optical zoom lens can focus from 1.96 feet to infinity when zoomed out and as close as 11.81 feet when zoomed in. The camera can focus closer when Macro mode is enabled; this is done by pushing the right side of the multi-selector. In macro, the camera can focus as close as 1.97 inches zoomed wide and 15.75 inches when zoomed in.

There is a Continuous autofocus mode, but it can only be accessed in Movie mode. This mode works well at keeping subjects focused no matter where they move within the frame. It works quietly too, which can’t be said of all cameras’ Continuous autofocus modes.

There is an autofocus assist lamp on the front of the camera; it can be turned on and off in the Photo menu. It emits a bright orange light when activated. Its placement on the camera is curious. Most cameras place this lamp around the upper portion of the lens, but the GE A830 puts the lamp to the lower left of the lens. This is troublesome when the lens is zoomed in and the camera is trying to focus in low light; the light only hits the bottom part of the frame instead of shooting to the center.

Many digital cameras are offering face detection technology this year, although GE’s models are among some of the least expensive to include the trendy feature. The face detection autofocus system recognizes faces and automatically adjusts the exposure and focus on them. GE’s face detection is activated via the designated button on the back of the camera labeled with a face in a frame.

Users must push this button before every picture they want to take with face detection activated. The button turns on the system to take a picture and then automatically shuts off after the picture is taken. So if you are taking two pictures of people in a row, you will have to push the button twice. That’s inconvenient, especially when trying to capture quick candid photos.

Another issue with the face detection is the scary smiley face graphic that appears and blinks on the LCD screen until a face is recognized. If you are scared of clowns, this feature will frighten you for sure.

According to the owner’s manual, faces should be fairly large on the LCD screen for the camera to recognize them. Indeed, they need to be large and still – which isn’t always possible. The GE A830’s face detection takes longer to recognize faces than it should. It certainly takes longer than most cameras’ systems. The A830 can only recognize one face at a time but can still track it well if it moves. Most other systems can detect eight to 10 faces at a time.

Overall, the GE A830’s autofocus system is a bit slow but still functions fine. The face recognition system isn’t as advanced as most others, but this camera is less expensive than most of those cameras.

Manual Focus (0.0)
The GE A830 does not have manual focus. Most point-and-shoot cameras are now leaving this feature out because many consumers don’t want to mess with it.

ISO (7.75)
The GE A830 has an ISO range up to 1600, which was amazing just a few years ago but is now commonplace. The options available are 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. There is an automatic ISO setting but no high ISO auto like many other digital cameras on the market.

White Balance (7.0)
White balance is found in the Function menu. It has a live view when users scroll through the options so they can immediately see the effect changes will have on the photo. The white balance options are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Fluorescent CWF, and Manual. The Manual mode is easy to set; users need only to frame something white in the middle and push the menu button. There are on-screen directions that lead users through the process.

Exposure (7.25)
Exposure compensation is accessed by pushing the top portion of the multi-selector. This reveals the +/- 2 EV range available in one-third steps. When this is adjusted, the view on the screen brightens and darkens accordingly. A histogram can be turned on and off in the Photo menu to monitor the exposure. It shows up as a clear background with a pale yellow histogram, which is hard to see in strong lighting.

Metering (7.0)
The GE A830 has three metering modes available in the Manual mode’s Function menu. Metering options include Ai AE (Artificial Intelligence Auto Exposure), Center-weighted Average, and Spot. The Ai AE mode is the default evaluative mode that meters from points around the frame. The Center-Weighted option uses the central third of the image. The Spot metering uses the central tenth of the image, which is still a fairly large spot when compared to other digital cameras.

Shutter Speed (2.0)
The GE A830 is mainly an automatic digital camera with its typical 4 to 1/2000 of a second shutter speed range. The camera does throw in some manual control over longer exposures with the slow shutter option in the "Manual" mode’s Photo menu. Using this option, shutter speeds can be manually chosen from 2 to 30 seconds. Some other automatic compact digital cameras allow this type of pseudo-manual control, but most only slow down to 15 seconds.

Aperture (0.0)
The 3x optical zoom lens on the GE A830 has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 when zoomed wide. Zoomed in, the aperture shrinks to f/4.8, which is common for compact digital cameras’ lenses. The smallest aperture available appears to be f/8.1, also typical for point-and-shoots. The aperture is set automatically by the camera; there is no manual aperture control available.