Canon PowerShot A85

Viewfinder (4.5)
The viewfinder on the Canon PowerShot A85 is a real image zoom viewfinder, located slightly off-center left, just above the LCD monitor on the back of the camera. There will be some slight discrepancy between the image in the viewfinder and the captured image when shooting in macro focus situations. The minute viewfinder is really quite laughable and because of its small size and round shape is more suitable for being fawned over as 'cute' rather than actually used.

LCD Screen (6.5)
The LCD screen for the Canon PowerShot A85 is a 1.8-inch TFT color LCD with approximately 118,000 pixels. It is located on the back of the camera body and is flush with the camera’s surface. This is an adequate monitor, both in size and resolution. Although it is not as indulgent as some newly released screens reaching 2.5" inches diagonally and containing over 200,000 pixels, it will give the user a bright, visible image that will allow them to compose and view images with ease. Unfortunately, unlike the PowerShot A95, the A85's LCD monitor is fixed to the back of the camera and can not pull out or swivel. This is perhaps the main distinction between the two models and alters both the potential use and visibility available on the two cameras.

Flash (6.5)
Without an accessory shoe on the camera, the user is restricted to the fixed internal flash, which is controlled by the upper arrow of the four-way control on the back of the camera. This allows the user to scan the flash settings while viewing the choices on the LCD. The settings offered are Auto with Red-Eye Reduction, Auto, Flash on with Red-Eye Reduction, Flash on, and Flash off. When in manual mode, the user can also enter the Function Menu and alter the strength of the flash via the flash output subsection. It is not possible to engage the flash when the camera is in the Fireworks scene mode. This internal flash can illuminate objects from 10 inches to 1.5 feet in macro mode, 1.5 feet to 14 feet in wide angle mode and 1.5 feet to 8.2 feet in telephoto mode. The flash takes about 15 seconds to recycle, so after you’ve flashed a shot, go get a drink and some lunch and hope your subject doesn’t move.

Zoom Lens (6.5)
The built-in lens is a 3x optical/3.6x digital zoom. The zoom is equivalent to 35-105mm in 35mm format. While this will offer the user some additional wide angle and telephoto opportunity from the standard 50mm (equivalent) perspective, it differs slightly from the A95 which provides a 38-118mm (equivalent) zoom. The A95 will give the user some additional zoom range but is not quite as wide as the lens on the A85. The PowerShot A85 also contains a conversion ring, which can be removed for the addition of compatible lenses. These include Wide Angle, Tele-Converter, and Close-up lenses.