If you are in the market for an easy-to-use point and shoot camera, or are an entrant to digital photography game, then the Canon Powershot A480 represents simplicity at its best. With its easy to use controls at your thumb-tip and the usual array of features found on sub $200 dollar cameras, this camera delivers good quality images at a well placed price.

First Impression.

Auto Mode

At least it’s an improvement on the A470! Upon my first look at the Canon PowerShot A480 I noticed the large, stocky design of the camera. Still, this stocky design does not take from fact that the Canon PowerShot A480 is an attractive camera, instead keeps it simple and easy to use. With its stocky design and easy to use, simple design this camera is certainly aimed at a certain group of people who like to know the camera they are holding is solid and don’t need excessive design to show off their latest toy.

On the front of the camera we see nice chrome accents on a simple design. The usual Canon signage is on the front of the camera but besides that, only the flash and the lens stand out. We reviewed the blue version of the camera, the colour looks nice enough against the chrome features, yet you could still tell it was made of plastic. There are definite benefits to having plastic as opposed to metal. While metal will never lose its timeless appeal, plastic allows the camera to keep the fingerprints repelled and the scratches and bumps hidden from view, perfect for a young child’s first camera.

The rear is somewhat toy-like with silver buttons to the right of the unit and a fair 2.5” sized screen taking up the majority of the space. Canon have simplified the controls of this camera by allowing buttons to have multiple functions. The main directional pad houses the majority of controls a user with this camera would need. This allows the amateur photographer to know exactly what is going on with their shooting settings and to be able to quickly and confidently browse through the gamut of camera features and settings.

Foliage mode, no zoom, macro

Features.

The features, familiar to this line of Canon cameras, are all available – Red eye reduction, face detection, motion detection and special scene modes; but what is new to the model is the inclusion of Canon’s Digic III processor. The Digic III allows the camera to start up quicker, take the shot faster and create a superior image quality than its predecessor, and the majority of its competitors.

The lens is quality for the price. With a lens of 3.3x optical zoom (37mm – 122mm SLR equivalent) and aperture range F3.0-5.8 this camera boasts nice picture quality with sharp colour and vibrant colours, befitting the most discerning of photographers. A small amount of distortion can occur but all in all this camera takes a close to class leading shot requiring little effort to make a brilliant, vibrant image to take pride of place on the wall in the living room.

Another fun feature is the addition of My Colour, allowing a quick change between colour to black and white, sepia and vivid. Canon’s My Colour feature also allows you to create your own custom colour setting adding more artistic control to the images.

My favourite features of the A480 are the 1cm macro capability, which allows clear, focused up-close images to be produced from a compact digital camera. And if you wanted to print the image, to show off your artistic creation, the Canon PowerShot A480 possesses a 10-mega-pixel sensor allowing photos to be printed clearly up to an A3 size.

Macro mode at approx 2cm from subject

The scene selection mode is surprisingly good. To be honest, I hadn’t expected the images to reproduce as clearly in scene mode as they did in program mode, were I was able to control the basic settings. A number of pre-programmed modes are available to choose from. Portrait, night snapshot, kids and pets, indoor, sunset, fireworks, long shutter, beach, aquarium, foliage, snow and super macro complete the gamut. The A480 delivers an exceptional standard at such a good price.

Using The Camera.

I found the camera to be quite easy to use. The scene mode allowed me to focus more on the subject of the photo rather than the settings of the camera. The buttons are well placed, the menus are simple to navigate and the camera can be flown virtually with your eyes shut.

The size of the camera allows ample grip and the placement of the lens allows you to grip the camera sturdily with your right hand and not interfere with the lens mechanism.

The macro mode is easy to use and produces an exceptionally high quality image. The auto-focus did take a short while to snap into focus at 1cm from the subject, but you can hardly criticise the camera for that; the results are worth the wait.

Auto mode, ISO 100 at full 3.3x zoom

When using the camera, the only thing that let it down was the screen. The highly pixilated screen, unfortunately, did not demonstrate the definition I expected to see from the images it produces. Although photographs aren’t designed for viewing on the camera, a sharp screen is still important to give you a true indication of the image whilst shooting.

Conclusion

The A480 brings simplicity and excellence to beginners and enthusiasts alike. The stocky design is more reminiscent of Mattel rather than Canon, however, the quality of the image is remarkable for a camera at this price.

For anyone in the market for their first digital still camera or for anyone who is looking for a new point-and-shoot option to compliment their existing collection, with 10-mega-pixels, 1cm macro and an easy to use interface, the Canon PowerShot A480 is a serious contender.

Thomas Lacey is the senior sales consultant at Eastmon Dubbo store.

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