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  • Testing / Performance

  • Physical Tour

  • Components

  • Design / Layout

  • Modes

  • Control Options

  • Image Parameters

  • Connectivity / Extras

  • Overall Impressions

  • Conclusion

  • Specs / Ratings

  • Photo Gallery

  • Testing / Performance
  • Physical Tour
  • Components
  • Design / Layout
  • Modes
  • Control Options
  • Image Parameters
  • Connectivity / Extras
  • Overall Impressions
  • Conclusion
  • Specs / Ratings
  • Photo Gallery

Testing / Performance

Imatest also produced a more quantitative chart below. The variance in each color tile is shown by two shapes and connected by a line that shows the degree of error. The square represents the ideal color from the original GretagMacbeth chart. The circle shows the color produced by the Canon PowerShot A620.

Unfortunately, the Canon PowerShot A620 didn’t perform nearly as well as its predecessor, the highly popular Canon A520. The old A520 produced a 9.65 overall color score, while the A620 squeaked by with a 7.91 score. The charts from the two cameras look rather similar though. Both models exaggerate the red colors (#9 and #15) way too much, the green #4 quite a bit, and the blues just a touch too much (#8 and #13). The Canon A620 just exaggerated each color a little more so. This PowerShot digital camera has a 6.16 mean color error and over-saturated by 10.4 percent. In the end, these results won’t produce an orange dogwood tree but will embellish its foliage and make the grass a little greener in the picture than what is actually there.

**Still Life Scene **

Below is a shot of our still life scene captured with the Canon PowerShot A620.


*Click on the image above to view the full resolution version.*

Resolution / Sharpness* (3.89)
*One of the A620’s major improvements over its predecessor is its resolution. The Canon A520 had only 4 megapixels, while the A620 carries 7.1 effective megapixels. The newer model also has a larger image sensor at 1/1.8 inches. To test how effective the A620’s sensor is, we snapped several shots of the Industry Standards Organization 12233 resolution chart. We uploaded the shots into Imatest imaging software, which performed a bit of math for us and determined the resolution of the uploaded files.

The results are output as line widths per picture height (lw/ph), which is a theoretical measurement of how many alternating black and white lines one could cram into the A620’s frame before the camera started blurring them together. lw/ph is a similar measurement to the more traditional lp/ph, but takes the size of the recording media (sensor) into account.

[

Click on the image above to view the full resolution shot. ](https://reviewed.usatoday.com/cameras/viewer.php?picture=CanonA620-ResCH-LG.jpg)

The sharpest image is shown above; it was captured with a 21.7 mm focal length and an aperture of f/4, using an ISO 50 setting. Horizontally, the Canon PowerShot A620 read 1708 lw/ph and over-sharpened by 20.7 percent. The shorter vertical plane performed even better with 1787 lw/ph resolved and only 2.34 percent over-sharpening. These figures are right on par with other compact models. In fact the Canon PowerShot S80, which advertises 8 megapixels, resolved 1633 lw/ph horizontally and 1809 lw/ph vertically. For its decent performance, the Canon PowerShot A620 received a 3.89 overall resolution score.

Noise - Auto ISO* (5.58)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has an automatic ISO setting that we tested for metering accuracy and resulting noise. In optimal lighting conditions, the camera selected an appropriate ISO setting and produced relatively low noise. In fact, it produced about as much noise as it would have if the ISO was manually set to ISO 60 – which is not much at all. This result earns the Canon A620 a respectable 5.58 overall automatic ISO noise score. While this is great compared to other compact digital cameras, it is still below the 6.76 mark earned by the Canon A520.

Noise - Manual ISO* (4.03)
*For those more adventurous photographers interested in the A620 for its manually functionality, we tested the camera at each of its available ISO settings: 50, 100, 200, and 400. This range was once the standard for compact digital cameras, but is now becoming outdated as new models add high sensitivity to their offerings.

We tested the noise levels at each manual ISO setting and plugged the results into a regression analysis for the overall score. The chart below shows the individual results, with the ISO settings on the horizontal axis and the noise levels plotted on the vertical axis.

The rise in noise climbs steadily; this is good news. While noise always accompanies higher sensitivities - due to the increased amplification of the signal - some compact models jump to exorbitant amounts of noise in the ISO 400 setting. This isn’t the case with the Canon PowerShot A620. Noise is kept under control and handled even better than the A520. The old model had a similar rise in noise, but has more noise at each ISO setting. The larger image sensor on the Canon A620 likely contributed to the improved 4.03 overall manual ISO noise score.

Low Light Performance* (6.5)
*Since many photo opportunities often arise when the sun goes to sleep, we tested the A620 in low light. We tested it at four different light levels of 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux to determine how well the camera would perform in these common situations. Imagine a small living room with the shades drawn just after dark and two table lamps lighting the room softly; this is approximately 60 lux. Now imagine a single 40-watt bulb for the 30 lux equivalent. The 15 and 5 lux tests are roughly equivalent to the light in the dresser drawer, which we realize is uncommonly dark. However, we test at these extremely dim conditions to assess the efficiency of the image sensor and processor and indicate how the camera might perform in a dark club without the use of a flash.

The Canon PowerShot A620 has shutter speeds that go as slow as 15 seconds. For these tests, the A620 was placed on a tripod, set to ISO 400, and the flash was turned off.

Comparisons between the A520’s low light shots and the A620’s pictures will tell all. The older A520 produced a black frame at 5 lux and didn’t perform much better in the other dimly lit tests. The Canon PowerShot A620 shows vast improvements with fully illuminated pictures and only slight discoloration. It also improves on the handling of noise at these low light levels. Below is a chart showing the shutter speed the camera chose on the horizontal axis and the corresponding noise level on the vertical axis.

The Canon PowerShot A620 kept its noise at the darkest light level and 5-second exposure lower than even the Canon S80’s brightest 1-second exposure. Overall, the Canon PowerShot A620 produced excellent images in low light and handled noise better than most digital cameras. For its valiant effort, the A620 received an overall 6.5 low light score.

Dynamic Range* (5.5)
*Dynamic range measures the span from the brightest to the darkest subject that a camera can record with detail in a single exposure. When the subject exceeds the dynamic range of the camera, the brightest parts of the subject are pure white, with no detail, or the darkest parts are pure black, or both the brightest and darkest areas are pure white or black.

We measure dynamic range with a standardized test. We photograph a step chart of rectangles graduated from very bright to very dark, and run the images through Imatest software, which analyzes the image to see how many steps the camera records at various quality levels. The test is designed to show the maximum dynamic range the camera can record. It's unlikely that any camera will perform as well shooting images of normal scenes. The results are useful for comparing cameras.

The A620 shows a typical result: at its lowest ISO setting, 50, the A620 picks up 10.6 stops of dynamic range at Imatest's Low Quality, and 6.6 stops at High Quality – good scores that indicate the camera can handle dynamic range well at that setting. The chart shows a significant decline at higher ISOs however. At 400, the A620's range drops to 8.05 stops in Low Quality and 3.24 in High Quality. These scores are lower than some competing cameras, and comparable to the scores other cameras get at ISO 1600. This result is particularly limiting, because 400 is an ISO setting that the user will need frequently in shade, shooting action in overcast conditions, and indoors – it's not like 1600, which most photographers regard as a special-purpose setting which entails penalty in quality.

*Canon A620 - ISO50
*

Canon A620 - ISO400*

**Speed / Timing **
*Start-up (8.01)
*The Canon PowerShot A620's lens telescopes out of the camera body each time the camera powers up, and it takes a little while. We got a shot off 2 seconds after hitting the power switch. Two seconds is a long time in candid shooting, so users should turn on the A620 before the action begins.

*Shot to Shot (9.01)
*The A620's burst mode shot 4 frames in just barely under 2 seconds, for a 2 frames-per-second burst rate. It took the A620 4 seconds to get ready to take another shot, and another three seconds to take a subsequent frame. This performance is not fast enough to shoot sports action sequences, though it might do just fine for children blowing out birthday candles. 2 frames per second is slow, but many users will be more frustrated by the fact that it only takes 4 shots at a time. Our testing was done on a 64MB Sandisk card, with NiMH AA batteries.

*Shutter to Shot (8.2)
*The A620 takes a large fraction of a second to focus. Our shutter-to-shot times that included focusing ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 seconds, depending on lighting and how easily the camera could focus on the subject. When the A620 was pre-focused, it got off shots in a quick 0.05 seconds.

Physical Tour

Front* (7.5)
*The front of the Canon PowerShot A620 has a substantial handgrip on the left with the PowerShot A620 logo on it. The grip has a steep slope that makes handling quite comfortable. The 4x zoom lens sits slightly right of center. It has a polished silver rim that comes off when the user pushes the bottom right button while twisting the rim. Taking the rim off reveals a lens thread for attaching conversion lenses. The lens is labeled, "Canon Zoom Lens 4x" on the top and "7.3-29.2mm 1:2.8-4.1" on the bottom. It extends from the body in three segments.

There are two small dots to the top left of the lens; these serve as the built-in microphone. Above the microphone is the shimmering Canon logo. Just above the second ‘n’ is an LED that serves double duty as the auto focus illuminator and the self-timer indicator. Directly to its right is the small square optical viewfinder. In the top right corner of the A620 is the built-in flash, with "7.1 Megapixels" flaunted just below. The front of the camera as a whole isn’t innovative or entirely gorgeous but the dark sheen of the finish is somewhat attractive.

Back* (8.0)
*The left side of the A620’s back has a niche with the 2-inch framed LCD monitor recessed into it. The folded LCD’s hinge sits to its left. The LCD folds straight outward and can fully rotate so that just about any angle is possible. The Canon logo sits on the opposite side of the LCD screen. The monitor can be twisted and recessed into the camera body with either the logo or the LCD screen facing out.

Just above the right half of the LCD is the optical viewfinder, which protrudes slightly on a slim platform. The viewfinder window is circular and small. To its right are two LEDs that indicate when the camera is accessing the memory card and when the flash is busy. To the right of the viewfinder, the side of the mode dial is visible. It looks like a studded belt and offers a functional grip. Below the dial on the right side of the back are a host of control buttons. The mode switch, which can be set to either record or playback, is located below the mode dial. To its right is a set of bumps where the thumb grips the camera. Below the mode switch and the thumb grip is the multi-selector and four buttons that form a square around the selector. The top left button accesses exposure compensation and delete functions as indicated by the large icons above it. The top right button has a print icon above it and an LED in its center. The bottom right button is labeled "Menu" in large print, so there is no discussion about what that button does. The bottom left button is labeled "Display." The multi-selector sits in the middle of these four circular buttons. The selector consists of a central Func./Set button and a navigational ring around it. The solid ring has four dots – one in each direction – to show where users should push to scroll through menus. The back of the camera is generally organized and the acrobatic LCD monitor adds visual interest to an otherwise bland look.

Left Side* (7.5)
*The hinge to the LCD monitor can be seen from this angle, but there aren’t any other features on the left side.

**Right Side ***(7.5)
*The right side is much thicker than the rest of the Canon A620’s body. The right-hand grip has a pleasingly smooth – but not slippery – feel to it. There is a vertical divot in the side of the grip, but it is more for interest than function. The back side of the grip has a rubber cover at the top to protect three ports: USB, A/V out, and DC in. Below this cover is a plastic door with bumpy grips that opens to the memory card slot. At the top of the right side is a wide eyelet for attachment of the wrist strap.

Top* (7.5)
*The left side of the top is highlighted by the shiny PowerShot A620 logo. Below it is the tiny AiAF insignia. The platform that houses the optical viewfinder is visible in the center, as it protrudes out the back. The right side is packed with controls. Above the right side of the viewfinder platform is a shiny labeled On/Off button. To its right is the mode dial, which has an LED to its left to indicate which mode is selected. The mode dial has letters on its designated "Creative Zone": C for Custom, M for Manual, Av for Aperture Priority, Tv for Shutter Speed Priority, and P for Programmed AE. There is a green Auto position on the dial, then a host of icons: Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, "SCN", My Colors, Stitch Assist and Movie. The dial protrudes out the back of the camera just enough so that the thumb can grab it and turn it easily. Above the mode dial at the tip of the right-hand grip is the shutter release button, surrounded by the zoom toggle. The toggle has a little nub at the front for the index finger to push around. Below this feature is the built-in speaker, which is strangely about five times the size of the microphone.

Bottom*(7.0)
*The fat right-hand grip not only provides comfortable handling, but enough room to store four AA batteries inside. The door on the bottom opens by pushing the switch to the left while also pushing toward the front. To the right of the battery compartment is the tripod socket, which is slightly left of center. To its right are a slew of numbers and legalities.

Components

Viewfinder*(3.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has an optical viewfinder that zooms in and out, but is not accurate at all. The viewfinder clips the sides and bottom from the recorded image in the wide view and is even more inaccurate in the telephoto view. Users see more at the top of the frame than is actually recorded and almost a third of the bottom of the frame is completely cut off. In telephoto, the image is extremely blurry around the edges as well.

The viewfinder itself is located on a raised platform on the back of the camera and has two LEDs to its right. These indicate when the flash is ready and when the camera is accessing the memory card. Basically, the tiny optical viewfinder is there for decoration; it really is not functional. The finished product won’t look anything like the view in the window. It’s unclear why Canon calls it a "real-image optical zoom viewfinder."

**

LCD Screen*** (6.5)
*The LCD monitor is one of the more interesting features on the A620. Its folding and rotating movements are similar to those of a camcorder monitor. This type of LCD can be found on several other Canon A-series models; the Canon PowerShot A95 and A520 both have 1.8-inch LCD monitors that fold outward and rotate. The Canon A620’s LCD screen can turn to just about any angle, but is slightly larger at 2 inches. And it’s a good thing that the monitor can be turned to almost any angle because it solarizes very easily. If the user is not viewing it head-on, the screen looks white or sometimes like a film negative. Finding the right angle for an overhead shot can be a bit annoying, but the swiveling option is there, unlike many other digital camera models. The low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD has just 115,000 pixels, which really isn’t enough to check for focus or subtle details. Still, it is a much better viewfinder than the optical version because the LCD offers 100 percent coverage of the captured frame.

Flash*(6.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has a built-in flash located in the top right corner of the front. This location isn’t very smart; it’s just where the left fingers fall on the camera and it isn’t in the ideal position above the lens. The off-axis flash placement will result in shadows cast to the side of subjects, rather than behind them. Wandering fingers can also be problematic, but the flash is otherwise pretty decent. The top of the multi-selector cycles through the three flash options: auto, on and off. Red-eye reduction and slow synchro options can be activated in the recording menu and users can choose between 1st curtain and 2nd curtain Flash Sync options.

When the Func./Set button is pushed, users can access the flash compensation with settings from +/- 2 in 1/3 increments. Users who access the macro mode often will need this setting, as anything closer than 9 inches will surely blow out normally. The flash is effective from 9.8-18 inches in the macro mode and from 18 inches to 14 ft in the normal wide mode. In normal telephoto, the flash reach shortens to 10 ft. The flash takes about 10 seconds to recycle, which is a millennium when shooting portraits of a two-year-old. There is a slight amount of vignetting, but it’s not nearly as bad as some other compact models. The A620 is compatible with accessory flashes that hook up to the power adaptor jack beneath the rubber door on the right side. I’d say the Canon A620 has a lot of flash options for a compact camera, and their quality is decent too.

Zoom Lens*(7.0)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has a 4x zoom lens, offering just a bit more focal range than the average 3x lenses on many entry level models. The lens measures 7.3-29.2 mm, which is equivalent to a 35-140mm lens in traditional 35mm format. The aperture opens to a wide f/2.8 at the 35mm focal length and shrinks to a smaller f/4.1 max setting in telephoto.

The Canon lens extends in three segments and has a shiny outer ring that screws off to reveal a lens thread. This is for attaching optional wide and telephoto conversion lenses. The glass itself is protected by plastic pieces that snap together like a puzzle when the camera is shut off. While the plastic is sturdier than many cameras with the same style, it probably won’t survive a dive into asphalt – the plastic isn’t that thick.

To control the lens, users toggle a small switch that surrounds the shutter release button. The toggle doesn’t rotate very much, so zooming in and out requires a little extra work from the index finger. When users tap lightly on the toggle, there are about six focal lengths that the lens can stop at. This isn’t very sensitive at all, which is disappointing for a camera with a wider 4x zoom range. When adjusting, the zoom lens is audible. It’s not loud, but in a quiet setting, it will turn heads.

Design / Layout

Model Design / Appearance* (6.75)
*This digital camera definitely didn’t make it into the Digital ELPH series. The Canon A620 has a thick frame with a chunky right-hand grip and slightly protruding lens. It is not skinny in any way and certainly doesn’t win points for style. Its housing has a slick feel and the LCD monitor adds an interesting element, but the A620 is an overall bread-and-butter digital camera. The A620 doesn’t win points for style, but the design is functional and utilitarian.

Size / Portability*(6.25)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 isn’t anywhere near the size of a single lens reflex camera, but it’s definitely larger than most compact models. It measures 4.13 x 2.6 x 1.93 inches, so it’s boxy and way too thick to slide into a pocket. The A620 fits much better into purses and backpacks that have ample space. The dimensions are substantial, but its weight is even more so. It weighs 8.29 ounces – and that’s not including the card or batteries. Put the SD card and four AA batteries in and the A620 doubles as a solid paperweight. This Canon PowerShot has a wrist strap on the right side for streamlined portability, but carrying the A620 on a wrist could be quite uncomfortable for some. The weight of this camera merits a neck strap, but there is no way to attach one.

Handling Ability*(7.0)
*The A620 was built with easy handling in mind, for the most part. The mode dial is easy to rotate, there is a comfortable right-hand grip, the control buttons are all within reach of the right thumb, and there is even a textured grip for the right thumb when it’s not accessing controls. But the LCD monitor is surprisingly one element of the camera that was made without handling in mind. The LCD must be rotated and twisted to be effectively viewed because of its shallow angle of view, so while it’s nice if the user is taking self-portraits, it requires constant twisting of the wrist and fingers.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size*(7.0)
*Consumers familiar with the Canon setup won’t need a tutorial to figure the A620 out. Its control buttons are very typical of this manufacturer. The mode dial sits on top with its letters and icons to label certain positions. Most are intuitive, although beginners may be confused by the My Colors and Panorama Stitch icons; they’re not very intuitive. The icons and text on the camera body are quite large and easy to read and distinguish. Overall, the buttons are easy to find and easy to use. The only undesirable control is the zoom toggle, which surrounds the shutter release button near the front and seems to be on a short leash. It’s not hard to turn, but it’s hard to zoom in and out quickly.

Menu ***(7.0)***The Canon A620 has the same menu system that is available on most PowerShot cameras. It has three folder tabs across the top that are color coded and labeled with an icon. The red tab on the left has an icon of a camera and contains the shooting settings. The yellow middle tab has a tool on it and signifies the setup menu. The purple tab on the right has a person on it and is for the customized camera settings. Navigation is simple with the multi-selector to the right of the LCD monitor; it’s just like any other digital camera. The following is from the red recording menu. 

Most photographers are probably wondering where the exposure controls are in this menu. Indeed, the shutter speed and aperture can be found directly on the screen without accessing any menus at all and the other options – white balance, ISO, color effects, etc – can be found by pushing the Func./Set button.  

There are live views available while scrolling through many of these options. This is especially helpful for beginners who don’t know the difference between evaluative and spot metering. They don’t really need to know the difference since there is the live view; they just need to scroll through the options and find the best-looking one – although users should be aware that the view on the LCD is not calibrated to match the recorded file. This split-menu system is loved by some and hated by others. Sure, options are in two different places, but it also keeps items from being impossibly buried.  The setup menu is as follows: 

There isn’t anything fancy about the setup menu. The customized My Camera menu gets a bit more exciting though.  

Going through that menu can be a little noisy if you don’t mute the camera. Scrolling through the options sounds like a video game; small children might be entertained by this alone. The playback menu is quite simple:

Canon has used these menus on many PowerShot models with little tweaking. For the most part, Canon users love the system. While the split-menu system may seem a little non-intuitive, others find it helps keep frequently used options from being lost in the mix. Consumers who can remember where they put their keys every morning will do well with the split-menu system.

Ease of Use* (7.0)
*The PowerShot A620 is one of Canon’s better labeled digital cameras. It has large icons and text that aren’t lost on the body. The modes are easily found on the large mode dial; all are included directly on the dial except for a few scene modes grouped under the SCN position. Navigating the menus can be a little confusing because of the split-menu setup, but once that is figured out its pretty easy to navigate.

Handling is a bit complicated with the rotating LCD. The monitor has its pros and cons. While it is nice that users can see at just about any angle, they also have to flip the screen to that angle because the screen itself has a very limited angle of view. So consumers are left just where they started – twisting a digital camera around to view the screen. Still, the A620 is generally easy to use.

Modes

Auto Mode* (7.5)
*The automatic mode can be easily found on the mode dial, as it is the only green icon amongst the ring of otherwise black icons. The auto mode turns the Canon A620 into a point-and-shoot model with hardly any options – exactly what an auto mode should do. The few options available in the recording menu include drive mode, image size and compression. The auto mode is great for optimal sunny lighting, but doesn’t react well to backlit or low lit scenes.

Movie Mode* (7.25)
*The Canon PowerShot A620’s movie mode records 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels at selectable frame rates of 30 and 15 frames per second. Regular recording can be done at these resolutions or the My Colors mode can be activated as well. The A620 also has a compact setting that records 160 x 120 pixels at 15 frames per second for a maximum of 3 minutes.

The A620 also has Canon’s unique Fast Frame Rate movie mode. This records at a reduced resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, but does so at a quick 60 frame-per-second rate. This mode looks great on the LCD screen, but looks a bit grainy on a television. Still, the difference can be seen in quick action clips. Movements appear slightly blurred at 30 fps, but look solid and smooth as ever at 60 fps.

The Canon A620 records monaural audio with the movies and is of a pretty decent quality. There is no optical zoom available while recording movies, which is unfortunate. Even more unfortunate are the metering and auto focus systems in the movie mode. The auto focus is unreliable in high-contrast situations. For example, recording a movie of Baby Bruce crawling near a bright window garnered blurry footage. The camera remained out of focus the entire time and didn’t attempt to refocus. The A620 uses the default evaluative metering mode for movies, so backlit subjects aren’t going to look like anything more than shadows. For simple movies in neutral light, the A620 is a good option. It records up to the capacity of the memory card or to 1 GB, whichever comes first.

Drive / Burst Mode* (6.0)
*This digital camera’s burst mode is a bit slower than average at 1.9 fps. This is slower than the little sibling of this camera, the PowerShot A610. That camera has a faster 2.4 fps burst mode. The Canon PowerShot A620’s burst mode can be activated in the Func./Set menu. In this same menu, the self-timer can be activated three different ways. There is a two-second self-timer, a ten-second option, and a custom timer option that delays for 0-30 seconds, then takes a burst of 1-10 shots. The pictures are taken one after another, so the family portrait can be taken up to ten times and photographers can hope for at least one shot with everyone’s eyes open. This feature alone is invaluable to large families where keeping young kids still for ten seconds is a major ordeal.

Playback Mode* (7.0)
*Reviewing pictures and videos on the Canon PowerShot A620 is simple, but there isn’t much excitement to the playback mode. More recent cameras are coming out with places to store favorite photos and modes to sync the pictures with music and such. The A620 doesn’t join this trend; it goes for function. Its features are basic; users can review photos individually or in index

frames of 9 pictures. The top portion of the multi-selector also acts as a ‘jump’ button that makes navigating through large numbers of pictures easy. Users can jump to the tenth or hundredth picture, or jump to a certain date or to movie files only. Single images can be viewed with the file info and histogram or be magnified up to 10x. They can also be rotated or played in slide shows.

The A620’s slide show mode is called Auto Play and is located five deep in the playback menu. This is quite buried for users who frequently put on shows for the grandparents. In playback, users can attach up to 60 seconds of audio recording to an image file. This is great for those bird watchers who appreciate the chirping customized settings; they can take a picture of a bird and record a note about where it was seen and what behavior it displayed.

Movies can be played back in VCR-style. Fast forward and rewind can be executed at regular or slow speeds. Users can even scroll through movies frame by frame to catch instant replays of the family basketball game. If users don’t like a particular portion of a movie, they can edit it by cutting off the beginning or end and saving it as a separate file. The undesirable, longer file can then be deleted. Overall, the playback mode is fairly basic but does have a few highlights with the movie editing and jump function. It is easily located with the playback switch to the right of the LCD.

Custom Image Presets* (7.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has 11 scene modes, three of which are located directly on the mode dial. Night Scene, Landscape and Portrait have their own positions. Besides being easier to find, they differ from the other scene modes in that the white balance, picture effects and flash output options are all available. The other modes only allow access to the same drive mode, image size and compression options that are available in the auto mode.

The other scene modes can be found under the SCN position on the mode dial. The following scenes are available when users scroll right and left with the multi-selector: Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor and Foliage. There is a live view when users scroll through these, so the effects of the different settings can be more easily seen. This is great for beginners who may not know whether they should choose Kids & Pets or Indoor, but will see the difference when toggling between the two.

Control Options

**Manual Control Options **

This digital camera does offer manual control – and it can be found in several places. The shutter speed and aperture appear right on the viewing screen with arrows pointing right and left for changes. Users can scroll to the selected setting, then push the exposure compensation button to switch to the other exposure control. There are manual, aperture priority and shutter speed priority modes. In all of these, users can manually adjust the ISO, white balance, metering, flash output and AF frame, and can even manually focus. There are many manual options, but they are located throughout the split-menu system.

**Focus
***Auto Focus (7.75)
*The A620 still isn’t anywhere near as speedy as a DSLR, but is faster than its pedestrian PowerShot siblings. This camera uses a through-the-lens auto focus system that can work continuously or only with the push of the shutter release button. The continuous auto focus makes a tiny bit of noise, but isn’t audible enough to be a serious distraction. The A620 can focus from 0.4-18" in the wide macro mode and 10-18" in telephoto macro mode. Normally, it can focus as close as 18 inches (45 cm) and as far as the lens can see.

There are three auto focus framing options. The Center framing option frames just where it says it does. The FlexiZone option lets users manually select an AF point from nine positions; this syncs with the spot metering mode for accurate measurement of off-center subjects. The third AF option is the AiAF mode, which is Canon’s "smart" auto focus system that automatically finds the subject. The camera displays brackets where it is focusing; these turn green when the lens is focused and ready to shoot. In low light, there is an AF beam to assist the focus. This works well and works faster than the AF assist beam from most cameras.

Overall, the auto focus system did well. It had a problem while shooting a movie clip though. While recording a baby crawling in the sun near a window, the camera wouldn’t focus before or during recording. This only happened once, but is of note and is assumed to be because of the high level of contrast in the frame.

*Manual Focus (3.5)
*The Canon A620 can manually focus on subjects with just a few taps of the right and left sides of the multi-selector. Users need only to select the manual focus option by pushing the bottom of the selector. A bar appears on the top of the LCD to show where users are on the focus range. When the lens is at its widest, users can focus as close as 0.4 inches. The A620 can focus as close as 9.8 inches in telephoto.

When the MF-Point Zoom option is selected in the recording menu, users can get a magnified view of the center of the frame. This is only useful if the subject is in the center of the frame, of course. Unfortunately, the LCD’s screen resolution isn’t good enough to really support the manual focus. It is hard to tell how crisp the lines are when they’re in a stair-step pattern from the screen resolution.

Metering* (8.0)
*Found in the Func./Set menu, the metering mode can be switched from the default Evaluative setting to Center-Weighted Average or Spot. The evaluative setting measures light throughout the frame and averages it, so it doesn’t work well for backlit subjects. In those situations, the center-weighted or spot metering setting is better. Brackets in the viewing screen show the center-weighted and spot metering areas, but the spot area isn’t much smaller than the center-weighted option. Still, the spot metering mode has its advantages. It can link up to the FlexiZone auto focus mode and meter wherever users manually direct the AF zone. This is perfect for backlit subjects who are also off-center. There are live views offered when users scroll through the metering options.

Exposure*(7.5)
***

**The Canon PowerShot A620 has plenty of exposure modes: Auto, Program, Shutter Speed Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual, Custom, several scene presets (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene; Special Scenes such as night snapshot, kids & pets, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks and underwater); My Colors, Stitch Assist and Movie. The traditional shutter speed and aperture exposure controls can be manually adjusted on this camera – in the proper modes of course. In the more automatically oriented modes, there is a standard +/- 2 exposure compensation setting available in 1/3 steps. It can be selected with the designated exposure compensation button and the multi-selector. As with many other options on this PowerShot, the exposure compensation also offers a live view.

White Balance* (7.5)
*The white balance options are in the Func./Set menu as well. TTL Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Underwater and Custom settings are available with live views. The automatic setting seemed to work well most of the time. The custom setting is nice for mixed lighting situations, which are more common than people think. The custom setting provides onscreen directions that tell users which buttons to push and such. It’s easy to manually set the white balance; users need only to frame something white in the provided box. The only option missing from the white balance menu is a flash preset option. After taking lots of portraits with the flash and seeing plenty of pasty faces, a white balance flash mode would have been nice to help keep some skin tone in the picture.

ISO*(6.0)
*The top item in the Func./Set menu is the ISO, which provides live views of the following settings: auto, 50, 100, 200 and 400. This is a standard range and is even becoming below average. Many of this year’s models are including high sensitivity settings of 800 or 1000; this is a 2005 model though.

**Shutter Speed ***(7.0)
*No need to dig through menus to adjust the shutter speed. It can be manually adjusted with external buttons. When in the manual or shutter speed priority (Tv) modes, the shutter speeds can be adjusted by pressing right or left on the multi-selector. The Canon PowerShot A620 uses a mechanical and electronic shutter that flips as fast as 1/2500th of a second. At its slowest, it can stay open for 15 seconds. Any shutter speed slower than 1.3 seconds automatically uses the camera’s noise reduction system. The 15-1/2500 shutter speed range shortens by a few steps when the aperture is set at its widest f/2.8 setting. In that case, the shutter speed only goes as fast as 1/1250th of a second. Still, the range is decent and should suffice for most if not all A620 users.

Aperture*(7.0)
*The aperture option can be found next to the shutter speed in the manual or shutter speed priority modes. In manual, pushing the exposure compensation button toggles between the shutter speed and aperture settings; users push the same right and left portions of the multi-selector to adjust the aperture. Several aperture options are available with a maximum of f/2.8 in wide and f/4.1 in telephoto. Throughout the zoom range, an f/8 minimum aperture is available. Live views are once again on hand for shutter speed and aperture adjustments.

Image Parameters

Picture Quality / Size Options*(7.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has plenty of size options, as it offers 7.2 effective megapixels. The image size options are as follows: Large (3072 x 2304), Medium 1 (2592 x 1944), Medium 2 (2048 x 1536), Medium 3 (1600 x 1200), and Small (640 x 480). There is also a Postcard Date Imprint Mode that saves the date and time each photo was taken to the file information. This is only available in the 1600 x 1200 pixel size, though. All of the image sizes can be compressed in SuperFine, Fine and Normal JPEG options. Full resolution is recommended for making large prints, however.

**Picture Effects Mode ***(8.5)
*This is an area where the Canon PowerShot A620 excels. It has plenty of picture effects to keep creative photographers happy. Firstly, it has a palette of effects that are common in most digital cameras: Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia and Black & White. These effects all look pretty good. The sepia has the right color to it; it isn’t too orange or too brown. The Black & White has the right amount of contrast so everything doesn’t look drab and gray.

Secondly, the A620 offers the My Colors mode. This can be selected directly on the mode dial, although its icon isn’t incredibly intuitive. It is supposed to look like a paint tube but looks like a pile of black and white boxes instead. The My Colors mode offers the following choices: Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Color Accent, Color Swap and Custom Colors. This unique set of choices allows users to tweak photos while recording instead of shooting photos and spending hours in unfamiliar editing software to add effects. The Color Accent mode is interesting; it makes most of the scene black and white and highlights a single selected color. The Color Swap mode lets users select two colors within the frame and trade them; this essentially lets users turn red shirts into blue shirts. This is quite simple with the camera’s onscreen instructions. The custom color mode also lets users tweak red, green, and blue colors as well as skin tones.

Connectivity / Extras

**Connectivity
***Software (6.75)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 comes with ZoomBrowser EX and PhotoRecord software on a CD-ROM. With ZoomBrowser, users can view pictures in three modes: zoom mode, scroll mode and preview mode. The zoom mode shows lots of thumbnails of pictures that enlarge when scrolled over. The scroll mode is similar to the zoom mode except that the scroll mode’s thumbnails are larger, so less fit on the screen. The preview mode shows the thumbnails across the bottom of the screen and the selected image above. The image’s file info, comments and histogram are displayed to its right. By clicking on pictures, another window opens that allows users to zoom in and out of a picture and do some basic image editing. Users can rotate, trim and eliminate red-eye from images. They can also adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness. If this is too complicated, there is an Auto Adjust function that works very well. Movies can be played, but not edited. Additionally, the included Canon PhotoRecord software lets users add pictures and captions to photo album pages. This "digital scrapbooking" software allows users to print their pictures straight into photo albums.

*Jacks, Ports, Plugs (5.0)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 has three ports that hide beneath a flimsy door on the right side. The USB 2.0 jack gets its own port, rather than sharing a port with the A/V cable as is the case on so many recent models. The A/V-out function is NTSC and PAL selectable. There is also a DC in jack for the optional power adaptor and flash accessories.

*

Direct Print Options (7.0)
*The A620 has a designated Print button that can be pressed when the camera is connected to a PictBridge compatible printer to transfer the images and DPOF print order. From the camera, users can choose which pictures to print, how many copies of each image to print and whether or not date stamps and file numbers are printed on the pictures. Users can print index prints, but can’t do anything incredibly fancy like select the paper type or size.

*Battery (6.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 takes AA batteries like its A-series siblings. Four AA alkaline batteries are included, but the camera also accepts AA rechargeable NiMH batteries. The alkaline set can get 350 shots with the LCD on and 1,200 pictures with it off. The rechargeable set gets 500 shots with the LCD on and 1,500 with it off. This is very impressive for AA batteries.

*Memory (3.5)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 comes with a 16MB SD card, but can accept other SD or MMC cards. 16 MB isn’t much memory to work with, so users should plan on getting a card up to 2 GB.

**Other Features ***(5.0)*
*My Camera – *This tab in the menu system lets users customize the A620 to their personal tastes. Users can select a startup image and then choose from various sounds to customize the startup, operation, self-timer and shutter noises. The choices range from the traditional beeps to wolves howling, birds chirping and springs bouncing.

Overall Impressions

Value* (7.0)
*The Canon PowerShot A620 retailed for $399 when it was introduced in August 2005, but the price has since deflated to about $299. The introductory price was steep, but its current online going rate is a decent deal. The Canon A620 offers 7.1 megapixels, which is enough for large prints. This digital camera also uses AA batteries and gets good life even from the alkaline versions found in most convenience stores. The Canon A620 additionally has manual functionality and is one of very few digital cameras to offer it in the sub-$300 price point.

Comparisons
Canon PowerShot A520 – Canon claims its A520 was its best selling camera of 2005, which may very well be true. The A520 sells for under $200 and offers both basic features and manual functionality. This digital camera has 4 megapixels, which is plenty for the standard 4 x 6-inch prints that most consumers buy – but this is still much less than the A620’s 7.1 megapixels. The A520 has many of the same modes as the A620 with manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and automatic modes available. The A520 does not have the My Colors mode that is on the newer A620, though. The Canon PowerShot A520 has a lighter 6.35-ounce body and requires only two AA batteries as opposed to the A620’s four-battery requirement. The A520 has a 4x zoom lens and a slightly smaller 1.8-inch LCD monitor. The bodies of the A520 and A620 look rather similar with their flipping and rotating LCD monitors. The Canon PowerShot A520 performed very well in color testing and average in noise testing, but did poorly in low light. It has the same 1.9 fps burst mode that is on the A620.

*Nikon Coolpix 7900 –*This digital camera made its way to the market in April 2005 when it retailed for $399. Like the A620, it can now be found for much less. The Nikon 7900 has 7.1 megapixels and 16 scene modes. It doesn’t have the manual functionality that the A620 has. The 7900 does have a face-priority auto focus mode, a red-eye fix mode and automatic backlighting compensation. The Nikon Coolpix 7900 has a smaller 3.46 x 2.4 x 1.44-inch frame with a 3x zoom lens. It also has a 2-inch LCD screen that does not flip out from the camera body. The 7900 is powered by a lithium-ion battery that lasts for 220 shots, which is still less impressive than what the A620 can get with its AA batteries. The Nikon digital camera has 13.5 MB of internal memory. Both the Nikon 7900 and the Canon A620 have optical viewfinders, but both are equally inaccurate. The Nikon Coolpix 7900 has an electronic vibration reduction system and a burst mode that is slightly slower than the A620’s. The 7900 produced average color results, but did not handle the resolution, noise and low light tests well.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100 – The W100 made it debut at the Photo Marketing Association trade show in February 2006, so its introductory price of $349 will be the only going rate at the time of its April release. The W100 has 8.1 megapixels and offers a very interesting feature set. The Sony digital camera has a manual mode that lets users adjust the shutter speed and aperture, but does not have the priority modes available on the A620. It has a few scene modes and a function guide to explain what they are to be used for. One of its featured modes is the High Sensitivity mode, which utilizes the higher ISO settings for better images in low light. The W100’s ISO settings range from 80-1250, which is much more than the Canon A620’s offering of 50-400. The Sony W100 operates on a lithium-ion battery that has just about the same life of the Canon camera with 360 shots per charge. The Sony W-series recently underwent a makeover, so the W100 looks much better than its predecessors. The W100 has a flat, sleek design that still keeps a few traditional elements like the optical viewfinder. The Sony W100 has a 3x zoom lens and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. Even better, it includes 64 MB of internal memory to store its images.

**Who It’s For
***Point-and-Shooters –* The Canon A620 is a great digital camera for a beginner who doesn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading cameras every two weeks. A point-and-shooter won’t be bored for a while. The A620 has scene modes, priority modes and a manual mode (with aperture and shutter speed control) to keep busy with. The Canon A620 can be as easy or difficult as you want it to be.

Budget Consumers – Because the Canon A620 was released last year, its price tag has deflated to about $300. For 7.1 megapixels, a 4x zoom lens and a 2-inch LCD screen, this is pretty decent. Add in manual functionality and this is one of the best deals out there.

*Gadget Freaks – *The rotating, flipping LCD monitor is pretty cool, but the lack of other gadget-y features leaves these consumers wanting more.

Manual Control Freaks – Go ahead and freak out. The Canon PowerShot A620 has manual, priority and program modes in addition to its automatic offerings. There are plenty of manual exposure controls and even compatibility with conversion lenses and flash accessories.

Pros / Serious Hobbyists – While the A620 does have manual functionality, Time photographers won’t be carrying these around on the job. 7.1 megapixels on a 1/1.8-inch CCD just doesn’t cut it as a main camera for Pros, although with full manual control, the A620 might make a nice pocket camera for this demographic.

Conclusion

**

Conclusion
**The A620 has big shoes to fill; the 4 megapixel A520 was Canon’s top seller of 2005. It provided bread-and-butter basics and manual functionality at a really good price. The Canon A620 adds a few more megapixels and a few more features; it comes with 7.1 megapixels and a 4x zoom lens, along with the My Colors picture effects mode and a slightly larger 2-inch LCD screen, which flips out from the camera body and rotates to just about any angle. This is great for viewing with a group of friends, but isn’t great for recording because of the constant adjustments that are needed with the glare the screen catches. The LCD is still a better viewing option than the optical viewfinder, which is blurry and inexcusably inaccurate. Also, the Canon PowerShot A620 is quite hefty, thanks to its four AA batteries.

Despite all this, the Canon PowerShot A620 is still a good deal. It offers automatic, scene, and priority modes for beginners. It also has a manual mode where users can adjust the shutter speeds and apertures for themselves. There are live views to facilitate the transition from automatic to manual. And the camera’s heavy four battery setup gives it fantastic battery life, with 350 shots per batch. The Canon A620 retailed for $399 when it was first introduced to the market, but can be found for a hundred bucks less now – making it one of the best deals for users after a pocket camera with manual functions.

Specs / Ratings

**Specs Table
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Meet the tester

Emily Raymond

Emily Raymond

Editor

Emily Raymond is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

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