Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally switching over to digital..., 18 Nov 2006
A fortnight ago I finally took the plunge and bought a digital camera. I have been using a couple of old Canon SLRs up until now, and after shopping around on the net and poking round camera shops annoying the staff I decided on a Canon Powershot a540.
So far, it has been brilliant. The controls will be familliar to anyone who has used a Canon film SLR, with a few added digital modes, and the pictures are good- very little lens blurring and bright colours (you can have a look at examples on www.flickr.com/photos/mrleigh).
The a540 seems to go through a lot of batteries, and a charger is an essential purchase with this camera. Also the camera's screen resolution is a little grainy it is more than adequate to give you a good idea of what you just shot, and let's face it- this camera is pretty cheap. There is also a useful optical viewfinder for taking pictures in low light so you have an idea of what you're looking at instead of just a black screen.
The automatic modes seem to shy away from more extreme aperture and ISO settings, preferring to use slower shutter speeds, but if you are comfortable changing the settings yourself then the results are great. The camera also has a macro mode which will focus down to about 4cm, although you have to focus in manually.
This may not be the best camera for someone who wants to snap away without having to bother with settings etc... It is great, though, if you're not a first-timer and want to have a little more control over your camera.
Slightly technical, and good value for money. 4/5 stars
|
|
|
66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Quality camera which is so easy to use, 2 Jun 2006
I have only had this camera for 2 days and I am really pleased with the performance. I normally use a Canon EOS 300D Digital SLR, but I wanted something that was lightweight and easy for the whole of my family to use. It took me 15 minutes to set it up to the settings that I prefer.
I spent a lot of time researching which camera to buy and it was the quality, large LCD display and choice of automatic and manual functions that made the Canon A540 stand out from the rest.
I found that the 4 times zoom is enough for most general situations and I found the resulting images to be sharp. The 2.5" LCD is brilliant and although it is low resolution, it gives a very good idea of what your image will look like.
The camera is certainly small enough to fit into a jacket pocket or small bag and it uses AA batteries. I would recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for a compact camera that delivers really good quality images.
|
|
|
143 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Probably the worst A series camera ever..., 2 Jun 2006
I had Canon A70 and FujiFilm F11 and I now have Nikon D70s dSLR and Canon A610 so I know what I'm expecting from camera at reasonable money.
At first, it seemed to be a great value for money considering it has 6 megapixels, ISO of up to 800 and 2.5 inch LCD although I know it has lower LCD resolution. It shares the same 6mp sensor as top end A700 which costs £100 more so it should be good?
Nope, my first hand-on experience with this camera was disappointing.
With 2 AA batteries (instead of 4 used with old Canon A70) and SD memory card format meaning you get more compact and lightweight camera. Not really a pocketable but just almost.
But as expected, there is a couple of drawbacks with using 2 AA batteries instead of four, you get a less powerful flash but much slower flash recycle - about 4 - 8 seconds depending on distance/light condition. In absence of powerful flash, you get higher ISO 800 but it is useful for low light without using flash though.
The build quality seemed to be on cheap side especially with buttons. On the rear of camera, Func/Set button is offset toward bottom/right from centre, pressed against the inner edge of direction button. Not good but at least, it is working as normal and at this price, you get what you pay for.
Thanks to new latest 6.0 megapixel sensor, ISO performance is impressive. ISO 400 shots looked very acceptable to my eyes so I would be happy to leave autoISO on. Noise level on ISO 800 is similar to ISO 400 on other cameras so no loss here.
Unfortunately, its f2.6 - f5.5 lens and sensor is a mismatch made in hell! At night, flash pictures comes out good but seemed to be on soft side. However, I didn't expect it to be that bad when I tried it outdoor under good daylight. The focus on centre appeared to be average but toward the edge of image, it's blurred! I won't call it corner softness, it's the lens!
My camera choose aperature F4 on bright day which is a sweet spot for this lens but the softness is still there and begins from centre of image, gradually worsen toward the edge. At first I thought left/right side of images were out of focus but after shooting several more, it becomes clearly to me that it wasn't out of focus, it is blurred due to poor lens!
I have some shots from 3 years old Canon A70 which actually looked better than A540 so we are actually stepping backward with this camera with such a poor quality lens.
I had looked at samples of A540 in a couple of camera review sites, I noticed that they seemed to be soft. Funny enough, images from A530 model using same lens as A540, appears sharper than A540. I have no explanation for this one.
Although A700 using the same sensor as A540, it can produce much sharper images using high quality f2.8 - f4.8 lens and clearly superior to A540 which is why it commands such a high price tag, £100 more than A540. Despite using same sensor, I won't dream of putting A540 up there with A700!
Get either A530, A610, A620 or A700 depending on your budget/needs. For faster flash recycle (and powerful), get A610 or A620 but they are bit bigger and heavier with 4 AA batteries.
I have Canon A610 which has only 5 megapixels but produces sharper results than A540 so extra megapixel is pointless until you coupled it with excellent lens like A700 has.
Avoid A540 at all costs.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Visit our
Canon shop to see the
full range of Canon products.
