Canon A640 Digital Camera

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Canon A640 Digital Camera

Sudeep Naik, Feb 16, 2007 1600 hrs IST

Cannon A640's rising popularity is an instance of rising belief in 'bigger-is-better' notion. Let's see how big this really is.

10 MP, Vari-angle LCD, 4x Optical zoom, Good color reproduction, Sharp images, Excellent image quality, Can attach external lens or filters

Average Movie quality, Length of movie clips limited to 1GB

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Features

The 2.5-inch LCD that is so common in digital cameras these days offers a good 115,000 pixel resolution that displays the images pretty sharp and clear. The LCD doesn't really lag and gives you maximum details without being obtrusive while shooting pictures.

In case, you are stuck in an awkward position and at even more awkward angle, just flip out the Variable angle LCD and turn it around to whichever way it suits you and your imagination best.

The built-in flash has a range of about 3 (10 ft) at the wide end of the zoom and offers the usual range of modes like anti-red-eye mode, forced flash, and automatic flash. These modes can be easily switched on or off as per user-requirements. It uses an AF illuminator instead of irritating pre-flashes resulting in a faster picture-capture operation.

The mode dial features Auto, Manual (M), Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv), Program (P), Portrait, Landscape, Nightshot, Scene, Stitch, and Movie modes. One can adjust the ISO settings, exposure, and aperture settings as per liking. The same applies to the Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes.

The Stitch Assist mode allows you to click a series of shots (16:9 or otherwise) to create panoramic-style pictures.

The white balance setting allows you to create a proper ambience for the shot, be it daylight, indoor-lighting, gray, etc.

Video recording is also as simple as it sounds. Just select the Record mode, set the parameters, and away you go.

Controls, Menu, and Display

The position of the controls is the same as other A-series models with the zoom controls being mounted around the shutter release button.

The OSD is simple and intuitive (as with most Canon cameras.) The DISP button lets you cycle through cycles between three preview settings; LCD off (use the optical viewfinder), preview image only, (no image information is displayed), and full information. The amount of information displayed also depends on the shooting mode selected at that time.

Except the Auto mode, AE-compensation is available in all modes and its setting can be changed by pressing the +/- button and using the left/right arrow keys to change the value. The screen brightens or darkens to reflect the effect of any AE-compensation in use.

The FUNC button gives you an array of options like AE compensation, white balance, sensitivity, picture effects, drive mode, metering, and image size/quality. The browsing and setting of these options is pretty simple and fast.

The standard display in playback mode gives only basic image info, but pressing the DISP button gets you a much more comprehensive image info display. One can see a Histogram, image size, dimensions, white balance info, and more.

The setup menu offers control over various camera-related parameters, including audio file numbering, date and time, and card formatting. The My Camera menu lets you customize start-up image and camera sounds.