Here's a guide which will help you settle for a camera that should satisfy your basic photography needs.
The crashing financial markets have left me with little cash to play around with. I had planned to get myself one of the fancy DSLRs or atleast a Prosumer but I guess this time I'll to have to settle for a budget camera instead. So, my quest to find the best-buy has led me to the folowing options. Take a look. Canon PowerShot A590IS (Rs. 9,490)
The 8MP Canon PowerShot A590 IS features a Canon branded 35-140mm lens that has 4x optical zoom with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The IS sensors detect the tiny movements of your hands (known as "camera shake") while clicking a picture and shifts a lens element to compensate for this motion. This results in a much sharper image at slower shutter speeds than one could get on a camera without IS. The back of the camera has a regular 2.5-inch LCD that has a resolution of 115,000 pixels as well as an optical viewfinder and buttons to access various features of the camera. Other features include PASM shooting modes, an ISO range of 80 to 1600, support for conversion lenses, and a 640 x 480 movie mode. Handling the Canon A590 IS is like handling any other Canon camera - nice and easy. However, what I absolutely didn't like here was the overall finish of the camera; it feels too plasticky. The overall usage and handling is pretty easy and simple. Even first time camera users will find the menus, modes and shooting options easy to select and use. Overall, the handling, operation and usage are easy but the modes are job-specific and will take some time to master. On the image quality front, the A590 IS benefits largely from DIGIC III that produces good quality crisp pictures. The camera performs well right from the moment you press the power button. It springs to life and is ready to shoot in just under 2 seconds. Shot-to-shot times are average, but increase a lot when you are using the flash on depleted batteries. At times, the delay can be more than 5 to 6 seconds between flashes, but that's the case with all cameras that are powered by AA batteries. Focus times are average with a little shutter lag. Low-light focusing works well too, thanks to the AF-assist beam. What I didn't like here was the 2.5-inch LCD screen. If you plan to venture outdoors on bright sunny days, don't forget to get your cap as well. Protecting yourself from the heat is one reason but you'd also need to create some kind of shade to view what's on the LCD. Outdoor visibility is below average, while in low-light situations, the screen is easy to see, since it "gains up" automatically in those situations. The image quality of the A590 IS turned out to be better than most entry-level cameras that I've tested. The digital zoom isn't of much help but the 4x optical zoom is a welcome addition, as most other entry level cameras have just a 3x optical zoom and mostly no Optical Image Stabilization as well. The photos we obtained were well-exposed with decent color reproduction and details. There was a noticeable amount of barrel distortion at the edges in all the pictures but that can be corrected by framing the object in the center and further away from the edges as much as possible. OIS system works well to minimize camera shake to a great extent, especially when using the full 4x optical zoom. Noise levels are manageable till ISO 400; beyond that image noise grows exponentially. But I'd suggest not going beyond the ISO 200 settings if you want clean images that don't require a lot of post processing. The video and voice recording quality is average. Videos are stored in AVI format and voice clips in WAV format. The Canon PowerShot A590 IS makes use of a pair of AA batteries for power. I was able to shoot about 165 images without using any flash, while the numbers fell to about 135 pictures when flash was used often. The Canon Powershot A590 IS is an entry-level camera that seems to be aimed at those who want to enjoy the unadulterated joy of a point-and-shoot experience with the camera. It is available for a street price of around Rs. 9,490 with a 1-year warranty. For that price, your dealer should probably throw in a 2GB SD card, rechargeable NiMH batteries with charger and a carrying case for the camera.
Report abuse