Review of Canon PowerShot A570 IS
Friday, July 11, 2008 @ 16:40
This is the least costly Canon point and shoot camera to have optical image stabilization. With its 7.1 megapixel CCD sensor and 2.5-inch LCD screen, it's not among the top contenders in its category, but it does have other attributes that make it a great deal for the price (which ranges between $135 and $165).
The A570 comes with a 4x optical zoom lens which gives a bit more scope than the usual 3X lenses that come with cameras in this price range. While it won't easily allow you to take the range of photos that some of the more expensive models will most average hobbyist photographers will find this camera more than adequate for their needs. In fact, it will more than satisfy them given that this camera does have many of the manual control settings that one just doesn't get with models in this price range.
The A570 IS also includes a Digic III processor chip, which means it comes with Canon's proprietary "face detection" feature, in which the camera has the built-in intelligence to accurately identify faces and then use the subject's face to focus and meter the scene; a great feature for folks who just want to take great pictures, without having to learn a lot about their camera in order to do so. Another feature standard with this model is in-camera red-eye removal, which allows you to remove red-eye during playback mode.
The controls on the A570 IS are grouped very conveniently on the right-side of the camera, and all can be reached with your thumb or forefinger, making this a very user-friendly camera, especially when the situation requires you to do one-hand shooting.
Image quality is pretty good for a camera in this price range, and colors looked accurate, with plenty of shadow detail and bright, sharp images.
Overall, while this camera probably wouldn't serve the professional or even the serious amateur photographer very well, it still is a solid compact camera that offers plenty of value for the dollar. For the person who just wants to get good photos without a lot of mess or bother, this camera will more than fill the bill with its manual exposure controls, flash output control, and speedy performance, not to mention optical image stabilization. As an added benefit, it also uses AA batteries, so running out of power does not mean having to wait for the batteries to recharge.
