Canon PowerShot A480 review – Inexpensive camera
Thumbs Up:
AA battery powered, small and compact, cheap and simple to use.
Thumbs Down:
Average performance, plastic design and chunky.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Canon PowerShot A480 is a 10-megapixel compact digital camera that features 4x digital zoom, frame movie shooting mode and face detection.It has 128MB internal flash memory and memory card slots that supports SD Memory card and MultiMediaCard. The CCD optical sensor has a resolution of 10,300,000 pixels, whereas effective sensor resolution is 10,000,000 pixels. Maximum shutter speed is 1/2000 second and minimum is 15 second.
2.5 inches LCD display has a resolution of 115000 pixels. Canon PowerShot A480 has inbuilt flash and microphone. The flash features AF illuminator and effective flash range is 1-10 ft. Flash modes include Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode and Auto mode.
Canon’s UA lens (Ultra High Refractive Index Aspherical Lens) has a focal length of 6.6-21.6mm with an aperture of F/3.0-5.8 that features 3.3x optical zoom. Focal length equivalent to 35mm camera is 37-122mm. Canon PowerShot A480 has TTL contrast detection auto focus, five auto focus points and inbuilt lens shield. Minimum focus range is 19.7 inches and macro is 1-50cm. Focus adjustment is Automatic and zoom adjustment is motorized drive.
Shooting programs include Night snapshot, Portrait mode, Kids & Pets, Fireworks, Aquarium, Foliage, Sunset, Indoor, Macro, Beach and Snow. The special effects are Black & White, Neutral, Vivid and Sepia. Light sensitivity levels are ISO Auto, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 100 and ISO 80.
Exposure compensation is ±2EV range in 1/3EV steps with two modes of Automatic and Program. The exposure metering is of three types: Center-weighted, Evaluative and Spot. Canon PowerShot A480 has three types of white-balance: Automatic, Presets and Custom. White balance presets include Fluorescent light (warm white), Fluorescent light (cool white), Tungsten light, Daylight and Cloudy.
Canon PowerShot A480 features self-time delay of 2 seconds and 10 seconds. The additional features are Motion Detection technology, Face Detection WB/FE/AE/AF, In-camera red-eye removal, RGB primary filter, Digital tele-converter, PictBridge support, Histogram display, Audio recording, Face detection, Direct print, DPOF support, Safety Zoom and AF lock.
Canon PowerShot A480 has two connectors 1×composite audio/video output and 1×USB. The software contained inside the disc are Canon ZoomBrowser EX, drivers & utilities, Canon ImageBrowser and Canon PhotoStitch. Supported operating systems are Microsoft Windows XP/Vista and Apple Mac OS X 10.4 – 10.5.
Canon PowerShot A480 has two AA Alkaline batteries. The company provides one year warranty with the digital camera.
Razzle Dazzle:
Canon PowerShot A480 is a small compact camera and available in black, silver, blue and red. The camera is 2.4 inches tall, 3.6 inches wide and 1.2 inches deep. It weighs 6.7 ounces with media and battery. It easily fits in pants pocket. The PowerShot A480 looks stylish from the front. Our test model had red color.
Inside Dope:
For shutter bug freaks, there is not much to expect from point and shoot cameras like Canon PowerShot A480. The features are kept low and the device is made to cater to newbies requirements. Costing in at $100 and if you are willing to accept its shortcomings, this would be a good camera for light users. If you want high end features and better performance, you will have to spend twice that amount. Keep you expectations modest and you won’t be disappointed much with this camera.
Canon PowerShot A480 does not have lot of shooting options. Its Program Auto mode allows you to adjust color effects, ISO levels, metering, focus and white balance. If you do not want to adjust any setting, then you can go for Auto mode. It will select one out of 12 different scene modes which include Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Slow Shutter and Fireworks. The PowerShot A480 is not good for close-up and macro shots. It can easily close down to a distance of 1.2-inch from the object. We’re disappointed that the auto focus is not so accurate to match macro focus and close up.
The shooting performance of Canon PowerShot A480 is average. The time from power off to first shot is 2 seconds. The shutter lag is 0.6 second both in bright light and dim light. The shot-to-shot time is 2.7 seconds and 5.6 seconds with flash. The continuous shooting time is 0.6fps (frames per second).
Pentax Optio E70 performed much better than Canon PowerShot A480 during test. The continuous shooting speed of Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS and Nikon Coolpix S230 is also better than the A480.
The photo quality of Canon PowerShot A480 was good. The details and central sharpness are good for a basic and cheap camera. As you focus on off-center, the photos look soft and graininess/noise is visible for full size even at ISO 80. The A480 digital camera delivers best pictures below ISO 200. The photos are not acceptable between ISO 200 and 400. The pictures are only usable for small sizes at ISO 800. We will not recommend you for using ISO 1600. If you want then you can use it in emergency condition when there is no need of quality. The lens distortion results into purple fringe, which is expected in this price range. If you need printouts of pictures larger than 8×10, then you will be disappointed with the PowerShot A480.
Canon PowerShot A480 uses AA batteries that have a life of 200 shots. Two separate AA NiMH batteries are also supplied for more battery life.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need an inexpensive camera and can compromise with quality, then you can buy Canon PowerShot A480. However, if you expect better photo quality then you have to increase your budget.
