|
Canon PowerShot A590 IS Digital Camera (8.0 MP, 4xOptical Zoom) 2.5" LCD
|
| Price: | £469.95 |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Dispatched from and sold by Photo Kingdom
Product Description
Canon Powershot A590LS Digital Camera
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #22494 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Canon
- Model: 2462B008AA
- Released on: 2008-01-31
- Dimensions: .39 pounds
Features
- 8.0 Megapixels
- Canon 4x optical zoom with optical Image Stabilizer (IS)
- Motion Detection Technology, High ISO Auto and IS for the total anti-blur solution
- Enhanced Face Detection Technology with white balance control and Face Select & Track for great people shots
- Red-Eye Correction in shooting and playback
- Fast response times and superb image quality with DIGIC III and iSAPS technology
- Large 2.5" LCD screen and optical viewfinder
- Wide range of shooting modes include full Manual control and Easy mode
- 20fps VGA movies with Long Play mode for extended recording
- Optional accessories include wide tele/close-up lenses and slave flash
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
 |
The PowerShot A590 IS makes it simple to take great photos with a host of automatic features, including Easy mode for the ultimate in hassle-free shooting. Enhanced Face Detection Technology lets you capture bright, sharp faces every time. New for 2008, Motion Detection Technology is included in PowerShot models for the first time. This clever technology helps to combat blur caused by movement such as the kids running around, or by camera-shake as you take a quick snapshot. Motion Detection Technology corrects just the right amount for blur-free images at maximum quality. |
|
PowerShot A590 IS Highlights |
 | 8.0 Megapixels The number of megapixels determines the amount of sharp detail a digital camera can record. With more megapixels, you can print at larger sizes, plus crop and enlarge without sacrificing quality. PowerShot cameras provide all the resolution you need for finely detailed, photo-quality prints with plenty of scope for post-shoot cropping. A full 8.0 megapixels of resolution ensure rich depth and detail, and lets you enlarge and crop images freely. |
 | 4X Optical Zoom Get the shot you want with a powerful 4x Optical Zoom and genuine Canon optics. Not only does the zoom get you up close quickly, but Canon optical technology ensures that your shots are bright, clear, and alive with true, vivid color. |
 | Optical Image Stabilizer Any slight shake while hand-holding a camera can cause blurred photos. Canon’s optical Image Stabilizer (IS) technology ensures crisp, clear images by detecting and correcting this camera shake. The camera is able to microscopically adjust its own lens with absolute accuracy up to 4,000 times every second, so the image you see is the image you capture. Image Stabilizer is especially useful at full zoom, which exaggerates camera movements, and in low-light settings that call for slower shutter speeds. |
 | Motion Detection Technology / High ISO/IS Canon’s Motion Detection Technology uses several methods to detect camera and subject movement and set exposure accordingly. The brightness of subject and background, movement of the subject (based on comparison of frames over time) Face Detection information and camera shake information from the optical Image Stabilizer (IS) gyros are all taken into account. Where motion is detected the camera automatically selects the appropriate ISO level to achieve a shot with minimal noise and zero blur. |
 | Face Detection Technology Utilising the power of DIGIC III, Canon’s Face Detection Technology ensures superb people shots by automatically detecting subjects in the frame and setting the correct focus, flash level and exposure. |
 | Red Eye Correction The popular feature can now remove red-eye automatically during shooting, as well as in playback mode. |
 | DIGIC III The massive processing capacity of DIGIC III paves the way for advanced features such as Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction, while exceptional processing speed delivers outstanding responsiveness, fast and accurate auto focus and extended continuous shooting. Linking all key camera functions for maximum efficiency, all DIGIC processors achieve brilliant image detail, clarity and colour reproduction,while delivering long, high quality movies and more shots from a single charge. |
 | 2.5" LCD Screen The camera's 2.5-inch LCD screen gives you the big picture, whether you're shooting, reviewing or showing off your images. This extra-durable, high-resolution screen with tough scratch-resistant coating on the anti-reflective, PureColor LCD II screen offers a crisp, clear picture to make shooting, playback and using the camera's menu functions especially convenient. |
 | Easy Mode The PowerShot A590 IS adds new Easy shooting mode. Suitable for complete beginners, Easy mode uses Motion Detection Technology to combat blur and automatically switches between normal and Macro AF when necessary. For extra simplicity the displayed shooting information is reduced and all buttons except flash are disabled. In Easy mode the PowerShot A590 IS exemplifies the term ‘Point and Shoot'. |
 | 20 FPS VGA Movies Shoot super-smooth, VGA -quality movies with sound. In-camera editing gives you creative control and slow-motion playback highlights every precious moment. Choose Long Play mode for stronger compression that allows twice as much video to be stored on your memory card. |
Additional Features |
Optical Viewfinder |  | |
| My Colours Add a personal touch to your image or movie with Canon’s My Colours. Choose from vivid blue for the sky, antique sepia for the portrait or classic black and white for the landscape. These creative options and many more – normally available only on a computer – can be applied directly from your camera, before or after the shot. |  | |
Canon Image Gateway | ||
Box Contents
Customer Reviews
Pretty good
First, the camera colour is sort of tungsteny (it looks a weird brown colour in the Amazon pics) which makes it look very classy in the flesh.
It's *very* well thought out in terms of how it works.
It's an SLR in all but actually being an SLR so if you want to go fully manual as well as Program, Aperture and Shutter priorities, you can do so. It also has an Easy mode and an Auto mode, if you don't want to do much thinking.
It has an amazing amount of functionality if you do want to do some thinking.
It does have a little purple fringing at times but I guess that's par for the course.
It is a tad barrel-ly at the wide end of the lens and pictures can be a little soft at times.
Colours are good.
Apart from that it's very nice indeed and for the price is just fine. It's got me in the mood for a DSLR... must resist, must resist...
You get a printed Getting Started guide (which is no more than that) and a CD with the full manual on (200 pages) which its best to print out and read (not as daunting as it looks and this will pay back in spades).
The software with it is pretty good too (there are more manuals for this...!)
So, one star off for not giving us a full printed manual then.
Point and Shoot Heaven
This is a great little point and shoot camera and really well suited to less experienced photographers. I did plenty of research on the subject with specific requirements as follows:
Optical Viewfinder - This has several advantages, it dramatically improves battery life by enabling the camera to be used without the 2.5" LCD screen and it allows the camera to be used more traditionally (and intuitively) by putting it up to the eye. The image in the optical viewfinder does zoom in and out with the lens, so you take what you see.
High ISO - The camera goes up to 1600 ASA which means that it can be used to take pictures in very low light conditions without using a flash. This is really useful at concerts where it is undesirable to use a flash.
AA Batteries - Rechargeable camera batteries are really good if you have a PC or USB type charger, but these aren't always available. Using standard AA batteries make this camera slightly larger than the average (which is no bad thing) and with a more usable power source in an emergency. I also bought some re-chargeable batteries and a charger.
X4 Optical Zoom - This zoom is really useful, the norm on this type of camera is X3 but again at concerts a x4 allows you to get closer. Digital zooms are hopeless and simply degrade the image quality to achieve dubious zoom results.
Easy Mode - For people that neither know or want to know about aperture and shutter priority, ISO speed settings etc. and that want a simple point and click camera, the Canon easy mode is a real boon.
The picture quality is excellent as you would expect from a Canon camera, and the camera refresh speed (the time it takes the camera to store the last picture and be ready to take a second) is less than 2 seconds.
The camera will also take movies at 20 frames per second (enough for most applications) but be aware, the zoom doesn't work in movie mode, but this is a trivial point.
If what you're looking for is an easy to use, point and click camera that is robust, well thought through and that takes excellent pictures, then this is it. At 8m pixels, the images can be blown up to larger than A4 size, which is usually enough. The charcoal case also makes it look classy. I would strongly recommend buying the additional Canon Powershot case (it doesn't come with a case) and a 2GB SD card (it comes with a 32MB card, enough for about 12 pictures only) for it.
Great budget camera
This camera is great value for money. Make sure you buy good quality rechargable batteries (not included), you'll also need a high capacity DS card (only 32MB card is included, which is a bit of a laugh).
Canon's "easy" button is a nobrainer, but tends to opt for high ISO, which results in some grain. So I go to Program or Manual mode and select the ISO myself, and the result is wonderful: no grain anymore, and well lit.
Face detection is great, because now the people in my pictures are always sharp and well lit. The options and settings seem endless, for those who like to tweak. Video (20fps) is of amazing quality and the avi format is instantly recognized in Sony Vegas Movie Studio for editing.
This camera looses one star for not including a charger nor high capacity SD card.
