lukaszsw
New member
I am a total amateur when it comes to taking picture even though I am an architecture student. I've been using PowerShot A510 throughout my 4 year bachelors course and now for my master I've decided to get a compact super zoom camera to capture those distant details that were always out of my cameras range.
So: the interface changed a bit but not dramatically and I can easily find all the functions I want. The backside control wheel is now actually a wheel, i.e. its outer rim rotates to let you select things from wider range. It helps a bit if you want to select the focal length but otherwise it seems that the designers just wanted to make something new and didn't really know the direction. One other thing about the interface is that the center button is sometimes used for switching between two options without really indicating it does so. A little confusing. Otherwise the new menu look is quite appealing once you figure out how to use it.
There is of course a lot of options like ISO, shutter, focal length and so on. I would normally only use the auto mode but now that I've made a few thousand photographs I think I can experiment with manual modes a bit. I might borrow a DSLR from my parents later on.
The size of the camera quite ok. It has about the same thickness as A510(520/530) but it is only the lens so it doesn't feel so bulky. It is longer than A510, 1cm or so, it did fit the same holder though.
The flash does go up every time you power on the camera and it might bump your finger before you remeber to take it off immediately after pressing the button BUT it has a great advantage:
you can push the flash to an off position and the camera will detect this. So you don't have to go through the menus.
Image quality is good but not spectacular. For quality really the sensor is the key and the MP value is quite useless. So PowerShot SX200 IS has 0.28 cm2 sensor and this tops A510 0.24 cm2 only by a little. It is noticeably better but not what I would expect from a camera 4 year younger. Then again I've read that it is a problem of super zoom segment.
Problems:
It is impossible to do photographs by leaving a camera on a flat surface and going in front of it, not with ANY zoom. Why? As soon as the lens extends a bit the whole camera tips to the front about 5 degree, making it point downwards. The reason is that the lens is too heavy and bottom side of the camera is not flat to the front edge. Nice design Canon.
Other thing is Aperture bottom range - F3.4. My old A510 had this value at 2.6 and now when I try to photograph the same desk with a lamp, the lamp goes completely white. I've set all the other settings to the same values but the old camera managed to capture the same view much better.
So: the interface changed a bit but not dramatically and I can easily find all the functions I want. The backside control wheel is now actually a wheel, i.e. its outer rim rotates to let you select things from wider range. It helps a bit if you want to select the focal length but otherwise it seems that the designers just wanted to make something new and didn't really know the direction. One other thing about the interface is that the center button is sometimes used for switching between two options without really indicating it does so. A little confusing. Otherwise the new menu look is quite appealing once you figure out how to use it.
There is of course a lot of options like ISO, shutter, focal length and so on. I would normally only use the auto mode but now that I've made a few thousand photographs I think I can experiment with manual modes a bit. I might borrow a DSLR from my parents later on.
The size of the camera quite ok. It has about the same thickness as A510(520/530) but it is only the lens so it doesn't feel so bulky. It is longer than A510, 1cm or so, it did fit the same holder though.
The flash does go up every time you power on the camera and it might bump your finger before you remeber to take it off immediately after pressing the button BUT it has a great advantage:
you can push the flash to an off position and the camera will detect this. So you don't have to go through the menus.
Image quality is good but not spectacular. For quality really the sensor is the key and the MP value is quite useless. So PowerShot SX200 IS has 0.28 cm2 sensor and this tops A510 0.24 cm2 only by a little. It is noticeably better but not what I would expect from a camera 4 year younger. Then again I've read that it is a problem of super zoom segment.
Problems:
It is impossible to do photographs by leaving a camera on a flat surface and going in front of it, not with ANY zoom. Why? As soon as the lens extends a bit the whole camera tips to the front about 5 degree, making it point downwards. The reason is that the lens is too heavy and bottom side of the camera is not flat to the front edge. Nice design Canon.
Other thing is Aperture bottom range - F3.4. My old A510 had this value at 2.6 and now when I try to photograph the same desk with a lamp, the lamp goes completely white. I've set all the other settings to the same values but the old camera managed to capture the same view much better.