Canon Powershot A630 Digital Camera

Product Report for the Canon PowerShot A630 Digital Camera

Rating:

Price*: Used from $180.00. New-$329.00

Introduction: At 8 megapixels, the Canon Powershot A630 is a great follow up to the Powershot A610. Perfect for us point and shoot photographers. The A630 is a quality camera meant for the general populace and is very affordable. It's easy to use and understand, but yet still consists of plenty of jaw dropping technological advances. The 8MP sensor is the big draw, as well as the nice 4x optical zoom and rotating 2.5-inch LCD. You'd be making a good choice buying this Canon model digital camera.

Product Features

8-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints
4x optical zoom; 2.5-inch vari-angle LCD display
ISO range up to ISO 800 for less blur in low light while hand-holding
3:2 guide masks LCD to display 4 x 6-inch print size; 16:9 format option for still images
Stores images on SD cards; powered by 4 AA-size batteries

Technical Details:

Imaging sensor resolution: Approximately 8.0 million pixels
Recording pixels: 3264 x 2448
Sensor type: Interline transfer CCD
Sensor size: 1/1.8-inch type
Lens focal length: 7.3-29.2mm (equivalent to 35-140mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 4x optical / 4x digital
Digital teleconverter: 1.6x and 2.0x; simulates the effect of a physical teleconversion lens
Safety zoom: Maximizes digital zoom image quality when shooting stills; each time image recording quality is lowered, additional digital zoom becomes available: Large = 4.0x, Medium 1 = 5.0x, Medium 2 = 6.4x, Medium 3 = 8.2x, Small = 16x
Lens construction: 8 elements in 7 groups (including two aspherical lenses with two aspherical surfaces)
Aperture control: f2.8 (wide) to f4.1 (telephoto)
Closest focusing distance: Wide/telephoto: 1.5 feet; macro: 0.39 inches (lens at wide setting)
Autofocus: 9-point AiAF; Single AF point (center of frame); FlexiZone
Manual focus: Yes, with enlarged view on LCD display
Accessory conversion lenses: Conversion lens adapter LA-DC58F (use with wide/telephoto converter and close-up lens); wide converter WC-DC58N; teleconverter TC-DC58N; close-up lens 250D (58mm) (additional lenses not included--must be purchased separately)
JPEG image recording: 8-bit JPEG; three compression settings ("Super-Fine," "Fine," and "Normal")
RAW file recording: None
Data recording format: DCF (Design rule for Camera Filing system); DPOF ver. 1.1 (Digital Print Order Format); EXIF 2.2 compatible
Reduced resolution options: 3264 x 1832 (wide-screen, 5.9MP); 2592 x 1944 M1 (5.0MP); 2048 x 1536 M2 (3.1MP); 1600 x 1200 M3 (1.9MP); 640 x 480 S (300K pixels)
Storage media: SD memory cards including SDHC (over 2 GB) and MultiMedia memory cards
Format function: Normal and low level format
Color space: sRGB inches
Shooting modes: Auto, P, Tv, Av, M, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Special Scene, Stitch Assist, Movie
Special scene modes: Night Snapshot, Indoor, Kids and Pets, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Color Accent, Color Swap
My Colors mode: Photo effects including: My Colors Off, Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black and White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Custom Color. Available in shooting and in playback modes; when performed in playback the original file is changed permanently.
Color Accent and Color Swap: Available as a special scene mode, for both still images and movies
Noise reduction: Available when shutter speed is set between 15 and 1.3 seconds
White Balance: Three options available: Auto, Pre-set White Balance (daylight, cloudy, tungsten, underwater, fluorescent, fluorescent H), custom setting (read and set WB off of white object or neutral gray object)
Self-timer: 2-second delay, 10-second delay, and Custom Timer (user can set delay 0 to 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds, and number of shots from 1 thru 10; camera takes shots continuously after pre-set delay)
Exposure metering: Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot (spot metering at center, or linked to AF point); AE lock is possible
Exposure compensation: +/-1/3 stop up to 2 stops
Autoexposure bracketing: None
ISO sensitivity: Auto, High ISO Auto; ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 (user-set)
Shutter speed range: 15 seconds to 1/2000 second
LCD monitor: 2.5-inch (diagonal) TFT color LCD; approximately 115,000 pixels; 100% coverage of actual image; variangle for ease of use (rotates and swivels)
Eye-level viewfinder: Optical real-image zoom viewfinder
Special playback features: Enlarged playback (2x to 10x) with free scrolling to any part of image
: Advance or reverse through magnified images is available
: Resume Playback remembers image being viewed if the battery loses its charge
: Histogram display and overexposure warning to indicate overexposed areas in an image
: Image is automatically rotated when camera is in either vertical or horizontal orientation
: Special transition effects can be added when advancing or reversing through still images
: Jump 10 images, Jump 100 images, Jump shot date, Jump to movie and Jump to folder
: Slide Show: Playback interval 3-10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds
: Movie playback: Normal, Slow Motion, Pause, Editing (portions of clip can be erased) Performance Imaging processor DIGIC II imaging processor
Continuous shooting speed: Approximately 1.8 shots per second; continuous shooting until card is full is possible with a high-speed SD card
Camera start-up time: Shooting mode: 1.4 seconds (with flash turned off and LCD monitor on); playback mode: 2.0 seconds (with flash turned off and LCD monitor on)
Movie mode resolution: Standard, Compact, Color Accent, Color Swap: 640 x 480 at 30/15 frames per second (fps) (VGA; up to 15 minutes or 1 GB per movie clip), 320 x 240 at 30/15 fps (QVGA; up to 45 minutes or 1 GB per movie clip); compact: 160 x 120 at 15 fps (QQVGA; up to 3 minutes per movie clip)
Features during movie recording: Digital zoom (optical zoom not possible); continuous autoexposure and white balance; My Colors
Movie playback: On camera's LCD monitor (with sound); standard TV monitor using video-out cord; or within Macintosh or Windows PC using Apple QuickTime software
Flash modes: Automatic firing; Auto with red-eye reduction; Flash On with red-eye reduction; Flash On; Flash Off, Slow Flash Sync, Second Curtain
Flash sync maximum distance: 14 feet (wide) / 9.8 feet (telephoto); macro flash: 9.8 inches to 1.5 feet (wide/telephoto)
Flash sync speed: 1/500 second (maximum synchronized shutter speed)
Compatible Speedlites: None; compatible with Canon High-Power HF-DC1 flash
Direct-connection to computer: USB; via dedicated Canon USB cable IFC-400PCU (supplied with camera)
USB speed: 2.0 Hi-speed
PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol): Driver-less communication with Mac OS X and Windows XP computers
Video out to TV monitor: Yes, via audio-video cable AVC-DC300; NTSC or PAL; selectable on camera's menu
Direct printing: Compatible printers: Canon Compact Photo printers: prints directly to Canon CP and Selphy printers; Canon inkjet printers: prints directly to compatible Direct-print Canon printers; third-party inkjet printers: prints directly to PictBridge-compatible printers
Printing features: Print with shooting data, image optimizer (face brightener), ID Photo print, Movie print, Layout Print (Contact Sheet type index print) outputs 35 or 20 images per page with shooting data (Layout Print feature only available with Canon Pixma pro, and select Pixma desktop printers)
Print/Share button: Yes
Battery and power: AA Alkaline batteries (four)
Recording capacity: LCD monitor on: approximately 350 (CIPA standard); LCD monitor off: approximately 1200 shots (Canon testing method); with AA NiMH batteries: LCD monitor on: approximately 500 shots (CIPA standard); LCD monitor off: approximately 1500 shots (Canon testing method)
LCD playback time: Approximately 20 hours (Alkaline), approximately 20 hours (NiMH) per battery charge
C adapter (optional): AC adapter kit ACK600 (not includeded--must be purchased separately)
Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.3 x 2.6 x 1.93 inches (109.4 x 66.0 x 49 millimeters), excluding protrusions
Weight: (without battery or SD card) 8.64 ounces (245 grams), camera body only
Other languages: 25 languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Arabic

Overview:

If you can't find a Canon that matches your requirements, then you haven't looked hard enough. Sorry to be so blunt. But the Canon lineup is filled with all kinds of options. Sometimes it's often hard to tell one model from the other. The Canon A630 might, for example, be easily confused with the A640, except it has an 8.0-megapixel sensor and doesn't support remote capture. Neither of which is really a problem especially when the savings amounts to about a hundred bucks.

It's amazing that you can get so many features packed in a camera for $300 these days -- especially considering its extensive exposure options. The Canon A630 definitely is a good camera to pick up. As a sidenote, the newer model of this item is the Canon PowerShot A650IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.

Customer Comments:

I actually happened upon the A630 in exchange for an A620. I am totally please with its performance thus far. This camera was purchased as an underwater camera w/ the optional underwater housing. My "A" camera is a Canon Rebel XT & I would have to say this is almost comparable & easy to use for the high-end amateur. The preset mode for "kids/pets" was perfect as I took photos in a tour van through New Orleans. Not one of the pictures came out blurry. Other preset modes are: snow, fireworks, underwater, macro (which took great shots), and other. I would definitely purchase this camera again. I will update this review after I take the camera diving. Cajundego "Cajundego" in Ohio

Great camera -- a bit bulky, though. This camera is amazing -- great shutter response time, excellant battery life, and tons of features and completley customizable. However, it was so bulky, we often just left it at home, rather that take it with us to parties. The same convenience of being able to use AA's (and not worrying about charging the camera, or having it die halfway through your trip) also results in a substantial bulk. Also, the camera does not accomodate one-handed operation. If portability is not a concern -- go for it. It is infinitely tweakable -- with a full manual mode and lots of creative options. But if you are looking for a point and shoot you can drop in your purse, or even your pocket, go for the SD630. Jay Kenyon in Nevada

I really like this camera. It has many features of my larger and bulkier digital SLR. I like the stitching mode. The picture quality is very good. Night shots at low light performance is admirable. It is not exactly a "slim" type camera but does fit into your pocket. It servs well as camera for the starter (my wife) in the "auto" mode, or for the more experienced in the sp, or ap mode. The details in 11 by 8 prints are excellent. I am very happy with this buy. R. Chakravorty in Newark, California

Website: Canon PowerShot A630 Digital Camera

*Electronic products do have occasional price fluctuations so the above price may have changed slightly since this product report was created.

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