For Canon, the PowerShot A800 is as basic as it gets. The A800 is Canon’s entry-level compact camera, and as you’d expect for 60 quid, it’s a no-frills affair.
No-frills doesn’t necessarily mean dumbed-down, however, and there’s actually quite a lot to like about this device. Indeed, the specifications belie the bargain-bucket price and include a 10 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, Digic III processor and Smart Auto mode.
In terms of shooting mode, you get Auto and Program mode, along with the ability to adjust exposure, flash, metering, ISO and other key settings. At this end of the market, Canon is competing against camera phones, so does the A800 offer enough to persuade punters not to put the money towards an iPhone instead?
The PowerShot A800 replaces the PowerShot A495, but it’s a minor upgrade rather than a great leap forward. However, it’s certainly no cosmetic upgrade, as the boxy looks and portly girth evoke a compact camera from five years ago. Indeed, the PowerShot A800 is a porker compared to the sleeker (and pricier) IXUS range, and while you can just about squeeze it in a pocket, the camera will create an unsightly/embarrassing bulge.
Although the body’s made from plastic, it feels sturdy enough, with a reassuringly robust lens cover. The button layout is logical, but there are a few ergonomic niggles. The power button is frustratingly close to the shutter release button, for instance, and some of the button icons might not be very obvious to beginners/casual photographers.
Having two buttons for key camera settings (Menu and Func. Set) isn’t unusual these days, but it could further confuse newbies. Also, it’s not at all obvious how to access the Scene Modes either, so much so that we reckon many owners won’t even realise they’re on offer (they’re activated via the button with the camera icon next to Menu).
Meanwhile, the shutter release button feels crude, and it tends to fire when you only want to depress it half way. All these are minor hassles rather than deal-breakers, however, and a few minutes with the manual should sort most people out.
The menu system is up to Canon’s usual standard and the camera very easy to use once you’ve figured out what’s accessed by the Menu button and what’s accessed by Func Set. Battery life has been boosted too, and you can now fire off 300 shots before the juice runs out.
Canon needs to pull some rabbits out of hats to stand out at the budget end of the market, and a big selling point of the PowerShot A800 is the Smart Auto mode. Canon claims to have integrated 19 common shooting scenarios into the camera, so it can recognise what you’re shooting and adjust its settings accordingly.
The Scene Modes come in handy too, once you’ve figured out where they are, and include Blur Reduction, Super Vivid and Poster Effect. This is the icing on the cake, though, and the camera will stand or fall by the quality of its images, however low the price.
Fortunately, the PowerShot A800 passes the test, and the quality of images straight from the box is impressively high. The camera’s metering system is intelligent and flexible and copes well with most lighting conditions (a blown-out highlights warning is a useful extra).
As well as delivering consistently accurate exposures, colours are rich and well-saturated without being garish, and noise is well controlled through the range, as our test shots reveal. The lens is not particularly wide at 6.60-21.60mm (equivalent to 37-122mm on 35mm format) and lacks stabilisation, but is impressively sharp and well-engineered considering the price point.
While purple fringing is apparent in contrasty scenes, the results are still better than you’d expect from a budget entry-level compact.
Returning to the scene modes, they’re fun, but need to be used sparingly. Super Vivid overcooks the colours a bit too much, but could be useful on a very drab day, while the Poster Effect is pretty psychedelic, but in the right conditions can deliver pleasing results. More immediately useful are Blur Reduction and Long Shutter, which save having to fiddle around with the settings.
It’s well worth adjusting White Balance, as we found it sometimes a little cold on the Auto setting. As you’d expect on a budget entry-level compact, shots can only be saved as JPEG files, but you can choose from 640 x 480 to 3648 x 2736 in size. Movies can be recorded at 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second, and are reasonable enough quality considering it’s not HD.
For a sixty quid camera, this is a great macro performance – sharp and well saturated (see full image)
Flesh tones are reasonably well rendered, although auto white balance washes colour out sometimes (see full image)
Poster is one of the more creatively useful in-camera effects (see full image)
The A800 lacks image stabilisation, but the lens is still a reasonably sharp performer, even for on-the-hoof candid shots (see full image)
Telephoto and wide angle performance is good for the money, though purple fringing can creep in to high contrast scenes (see full image)
Telephoto and wide angle performance is good for the money, though purple fringing can creep in to high contrast scenes (see full image)
Sixty quid will barely cover a get-together meal in a pub these days, so at this price the PowerShot A800 is a great little family camera. It takes consistently good pictures from the box, and while nigh foolproof if you shout in Auto mode, the camera also offers some manual control over the final images.
There’s also a good choice of Scene Modes for specific photo situations too, and the whole process of using this camera is relatively straightforward. We say relatively as some of the key menu functions are needlessly tricky to locate, and the icons could be more obvious.
So the PowerShot 800 is a no-brainer budget choice, right? Yes and no. While we’ve established its many virtues, shop around and you can get the Nikon S3100, for instance, at a similar price. This 14Mp head-turner is slimmer, looks better in black and offers 720p video recording.
We liked
Smart Auto mode makes it hard to take a bad picture, and there’s a good choice of Scene Modes. While very much a point and click device, the PowerShot A800 offers a reasonable amount of manual adjustment and has a decent built-in flash.
Battery life’s been boosted too.
We disliked
Canon should make it easier for newcomers to figure out the icons and menu settings. The camera’s dumpy, dated looks won’t win you any cool points, and the lens can feel a bit restricted. You can’t record movies in high definition, either.
Sensor: 10.0 megapixel CCD
Lens: Canon 6.6-21.6mm(37-122mm equivalent)
Memory: SD card
Viewfinder: LCD
LCD Screen: 2.5-inch TFT
Video resolution: 640 x 480 pixel, 320 x 240 pixel
ISO range: ISO 100 to 1600
Focus modes: Single, Continuous
Max burst rate: 0.8 shots per second
Shutter speeds: 15 – 1/2000 sec
Weight: 186g
Dimensions: 94.3 x 61.6 x 31.2 mm
Power supply: AA batteries x 2
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