Monday, January 26, 2009

Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera

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Product Review

I own a Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera and consider myself a photography enthusiast. I wanted a small compact camera with me when I don’t want to lug around my DSLR + lenses and equipment. After a previous good experience with the Canon A720 IS, the new A590 IS seemed like a good choice.

Since I’m an advanced photographer, I’ll focus on the advanced features of this camera. The auto modes work as well as any other camera in its class, but the extensive manual features is what sets apart the Canon A series. What I like about the camera:

Compact, stylish. It’s smaller than older A Powershots, and the dark grey color gives it a seriousness compared to the typical bright silver finish.

Image stabilization works very well, it allows me to take blur-free photos 2-3 stops below the recommended shutter speed, that means at 35-50mm f2.8 1/10 sec shots are CONSISTENTLY possible indoors without using flash.

Good image quality. Expected from Canon, but even better is adjustable contrast, saturation, and sharpness settings, along with the typical JPG compression and resolution sizes.

Fast and responsive. I was surprised how responsive this camera is even compared with my DSLR. Shutter lag is very low for a compact digicam, and when I pre-focus with manual focus, it’s even faster.

Manual modes. Aperture priority and shutter priority are great, the M mode is even better than other A Powershots such as the A720 because now there’s a light meter on the right side that adjusts live based on what the camera thinks is the optimal exposure setting. And you can adjust aperture/shutter speed and see how it affects the final exposure. Ideally a live histogram would be even better, but this is very handy.

Manual focus. Although the LCD resolution is not good enough, even with the point zoom option, manual focus helps in close-up work and pre-focusing for action or creative photography.

Manual flash modes. In addition to automatic flash. The manual flash allows me to adjust the flash power in 3 levels, and prevents a pre-flash. This last part is important for using a remote optical slave flash. I can basically take professional looking studio pictures with this camera with my external flash equipment.

Optical viewfinder. I don’t use this much yet, but can come in handy in bright sunlight conditions, or when battery conservation is needed.

Battery performance seems improved over previous A powershots too. The official specs give it 220 shots on regular alkalines and 500 on rechargeable NiMHs. Good news is they use common AA batteries that you can buy anywhere instead of proprietary models with specific chargers.

Product Description


Manufacturer Description

The PowerShot A590 IS will astound you with its power-packed performance and impressive value. It’s got 8 megapixels, a 4x optical zoom, an Optical Image Stabilizer, and a large 2.5-inch LCD. A range of shooting modes -- from manual to automatic, including Canon’s new Easy Mode -- make picture-taking carefree. A DIGIC III Image Processor with Enhanced Canon Face Detection assures natural-looking results, while Motion Detection Technology reduces blur. For added creativity, attach wide or telephoto converter lenses.

Canon PowerShot A590IS Highlights

8 megapixels with 4x optical zoom and optical image stabilizer With the PowerShot A590 IS, dramatic, personal pictures have never been easier to shoot and share. The 8.0-megapixel design lets you create impressive high resolution images of family and friends you’ll be proud display. The genuine Canon 4x zoom lens moves you in for powerful close-ups -- like a bird in flight or a child’s winning goal -- at the touch of a button. Plus, Canon’s highly sophisticated Optical Image Stabilizer keeps every shot absolutely steady even when you’re not.

2.5-inch 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 high-resolution screen offers a crisp, clear and bright picture. It also features Night Display for easy viewing in low light.



New Easy Mode simplifies operation Even if you’ve never picked up a camera before, with Canon’s new Easy Mode you can take inspiring, dramatic pictures that will impress everyone. Once you choose Easy Mode, the PowerShot A590 IS handles all the details automatically. It automatically sets every camera control including the flash to reduce blur and improve image quality. So you get pictures that are bright, clear and natural just by pushing a button. Best of all, you can relax and concentrate on what really counts -- your subject.


Selectable shooting modes With 19 Shooting Modes including 7 Special Scene Modes, you’re ready for whatever shot comes your way.


DIGIC III Image Processor With DIGIC III, your images boast superior quality, the camera operates at top efficiency and battery life is enhanced. What’s more, DIGIC III enables Canon’s Face Detection Technology and Red-eye Correction to give you better, more true-to-life people shots. Simply press the Shutter Button halfway down, and the camera automatically pinpoints the faces in the scene and chooses the ideal focus point. The camera controls exposure settings and flash to keep every face looking bright and natural. Red-eye Correction can be handled in-camera, in two ways. The entirely new Red-eye Correction during shooting uses the Face Detection Technology to recognize and remove red-eye from flash images as they're taken, before the file is written to the memory card. It's also possible to correct red-eye during image playback, using simple settings in the A590 IS's menu.


iSAPS Technology is an entirely original scene-recognition technology developed for digital cameras by Canon. Using an internal database of thousands of different photos, iSAPS works with the fast DIGIC III Image Processor to improve focus speed and accuracy, as well as exposure and white balance.


Face Detection Technology Canon's powerful Face Detection Technology delivers even better results with the new A590 IS. The Face Detection Technology continues to recognize faces in a scene, and concentrate exposure (daylight or flash) and focus upon them. But the A590 IS adds more: Face Detection WB means the camera concentrates upon faces when calculating white balance for the best possible skin tones. Face Select and Track lets the A590 IS user highlight one face among several in a scene, and the camera concentrates on that person, even as they move around the scene. Face Detection Technology is a powerful contributing factor in Canon's new Motion Detection Technology.


Red-eye Correction Red-eye Correction provides three options for removing red-eye from subjects in flash pictures.

  • The new Red-eye Correction during shooting actually identifies and corrects red-eye in human subjects as pictures are taken.

  • The A590 IS can be set to automatically detect and correct red-eye during image playback.

  • The user can manually locate any red eyes in a scene during image playback on the LCD screen, and command the camera to remove them.

High ISO The PowerShot A590 IS features ISO 1600 and High ISO Auto settings that reduce the effects of camera shake and sharpen subjects in low-light situations, giving you greater shooting flexibility.



Motion Detection Technology automatically reduces blur Life doesn’t stand still for picture-taking. That’s why Canon included its advanced Motion Detection Technology in the PowerShot A590 IS. This sophisticated feature works in the background to instantly evaluate how fast your subject is moving. Then it automatically selects and sets the optimal exposure and ISO settings to keep everything looking sharp and clear. So whether you’re shooting a bride walking down the aisle, a ballet recital or even a child’s soccer game, you can relax and shoot with confidence knowing you’ve got the picture you intended.


Accepts Wide-Angle and Telephoto Converter Lenses To expand your creativity, the PowerShot A590 IS is compatible with shooting accessories such as wide and tele converter lenses, High-Power Flash designed for all of the PowerShot models.

The Complete Print Solution

The A590IS features a Print/Share button for easy direct printing and downloading, plus ID Photo Print and Movie Print with select Pixma photo printers and Selphy compact photo printers.

The PowerShot A590 IS's Print/Share button makes direct printing easier than ever. Simply connect the A590 IS to a Canon Pixma photo printer or Selphy compact photo printer or any PictBridge compatible photo printer, press the lighted Print/Share button and print! Also use the Print/Share button to transfer images to a computer (Windows and Macintosh).


Print your own ID photos in 28 different sizes or use the Movie Print function to output multiple stills from a recorded movie on a single sheet with a Canon Selphy compact photo printer.



Product Description

The PowerShot A590 IS will astound you with its power-packed performance and impressive value. It's got 8.0-megapixels, a 4x optical zoom, an Optical Image Stabilizer and a large 2.5-inch LCD. A range of shooting modes - from manual to automatic including Canon's new Easy Mode - make picture taking carefree. A DIGIC III Image Processor with Enhanced Canon Face Detection assures natural-looking results, while Motion Detection Technology reduces blur. For added creativity, attach wide or telephoto converter lenses. ISO Sensitivity - Auto, High ISO Auto, ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600 equivalent Built-in ElectronicFlash - Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Auto Red-eye Correction, Flash On, Flash Off; FE lock, Slow Synchro Flash Range - 12 in.-11 ft./30cm-3.5m (W), 12 in.-7.2 ft./30cm-2.2m (T) (when sensitivity is set to ISO Auto) Shooting Modes - Auto, Easy, Camera M, Portrait, Landscape, Special Scene (Foliage, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Night Scene, Aquarium), Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Movie Storage Media - SD/SDHC Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, MMC Plus Card, HC MMC Plus Card - Suggest optional 1GB or higher for practical use File Format Design rule for camera file system, DPOF Version 1.1; JPEG Compression Mode - Still Image - Exif 2.2 (JPEG); Movie - AVI (Image - Motion JPEG; Audio - WAVE (Monaural)) Number of Recording Pixels - Still Image - 3,264 x 2,448 (Large), 2,592 x 1,944 (Medium 1), 2,048 x 1,536 (Medium 2), 1,600 x 1,200 (Medium 3/Date Stamp), 640 x 480 (Small), 3,264 x 1,832 (Widescreen); Movie - 640 x 480 (20 fps/20 fps LP), 320 x 240 (30 fps) available up to 4GB or 60 minutes, 160 x 120 (up to 3 minutes at 15 fps) Uses 2 AA Batteries - Shooting Capacity for Still Image - approx. 220 shots (AA-size Alkaline Battery), approx. 500 shots (AA-size Ni-MH Battery); Playback Time - Approx. 540 min. (AA-size Alkaline Battery), approx. 660 min. (AA-size Ni-MH Battery) - Sugg

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