I have been a digital camera owner for four or five years now. My first digital camera, a Kodak, was one of the first models with 2.0 megapixels. And I paid a ridiculous premium for that reason.
Today, the technology of digital cameras is evolving quickly. As a result, the cameras are getting smaller, faster, lighter, and, well, better.
So why would I dump a still working older digital camera for a sleek, stylish young thing? My older Kodak just could not take a decent picture in low light. Consequentially, most of the time pictures taken indoors would be very fuzzy or blurry. When I started looking for my first house, I knew that I would need a digital camera capable of taking quality indoor pictures. So I researched the issue here on Epinions, and decided on the Canon Powershot A75.
The Canon Powershot A75
First, I would like to say that I am a very average digital camera user. I do not have a lot of experience with photography and do not know a lot about other digital cameras, except the older Kodak model that I own. If you want a very detailed review from a more experienced perspective, check out Howard Creech's review
here.
First Impressions
The first thing that I noticed when I took the A75 out of the box was that it was a lot smaller and lighter than my older camera. The camera is small enough to fit in a pocket, and the ergonomics are good, making it easy and comfortable to hold while taking pictures. The second thing that I noticed was that it came with four normal AA batteries. The charger kit of course is available separately, for an additional $56.
Getting the camera ready was relatively simple. Just insert the four AA batteries, the 32M CompactFlash memory card, and press that on/off button down for a second or two. Push the mode switch to the little picture of a camera, make sure the exposure is on auto, and it is ready to start taking pictures. The package also includes a good quick start guide and owner's manual if you need more detailed instructions to get started.
Taking the Pictures
Taking pictures is easy. Just press the shutter button down halfway to focus. The camera will beep when it is focused. Then just press the button down the rest of the way to take the picture. The control for the zoom is on the front and is reasonably quick and responsive.
Reviewing
Reviewing your pictures is also easy. The picture will flash for a second or so on the LCD screen immediately after you take the shot. To review the pictures later, just move the mode switch to playback. The 1.8" LCD screen provides a very nice quality image. Unfortunately, after a few months one of the pixels on the LCD screen burned out. This really just a minor annoyance, which doesn't seriously affect the overall image.
Downloading the Photos
If the other parts so far were easy, downloading was effortless. While in Playback mode, I simply plugged in the USB cable, and Windows XP automatically offered to download the pictures using the scanner and camera wizard. It was so easy and worked so well that I have not even bothered to install any of the included software.
The All Important Photo Quality
I was immediately impressed! The pictures are very sharp and clear. I took hundreds of pictures while touring houses with my real estate agent to remind me of what I had seen. Using the auto exposure setting, I had excellent results. Both indoor and outdoor pictures were sharp and clear. I also took some pictures of areas with very little light, such as storage spaces under stairs or unlighted attics. The flash works very well and the pictures turned out great.
I have printed many 4x6 pictures using my
inexpensive Canon printer and 4x6 Canon photo paper. The pictures turned out excellent. Several people that I showed the pictures to were surprised to find out that they were digital pictures that I had printed myself. The quality is very similar to what you could expect from a reasonably priced 35mm camera. I have also printed 4x6 pictures using photo paper from other brands, but these pictures did not turn out as well as the pictures that I printed using Canon paper.
I have printed several 8x10 pictures. The first picture was of a house that we considered buying. The colors are very realistic. The picture is just slightly fuzzy compared to the 4x6 pictures, but still quite good. The second 8x10 was of an albino squirrel that lives in our back yard. The picture turned out very well. The squirrel was easy to see, and there was a nice contrast between the different shades of green of the foliage in the back yard. Finally I shot an 8x10 family picture during Thanksgiving. I printed this picture on high-quality Kodak photo paper. The picture looked pretty good. The quality was similar to an 8x10 enlargement from an inexpensive 35mm camera. There was a large green curtain next to a white wall in the background of the picture, and the green color bled slightly at transition between the wall and curtain. Other than that, the picture looked good.
A Few Important Specs
In case you missed these before, here are a few of the more important facts you might want to know about this camera:
Resolution: 3.2 Megapixels
Zoom: 3X Optical Zoom
Memory: CompactFlash (32M Card Included)
Batteries: Four AA (rechargeable kit sold separately)
Connections: USB 1.1 and A/V out
Other Considerations
The A75 has 13 exposure settings and manual control for the more experienced or adventurous users. The A75 is also capable of using some external lenses.
When I bought the A75, the price was higher than comparable models from other brands. However, I have recently seen the camera on sale for around $200. I think that this camera is a good value for that price.
Negatives
I am disappointed in the fact that the rechargeable battery kit is not included with the camera, and is overpriced. I chose to buy a different brand's AA charger and batteries instead, for quite a bit less money. If you plan on taking a lot of pictures, you will probably need to buy a bigger memory card. This camera comes with a 32M CompactFlash card included. If you plan on taking many pictures, you will probably want to have at least a 128M card. A 128M card will hold about 75 images at the highest quality setting.
Overall
The Canon Powershot A75 is small, light, and takes excellent pictures. Since the price recently came down, it is now a good value. So far I have been very impressed and I highly recommend this camera.
