Canon Powershot A20 Review

There is little difference between Auto or Manual Record modes except for the camera icon in the upper left corner. The A20 does not have a true manual mode. Manual record mode allows the user to select a desired exposure compensation value or white balance setting but other than that the camera still automatically selects both shutter speed and aperture.

In Manual record mode you press the "+/- WB" button on the back to access either the exposure compensation or white balance settings. You can see the effect of using an exposure override value in realtime on the LCD screen. Values from -2 to +2 can be selected in 0.3EV increments.

The white balance settings are Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent or Black and White. The changes to the color will be seen on the LCD as you select an option. In most cases the AWB (auto) setting works just fine.

The menu options are the same whether you are in Auto or Manual.

Resolution - Sets the output image size (Large 1600x1200, Medium 1024x768, Small 640x480)

Compression - The level of JPEG quality (SuperFine, Fine or Normal)

Review - The image captured is displayed on the LCD (Off, 2 or 10 sec)

File No. Reset - If OFF then images will be sequentially numbered

Beep - Beep sounds when pressing buttons (On, Off)

Format CF Card - Format the CF card or check for remaining space

Setup - Enter the SETUP menu, see next frame.

The SETUP menu can be accessed in Record or Play mode:

Auto Power Down - To save battery power the camera will automatically power down after one minute of inactivity.

Date/Time - Set the date and time info in the internal clock

Video System - Video output signal format (NTSC or PAL)

Menu Language - Select menu language (English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese)