Canon Powershot A610 Review

The screen display for Auto mode. Icons indicate single frame drive mode, Auto with red- eye reduction flash, Auto exposure mode, Evaluative metering, image size is Large Superfine and there's space left on our SD card to take 62 more pictures.

When you half-press the shutter release, you will see which of the nine AF points (green rectangles) has achieved a focus lock.

Program AE mode is like Auto in that the camera selects both the shutter speed and aperture values for correct exposure, but you now have access to a multitude of camera settings like ISO speed, White balance, metering, etc.

In Tv (Shutter-speed priority) mode you select the shutter speed (from 1/2500 to 15 seconds) and the camera automatically selects the proper aperture value. Faster shutter speeds will "freeze" fast-moving subjects, slower speeds will let you pan with a fast-moving object and blur the background, or hold the camera steady and give moving objects that "motion blur" look.

In Av (Aperture priority AE) mode you select the aperture value (from F2.8 to F8.0) and the camera will automatically select the proper shutter speed. Selecting the aperture allows you to control depth of field (focus range), smaller numbers yield less depth of field, larger numbers yield more.

Program AE, Tv, Av and Manual mode Function options:

ISO Sensitivity Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Underwater (when used with the optional housing) and Custom one-push WB set
Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, 2 or 10 sec selftimer, or Custom timer (set delay 0 - 10 secs., number of shots 1 - 10)
Effect - Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, B&W
Flash intensity - Adjusts flash power ±2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
Metering - Evaluative, Center weighted Avg., Spot
Image Compression Superfine, Fine, Normal
Image Resolution 2592x1944, 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1024x768, 640x480, Postcard(1600x1200) this is a special 3:2 ratio mode for making 4x6 in. prints.

In Manual mode you have complete control, selecting both the shutter speed and the aperture values. All Menu options and camera settings are the same as Program AE, Tv, Av, etc.

When you half-press the shutter to lock auto focus, the exposure value will be calculated from the current shutter speed and aperture settings, the EV is displayed to the left of the aperture value (the -2/3 in our sample.)

Program AE, Tv, Av and Manual mode MENU options:

AF Frame - AiAF, Center, FlexiZone
Flash Sync - 1st-curtain or 2nd-curtain
Slow Synchro - On or Off
Red-eye - Red-eye reduction flash: On or Off
Spot AE Point - Center or AF point
MF-Point Zoom - On = Enlarge focus point during manual focus
AF Assist Beam - On or Off
Digital Zoom - On or Off
Review - Off, Hold or 2 - 10 secs
Reverse Disp - On or Off
Grid Lines - On or Off
Date Stamp - Off, date, or date&time (only works in 3:2 Postcard mode)
Save Settings - Saves current settings

When in manual focus mode you'll see this onscreen distance gauge and if selected in the menu, the active focus point is enlarged for critical focusing. (Note this screen capture is from the A520, as the A610 doesn't display the enlarged portion of the frame when using the AV cables. It does however have this feature when using the LCD.)

The camera has a very respectable macro focusing mode with coverage from 0.4 - 18 in. (1 - 45cm) in wide angle and 9.8 - 18 in. (25 - 45cm) in telephoto.

Shown above are the available pre-programmed scene modes that are accessed via the Mode Dial. Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene and My Colors are the only modes that feature a dedicated position on the Dial, the rest are located under the Scene position.

The StitchAssist Panorama mode aids you via on-screen prompts to achieve the proper overlap of sequential photos for later "stitching" with the PhotoStitch program. You can capture up to 26 images in either left-to-right or right-to-left orientation. After the first picture is taken the white balance and exposure is locked until you exit the StitchAssist mode.   Use of a tripod is required.

Movie mode allows you to record video clips with audio at resolutions of 640x480 or 320x240 with a frame rate of either 30 or 15 frames per second. The length of a clip is limited to 1GB. Movie clips are recorded in Motion JPEG format and saved as AVI files. Because sound is recorded, the optical zoom may be preset before recording, but can not be used during. You can opt to use the digital zoom, just be careful as it can degrade image quality. These are high- quality movies that take up about 1.8MB a second when using its 640x480 30fps mode.

Both the video and audio portion of movies can be replayed on the camera thanks to the built-in speaker. Full audio-video playback is also possible when connected to a TV with the supplied AV cables or on a PC after the file has been downloaded.

Movie mode recording options:

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Underwater (when used with the optional housing) Custom one-push WB set
Drive Mode - Self-timer 2 or 10 sec.
Effect - Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, B&W
Frame Rate - 30 or 15 frames per second
Movie Size: 640x480 or 320x240

Movie mode Menu options:

AF Assist Beam - On or Off
Digital Zoom - On or Off
Reverse Disp - On or Off
Grid Lines - On or Off