The A80 features a 3X (38-114mm in the 35mm format) f/2.8-4.9 all-glass aspherical zoom lens. When the camera is powered down the lens is retracted inside of the body and a built in shutter closes to completely protect the lens.

An advanced TTL AiAF nine-point autofocus system permits the camera to automatically select the primary subject even when off-center. Focusing range is 1.5 feet to infinity in normal mode and macro coverage is 2 to 18 inches in wide angle and 10 to 18 inches in telephoto. In low light conditions the focus-assist lamp (see above) helps to illuminate the subject for accurate focusing.

Attaching auxilliary Canon lenses couldn't be easier. Press the button and remove the dress ring, attach the optional LA-DC52C Conversion Lens Adapter and then the Canon WC-DC52 0.7x Wide Converter lens, TC-DC52 2.4x Tele-converter lens or the 250D Close-up Lens.

The LA-DC52C adapter also allows the use of any 52mm filters or lenses.

The Lensmate folks now have both a 37mm (shown above) and a 52mm lens adapter for the Canon A80/A95 camera.

The built in flash offers Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye Reduction On or Auto. Flash range is 1.5 to 14 ft. in wide angle, 1.5 to 8.2 ft. in telephoto or 10 in. to 1.5 ft. in macro mode. The AF-assist lamp also serves as a red-eye reduction lamp (see first picture above.)

You can frame your pictures with the color LCD or to save precious battery power you can use the optical eyelevel finder. This is a coupled viewfinder with approx. 82% coverage. It has no dioptric adjustment. Next to the finder are two LEDs that indicate the flash and focus status.

The 1.5-inch color LCD monitor can be rotated 270° to allow for viewing from a variety of shooting angles.

It can even be turned around to the front of the camera for self-portrait shots.

And when not in use, the color LCD can be turned around and closed into the body to protect it.

On the top you'll find the On/Off button, the shutter release with the zoom lens control mounted around it. In playback mode the zoom lever functions as the index and magnified image control. The Mode Dial with positions for: Auto, Program, Shutter- speed priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom 1 and 2, Movie, Stitch-Assist, Slow, Fast, Night, Landscape, Portrait. See the next page for more information about the exposure modes.

Controls on the back include a Play / Record switch. The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record mode you press "Up" to change flash mode, press "Down" to change the the focus mode. The SET button accepts menu selections, the MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus, the DISPlay button turns the color LCD on/off and controls the amount of data displayed on it, the FUNCtion button gives you access to many settings (Exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, Color effects, image quality and image size.), it also functions as the image delete button in playback mode.

See the next page for more information about the Record mode menus.

The I/O ports: AV Out handles monaural audio and video to connect to a TV set with the supplied cable. The DIGITAL port connects USB to the computer for image download and camera control with the supplied RemoteCapture software. It also allows for Direct printing to Canon Card Photo Printer CP-100, CP-200, CP-300, Bubblejet Direct Photo printers and PictBridge compatible printers. The DC IN jack is for the optional AC power adapter or an external battery pack.

The Powershot A80 is equipped with a Type I CompactFlash card slot and comes with a 32MB CF card. It can handle any capacity CF Type I card.

The A80 is powered by four standard AA-type batteries, alkaline, NiMH or lithium cells. Canon claims approx. 250 shots/approx. 800 shots (LCD monitor ON), approx. 350 shots/approx. 1000 shots (LCD monitor OFF). Playback Time approx. 280 min/approx 280 min. The first time is calculated using alkaline cells, the second time is using 1700mAh (or better) NiMH rechargeable cells.

Canon offers a battery and charger kit CBK100 that includes four NiMH batteries. The A80 can also be powered by the AC Adapter Kit ACK600 for unlimited runtime from your wall outlet.

For all-weather protection and use underwater to depths up to 130 feet, the WP-DC800 Waterproof Case is just the ticket.