Canon PowerShot A1400 Preview

by Mike Tomkins
Posted 01/07/2013

If it's time to replace your existing camera, and the most important criterion is the pricetag, then the Canon PowerShot A1400 will be on your list to consider -- it comes quite close to the magic $99 price point, yet still manages to include a healthy zoom range and a high-res sensor. You may also be looking at it for another reason: unlike the vast majority of affordably-priced cameras these days, it actually has an optical viewfinder!

Impressively for the price, the Canon A1400 has a 5x optical zoom lens with a 28mm wide angle. Maximum aperture varies from f/2.8 to a decidedly dim f/6.9 across the zoom range, and there's no optical image stabilization, but that's really to be expected at this price. Canon does at least include digital image stabilization, which will try and prevent blurring, but will likely increase noise levels in the process. The A1400 features a 16 megapixel image sensor paired with a DIGIC 4 image processor. There's also a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a little smaller than that on most cameras these days, but not unduly so.

As well as stills, you can also shoot 720p high-definition video clips. Power comes from two standard AA batteries, and the Canon A1400 features an unusual Eco mode that detects when the camera is stationary and puts it in sleep mode after ten seconds.

The Canon PowerShot A1400 ships from February 2013, with estimated retail pricing of around US$110.