Canon PowerShot A10Canon introduces a "value priced, full featured" 1.3 megapixel with 3x zoom lens and great image quality!<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 5/16/2001 |
Test Results
In keeping with our standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only our key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the PowerShot A10's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource product tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how the A10's images compare to other cameras you may be considering.
Throughout our testing, the A10 produced excellent color, with good saturation. The automatic white balance system handled most of our lighting situations fairly well, though we noticed an orange cast in our Indoor Flash Portrait from the background incandescent lighting. On the Indoor Portrait without flash, the A10's incandescent white balance setting handled the tough lighting very well, producing a well-balanced image with just a hint of warmth to it. (The A10 left just a little more cast in the image than the A20 did, but it still did very well overall.) The large color blocks of our Davebox test target appeared quite accurate, though just slightly undersaturated, with blue tints in the red and magenta blocks. The A10 handled the difficult blues in the flower bouquet of our Outdoor test shot very well, though we noticed faint purple tints in the flowers in the indoor shots (this is a common problem for many cameras we've tested). We also noticed a slight oversaturation of red / magenta in the skin tones. As with the A20, we had only very minor quibbles with the A10's color performance, and were very pleased with its performance overall.
In our laboratory resolution test, the A10 resolved the target patterns cleanly (with no artifacts) out to 500 lines per picture height in both horizontal and vertical directions, with good detail showing to 650 lines in both directions, although artifacts became quite evident starting around 600 lines. "Extinction" of the target lines occurred at about 800 lines of resolution in both directions. Overall, a bit better than average among the other 1.3-megapixel cameras we've tested.
We found the A10's optical viewfinder to be fairly tight, showing only 75.6 percent of the final image area at wide angle, and about 79.4 percent at telephoto (at the 1,280 x 960-pixel resolution size). We also noticed that images framed with the optical viewfinder were slanted toward the lower left corner, indicating a slightly shifted CCD. The LCD monitor was much more accurate, showing approximately 99.06 percent of the final image area at telephoto (also at the 1,280 x 960-pixel resolution size). We were unable to measure the exact frame accuracy at the wide angle setting, as our standard lines of measurement were just outside of the frame in the final image, causing the LCD monitor to be a little loose at the wide angle setting. Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accurate as possible, the A10 did very well in this regard. Flash distribution is fairly even at the telephoto setting, with a small hot spot / reflection in the center of the target. At wide angle, flash distribution is slightly uneven, with falloff around the edges and in the corners of the frame.
The A10 had some difficulty with the low-light category, as the camera produced a bright, only somewhat usable image at the eight foot-candle light level (0.88 lux). Images were still usable (with post-exposure tweaking on the computer) as low as one foot-candle (11 lux), but became progressively darker from there. Noise was pretty low in all of the images, with a small grain pattern. To put the A10's low-light performance into perspective, an average city night scene under modern street lighting corresponds to a light level of about one foot-candle, meaning most night exposures will require use of the built-in flash.
The A10 doesn't get terribly close for macro shots, capturing a minimum area of 6.93 x 5.20 inches (175.97 x 131.98 mm). However, color, detail and resolution were all good, with great detail visible in the coins as well as on the brooch. The gray background showed moderate noise, and we noticed a small amount of barrel distortion from the lens' wide angle setting. The A10's built-in flash did a good job of throttling down for the macro area, maintaining good color and increased clarity. Flash coverage is a little uneven, with a large hot spot in the center of the image (a tiny reflection in the coin), and falloff along the edges and in the corners.
Despite limited exposure control, the A10 performed very well throughout our testing. Images show good resolution and detail, accurate color, and good quality overall. You'll need a flash for most low-light shots, and the camera doesn't focus as closely as some in macro mode. These minor limitations aside, the A10 should produce excellent photos under typical shooting conditions.
Conclusion
The Canon PowerShot A10 is an excellent option for novice and beginning photographers who want to make the move into digital photography. Its automatic exposure control takes the worry out of snapping quick, high-quality pictures, and it provides a fair mix of user selectable controls that allow for some creative input. The 1.3-megapixel CCD captures good quality images, with excellent color saturation and picture resolution. Despite some limitations in low-light shooting capabilities, the A10 was able to handle a variety of exposure situations, including indoor shots illuminated by available light. Overall, the A10 performed admirably when compared to the 2.1-megapixel PowerShot A20, giving up only the higher resolution CCD and video-out capabilities. This is a great camera, with good features and excellent image quality. With a list price under $400 at its introduction, it should prove very competitive in the consumer digicam marketplace. If you're a beginning digital photographer and seldom need prints larger than roughly 5x7 inches, it'd be hard to go wrong with the A10!
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