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"Picky Details" for the Canon PowerShot A410 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Canon PowerShot A410:

Canon PowerShot A410 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	1.1	LCD turns on and lens extends forward.
Shutdown	1.7 - 4	First time is time to retract lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time.
Play to Record, first shot	1.6	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	2.0 - 1.6	First time is that required to display a large/fine file immediately after capture, second time is that needed to display a large/fine file that has already been processed and stored on the memory card.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.76 / 0.64	First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.062	Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button.
Cycle Time, single shot mode	1.83	Times are averages. Regardless of resolution, shoots at this rate indefinitely, clearing the buffer after each shot.
Cycle Time, Flash exposures	10	Flash at maximum power output.
Cycle Time, continuous mode	0.42 (2.4 fps)	Times are averages. Regardless of resolution, shoots at this rate seemingly indefinitely. Buffer clears in 2 seconds after over 100 large/fine images, almost immediately for lowest resolution.

Power

The Canon PowerShot A410 uses a two AA batteries for power, and ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera. The table below shows the power drain I measured in various operating modes, and the corresponding run times to be expected from a standard set of 1600 mAh NiMH cells.

Operating Mode	Power (@3.3 volts on the external power terminal)	Est. Minutes (two 1600 mA cells)
Capture Mode, w/LCD	302 mA	231
Capture Mode, no LCD	42 mA	1676
Half-pressed shutter w/LCD	302 mA	231
Half-pressed w/o LCD	239 mA	291
Memory Write (transient)	260 mA	n/a
Flash Recharge (transient)	490 mA	n/a
Image Playback	90 mA	779

Storage Capacity

The Canon PowerShot A410 stores its photos on SD / MMC memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included 16 MB card at each size/quality setting.

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 16 MB Memory Card		Fine	Normal	Basic
2048 x 1536	Images (Avg size)	9 1.7 MB	16 943 KB	33 479 KB
2048 x 1536	Approx. Compression	6:1	11:1	20:1
1600 x 1200	Images (Avg size)	15 1.1 MB	26 595 KB	50 314 KB
1600 x 1200	Approx. Compression	5:1	10:1	18:1
1024 x 768	Images (Avg size)	26 612 KB	46 347 KB	80 198 KB
1024 x 768	Approx. Compression	4:1	7:1	12:1
640 x 480	Images (Avg size)	56 281 KB	88 182 KB	138 116 KB
640 x 480	Approx. Compression	3:1	5:1	8:1

Download Speed

The Canon PowerShot A410 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 771 KBytes/second. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)

A410 Review
A410 Test Images
A410 Specifications
A410 "Picky Details"
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