Canon PowerShot A2000 IS

Canon seems to be firing on all cylinders, continually expanding their PowerShot A-series of budget and mainstream digital cameras. The latest additions to the series are the A1000 IS and A2000 IS which feature a 10 megapixel sensor and a sleeker design, but come minus some of the useful features that have so far been standard on the A-series. We took the A2000 IS outdoors for a photography session to find out how well it clicks.

Older A-series cameras had a boxy design with a bulge on the right side for a firm grip. The new models are slimmer but less comfortable, with a wedge-shaped design. Also traditionally present in the list of features were an optical viewfinder and lots of shooting modes including Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv) and Manual.

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Now, in a quest to make digital photography simpler, Canon has decided to omit the more control-friendly modes as well. The A2000 IS is equipped with a 6x zoom lens (36–216 mm) which is a big bonus for outdoor photography and shooting close-ups. An optical image stabilizer reduces the possibility of blurry images caused by shaky hands.

The control panel is quite elaborate with hotkeys even for face detection and ISO speed

You can choose between 10 shooting modes using the dial placed to the left of the shutter release button. These include Program, Portrait, Landscape, Night scene, Fireworks and Kids and pets. Shutterbugs will be very disappointed as the list of modes excludes Av, Tv and Manual modes—you don’t have any control over the exposure except for the ISO speed, white balance and exposure compensation settings which can be adjusted only in the Program mode.

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Those who aren’t familiar with digital photography can use the Automatic or Easy modes, the latter being the simplest to use. The only option available in Easy mode is enabling or disabling the flash—you cannot even change the image resolution or use the face detection feature and timer!

Notice the tapering body design and the mode dial without manual exposure controls

The most striking improvements in this model are a larger display and a couple of shortcuts in the control panel. Canon has managed to squeeze in a 3-inch LCD by doing away with the optical viewfinder and trimming the control panel area. The improved D-pad buttons double as shortcuts for the ISO, Flash, Macro and Timer settings. The camera uses SD/SDHC media for storage and comes with a 32 MB SD card.

The A2000 IS performs exceptionally in well-lit conditions with excellent reproduction of colors and details at the base ISO speed (ISO 80). Capturing night scenes is very challenging without the Manual mode, and noise intensifies with ISO speeds greater than 400. ISO 800, 1600 and 3200 speeds are present only as a marketing gimmick, and aren’t of any practical use. The A2000 IS also excels indoors and delivers good exposure levels and color reproduction with the flash enabled.

For its street price of Rs. 13,500 (with a 2GB card), the overall performance is slightly above average.

Technical Specifications: