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Canon Powershot A640 digital camera review :

Canon decided to introduce their new range a month before the start of Photokina 2006. As well as several printers and other equipment, a new series of digital cameras was introduced, including the Canon PowerShot A640. The Canon PowerShot A-series has been around for several years and has always been popular. The A-series has a reputation for being accessible, reasonably priced and fully equipped to appeal to a broad public. The Canon PowerShot A640 also has a ten Megapixels CCD image sensor and 4x optical zoom.

Previous model – Canon PowerShot A620

The previous model, the Canon PowerShot A620, had 7 Megapixels and anticipated good sales figures. Whoever thought that the increase in resolution would not prove popular was soon taught better by the Canon A640 camera. Up until the present day, not one year has gone by without further increases in resolution. We are now up to the ten Megapixels segment, but 2007 has an increase to 12 Megapixels in store for us. I wonder if Canon will yield to the temptation?

Canon PowerShot A640 – Secure Digital High Capacity

With the replacement of the former top model, the A620, the Canon PowerShot A640 has gone straight to the top. The camera has been given a small facelift and has a larger LCD screen in addition to the increase in pixels. Fortunately, Canon has kept the tilting construction of the LCD screen. This part is and will remain to be a definite advantage. The Canon A640 has also been given the necessary updates such as support for the new SD platform, the SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) flash memory card. For the rest, this beautiful, black camera bears a close resemblance to its predecessor. Why change a winning combination?

Canon PowerShot A640 – 4x optical zoom lens

The Canon PowerShot A640 has a 4x optical zoom lens which realises a focal distance of 35-140 mm (equivalent to a 35 mm). Despite the comparatively large zoom range, the Canon PowerShot A640 has been kept reasonably compact. The lens has 8 elements in 7 groups, including two aspherical elements to maximise sharpness over the entire picture. The camera doesn’t have an optical image stabiliser and has to rely on high ISO settings to achieve a short shutter speed in order to avoid movement blur. Of course, this model also has a fast image processor; de DIGIC II. Although the last models and probably future generations of digital Canon cameras have and will be fitted with the new DIGIC III image processor, version II is still more than good enough. The reaction times while taking photographs are particularly fast and we soon noticed during the trial period that the ten Megapixels in resolution was not a burden.

Canon A640 Review

The Canon PowerShot A640 digital compact camera is a typical camera from the PowerShot A-series and gives users lots of convenience and user friendliness as well as a host of settings options. We tried the Canon A640 out for a while. You can read whether it is a worthy successor to the A620 and can live up to the high expectations in the following Canon PowerShot A640 digital camera review.

Canon PowerShot A640 | Digital Camera Review | Camera

Canon PowerShot A640 – Optical viewfinder

Canon should be congratulated for keeping the optical viewfinder. It is as if camera manufacturers have made a silent agreement to stop fitting cameras with the useful little viewfinder. LCD screens are getting bigger all the time and this has been used as an excuse for doing away with the optical viewfinder. Of course, the LCD screen plays a much more important role in a compact camera and the quality of the screens has improved enormously. However, a lot of consumers are still not ready to be forced to say goodbye to the viewfinder. Three cheers for Canon! Once again, Canon’s screen is a novelty. It can be tilted and folded out, something which increases the mobility while taking photographs enormously. The screen has been increased in size, and at 2.5 inches, it is the same as the competition. The number of buttons has been greatly restricted, in addition to the multi-control button, there are four buttons with the record/show switch completing the rear.

Canon PowerShot A640 – SDHC support

The Canon A620 has a card lock in the handgrip, but now there is just the hand grip with a small flap covering the interfaces like Video and USB. The Canon PowerShot A640′s handgrip feels a bit stiff, but does what it’s supposed to – it gives you a good grip. Underneath the handgrip is a compartment for the AA batteries and space for the flash memory card. Like nearly all Canon digital cameras, the Canon A640 supports Secure Digital. A new feature is the support of the SDHC platform, a Secure Digital format with a minimal storage capacity of 4GB which could in the future go up to a possible 32GB! The underside also has a universal tripod connection.

Canon PowerShot A640 | Digital Camera Review | Control

Canon PowerShot A640 – Shutter release

The shutter release button is placed on top of the handgrip. It is really typical of the Canon A640; it flies in the face of all the trends by not being compact, but clearly shows that features like the handgrip bring a lot of additional value. The shutter release button lies conveniently under your finger and gives exactly the right pressure when you press it half-way in to focus. A ring with a zoom function has been placed around the shutter release button. The camera can zoom in 4x optically (35 – 140mm). Zooming in could be a bit more accurate and leads to a slightly shakily made composition.

Canon Digital Imaging Products

In the summer of 2006, Canon introduced a whole range of digital products, including the PIXMA series of printers. To complete the picture, the Canon PowerShot A640 compact camera has a Print/Share button which supports the transport of pictures to a printer or computer. If the Canon A640 is connected to a PictBridge supporting printer, a menu is automatically activated in the camera with which you can print the saved pictures directly from the camera. During this procedure, it is easy to select a picture and make single or multiple prints of it. This means that a computer or notebook is no longer necessary.

Canon PowerShot A640 – FUNC button

One press of the menu button, directly under the back of the camera, activates the Canon A640′s menu. The menu is shown clearly on the large format display. The PowerShot A640′s predecessor, the A620, has a 2-inch screen. Navigating the menu is easy. It is conveniently arranged, has no unnecessary visual trimmings and is divided into tabs. Many common functions can be found behind the FUNC button. Settings like ISO, white balance, light metering and resolution can be approached directly via FUNC. You many have to get used to this at first, as Canon has clearly forged its own path with this construction, but you will soon get the hang of this camera.

Canon PowerShot A640 | Digital Camera Review | Adjustments

Canon DIGIC II processor

The Canon PowerShot A640 camera has a DIGIC II processor. This type of processor has more than proved its qualities and has brought many a Canon camera to a high performance level. The processor must also help to suppress noise and this works well up to 400 ISO. Above this, the noise ratio is so dominant that it is sometimes annoyingly visible. There is however, one good thing about the high ISO values: the details are preserved. The noise suppression is not so strong, and this may give more noise, but it also allows more detail to be shown. This is a feature that we have been seeing more of. In any case, it produces files that you can use third party noise suppression software on. Canon already has the new DIGIC III processor. Expectations of this new processor (which has been integrated into the PowerShot G7) are running high.

Canon PowerShot A640 – ISO settings

The pictures that we took with the Canon PowerShot A640 were really sharp. They have a lot of detail and can be easily post processed. The noise reduction does not leave heavy traces behind, which makes it possible to edit the images, something that comes in particularly handy with high ISO pictures. The prints of the test samples were of a really excellent quality. High ISO images up to 400 ISO can be printed easily at A4 format, but larger formats give visible noise. However, even 800 ISO samples produce good prints at postcard format.

Canon PowerShot A-series

The Canon PowerShot A640 digital compact camera has a host of talents. For years now, all the cameras throughout the entire PowerShot A-series have had the reputation of providing value for money and the Canon A640 is following in this tradition. Its versatility in combination with the all-round features and excellent optical zoom lens gives users a solid basis on which to practise photography up to a high level. Maybe some users will eventually want more and the Canon A640 can become a stepping stone on the way to a SLR.

Canon PowerShot A640 | Digital Camera Review | Storage and Energy

Canon PowerShot A640 – Secure Digital card

The Canon A640 camera has a card slot which can take a Secure Digital card. This format of card has become the standard flash memory card for a digital compact camera and even the latest digital SLR cameras from Nikon and Pentax support this little card. What’s new is the support from the Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) card. This new platform clears the way for SD memory cards with a storage capacity of 4GB and larger. If you combine the Canon PowerShot A640 with a SDHC 4GB card, there is enough space to save approximately 460 pictures in the highest quality. The Secure Digital format has a maximum capacity of 2GB; SDHC can grow to 32GB!

Canon PowerShot A640 – Energy

In general, I approve of using AA batteries instead of Lithium Ion batteries. Lithium Ion batteries are usually expensive and account for a large proportion of the price of the camera. Replacing or expanding them is also not a pleasant experience. Using AA batteries may make the camera thicker and heavier, but this doesn’t mean a worse performance. The integration of the DIGIC II processor enables the camera to use less energy. According to the CIPA Standard, four AA alkaline batteries will provide approximately 280 pictures, while fully charged NiMH batteries with a capacity of approximately 2500mAh are good for about twice that amount, i.e. 500 pictures. Another advantage of AA batteries is that you can buy them practically anywhere in the world.

Canon PowerShot A640 | Digital Camera Review | Conclusion

Canon PowerShot A640 Conclusion

I think that Canon’s success with its digital camera range is set to continue thanks to the excellent quality of the Canon PowerShot A640. I really liked this camera when I tried it out. The handy format with good grip, and more importantly, the settings options gave me lots of freedom to take a successful picture. This camera certainly contributes to Canon’s continuing success as a camera manufacturer. The Canon A640 is a typical camera from the PowerShot A series and is currently the top model in this camera segment. The ten Megapixel resolution is not really an improvement on its predecessor. It just gives you slightly bigger enlargements, but this is hardly worth the trouble. The 10 Megapixels are more like a logical next step in the Megapixel race. It’s up to you whether you want to join it or not. The result is in any case, enough to be able to wallpaper a room with posters or post process a picture yourself to create your own digital masterpiece. What I want to say is that it all doesn’t matter so much. The quality of the pixel and way in which the internal image processing achieves its final result is much more important. The Canon A640 manages to do this just fine. The quality of the optical zoom lens is excellent and can match the high resolution.

Canon PowerShot A640 – Points to approve

There are still some things that could be improved upon. Take the noise ratio at 400 ISO and higher ISO settings. They are good for a ten Megapixel camera, but not totally clean. The competition (aka Fujifilm) has shown that they can achieve great results in regard to reducing noise at high ISO settings with the Super CCD sensor. Not only Canon could learn a thing or two from them but most manufacturers should chuck a considerable portion of their research budget in this direction. I also thought that the way in which Canon adjusts the white balance in pictures taken in artificial light went too far. Admitted, you keep more or less the same atmosphere during the picture, but they should have filtered out more. Some other features also lost out to the concept, such as the long time it took the internal flash to recharge (approximately 5 seconds) before the next picture could be taken, but some were just to cut back on costs. Take the rather low resolution of the otherwise very handy fold out screen. With just a bit more resolution, it would have been easier to see in direct sunlight. A small disadvantage was the accuracy of the optical zoom. Enlarging from 35 – 140mm took 7 steps, which sometimes made it difficult to make an accurate composition.

Canon PowerShot A640 Review

The extensive manual and automatic setting options offered by a camera from the PowerShot A-series are a surprise every time. What stood out was the generous zoom range of 4x, the possibility to extend the focal range via an optional converter, the energy efficient character and the speed with which large files can be processed. The Canon PowerShot A640 also has excellent colour reproduction that is more than sharp enough. One thing is clear; when you focus on the good points, you will soon forget all about the down sides. Its predecessor already had a great reputation and the Canon PowerShot A640 is continuing the success story. You could still argue over the lack of certain speed keys for, e.g. ISO, but in this regard, the concept comes very close to its big brother, the Canon PowerShot G7. A visible difference must remain and as far as I’m concerned, Canon has drawn up the right boundaries. The Canon PowerShot A640 is an excellent digital compact camera that can be used by beginners, but which will also give them the opportunity to learn and maybe take the next step to a digital reflex camera. A great camera, really excellent!

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