Canon Powershot A470 Digital Camera Review

Why Buy the Canon Powershot A470?
As you will see from my review the sharpness of the photos and the general picture quality achieved by the Powershot A470 is very difficult for other digital cameras in this price range to match. So if it’s picture quality you want at a low price you will find this camera hard to beat.



Image Quality

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom) Right from the start I can see that focusing from the Powershot A470 digital camera is well above average even for more expensive cameras. This is not really a surprise to me as Canon digital cameras tend to outperform all other makes when it comes to sharpness. Colours are about right and the camera handles the scene well.	Canon Powershot A470: Outdoor 2 (No Zoom) With the lens zoomed all the way out I am used to seeing more than a degree of softness in this test shot. The Powershot A470 performs very well though and this is one of the sharper wide angle test results.
Canon Powershot A470: Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom) Again the digital camera is outstanding when it comes to the sharpness of the photo. Looking at a larger version of the photo I can make out the writing on a placard on the left hand side of the photo. The tiles on the roofs in a more central position are also very clear indeed.	Canon Powershot A470: Outdoor 4 (Building) This shot is always a good test for whether or not a camera can take a sharp shot. This Canon digital camera has no problems and the brickwork in the shaded area of the shot is still in sharp focus.
Canon Powershot A470: Outdoor Portrait I like this portrait. The colours add a little warmth to the shot and the skin tones work well too. I have used face detection focusing to help with sharpness and a white balance setting of cloudy to boost colours.	Canon Powershot A470: Indoor Portrait with Flash This is another good test result. There is plenty of detail in the shot and it works well in general. The only way I would improve it is to add a touch more brightness.
Canon Powershot A470: Indoor Portrait without Flash The Powershot A470 once again outperforms a number of more expensive digital cameras. There is plenty of definition in this photo and it suggests the camera should be able to handle situations where the light is not perfect.	Canon Powershot A470: Colours Throughout my test shots the colours have been strong without being overpowering
Canon Powershot A470: Macro This is not a bad effort, but it lacks the overall clarity of the test shot produced by the more advanced Canon Powershot A590 IS.

Views on Noise -  ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At ISO 400, this level noise does start to creep in, especially in darker areas of the shot. Boost the ISO rating up further to 1600 and picture quality really begins to suffer. Only use this setting in an emergency.

Overall
Taking into account the cost of the Powershot A470, Canon have produced an excellent digital camera when it comes to picture quality.

Shutter Lag
Without flash the shutter lag figures are good. A single shot was captured in 0.28 seconds and five shots too 7.6 seconds. With flash on it was very different and lag times are very slow. A single shot was taken in 1.13 seconds, while five shots took a slow 23.29 seconds.

Style: In my opinion this digital camera will not win any beauty competitions! It is an elongated, rectangular shape. The camera is manly silver, but you can get models with different coloured centre pieces on the front. These colours are blue, silver, red and green.

Dimensions: 104.8 x 55.1 x 40.7mm

Weight: 165g

Batteries: Two AA batteries. Canon estimates you should be able to take around 150 shots with a standard set of batteries.

Memory cards: Canon supplies a 32mb SD memory card with the Powershot A470. This is enough for around 18 pictures. The camera is also compatible with SDHC memory cards.

Ease of use: Good. The Powershot A470 is easy enough to use, but there are more straightforward, entry level digital cameras around.

Points I liked:
Overall picture quality – sharpness of photos – value for money

Where it could improve:
Shutter lag with flash

Alternatives
Another entry level camera I like that will not break the bank is the Samsung Digimax S760.

David Tymon's verdict:
If you are looking for a cheaper digital camera then the Canon Powershot A470 is one of the best choices you can make. It may not be the most stylish camera in the shops, but it takes a very good picture.

David Tymon works with Cameras.co.uk