Canon Powershot A80 Review

This comprehensive review of the Canon Powershot A80 has been submitted by regular reader, Simon. He goes in the draw to win a $100 gift voucher from Amazon. Tell us about your digicam, printer, scanner, camera phone for a chance to win also.

First Impressions
The Canon PowerShot A80 digital camera supercedes the already successful Powershot A70. Based on the success of the A70, the new arrival had some expectations to live up to. After using it for the best part of a year, and several thousand shots later, I'm glad to say this has exceeded expectations and raised the bar significantly for all competitors.

The first thing I noticed about the camera when I finally held it in my hands was how solid and well built it felt. The handgrip protrudes slightly from the right hand side (as it encases the 4 AA batteries) making it comfortable to hold in the hand - important if you're going to be using it all day. The buttons and dials are intuitive and laid out well for ease of access.

All in all first impressions were very positive.

UK Readers buy the Canon PowerShot A80 here

Layout and Design
All the creative modes that many current film SLRs have are found on the PowerShot A80. From full Auto operation to typical scene modes like portrait, landscape, night shot, fast and slow shutter, to exposure controls like Aperture / Shutter Priority and full manual mode, the A80 has it all. So for any film SLR users, you will instantly be familiar with the design layout.

The in-camera menus are simple to access via the Function and Menu buttons on the back. Pressing Function opens up the cameras settings for things such as Red Eye on/off, self-timer, formatting the Compact Flash card, language details etc.

The Menu button provides all the options available for changing the exposure details such as Exposure compensation, white balance, drive mode, ISO value, Effects (B&W, Sepia etc), Metering, and image size and quality.

Two simple buttons to control most operations: simple and effective. Thumbs up for design.

Quality of results
The Canon PowerShot A80's 4MP 1/1.8“ sensor produces outstanding image quality, more than capable of generating high quality A4 prints. It uses the same sensor found in the PowerShot G3 camera - a prosumer camera that has been accepted by many professionals as their backup camera to a digital SLR. Those that have had the chance to use both the G3 and A80 affectionately call the A80 a ”baby G3“ as it contains basically the same feature set in a much smaller body.

Noise levels in images from the A80 are quite low and are more than acceptable compared to other cameras in its class.

It's fast (f2.8) lens at wide angle allows for good low light shooting, and the swivel LCD can be flipped out giving you more flexibility in what types of shots you take. Purple fringing is only a minor issue on the A80, and this can be reduced by simply stopping down the lens.

The A80 gets the nod for image quality.

Camera features
The A80 houses a 4MP 1/1.8” CCD sensor, and as stated above, is capable of reproducing excellent quality prints. To view the images, the A80 uses a 1.5“ flip out LCD, which is an upgrade from the A70's built in 'static' LCD, which doesn't flip out or rotate. The lens is a 3x optical zoom, giving the camera an overall focal length of 38-114mm - a decent focal range for most situations.

For those that require a focal range outside the delivered, there are the optional wide angle and telephoto converters, which mount onto the front of the camera. These are purchased separately at fairly reasonable prices.

To power the A80, it uses 4 AA Alkaline batteries (supplied). The plus side of using AA batteries is they can be found in most shops around the globe. Once depleted, I recommended you get a good quality set of 2100 NIMH (or above) rechargeable batteries.

Movie mode is handy for those moments when you don't have your video camera on you, however quality of movies from digital still cameras will always leave something to be desired.

Panorama images are made easy with the Panorama setting. It allows you to view the last picture taken slightly offset in the side of the LCD, making it easy to line up the next shot. Once you're on the computer, its simple to create impressive panorama shots using the included stitching software from Canon.

The camera uses Compact Flash Type 1 cards, one of the most common types, which makes it readily available at most camera stores and is quite cheap. Included with the camera is a 32MB card, capable of storing around 20 images at the highest quality.

For a camera in this price range, you certainly get a lot of bang for your buck.

Ease of Use
The menu layout is intuitive, and it didn't take long before I could navigate comfortably through it to select the desired settings. For those happy to shoot fully auto, simply leave the dial on ”Auto“ and the camera will select all exposure details and deliver excellent results.

If you're like me and don't mind experimenting a little, setting the camera to P mode enables more creative options in the menu. Effects such as black and white, sepia, vivid all become available and enhance the users experience and ultimately end result.

If you find you're using certain settings often, there are two handy custom settings where you can save all your preferred configurations. Great if you're in a rush and don't have time to set everything up for a given scenario - you can preset everything and simply select either C1 or C2 on the dial and away you shoot.

Connecting the camera to a PC/Mac is a simple operation and is done in only a matter of moments. Once the images are downloaded, using the included Canon software it’s easy to manage and edit your images.

Value for money
When this camera was first released in Australia, it had a RRP of $749. I managed to purchase this online for $659, which I was more than happy to pay considering it's spec list. At the end of its shelf life the A80 was selling for around $520 - outstanding value for money.

It was also probably one of the cheapest digital cameras out there that had aperture priority /shutter priority / full manual mode operations. Combine this with two Custom settings and you have a tidy package that really packs a punch.

General Comments
The Canon Powershot A80 excelled in many areas compared to others in its class. For optimum battery life, I'd suggest you purchase a set of 4 AA ”2100 NIMH“ (or above) batteries - I have been able to take several hundred shots before the battery warning light comes on. Quite remarkable considering I review each picture and delve into the menus often.

The only area I would gripe about would be the memory card door: it’s somewhat flimsy, and if not handled with care has the potential to be damaged. However, as yet I've not had any problems with it.

Note - the Canon PowerShot A95 has since replaced The A80. If you're really after an A80 and don't want to consider the A95, then you're best bet is eBay!

Likes
* Superb image quality
* Ease of use
* Excellent battery life (with 2100 NIMH or above batteries)
* Sturdy build
* Great ergonomics, making it comfy to hold for extended periods
* Flip out LCD handy for low down / high up / and self portrait shots
* 2 custom modes

Dislikes
* ”Battery low“ indicator displays too late
* LCD can be considered small for some, making it harder to judge focus
* Compact flash door seems slightly flimsy - care must be taken

Rating out of 10
8.5 - feature packed; outstanding image quality; represents excellent value for money

Get more reviews and information about the Canon A80 here

UK Readers buy the Canon PowerShot A80 here

Posted by Darren in our Reader Review category on October 08, 2004

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