Digital Photography Blog: Digital Camera Reviews, Ratings, News, Tips and Tutorials.
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Digital Camera Reviews and Ratings By manufacturer:
Canon | Casio | Fuji | HP | Kodak | Minolta | Nikon | Olympus | Panasonic | Pentax | Samsung | Sony | Misc. | Accessories | Lenses
DC Resource reviews the Canon Powershot A85 and writes - 'As it was with the A75 and A95, the PowerShot A85 is a first-rate entry-level camera. It's great for both beginners who want fully automatic operate to more experienced photographers (or those who want to become one) who like manual controls. The A85 offers very good photo quality, full manual controls, plenty of scene modes, an AF-assist lamp, and expandability. The A85's photo quality is quite good, with only a bit of noise and purple fringing. The camera has the full suite of manual controls, including white balance and focus. For those who aren't ready for those yet, the camera offers 11 scene modes. The A85's AF-assist lamp helps it focus in low light, but it's too bad that the LCD is so dark in those situations. Finally, the camera is expandable, with support for conversion lenses and an underwater case. About the only thing you can't add is an external flash.'
Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot A85 and writes - 'With a complete range of auto and manual exposure controls, the A85 is well-suited for novice users and experienced amateurs alike. The full automatic controls keep things simple for novices, while offering the opportunity to gradually step up to more control. Plus, the range of preset exposure modes and advanced autofocus ensures that less-experienced photographers will get good pictures in difficult shooting situations. The 4.0-megapixel CCD captures good quality images, quite suitable for printing as large as 8x10-inches with good detail, even with some cropping. The compact design should fit well into a larger coat pocket or purse, and the lens design protects it when closed, while keeping the camera body smooth and low-profile. In addition to the range of exposure controls, a menu of creative effects makes the A85 fun too. The A85 is unusual, in that it's marketed and priced as an "entry level" camera, but its features and capabilities extend far beyond that category. If you're looking for an inexpensive camera that you can grow with (and that shoots excellent photos), the A85 could be the camera for you.'
Digital Camera Info reviews the Canon Powershot A85 and writes - 'The Canon PowerShot A85 is perfect for newcomers to the photography world. At $299, the A85 is priced well for a 4-megapixel digital camera. It provides automatic and semi-automatic functions that are solid enough to give a shooter confidence while allowing the flexibility to learn and grow. The A85 is great for starters who are intimidated by other digital cameras, but wish they could operate the bigger, better, faster camera models. Eventually, users of the Canon PowerShot A85 will want to graduate to a camera with more megapixels, but they can still rely on this digital camera as a solid start. While its handling of noise leaves much to be desired, the camera records images with excellent clarity given ample lighting. Therefore, as long as there is time to set up and profuse light to shoot in, the A85 user should be content with this images they get from this camera.'
PC Mag reviews the Canon PowerShot A85 and writes - 'The A85's 4MP images are a bit soft on automatic settings, though it does offer plenty of manual controls. The A85 is a solid camera in terms of features, but we feel the Kodak EasyShare LS743 is a better buy, as it's smaller and offers better image quality.
Canon Press Release
Canon upgrades most popular camera ever.
Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 20 July, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today adds the 4.0 Megapixel PowerShot A85 to its popular PowerShot range. The camera replaces the PowerShot A70, one of the most successful cameras in Canon's seventy year history.
"The A70 was successful because it found the perfect balance between point-and-shoot economy and pro-sumer control features," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe at the camera's launch. "The A85 builds on this success by adding new features that make it even easier to use, while at the same time giving the experienced user more options."
As well as improved ergonomics and refreshed styling, the camera includes a large 1.8" LCD, 13 shooting modes (including a special scene mode with 6 selectable pre-set scenes), VGA movie clips with sound, 9-point AiAF auto focus, and a Print/Share button plus extended print functionality. A wide selection of accessories includes wide and tele converters, close-up lens, and a waterproof case.
The PowerShot A85 will be available from August 2004 for £239 RRP inc. VAT.
The focus system has been upgraded to 9-point AiAF, for consistently sharp auto-focus even with non-centred subjects. The 3x optical zoom extends to 11x when combined with the digital zoom and has a respectable f/2.8-4.8 aperture.
The purpose built DIGIC processor integrates all image processing algorithms onto a single chip to deliver fast processing and write times, minimal shutter lag, optimal image definition and consistently clean and natural colour reproduction. iSAPS, an in-built photographer's assistant, analyses composition factors such as zoom position and luminosity in order to predict the type of photo being taken. This results in faster auto-focusing, more accurate auto-exposure and precise auto white balance.
Movies now in VGA
The 3 minute movie mode with sound, full playback and in-camera editing has been extended to include the option of shooting in VGA mode for up to 30 seconds. A generously proportioned 1.8" LCD makes for easier and more enjoyable playback and review.
Simplified Printing and Uploading
The A85 features Canon's Print/Share button for single step printing and file sharing. When the camera is connected via USB cable to any PictBridge or Direct Print compatible photo printer or Windows PC, a blue light on the Print/Share button comes on to indicate successful connection. Pushing the button when lit instigates a print of the currently displayed image (based on the connected printer's default settings) or an automatic transfer of images to the PC. The camera transfers all images, all images not yet transferred, or all images marked for transfer, depending on the user setting selected in the Camera's set up options.
Expanded direct printing functions
When connected to a Canon Compact Photo printer, ID photo and Movie Print functions are also supported. Movie Print mode divides a selected clip into equal parts and prints thumbnails of up to 63 equally spaced frames if using Postcard Size Paper (100 x 148 mm); ideal for freezing action sequences. The ID Photo Print function replaces visits to the photo booth by printing multiple durable passport style ID photos (selectable height and width) to a single sheet.
Personal online photo gallery
Free membership is included to Canon's online CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, with 100 Megabytes of free storage space for online album storing and sharing. Users can upload favourite images and now movies 3 to the site, which can then be shared with friends and family as individually secure online 'albums'.
Accessories
A wide range of optional accessories extends the camera's versatility, increasing both the range of circumstances in which it can be used and the type of photographs it is capable of taking. Wide and tele converter lenses vastly increase framing options and extend the camera's effective focal length range from approximately 25mm to 250mm, while an optional close-up lens is available for macro photography. The 40m depth waterproof case is great for diving, surfing, skiing, snorkelling and general beach fun. The camera comes supplied with a 32MB Compact Flash card.
Software
Software supplied includes browsing and printing software ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Mac). Other software includes PhotoStitch, photo and movie manipulation software ArcSoft PhotoImpression and VideoImpression. Drivers include TWAIN (Windows 98/2000) and WIA (Windows Me). Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) support allows the camera to connect to any Windows XP and Mac OSX (v10.1/v10.2) system without the requirement for a driver installation.
1. Requires application software provided to be loaded on the PC and camera pre-settings to be selected.
2. 35mm equivalent
3. Movie upload requires users to download and install the movie upload task, available from the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY site.
Get more information and specifications on the Canon Powershot A85 at:
- Imaging Resoruce - Canon Powershot A85 Preview
- DP Review - Canon Powershot A85
Posted by Darren in our Canon category on July 20, 2004