gardengnome's Full Review: Canon PowerShot A540 Digital Camera
If you read my review on the PowerShot A530, you will know why I now have a A540.
I use my digital camera on a daily basis. It is contantly nearby. I want dependability, ease of use, good hand feel, portability and photo quality in a digital.
Reason For Purchasing: I really liked my PowerShot A530 and only had it for about six months. A very short drop of less than a foot with the lens out damaged the mechanism to retract the lens. We took it back to the store for repairs and were told it would be $40 to check the camera then $80 per hour to repair it. We decided buying another camera would be cheaper. So I immediately decided I would like another Canon but maybe with a few more features.
Using & What I Like: The camera has a nice hand feel. Looking at the A540 we quickly spotted a couple of differences. First the LCD screen is larger. That is a real plus. It also offers extra settings allowing more options for more experienced users.
As with the A530, the A540 is a point and shoot mid-range camera. This makes it extremely easy for a novice user to use. At the same time, it offers greater flexibility for more experienced users. The ease of use is one of the biggest pluses for this camera.
I could not be happier with the performance of this camera. It has a large LCD screen for easy viewing. At 6.0 mega pixels, this camera takes nice, clear pictures. The file sizes are larger so do take that into consideration for uploading and storing on your computer. It has 4 X optical zoom that can go as high as 16 X zoom. Again, clarity of the zoomed images is impressive. I find at the highest zoom setting, hand shake can be a problem. A tripod should solve this problem.
The camera has video/audio capabilities. The quality of the video clips is good. The audio quality is good. When zoomed, the hand shake factor becomes more noticable. Again, a tripod would likely solve this problem. The size of the video clips can be large so that should be taken into consideration.
Once again, I am very impressed with the beta quality of this camera. I do a lot of genealogical research which means getting prints from microfilms and microfiche. Some places charge as much as a doller a print. This camera takes crisp, clear images of the screen saving me a lot of money. Some facilities do not offer printing so the camera becomes even more useful. The beta function is also perfect for taking close-ups of foliage and flowers. The detail is so astonishing that you could almost reach out and pick the flower from the page! The colours the camera produces are bright, sharp, clear and truly represent the item photographed.
The camera can be connected to a television for viewing or uploaded to your computer. I have not used this camera with the PC partion of my iMac so can't comment on how well it works in PC format. It works flawlessly on both my iMac and iBook G4. Uploading is as easy as connecting a cable to the computer connecting the camera and the computer does the rest.
What I don't like: There is very little I don't like about this camera. I think the 16 MB memory card is a joke forcing you to buy a larger card at the same time as the purchase of the camera. It will get you going but if you take a lot of pictures, you really need a larger card. I also don't like the little tag that covers the AV/upload slot. It does protect the slots but it is attached in such a way that makes me wonder if it is going to pop right off. With repeated use the soft plastic hinge is bound to give way.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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