Steve's Conclusion
Canon's new PowerShot A30 is an excellent choice for those desiring an easy to use and compact size 1.2 megapixel camera. If you want the smaller digicam then check out the PowerShot S110. Some users find these ultra-compact cameras a little too small so the new A30 and the A40 fill the gap between the "S" series and the much larger PowerShot G2. But don't let the size fool you, the A30 has a full 3x optical zoom lens, a robust image processor, a 1.5-inch color LCD that is highly readable and a great introductory price of $249 (as of 4/2002).
The PowerShot A30 is a step up from it's predecessor the PowerShot A10, and introduced at $249 which is half the intro price of the A10. It's now more than just an automatic "point-n-shoot" type of camera. The manual mode allowed us to set long exposures for a night scene that a camera meter will never correctly read (see sample photos page). An A30 feature that is a Canon (not industry) standard is the Focus Assist Illumination in low light levels. There is nothing more aggravating than attempting a shot in low light and finding out that the camera can't focus. Oh sure there is the option of setting the focus to infinity but by the time you remember how to do that, the shot is gone.
User exposure options are "Auto" (Point and Shoot mode), Program ("Auto" with all the over-ride options), Manual, image size: 640 x 480 for use on a web page or e-mail attachment, 1024 x 768 for 4 x 6 inch prints or 1280 x 960 size for up to 5 x 7 inch prints. There are three quality levels for each image size; SuperFine, Fine or Normal. You can also select a flash mode; Auto fires whenever more light is needed, Red-eye reduction is ideal for "people" pictures, slow- syncro can be used for night pictures where you want to illuminate a foreground subject but not lose the detail in the background and the always-on or fill mode is useful for eliminating harsh shadow in bright outdoor or backlit situations.
The image quality of the A30 is noticeably better than many of the other 1.2-megapixel cameras. The color saturation and white balance is excellent. Indoor people pictures shot with the flash seemed to be a little extra saturated but that's the way most folks prefer them. The outside fill flash was also impressive. There was very little need to correct the vast majority of the pictures that we shot. The focus is sharp and well defined especially when shooting closeup objects.The Macro mode was very accurate and helpful when we took it scuba diving in the WP-DC200s under water case. We were very impressed by the images and their sharpness(see sample photos page). We printed some 8x10's with the new Canon S900 printer using the S900's software to optimize the image for 8x10's. It was more than expected as 1280 x 960 is never intended for photo quality 8x10.
Timing and performance was impressive with most numbers being a three. It takes about three seconds to power up and be ready to take the first shot. In the Large SuperFine mode it takes about three seconds to process and store an image. And going from Record to Play or vice-versa also takes about three seconds. The all- important shutter lag (delay from pressing shutter until picture is actually captured) is about 0.6 to 0.7 seconds which is a little faster than average thanks the A30's robust autofocus system.
The zoom lens is sharp and relatively fast with a maximum aperture of F2.8 in wide angle. There is moderate barrel distortion at full wide angle but almost no pincushioning at full telephoto. The zoom mechanism is smooth and quiet. The Canon AFiF autofocus system is accurate and fast even when shooting macros at eight inches or in the total darkness thanks to a focus assist lamp.
I was happy to see that Canon continued using standard AA type batteries to power the A30. Too many cameras these dayys use proprietary battery packs which are expensive and often obscure. It's nice to be able to use rechargables or "off the shelf" batteries. There's a multitude of brands of NiMH rechargeable batteries to choose from as well as fast AC or portable chargers. In a pinch you can even use a set of one-use alkalines but they always end up in the local landfill. Battery life when using high-capacity 1700mAH NiMH was very good even when using the color LCD frequently to check the pictures.
The bottom line is that this is an excellent camera for those that just want to take good pictures without fussing with any controls, or for those that do. Turn it on, frame the shot, press the button -- you're done. And confident of a good image. Not bad at all for just $249!