Canon PowerShot A460 5.0MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Silver)

I bought this camera (Canon A460) as a second camera and was looking for a pocket-sized, compact, digital camera that had zoom and video capabilities, took AA batteries and priced reasonably cheap The Canon Powershot A460 is all that.

It's small enough to fit into your palm and fits into the front pants pocket easily and is light enough that the camera is not really noticeable after a few minutes. It seems to me that Canon designed it to be carried without a camera case because there is a lens shield that pulls into place to cover the lens whenever it is powered off. (The lens retracts into the camera body when it is powered off, and the lens cover pulls into place automatically). The body is well rounded with no sharp edges anywhere that might catch parts of clothing. The LCD screen is exposed but I pasted one of those see-thru LCD screen plastic protectors (sticky on one side) on it to protect it from scratches. All the camera's openings are well protected by covers. The only cover that I thought had a little more play than it should was the battery cover.

The camera powers up extremely quickly. You can focus with either the viewfinder or the LCD screen. One thing that surprised me was that when using the viewfinder, there is no information shown on the viewfinder other than a green light to indicate that the camera is in focus or a blinking orange light to indicate it is not. The LCD mode shows a lot more info (eg, ISO speed, current resolution, etc). But, I guess it makes sense since this is a camera that is meant to be simple, and what could be simpler than knowing when something is in focus or not. That's pretty much all the info that's needed. (Switching to the viewfinder will conserve battery power).

I bought a 2GB Kingston Secure Digital card for about $13 on Amazon for this camera so there's plenty of space. The card can be removed and put into a SD card reader that comes with most modern computers and laptops. (My laptop, the Toshiba Tecra A5 has it, and it was bought about 2 years ago). The computer will recognize the SD memory card as an extra drive, and the transfer rate is extremely fast. If your computer does not have a SD card reader, then the USB connector can be used to transfer the images to your computer instead.

In video mode, the zoom works only when in the highest video resolution (640 x 480). (This was a surprise to me too. On my Canon Powershot S1, the zoom works in all video resolutions). The video is a little more choppy compared to the Canon S1.

There is no dedicated zoom lever. Two of the buttons normally used in menu navigation also serve as zoom controls.(The Canon S1 (my other camera) has a dedicated zoom lever, which is nice). I guess, one of the reasons for reusing buttons for zooming is a more compact design--no lever sticking out that might catch your clothing). Once I got used to it, I did not have any problems using the 2 buttons for zooming.

The pictures taken are the usual Canon quality. You do have to pay attention to make sure that your hands are not shaking when you press the shutter since there is no image stabilizer (I've gotten spoilt by the Canon Powershot S1 which has a image stabilizer). The buttons on the camera are designed and placed so that you could operate the camera with only the right hand if so desired. The left hand is used just to stabilize and steady the camera.

This camera uses a focus beam light that helps it to focus quickly and and has the much lauded Digic II processor. Both are technological improvements over the Canon Powershot S1 which does not have an autofocus light and only has a Digic I processor.

The camera uses AA batteries (either the rechargable or the normal type will work). Easily available power was an important feature for me.

I was very pleased with the Super Macro capability of this camera, which allows for extreme close ups. To access this mode, you have to set the camera to "M" (manual mode) on the dial, and then press the Func/Set button. This will open up a menu where you can set the camera to "Super Macro".

This camera (Canon A460) has a "SCN" mode in which you can choose different scenes (Portrait, Night, Kids, Pets, Indoors, Foliage, Snow, Beach). I've used the "Snow" scene setting and my pictures came out great when I'm skiing and taking pictures. (To access the Scene setting, turn the dial to "SCN" and then press the Func/Set button, which will bring up a menu that allows you to choose the settings).

I'm really enjoying the Canon A460 and it has filled its role in my camera arsenal admirably. I needed a camera that I could take with me when I'm skiing or snowboarding that was light and small and cheap. It fits into my pants pocket and is pretty light that it does not interfere with my balance, etc. (The Canon S1, though a great camera, was a little too large to fit into my pants pocket or in a fanny pack. However, it is still my preferred camera when I'm able to have a camera case or back pack with me.)

Update (4/11/2007)--I've had this camera for about 2 months now and have accidentally dropped it twice from about 2 to 3 feet onto a hard surface floor. Also, have dropped it into a foot of snow while skiing and using the video. The camera is still working flawlessly.

I'll only mention things that I didn't pick up or remember from the other reviews I've read. I also own a 4.0MP Canon A520, so it was easy to choose the same great zoom lens.

The A460 does not have the auto-rotate feature to save photos in the appropriate portrait or landscape modes. The battery and SD card are accessed through a common door, which doesn't have quite the snap and tight fit of the A520's smaller separate doors. The handshake symbol also tends to show up often when taking indoor pictures with the flash disabled something I don't even think about with the A520. The zoom buttons were actually more intuitive to use than I expected. But I do prefer the SET button in the center of the joypad on the A520, as I tend to forget to reach down and to the left for the SET button on the A460.

But I'm nit-picking here. Otherwise, it's a great point-and-shoot camera, with a great zoom lens, and at a great price.

Buy Canon PowerShot A460 5.0MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Silver) Now

I've used a Canon G3 for about 4 years, and have always been pleased with the image quality. I've tested the A460 against it in several situations and can report that:

-it's faster the powerup and shot to shot speed are excellent.

-it's easy to learn and use.

-it focuses better and quicker in macro mode.

-The flash works well and quickly, and creates reasonably pleasing light in a variety of circumstances.

-The images in sunlight or reasonably bright cloudy circumstances are fine.

BUT the images at lower light, without flash, are unusably noisy a major drawback for me as my intended use is to take a small light camera with me on my evening walks and jogs. If low-light photos aren't important to you, it's a fine choice.

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We bought this camera for our grand daughter who is turning 15 in July. She took 200 pictures with it the first week...loves it. Video is subpar, but expected with a camera this price. It can handle up to a 2gig SD card, so she has lots of room for the cruise her grandma is taking her on this summer. If we had to do it again, we would probably move up a notch, to get better video. But in her case, as fast as video eats memory, maybe we did the right thing after all. Bottom line, it's great for the money, and Amazon's price beat almost everyone else out.

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This is my first digital camera. It can be used on fully automatic settings, fully manual, or a combination of auto and manual. It's very versatile that way. I didn't read the user manuals that came with it, I just started using it. It took me about an hour of shooting and two sets of batteries to figure out all the different options and features it has. So I'd say the controls are pretty easy to learn and understand.

It's pretty easy on batteries, as long as you don't use the flash. I put some cheaper Rayovac alkaline batteries (size AA) in it after the first set went dead and the camera has no problem with them. The flash drains the batteries quickly though I didn't count the number of photos, but I probably only got 20 or 30 flash photos before the "low battery" warning started blinking. But the warning comes early you can take another 15 or so photos after the low battery warning pops up. I don't know how many it'll take without the flash, but it's a lot more than when you're using the flash.

The upside is that this camera is VERY sensitive to light, so it hardly even needs a flash. Frankly, as on most compact cameras, the flash sucks. It's too bright and flattens images. But if you have decent lighting indoors, the thing is so light sensitive it takes good photos without the flash. I suppose you'd need the flash if you were taking photos inside someplace dark, like a pub or bar, but in places like houses where there are usually plenty of lights on, it does great without a flash.

It'll record up to an hour of video on a 1G SD card, which is great, because it also has a mic that works perfectly so you get good audio too.

The photos are great crystal clear and sharp. Most cameras come with a 3x optical zoom at this price, but this camera has a 4x optical zoom. It really helps, especially when you can't simply step closer to your subject for some reason.

Here's the one thing I didn't like about this camera. Out of the box, on the fully auto setting, it takes very bright, sharp, and high contrast photos. Great, right? Unless you're taking pictures of people.

Few people look their best with their foreheads, cheekbones, and chins highlighted by bright, high contrast photos while their faces are somehow oddly flattened. But if you play around with the manual exposure and color settings, you can pretty easily set it right so it takes normal looking pictures. And because you can adjust only those setting you want to change, you can still benefit from the auto features you want to use. Once I found the settings I liked, I left it that way and the camera remembers them, so it's still a point and shoot camera, but with my customized settings.

It seems very sturdy, much more so than many of the cameras I looked at in stores before buying this one. It's too heavy to carry in your shirt pocket, but it's no problem in a cargo pocket or in your pants pocket if you're wearing pants with big pockets.

I think this is a high quality, versatile camera at a great price. It's great in almost every way, but just be aware that there's a bit of a learning curve at the outset to find the combination of settings that'll allow you to produce more "natural" looking photos if that's important to you.