The Canon PowerShot A590IS

Canon PowerShot A590IS comes loaded with features for a camera of its size and capability. It has 8-megapixel resolution and a 4x zoom lens that makes shooting distant objects very easy. The Powershot A590IS fits well into the palm of your hands but is of course a little bulkier than the slim point-and-shoot cameras. The bigger size makes for better ergonomics and handling is easier if you have big hands.

Canon live up to their reputation by delivering another excellent digital SLR camera. Not only as far as technique is concerned but also because it is the perfect camera for everybody, for the advanced photographer, or even for the pro to use it as a second (leisure time) camera to shoot in practice. Canon’s Face Detection Technology now comes with White Balance adjustment for more accurate skin tones and additional functions such as in-camera red-eye correction make family portraits easy and successful. The user friendly interface also includes a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, making it easy to shoot and view images.

Image quality has also exceeded my expectations in terms of detail, colour accuracy, AWB consistency and centre sharpness. A well-exposed and properly focused ISO 80 shot will produce an excellent 30×40cm print, with ISO 800 still enjoyable at the common 10×15cm size. Image quality gets an assist from my favorite A590IS feature: the optical image stabilizer. I tried desperately to take a blurry picture–and I failed.

Face Detection AF/AE/FE locates up to 9 faces in any scene before optimising focus, exposure and flash for perfect people shots. And for flash shots affected by red-eye, improved Red-Eye Correction during playback is included. Face Select and Track lets the A590IS user highlight one face among several in a scene, and the camera concentrates on that person, even as they move around the scene.