Whether you consider yourself a pure novice or a seasoned expert in photography, there will be a lot of features to enjoy (and find useful) with the Canon PowerShot A590IS Digital Camera. In addition, you will also love its affordable price tag (MSRP $149.99 and under $120.00 at some online retailers) especially considering what you are getting.
With 8 megapixels, 4x optical zoom, an Optical Image Stabilizer, and an ample 2.5-inch LCD screen, I found this camera to be power-packed for its very reasonable price. It has advanced features like selectable shooting modes (19 shooting modes with 7 special scene modes), DIGIC III Image Processor, Red-eye Correction, ISO 1600 and High ISO Auto (minimizing camera shake effects as well as optimizing low-light scenes), Face Detection Technology (it actually finds faces in any scene, focuses on them, and optimizes exposure), and Motion Detection Technology (reducing blurs). Expert users will cheer at these advanced features, but if you are a beginner, a built-in Easy Mode option lets even first-timers shoot amazing, professional quality pictures with literally one click.
If you need more manual control, the A5910IS offers the “M” mode which lets you go into manual mode, including aperture priority and shutter priority, which both work amazingly. While the handy light meter works automatically, adjusting the exposure to what it thinks is the best, you can also adjust the aperture and shutter speed yourself to see how it affects the final exposure.
Finally, many users will find the battery performance on the A5910IS close to flawless. You can get up to 220 shots on regular alkalines and 500 shots on rechargeable NiMHS. These are the common AA batteries you can find even in your local drug store or grocery store, making it convenient to replace.
However, there are some drawbacks some might find with this model. While the Canon PowerShot A590IS might use convenient AA batteries, this also means slow flash recycle times. This is easily solvable with an external flash but overall not that big a deal “as is.” In addition, using higher ISOs cause a lot of noise of the photographic kind, highly compromising the image detail of your photos.
For users who are looking to dabble into video, the video feature is workable but not ideal. For one thing, there is no optical zoom available in video mode, making it difficulty to capture popular shots such as close-ups. You should also be prepared to use high capacity storage cards since the A590IS lacks efficient video (MPEG4) compression. Therefore, the video files lean on the large size.
Despite this, the Canon PowerShot A590IS remains a good choice since it is packed with very useful features for its small price. In fact, don’t let the small price fool you—it is worth more than that.
Quick Technical Specifications
- 8.0-megapixel CCD for detailed, photo-quality 16×22-inch prints
- 4x optical image-stabilized zoom
- 2.5-inch LCD screen
- 19 Shooting Modes with 7 Special Scene Modes
