Review posted for Canon Powershot A85
By
Dave Etchells
(Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 21:41 EDT)
Despite our readers high-end tendencies, Canon's A-series cameras are consistently in the top 10 in terms of reader popularity - and for good reason, they offer a rich set of features and excellent image quality, at attractive prices.
This year, the PowerShot A85 is taking over from last year's A80 model at the four-megapixel level. Relative to last year's model, the A85 offers a better, nine-point autofocus system, a bigger monitor, a slightly more accurate optical viewfinder, and faster overall performance. The A85's image sharpness is just a tad off that of the best 4-megapixel cameras on the market, but is more than good enough to make sharp-looking 8x10 prints. Its color is very appealing, even though its handling of blues appears to be tweaked a little from what would be absolutely accurate - The nature of the blue tweak appears to be such that the A85 will render better-looking sky colors, something most users would probably prefer to an absolutely faithful portrayal. Overall, Canon has taken an almost perfect combination of features, image quality and price, included a number of key features from its S-series digicams delivered the combination at a very attractive price, making a premier camera for the mid-level consumer market that's also a bargain. If you're looking for a great "all around" digicam, the A85 certainly deserves your serious consideration. - It's an easy "Dave's Pick," as one of the better models on the market. Check it out!
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