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Canon PowerShot A50 Canon's "Digital ELPHs" goes megapixel plus - great picture quality, superb portability! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet PowerShot A50 Test Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on PowerShot A50 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests :(Previous) | (Next): Camera Modes & Menus>> Page 8:Operation & User Interface Review First Posted: 7/10/1999

User Interface & Controls
As noted earlier, the PowerShot A50 is operated by a combination of external controls and a fairly extensive LCD menu system. Major camera operating modes are selected via a "Mode Dial", an increasingly common user-interface design that we like for the simplification it brings to the menu structures. (By separating major camera modes, the Mode Dial allows the menus for each mode to be less complex.) In addition to the Mode Dial, there are three buttons on the top of the camera (flash/-, self-timer/+, and the shutter button), and a rocker toggle and four buttons on the camera's back. The rocker toggle controls the zoom lens, and the four back-panel buttons are respectively labeled Set, Menu, Macro/Jump, and LCD/Video. The top-panel Flash and Self Timer/Continuous Buttons also double as + / - buttons that you can use to scroll through menu options on the camera's LCD Panel.

The operational buttons are well-placed and easily accessible, and actuate cleanly with a positive "breakaway" action. (A minor point, but the pushbutton operation, spacing, and "feel" is about as good as we've seen anywhere: Other digicam makers would do well to study the design!) The top of the camera includes the Display Panel, a small icon-oriented LCD readout providing information on camera status and control settings. Information displayed there includes battery level, number of images remaining on the CompactFlash (CF) card, and different icons that represent camera settings, such as picture quality and flash modes.

The back of the camera contains a through-the-lens (TTL) optical viewfinder and a 2-inch LCD Panel. You turn the LCD Panel on and off using the LCD/Video button just next to the viewfinder. There's also an LCD menu option-one of the setup options-that lets you adjust the LCD brightness to suit your needs. (Boosting the brightness definitely helps readability in bright light, but will also run your batteries down about 10% faster.) To Canon's credit the "brightness" control actually does control the brightness of the backlight, as opposed to merely tweaking the LCD contrast setting.
The left side of the camera contains a Digital port for connecting to a PC, and a Video port for connecting to a television for viewing images. The right side of the camera houses the slot for insertion of the camera's CF card. Readers familiar with other digicam designs will doubtless ask at this point where the external-power socket is: There isn't one! The optional power adapter instead uses a dummy battery with an attached power cord that inserts into the camera's battery compartment! - See our subsequent discussion of Power for more on this unusual arrangement.
Depending on which mode you select with the Mode Dial, pressing the Menu button on the rear of the camera displays a sequence of menu options specific to that mode. Pressing the Set button confirms any menu selections you make. The operating mode also affects the operation of several of the control buttons on the camera. On the top panel, the Flash button is only active when in Program Mode (auto flash operation is set by default for Auto capture mode), and the Self Timer/Continuous button only accesses the Continuous mode when in Program capture mode. Likewise, on the camera's back, the Macro/Jump button selects the Macro option for close-up shootinng when in either capture mode (Auto or Program), and jumps through images in the camera memory in groups of 9, when either playback mode (Play or Multi).
One general quibble we initially had with the user interface of the PowerShot A50 was that it seemed awkward to erase images from the memory card once captured. From record mode, it takes a rotation of the mode dial and seven separate button-presses to erase the image you've just captured(!). This proved to be another case where reading the manual was useful though: You can delete the current image in Play mode simply by holding down the Set button while simultaneously pressing the "-" button.
Control Enumeration
In this section, we'll review the functions of each of the PowerShot A50's buttons, controls, and menu options.
Mode Dial
Sets the mode in which you want to operate the camera. The Mode Dial has seven positions, including Lock (Off). The seven operating positions are:

• Auto: Allows normal image capture with all camera settings automatically determined
• Program: Allows normal image capture with the ability to manually set the image size and select the Continuous Shooting mode
• Stitch Assist: Provides a special exposure mode and on-screen alignment guides for capturing multiple images to be merged in the computer into a single panoramic image
• Play: Allows viewing images one at a time on the LCD Panel or television
• Multi: Allows viewing images in groups of nine on the LCD Panel or television
• PC: Enables the camera's serial port for viewing and processing images on your computer
• Lock: Lock or "off" - turns the camera off, racking-in the lens shutting the lens cover

Shutter Button
A two-stage shutter button is positioned directly on top of the camera. Pressing the shutter button halfway sets the focus, exposure and white balance settings for the current capture conditions. Fully depressing it captures the image and stores it to the CF Card. (As with most digicams, half-pressing the shutter button before the actual exposure drastically reduces the shutter lag time for action shots.)
Flash/ - Button

• In Program or Stitch-Assist mode, this button is used to select one of four different flash options (in Auto capture mode, the flash always fires automatically, whenever the exposure system deems it necessary):
• Auto Mode: Fires automatically as needed depending on the light level the camera detects
• Red-Eye Reduction: Emits a pre-flash just before the shutter fires to minimize the red-eye effect in the subject's eyes
• Flash On: Fires with each shot regardless of the lighting conditions
• Flash Off: Disables the flash even in dark conditions
• In Play mode or Multi mode, this button selects the stored image prior to the one currently being displayed
• With a menu displayed on the LCD, this button moves to the previous option in a list of available options

 

Continuous/Self-Timer/ + Button

• In Auto mode, enables the self-timer, providing a 10 second delay between when you press the Shutter button and when the camera fires
• In Program mode, this button switches between the following picture-taking modes:
  • Single-frame mode (the default): Captures a single frame when the shutter fires
  • Continuous mode: Captures up to 15 frames continuously until the camera runs out of internal memory
  • Self-Timer mode: Provides a 10 second delay between when you press the Shutter button and the when the camera fires
• In Play mode or Multi mode, this button displays the next stored image
• With a menu displayed on the LCD, this button moves to the next option in a list of available options

 

(The following controls are all arranged across the top/rear of the camera, as seen in the figure below:)

Zoom Toggle
Allow you to zoom in and out on the subject/area being captured. Pressing the "single-tree" side of the button zooms in on the subject, and pressing the "three-tree" side of the button zooms out.
LCD/Video Button

• In Auto mode or Program mode, turns the LCD Panel on and off. The LCD Panel turns on automatically in Program and Stitch-Assist mode
• In Play mode and Multi mode, turns the video output from the camera on and off (for viewing images when the camera is connected to a television set) As noted below, the video-out signal isn't available for use as a viewfinder, in either recording mode.

 

Macro/Jump Button

• In Auto, Program, or Stitch-Assist mode, this button turns Macro mode on and off. Macro mode allows you to capture a subject within a range of 6.7 inches to 20 inches.
• In Play or Multi mode, this button turns Jump mode on and off. With Jump mode on:
  • In Play mode, pressing the + / - buttons moves either 9 images ahead (+), or 9 images back (-), and displays the image on the LCD Panel
  • In Play mode, pressing the + / - buttons while at the same time holding the Set button displays the last stored image (+), or the first stored image (-)
  • In Multi mode, pressing the + / - buttons displays either the next set of 9 images (+), or the previous set of 9 images (-) on the LCD Panel
  • In Multi mode, pressing the + / - buttons while at the same time holding the Set button displays the first set of 9 images (+), or the last set of 9 images (-) on the LCD Panel

 

Menu Button

• Displays available Menu options on the LCD Panel. The menu options vary depending on the mode you have the camera set to:
  • In Auto, Program, and Stitch-Assist modes, displays the Record (REC) menu (see below)
  • In Play and Multi modes, displays the Play menu (see below)

 

Set Button
Selects the menu option currently displayed on the LCD Panel. Used in conjunction with other buttons to access options without resorting to the menu system:

• Set and "-" together in Program-Record Mode: Enable exposure adjustment
• Set and "-" together in Play Mode: Erases the currently-displayed photo