"Picky Details" for the Canon PowerShot A60 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)
Timing
Because they're such critical performance parameters (that are so seldom reported
on), I routinely measure both cycle times and shutter delay times, using a test
system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution
of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Canon PowerShot A60:
NOTE: My qualitative characterizations of camera performance below (that is, "reasonably fast," "about average," etc.) are meant to be relative to other cameras of similar price and general capabilities. Thus, the same shutter lag that's "very fast" for a low-end consumer camera might be characterized as "quite slow" if I encountered it on a professional model. The comments are also intended as only a quick reference: If performance specs are critical for you, rely on the absolute numbers to compare cameras, rather than my purely qualitative comments.
|
|
||
| |
(secs) |
|
| Power On -> First shot | |
Canon startup screen
appears and lens extends forward. About average. |
| Shutdown | |
Lens retracts. About
average. |
| Play to Record, first shot | |
Time until first shot
is captured. About average. |
| Record to play | |
Time to display a
large/fine file after capture. Fairly fast. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus | |
First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. Both times are quite a bit slower than average. |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | 1.072 | Very slow. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | |
Time to capture, after
half-pressing shutter button. Very fast. |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution | |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Times are averages. The camera displays an auto review of each shot, which cannot be canceled via a setup menu option, but half-pressing the shutter button again turns it off. Both cycle times are very good. Buffer memory holds 3-4 frames at large/fine, over 100 at small/basic setting. After first 3 or 4 frames in large/fine mode, cycle time increases to just over 2 seconds (still very good). |
| Cycle Time, continuous mode, max/min resolution | (2.0/2.0 fps) |
First number is for large/fine, second is for small/basic files. Numbers beneath are corresponding frames per second. Same cycle time/frame rate regardless of image size, difference is in how many shots you can snap without pausing. Large/fine mode limits you to 3-4 frames, small/basic allows more than 30. Like most cameras I've tested, the A60 pauses slightly longer between the first and second shots of a series than between subsequent ones. The delay between the first and second shots is about 0.75 seconds regardless of image size, before settling in to the 2.0 frame/second rate on subsequent shots. |
Overall, the A60 is a decently fast camera, the glaring exception being its
full-autofocus shutter lag, particularly at telephoto focal lengths. Regardless
of focal length though, its prefocus shutter lag is extremely fast. (This
is the shutter delay after the camera has been prefocused by half-pressing
and holding the shutter button before the exposure itself.) Cycle times are
faster than average, and the camera has a five- to six-frame buffer memory
when shooting large/fine images. It's a shame that the shutter lag is so long,
as it would be a good-performing camera otherwise..
Power
The PowerShot A60 uses four AA batteries for power.
The table below shows the PowerShot A60's power consumption in various modes, and approximate run times for each, based a set of four NiMH AA cells with a (true, not advertised) 1600 mAh capacity. (This is actually a bit conservative these days, as AA cells are available with true capacities as high as 2000 mAh.)
|
|
(@4.8 volts on the external power terminal) |
(4x1600 mAh NiMH AA cells) |
| Capture Mode, w/LCD |
490 mA |
196 |
| Capture Mode, no LCD |
|
20 hours (!) |
| Half-pressed shutter w/LCD |
|
185 |
| Half-pressed w/o LCD |
|
266 |
| Memory Write (transient) |
|
|
| Flash Recharge (transient) |
|
|
| Image Playback |
|
6 hours (!) |
The PowerShot A60 shows really excellent power consumption and battery life,
particularly when the LCD is left turned off. Alas, the rather tight optical
viewfinder means that you'll have to rely on the LCD screen for critical framing,
which drops the battery life from exceptional to merely excellent. Regardless
of the A60's long battery life though, I still strongly recommend that you
purchase several sets of high-capacity NiMH AA cells and a good charger to
go along with them. To see which NiMH cells are best, see my battery
shootout page. Read my
review of the Maha C-204F charger, to learn why it's my longtime favorite.
Storage Capacity
The PowerShot A60 stores its photos on CompactFlash memory cards, and
a 16MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying
at least a 64MB card, preferably a 128MB one, to give yourself extra space
for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored
on the included 16MB card at each size/quality setting.
|
Resolution/Quality 16MB Memory Card |
|
|
|
|
| 1,600 x 1,200 | Images (Avg size) |
15 1,043KB |
27 582KB |
54 295KB |
| Approx. Compression |
6:1 | 10:1 | 20:1 | |
| 1,024 x 768 | Images (Avg size) |
599KB |
336KB |
188KB |
| Approx. Compression |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Images (Avg size) |
270KB |
164KB |
98KB |
| Approx. Compression |
|
|
|
|
Download Speed
The PowerShot A60 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading
files to my 2.4 GHz Sony VAIO desktop (Windows XP), I clocked it at 463
KBytes/second. (Cameras with
slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast ones run as
high as 600 KB/s.)
A60 Test Images
A60 Specifications
A60 "Picky Details"
Up to Imaging Resource digital cameras area
Follow Imaging Resource: