Canon PowerShot A480 review

Colour is uniformly excellent and makes up for many of the camera's other photo issues. Unfortunately, lens distortion causes a fair amount of purple fringing. It's to be expected at this price, but that doesn't make it any more palatable. If you plan to print photos larger than 8 by 10 inches, or even 5 by 7 inches, there's a good chance you'll be disappointed with the results. Overall, however, you're really not going to find better photo quality at this price point.

Shooting speed (in frames per second)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon Digital IXUS 95 IS

1.4 

3.2 

2.1 

0.7 

0.5 

Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS

2.8 

1.4 

1.2 

1 

0.5 

Nikon Coolpix S230

3.5 

3.3 

3 

1 

0.5 

Canon PowerShot A480

1.8 

5.6 

2.7 

0.6 

0.6 

Pentax Optio E70

2.4 

4.2 

3.3 

1.2 

0.6 

Conclusion
It's difficult to get overly critical about a camera as inexpensive as the Canon PowerShot A480. At this price point, it's enough that it's small, attractive and produces decent photos -- and without any real skill or effort required on the part of the photographer. If you're expecting more than just snapshot photos, however, you should save up for something else.

Edited by Charles Kloet