The $109.95 to $179.00 Canon PowerShot A3000 IS is a great camera if your purpose is to take great photos without all that jazz. Canon PowerShots in the past have been cumbersome and quite frankly, of a much poorer quality. The only good thing they had going for them was usability. The A3000 brings the easy-to-use quality with it, and in addition, great photos.
The camera sports 10-megapixels, which in the world of megapixels and point-and-shoot cameras is more than sufficient. Most cameras should have, and the A3000 does have optical image stabilization. Especially considering the small size of compact cameras, you don’t want to cheap out on this feature; it’s a must.
The camera weighs around 5.3 ounces, and its body measures 2.30×3.83×1.11 inches. It’s small, but the weight is a bit more than other cameras of its kind. However, this is one budget camera that will surely impress.
The LCD screen measures 2.7 inches. Its 230,000-dot resolution screen makes images appear very sharp. Some cameras have grainy or noisy images, which makes it hard to tell if the photo you’ve just taken is good or not.
It’s easy to use and has rubbery buttons pleasing to the touch, and the A3000 uses Canon’s impressive Canon UI programming to make things simple. Although the only color available is the regular silver stain, the usability makes this a prime prospect for newbies to compact cameras.
It is the A3000’s Easy Mode that makes it so user-friendly. The Easy mode allows users to select the type of shot, and all other buttons are deactivated. You won’t have to worry about accidentally switching on the menu, timer, etc.
The lithium-ion battery is rechargeable, allowing users to simply plug it in. When taking shots, the camera isn’t so fast, and there’s normal shutter delay, but the aperture opens to a full f/2.7 wide angle position. With the 4x optical zoom, you can get a little closer to the action, even though there’s no trigger or wheel to use it, but rather two buttons.
The only shortcoming with the A3000 is its lack of HD capture, and its inability to shoot well in low light. For a camera of this price, however, it’s not surprising that the camera doesn’t pack another sensor to better pick up low light relief. Although, one thing of note is that the low light photos aren’t as noisy as many other cameras. And, although there is no HD video capture, the standard video capture is decent, taking video in 640×480 resolution at 30 frames a second.
Overall the camera is a big step up from older versions of the PowerShot. Its price offers one of the best deals in the business, perhaps compromising on some advanced features, but offering the best quality images you can expect of a compact digital camera.
