Review : CANON POWERSHOT A95 : A hot home digicam

this review was presented earlier and as i found the request to re direct i am copying here.

the text in this blue color is new and i have added it today. i have many more images now but the bandwidth problem will not allow me to upload now will go on adding them here as and when i get time.

Caution : this thread carries a lot of images so it may be too slow to load on dial ups.

well after a long desired dream i finally purchased my digital camera in navratri.

i thought of a lot of models and lot of features before coming to the decision bying this one : CANON POWERSHOT A95

i was looking for a camera that has:
resolution more than 4 mp
compact
ease of use
light on pocket
battery availability (i mean no proprietory batteries so that if one goes caput you have to wait a lot to get another replacement0
i needed a cam which nicely reproduces the images of CT Scans, X-rays, patient documets in details for my conference presentations.
and on reasonable budget.

after thought process of approximately 3-4 months i came to purchasing this one.
First Impression:

well while i first show my a95 on my hands i could not differentiate it from other hit models like powershot a80. It also looked very compact and not much overweight. The user control buttons were quite easily recognisable and usability was great. The LCD size had been increased from other earlier models on Canon. the Display was Bright and Crisp. In short it took my heart away.........

following photos are resourced from imaging-resource.com
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this is what i got in my package
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Basic Features
5.0-megapixel CCD delivering image resolutions as large as 2,592 x 1,944 pixels.
1.8-inch color LCD monitor.
Real-image optical viewfinder.
Glass, 3x 7.8-23.4mm lens (equivalent to 38-114mm zoom on a 35mm camera).
3x digital zoom.
AiAF autofocus, FlexiZone AF, and a manual focus mode.
AF Assist light for low-light focusing.
Full Automatic, Program AE, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual exposure modes, as well as five preset exposure modes.
Manually adjustable aperture setting ranging from f/2.8 to f/8.0, depending on lens zoom position and shutter speed.
Shutter speed range from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds, depending on aperture.
Built-in flash with five operating modes.
CompactFlash memory storage.
Power supplied by four AA batteries or optional AC adapter.
Special Features

Movie mode (with sound).
Sound caption recording.
Stitch-Assist mode for panoramic shots. this is really cool feature i will add the picture taken with it tomorrow or day after i get time
Continuous Shooting and 10-second Self-Timer modes.
Creative Effects menu. this is also a nice feature
White balance (color) adjustment with seven modes.
ISO adjustment with four ISO equivalents and an Auto setting.
Low Sharpness setting.
Evaluative, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering options.
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
USB cable for connection to a computer (driver software included).

Package Contents:
Camera
hand strap
one set of disposable AA alkaline batteries
Compact Flash Card 32 MB
Softwares for connectivity to computer and Photo enhancements
USB Cable
AV Cable for direct playback on TV (really usefull if you do not have compatible jpeg playback facility on your home cd player or you do not have immediate access to the computer you can enjoy the pics with your family)

Other Features:
14 modes to shoot the images
NIce Movie recording facility in three different resolutions (640 / 320 / 160) (.mov format) earlier i thought it was .mov format but it is actually mjpg (motion jpeg format) decent quality for a still cam)
excellent colour reproduction
good auto focus
superb macro mode
good night shooting capabilities
good capacity flash

My Opinion on this camera:
I was impressed by its ease of usage, excellent point and shoot function(good for my family members for casual photo shooting), very good colour reproduction, nice night photo taking capability, compact, good battery life, good advanced feature adjustments for photo enthusiasts.
in short fits in to the range of newbies to professional.
I would recommend with this camera:

good rechargeable (minimum 1600 mA) NiMh batteries
good battery charger (for both these things i have used GP, Sony both are good)
if you are a real enthusiast then minimum 256 MB compact flash card as 32 MB card which is supplied together will too less for you (i procured one of 1 GB from states with my friend)
i have taken care to include almost various kinds of settings of this camera except panoramic landscapes as i have not been to good place for long i have not taken such photos so when i will take i will post them.
all these images are resized images and i will upload the real images somewhere and then provide the link here.

Resources for this review:
canon website
Digital Cameras, Digital Camera Reviews - The Imaging Resource!
i hope i have served well the purpose of the review and it satisfies the needs of many here.

i have not mentioned the price here any where as i got it from the other channels
the indicative prices :
grey : 18k-19k
real market : add 60% apprx. to the grey price
usa : should be around 325 us$ (not seen the price for long time when launched it was 390 us$0 (source : pricegrabber.com)
the prices mentioned were at the time of purchase appx. 6 months back now it has reduced a lot and it has become one of the hottest home cam around.
 
actually it took a lot of time to upload the attachments and my time was over will upload tomorrow morning.
till then bear with me.
 
my real requirement

one more while uploading it showed like this
Upload Errors
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File Too Large. Limits are 2048 x 1536. Your file is 1361 x 1814.
do i have to fit in both side i mean width and height then i will have to resize a lot more and come back tomorrow.

till then good night
 

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few photos i took with my camera
 

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product photography and book photography
 

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the photostich function
this image is made of three images stitched together with help of the software bundeled with the camera.

even photoshop cs has stitching capabilities but i found this one to be better and fast.

 
hi venky:
to small a cam or to fine a cam will hamper your functions if you need fast shooting i have experienced this with sony dsc p 100 and this cam is no where bulky when compared to nikons and fujis of comparable prices.
 
thanks a lot for the praises.

it also has an audio memo function to add a little sound note to your photos.
 
Well Medpal i went to buy a camera today and saw all the possible options which were fitting into my budget of 17500... canon PS A95,A85,A510,A520... Sony DSC P100,P200,T3,T33 And Nikons CP 3700,4100,4600,5100,5900... All of them campared togather i found A95 to be the biggest of them all... It was too big and bulky to fit in a Shirt Pocket... Well after much thought i finally decided to settle for a A95 only... Why, well you convinced me into it... I read your review and your praises and bought this camera... I will be posting my experience with the same camera... Well finally i ended up paying Rs 14200 for the camera Rs 1200 For a 256 MB card San Disk and Rs 500 for the cover... In all Rs 15900... Hope its a good buy... the price of A 510 tempted to to go for it Rs 9800 only and Nikon CP was Rs 8800 Only... Anyways Let me use it for some days and then i will give my opinion... Cheers...
 
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