A570 IS
Bang for the buck ratio winner

In our past reviews of the SD cameras we felt a little disappointed with fully automatic cameras that are beautiful, yet unsurprising. This humble entry level "A" camera has many surprises to stand out of the crowd and the discoveries of its many virtues (and some minor quirks) has been enjoyable.

Optical Quality

The 35-140mm (35mm equiv) 4x optical zoom is basic but better than the average P&S. The A570 admits converter lenses to to extend the focal length. As you may know, we are not fans of such accessories, but it is better to have the option and it is quite a surprise that this entry level camera has this feature that is missing in the more expensive and high end SX100.

The lens is the fastest on the entire Canon line at the wide end with a maximum aperture of f/2.6, although it isn't as fast at the tele end with f/5.5. Having a faster lens means more light into the sensor. The optical image stabilization is very good and has a panning mode. Although this camera is not as unstable as an ultra compact, the image stabilizer is a very welcomed addition for better photos under low light conditions.

Regarding optical quality we found that images at the tele end seem to have some halos and a "dreamy" look. Things get much better at the wide end. The barrel distortion is surprisingly low as well as the chromatic aberrations.

Resolution & Design

This is the smallest camera in the Canon's compact category. With a respectable resolution of 7.1 mega pixels the A570 IS produces good 4x6 and even larger copies with no hassle. Thanks to the batteries compartment there is a very nice grip and the camera is very comfortable.

The quality of construction is sup bar to Canon standards, but it won't break and feels reasonably solid even though is fully made of plastic. It won't win a design award for the most beautiful camera in the world, but it isn't the uglier either.

LCD & Power

The good surprises keep going on the back of the camera. There is a In the back the first thing you’ll notice is a nice sized 2.5” LCD, although it has a sub par resolution of just 115,000 pixels vs the average 230,000 pixels on other Canon cameras. The display is visible under direct sunlight and yet there is an optical viewfinder. Although it is tiny, it isn't obstructed by the lens barrel as many other cameras. Having that optical viewfinder is great for saving batteries.

The A570 is powered by two AA batteries that are widely available. The battery life is average with alkaline batteries (120 shots) but if you use a NiMh rechargeable set the performance improves to 400 shots with the LCD; using the optical viewfinder alone you can get 900 shots.

Performance

The camera has a pretty fast startup time, although the lens motor is more noisy than other Canon cameras. The overall performance is pretty snappy as well as the continuous mode. The only quirk is the 10 seconds delay from shot to shot with flash. And we felt that the average 4 seconds was an eternity for social snapshots!

The camera has many scenes with the most common directly available from the mode dial. The really good thing with this camera is the availability of manual modes: from a useful P mode, Av and Tv and a fully manual mode. This creative modes give you with full control of the camera to have extra fun and make it a superb camera for the beginner that wants to go beyond the green auto zone.

Since this is an entry camera you won't find a live histogram. There is no battery meter on the display either. Obviously the RAW format is unavailable.

The button layout is pretty much the usual PowerShot configuration, although many features are buried in the menus. Although there is not a a dedicated ISO button, the shortcut button may be programmed for such an often used setting.

ISO sensitivities and image noise

ISO behavior is in the line with other PowerShots. This mean that the A570 IS is not a good camera for low light situations, but you can expect good performance at low ISO levels. At ISO 800 and 1600 the loss of detail is dramatic.

Canon PowerShot A570 IS (100% crops)
ISO 80	ISO 100	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 800	ISO 1600

Exposure and color rendition

We found that the A570 tends to clip the highlights. It is a little annoyance because you should compensate the exposure underexposing the scene. That is a problem only with full auto modes, but it is easy to control on any creative modes. The color rendition is pretty accurate.

That’s it for the techno babble. How does the A570 IS feel?

The A570 has many surprises for a supposedly entry level camera. The $150 price tag is impressive considering all the features and manual control of this little camera.

It is not perfect; the optical quality at the tele end is sub par, the flash delay is very long, the LCD resolution could be better and we disliked that it tends to clip the highlights and doesn't handle well very contrasted scenes well.

This is a really good camera for every beginner wanting for a more advanced camera. The A570 IS is a very good gift if you want to initiate someone in the art of photography, and it is certainly a great recommendation for anyone interested in becoming a Photo Aficionado.

The bottom line