Canon PowerShot A590 IS

Why is it that nearly all cameras designed for photography enthusiasts are bulky and expensive? There are surprisingly few compact cameras that include full manual controls and even fewer still that cost under £150. The A590 IS is one those few.

While Canon’s Ixus range gets all the groupies, the PowerShots are designed to appeal to people who care more about the look of their photos than of their camera. The PowerShot A590 IS sits towards the entry-level end of the range and is a strong candidate for enthusiasts on a strict budget, and also for digital SLR owners who want something lighter for more casual snapping.

It’s not much to look at, with a curved plastic body that’s a little bulkier than most. This is partly in order to accommodate two AA batteries, although the bulbous compartment doubles as a handgrip for easier one-handed shooting. Alkaline disposable batteries are supplied, so budget another £20 for high-capacity NiMH batteries and a charger.

The PowerShot A590 IS’ key specs won’t set the world alight either, but they’re just right for a camera of this type and price. The 8-megapixel sensor is detailed enough for A4 prints at 300dpi; the lens has a 4x zoom range and is threaded in order to attach 0.7x wide, 1.75x tele and macro converters. The former two are handy – if pricey – ways to extend the camera’s zoom range. The latter seems pretty redundant, though, as the lens can already focus down to 5cm. It also has optical image stabilisation built in to reduce the chances of blur in low light – a rare treat at this price.

The optical viewfinder will be welcome in bright light when the screen is hard to see. The preview screen’s 2.5in size is pretty much standard these days but its 115,000-pixel resolution is disappointing.

The PowerShot A590 IS’  controls are typical of a budget digital camera, with a five-way navigation pad and four other buttons, a playback switch and mode dial. It’s this mode dial that reveals the camera’s ambitious aspirations, with aperture priority, shutter priority and manual exposure modes nestling among the usual automatic, scene preset and video options.

Manual exposure is superbly implemented, with the preview image’s brightness and an EV reading predicting the outcome of the current exposure settings while composing shots. Other cameras’ manual exposure modes can be intimidating for less experienced users, but this one’s accessibility makes it an educational experience.

Sadly, the screen’s low resolution makes manual focusing harder to achieve. It shows a digital enlargement in the centre of the preview during focus adjustments but it’s not enough to be able to make fine adjustments with confidence.

No one likes to be kept waiting, especially keen photographers who may want to fire off a handful of shots in quick succession so they can choose the best one later. The A590 IS obliges, taking just two seconds to power up take a picture, while subsequent shots arrive every 1.6 seconds. Flash photography is slower at over four seconds between shots. This is the downside of using AA batteries, which can’t charge the flash as quickly as lithium ion batteries used on other cameras. Continuous mode runs at 1.4fps, which is great for a low-cost compact camera.

The budget price hasn’t stopped Canon from packing the PowerShot A590 IS with various technologies to improve image quality. Face detection is to be expected, but this updated version contributes to white balance settings as well as the focus, exposure and flash. It worked superbly in our tests.

The PowerShot A590 IS is also able to distinguish between camera shake and subject motion, and use this information to set the ISO speed for best results. This may sound impressive on paper but we’re not entirely convinced by the results. A High ISO Auto mode is designed for low-light photography and raises the ISO speed in order to reduce the shutter speed and avoid blur. However, it did so by more than was necessary, resorting to a 1/60s shutter speed at ISO 800, regardless of how still the camera or subject was.

With image stabilisation built in, much slower shutter speeds are perfectly usable without photos suffering from blur. This means the ISO speed could also be lowered to reduce image noise. With High ISO Auto switched off, the PowerShot A590 IS suffered the opposite problem, never going beyond ISO 200 and using shutter speeds as slow as 1/8s. It’s a shame there isn’t a mode that excels in both bright and low light without any user intervention.

As it stands, best results in low light require manual adjustment of the ISO speed. At least it’s easy to keep an eye on what the automatic settings are doing, as the exposure settings selected by the PowerShot A590 IS are shown on screen when the shutter button is half-pressed.

Ultimately though, there were very few occasions when the PowerShot A590 IS didn’t capture a superbly exposed photo in our tests. Skin tones looked balanced and natural in direct sunlight, ambient light both indoors and out, under artificial light and with the flash.

Effective face detection meant that the camera wasn’t put off by a dark or bright background. More vividly coloured subjects were punchy and vibrant without looking over-processed and unnatural. Purple fringing meant that over-exposed highlights were shrouded in a halo-like glow but it was rarely a significant problem.

Details and noise levels were about average for an 8-megapixel camera at this price. Noise made photos at ISO 400 and above look quite scruffy, but we appreciate how Canon doesn’t use heavy-handed noise reduction that sacrifices fine details. Still, 8-megapixel cameras with physically larger 1/1.7in sensors (such as Samsung’s excellent NV8) are capable of smoother, more detailed photos, especially in low light. Lens focus was sharp, and although it trailed off a little towards the corners in wide-angle shots, it was barely noticeable in most photos.

A camera designed for enthusiasts that costs just £113 is quite an achievement. It’s hardly surprising that the PowerShot A590 IS doesn’t excel on every single front – its automatic mode could cope better in low light, noise levels are run-of-the-mill and the manual focus is tricky to adjust. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives, with accessible manual exposure controls, fast performance, a 4x zoom stabilised lens and superb image quality in the vast majority of situations.

Those looking for a low-cost camera with advanced controls aren’t spoiled for choice, but Panasonic’s DMC-LZ8 and Canon’s own PowerShot A720 IS are the most directly comparable cameras. The Panasonic is a little slower, its manual exposure mode isn’t as friendly and its smaller aperture captures less light. However, the A720 IS is extremely similar to the PowerShot A590 IS and with its 6x zoom lens, it’s even more versatile.