Review: Canon PowerShot A430 digital camera

Looking for a cheap snapshot camera this summer? Canon’s new PowerShot A430, available in a choice of four colours, is an inexpensive way to go digital. A budget price hasn’t meant a lack of features, and it’s a surprise to see a better than average 4x optical zoom included here.

The Canon PowerShot A430 also allows for TV quality movies with sound, 15 shooting modes, widescreen (16:9 ratio) stills and a 1cm super macro mode.

There's also a nine-point auto focus system that helps achieve a sharp image, no matter where your subject is in the frame.

Though the My Colours modes – via which you can swap or isolate colours and convert the rest to black and white, are briefly fun but quickly forgettable. Though, the ability to downgrade taken video clips into email-sized chunks will appeal to the A430’s beginner market.

For £150 you get a four megapixel resolution – small these days, but capable of delivering a 6x4in photo – plus the same swift processor found in Canon’s professional cameras.

Inevitably there are compromises, like the plastic body, wider build (when compared with IXUS cameras further up the range), noisy zoom mechanism and 1.8in screen that’s also tiny, though at least there’s an optical viewfinder for shot composition. Light sensitivity is capped at ISO400, adjustable manually.

The A430 powers up in a couple of seconds, while its processor ensures there’s no noticeable delay between firing the shutter and capturing a photo.

Turning the bottle-top mode wheel to playback allows access to captured images – colourful and adequately sharp in the main – and you can enlarge areas to check focus.

Disappointingly there’s no separate zoom lever - it’s controlled like many other functions by one central toggle disk, which keeps the camera clutter f ree.

Maintaining simplicity the A430 is powered by two regular AA batteries, which should be exchanged for rechargeables. The supplied 16Mb MultiMedia card should be similarly upgraded, though it’s nice to see one included.

Small enough to dangle in your shorts at the beach this summer, perhaps the only slip up on Canon’s part was to not make the PowerShot A430 dust and waterproof.

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