Canon has two ranges of compact digital cameras: the high-end, ultra compact Ixus and the mid-range, rather bulkier PowerShot.

This latest PowerShot A630 has an 8-megapixel sensor, a 4x optical zoom, a 6.3cm screen and a rather cramped array of control buttons.

There are no more of them than usual; a four-way ring to control the menus, with a Set button in the centre and four others placed around it. Because of the size of the display, however, they're all vying for space.

Four separate buttons handle exposure settings, direct printing, switching the display on and off and accessing the menu. However, important options like flash and macro mode are relegated to the menu ring – not very intuitive. The record/playback option slider is small and awkward, too.

The large screen folds out from the back panel and can be swivelled and folded back into the camera just like a conventional screen. It's main selling point, though, is versatility and having it a stick out the side of the camera to take low- or high-positioned shots. There's a traditional viewfinder, too, if you don't like framing shots with a screen or want to conserve battery life.

Twenty-one shooting modes are provided in the PowerShot A630: conventional aperture and shutter priority options, as well as more esoteric settings like snow, beach and underwater – that's in a glass-bottomed boat or with the optional waterproof case.

There's no internal memory in the PowerShot A630, but Canon does provide a 16MB Multimedia memory card. This only holds seven shots at the camera's highest resolution, though, which is barely worth having. You can reduce the resolution of your shots to get more on, of course, but then why pay for a high-res camera? The only solution is to buy a bigger memory card.

Picture quality is above average, with good, natural rendition of colours, both pastel and vivid. Our test shots were sharp and well detailed, with reasonable depth of field and the camera was good at differentiating shadow in mixed light conditions. Low light photos showed some noise, but no more than most cameras in this price bracket.

Nine-point auto focus helps with off-centre subjects, the macro mode works down to 1cm and an ISO 800 setting, equivalent to a very fast conventional film, helps to take sharper pictures than normal in low light.

The A630 is reasonably comfortable to hold, though those with bigger hands will have to be careful not to get any fingers in shot.

Also consider
Ricoh Caplio RR660
A 6-megapixel compact with a quality build at a good price

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