Canon PowerShot A80 Review

Overall Rating

Price, general build, slow ISO image quality, range of accessories, LCD, menus, Durability, powerful flash, feel

Painstakingly slow AF, obscured flash with add on lenses, obscene image noise in faster ISO, lacks some essentials for more advanced users.

Before I write this text, let me make one thing absolutely clear. I love this Canon PowerShot A80 camera for what it is. However, I am used to 35mm SLR's so I guess it is a bit of an unfair comparison. But still.
I bought my A80 digital camera a year ago with the intention of dabbling in digital when I was wondering whether D-SLR's would be the way to go in my career. The first few months of owning the A80 were great, everything about the camera impressed me and I reviewed it many times giving it top marks. However, at this stage my opinions have changed and I no longer think of the A80 as a serious camera. In retrospect, I now realise why. When I bought it, my faithful Canon A1 got assigned to the gadget bag for a few months of hibernation. Of course like anything, everything seems great at first and any niggly little things get overlooked, like having a new car for example, then things wear off. Slowly after eliminating countless sets of batteries, I began to realise that the A80 lacked the features that I was used to. For example, the flash, whilst being adjustable and downright powerful for its size was all of useless when one of the brilliant add-on lenses was used as the lens obscured the flash-path. This, I know is a common problem in little cameras, but with something that is technically advanced then adding a flash-sync socket would not have gone amiss. I am not going to complain about the lack of a remote shutter release or BULB setting as I know that these only come on more advanced cameras. It would have been nice, however to have an apeture of In essence, I have been unfair on this camera because of what I am comparing it to. However, my soon-to-be-replaced A1 is now out of hibernation and my A80 needs a sleep. I don't regret buying this camera for one second. It has been a joy to own, it has given me a valuable insight into digital imaging and I still find uses for it, either a test shot before using the SLR or just a bit of fun. If you want a high quality digital compact and you believe that digital is great and film is for wusses, then buy the A80, you won't regret it. If you are like me though, buy an A80 for a bit of fun. So, will I be replacing my A1 with a D-SLR after a year with the A80? The answer, sadly, is no. Digital will always play second fiddle to film. You may wonder why I rate this camera so highly with the scores after being so hard on it. That explanation is simple. Whatever you consider the A80 for, you will always find a use for it.