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Reviews of the Canon PowerShot A540

  • 7.6

    CNET Review

    April 5, 2006

    The Good: Manual and automated exposure and focus controls; solid image quality; robust burst mode; usable ISO 800 shots.

    The Bad: Long flash-recycle time; LCD washes out in direct sunlight.

    The Bottom Line: Solid image quality plus manual and automated exposure controls make the Canon PowerShot A540 a nice low-cost option for snapshooters and photo enthusiasts.

    Read the full review

  • 8.8

    alaTest.com

    By alaTest | November 23, 2009

    Review Summary: Experts rate this product 77/100 and users 84/100. Comparing these reviews to 555170 other Digital Compact Cameras reviews gives this product an overall alaScore™ 88/100 = Very Good.

    Read the full review

  • No Rating

    dcresource.com

    By Jeff Keller | December 21, 2007

    Review Summary: If you've been around here long enough then you know that I'm a big fan of cameras that use AA batteries. Why? Two reasons. For one, NiMH rechargeables are cheaper than their lithium-ion equivalents. Second, if your rechargeables run out of juice in ...

    Read the full review

  • 8.0

    goodgearguide.com.au

    By Andrew Kliem | June 13, 2007

    Review Summary: Another great Canon advanced camera, the PowerShot A540 is a great choice for those looking to move up to more manual photography as it combines a strong feature set with great pictures.

    Read the full review

  • No Rating

    photoaxe.com

    Review Summary: Canon Powershot A540 adds Shutter and Aperture Priority Modes to the old Canon A530 as well as 6MP instead of 5MP, and continues featuring the 4x optical zoom. Also, it enlarges the LCD screen and a 16:9 widescreen resolution option. Not only that I'm ...

    Read the full review

Manufacturer: Canon USA

Part number: 1118B001

General

  • Product Type Digital camera
  • Point-and-shoot highlights Video capture ability adds convenience for the user.
  • Width 3.5 in
  • Depth 1.7 in
  • Height 2.5 in
  • Weight 6.3 oz

Main Features

  • Resolution 6 megapixels
  • Color Support Color
  • Optical Sensor Type CCD
  • Total Pixels 6,200,000 pixels
  • Effective Sensor Resolution 6,000,000 pixels
  • Light Sensitivity ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO auto
  • Digital Zoom 4 x
  • Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
  • Shooting Programs Snow, Beach, Indoor, Foliage, Fireworks, Landscape, Underwater, Kids & pets, Night scene, Portrait mode, Stitch assist, Night snapshot
  • Special Effects Sepia, Vivid, Neutral, My Colors, Color Swap, Color Accent, Black & White, Positive Film, Darker Skin Tone, Lighter Skin Tone
  • Max Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec
  • Min Shutter Speed 15 sec
  • Exposure Metering Spot, Evaluative, Center-weighted
  • Exposure Modes Manual, Program, Automatic, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority
  • Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
  • White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
  • White Balance Presets Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (daylight)
  • Digital Video Format AVI
  • Still Image Format JPEG
  • TV Tuner None
  • Video Capture AVI - 640 x 480 - 7 sec - With 16MB card, AVI - 640 x 480 - 15 sec - With 16MB card, AVI - 320 x 240 - 22 sec - With 16MB card, AVI - 320 x 240 - 43 sec - With 16MB card, AVI - 320 x 240 - 11 sec - With 16MB card, AVI - 160 x 120 - 107 sec - With 16MB card

Memory / Storage

  • Flash Memory 16 MB Flash - MultiMediaCard
  • Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
  • Floppy Drive None
  • Image Storage Super-fine JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 5 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 8 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 19 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2272 x 1704 : 7 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 2272 x 1704 : 13 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 2272 x 1704 : 26 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 14 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 26 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 50 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 56 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 88 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 640 x 480 : 138 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2816 x 1584 : 7 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 2816 x 1584 : 12 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 2816 x 1584 : 25 - With 16MB card

Camera Flash

  • Camera Flash Built-in flash
  • Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
  • Red Eye Reduction Yes
  • Effective Flash Range 1 ft - 11.5 ft
  • Features AF illuminator, Flash +/- compensation

Lens System

  • Type Zoom lens - 5.8 mm - 23.2 mm - F/2.6-5.5
  • Focal Length 5.8 mm - 23.2 mm
  • Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 35 - 140 mm
  • Focus Adjustment Manual, Automatic
  • Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
  • Auto Focus Points (Zones) 9
  • Min Focus Range 17.7 in
  • Macro Focus Range 5-45cm
  • Lens Aperture F/2.6-5.5
  • Optical Zoom 4 x
  • Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
  • Lens Construction 5 group(s) / 7 element(s)
  • Features Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield

Additional Features

  • Self Timer Yes
  • Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
  • Additional Features AE lock, AF lock, DPOF support, Direct print, MOTION PRINT, Audio recording, Auto power save, Date/time stamp, Built-in speaker, Histogram display, PictBridge support, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital image rotation, Digital noise reduction, RGB primary color filter, Display brightness control, Camera orientation detection

Viewfinder

  • Viewfinder Type Optical - Real-image zoom

Display

  • Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
  • Display Form Factor Built-in
  • Display Format 85,000 pixels

Digital Player (Recorder)

  • Type None

Microphone

  • Type Microphone - Built-in

Connections

  • Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x DC power input
  • Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card

Software

  • Software Canon PhotoRecord, Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ImageBrowser, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ZoomBrowser EX

System Requirements for PC Connection

  • Operating System Support MS Windows ME, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows 98 SE, Apple Mac OS X 10.2 - 10.4
  • Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive, SVGA monitor

Miscellaneous

  • Carrying Case None
  • Included Accessories Wrist strap
  • Cables Included A/V cable, USB cable

Power

  • Power Device None

Battery

  • Supported Battery AA
  • Supported Battery 2 x AA Alkaline battery ( Included )

Environmental Parameters

  • Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
  • Max Operating Temperature 104 °F

CNET Labs' Benchmarks

  • Labs information All values are expressed in seconds. Please visit our labs information page for information on how digital cameras are tested.
  • CNET Labs Flash shot to shot time 3.9
  • CNET Labs Shot to shot time typical 2.0
  • CNET Labs Shutter lag bright 0.7
  • CNET Labs Shutter lag dim 1.1
  • CNET Labs Typical burst speed 2.3
  • CNET Labs Wake up time 1.9

Product Video

Product Photos

  • camera on
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  • back

User Opinions

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Buying Choices

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Canon PowerShot A540

Buying Choices

This item is currently unavailable at any of our online stores

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