Canon Powershot A4000 review

I have a DSLR in the cupboard. That’s pretty much where it lives to be honest. With 3 kids, I don’t really have an opportunity to lug a single lens reflex camera about, digital or not. I’ve almost brained more than one of my kids by bending over with it slung around my neck.

So when John Lewis, now the high streets best purveyor of all things camera related, offered to pop me an affordable compact in the post for reviewing purposes, I said yes. A few days later the Canon Powershot A4000 popped onto the mat. It’s one of last years models and as of today doesn’t actually appear on the John Lewis website now (three weeks later) but it’s country miles away from the budget Samsung (that’s also in a cupboard) that is replaces. It’s metal bodied, with a 16MP sensor and an 8X optical zoom. It’s quick to switch on and take the first picture, with the pictures looking pretty good outside and okay inside.

The indoors lighting at Britmums confused the A4000 a bit

As you can see from the above the purple tinge to the photo isn’t entirely realistic. To be fair the lighting was a little bit odd anyway and it has a screen to contend with. I ended up moving the water bottles completely out of the way as wherever they were in shot, the A4000 stubbornly wanted to focus on them. They’re not that interesting.

Fortunately outside the camera was a lot better, as the following slideshow from the Mad Day Out shows:

The images are clear and the colour representation is very good. The only thing I did note was the appearance of the busy icon after taking a couple of shots in succession. This might have been down to the SD card but it is one I’ve used in the Powershot is one I’ve shot 1080p video on. Talking of video, the video from the A4000 is about what you would expect- better than a smartphone (down to a better lens) but not as good as a dedicated camcorder. Personally I tend to carry a compact camcorder about with me, so I wouldn’t use it for video but in a pinch it’s decidedly better than your phone will be (unless you’ve got one of those swanky and very expensive new Nokias).

You can pick up the Powershot A4000 for under £100 now, and for the money you get a camera with a build quality that belies it’s price and takes pretty decent photos too. Thanks to John Lewis for the review sample, you’re not having it back :)

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