6. In Practice, Continued

The A620 is reactive, with a fast startup time of 1.3 seconds. It produces very nice images, with sharpness that's clearly above average for its category, and very good in absolute terms. The corners were a little blurry at large apertures (f2.8 and f4) and in wide-angle position, but still very acceptable. Like all compacts, the A620's image noise increases with ISO sensitivity. However, in our opinion, noise was quite acceptable even at ISO 400, and the noise processing didn't result in artificial-looking images.

A very high quality image with good definition over almost the entire area.

In telephoto position, the Canon zoom still performed well.

At ISO 400, quality decreased but was still very good for a compact.

In the Plus Column

Wide range of possibilities Quality images Fold-out tilt/swivel screen

In the Minus Column

Fairly large and heavy (for its category) No real wide angle

For its capabilities, reasonable price, and the very good quality of the images it produces, the A620 deserves consideration by any demanding photographer looking to buy a compact.