If you’re a novice who wants to get serious about photography, but don’t want to invest in a expensive digital SLR, then the Canon PowerShot A95 is the camera to get. The A95 is priced cheaper than many point-and-shoot cameras, but offer some features only found in digital SLRs. It’s a powerful 5-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, very flexible manual controls and excellent image image quality.

The Canon PowerShot A95 digital camera
 

Design and Construction

The Canon PowerShot A95 measures approximately 3.9” by 2.5” by 1.4” (WHD), and weighs about 8.2 ounces. It’s pretty heavy for a novice grade camera, but certainly good enough for one and two handed shooting.

Comparing it to the Canon PowerShot S500 (which is the ultracompact version of the A95), I found that the grip on the A95 was more solid. So if you want a heftier and stable camera, I guess the A95 is a better choice than the S500. 

Another nice feature about the Canon PowerShot A95 is the foldable 1.8 inch LCD. You can fold out the LCD to take personal portraits – which is a great advantage. Most other cameras in this price range don’t have this feature.
 

Optics and Resolution

The Canon PowerShot A95 has an image resolution of 5 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom. These would be enough for producing decent sized prints and shooting in a wide variety of environments. 

The built-in Canon DIGIC processor (which is in all Canon models in this price range) allows fast write times, minimal shutter lag and optimal image definition. This translates to better performance when you’re trying to take challenging shots.

The A95 also has a 9-point auto focus system with an auto focus assist lamp. I found that this allows fast, accurate focusing even when your subjects are not centered.
 

User Controls

Let’s look at the user controls. The Canon PowerShot A95 has a nice mode-selector dial on top of the camera. From there, I found it very easy to navigate to a series of powerful controls. If you like fiddling with camera exposure options, you’ll love the shutter and aperture priority modes in the A95. There are also auto, program, and manual modes, as well as scene presets.

You have full control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO. If you’ve tweaked the exposure settings for a scene and wish to reuse them, there is an excellent Custom mode to save those settings.
 

Direct Printing

The Canon PowerShot A95 supports PictBridge direct printing. This means you want to print out photos without having to import them to a computer first. You’ll need a printer that is PictBridge compatible. The Canon Pixma iP3000 and iP4000 are good choices for PictBridge printers.
 

Storage and Transfer

The Canon PowerShot A95 supports CompactFlash Type I memory card. The cameras ships with a 32MB CompactFlash Type I memory card, which you’ll want to quickly upgrade to do serious shooting.

Transferring pictures from the A95 to your PC is via a standard USB 1.1 port. I encountered no problems at all connecting the camera to the PC and transferring pictures with the supplied USB cable.
 

Battery Life

The Canon A95 takes four AA batteries – it does not take lithium-ions. This is advantageous if you’re out traveling and you’re caught without an electrical socket for charging. However, four AA batteries do add to the camera’s weight. Other than that, I found that the batteries lasted an exceptionally long time.


Shortcomings

I can only think of one shortcomings about the Canon PowerShot A95 which you should be aware of. It’s got to be the weight – the A95 is a bit heavy for a point-and-shoot camera. I’d think this may be a deal breaker for some consumers. However, features wise, it offers the most value for your money – so if you want features instead of style and a slim design, then the A95 is perfect for you.
 

Conclusion

Whether you’re a novice or an intermediate photographer, if you want a lot of manual controls and flexibility in your shots, the Canon PowerShot A95 is the camera for you. While it’s not as cool looking as the Canon PowerShot S500, or Sony DSC-T1, it is a lot cheaper and offers a good feature set and excellent image quality.

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