Canon PowerShot SD A2000 IS Gallery

The following images were taken with a Canon PowerShot A2000 IS. The A2000 IS was set to Large Super-Fine JPEG quality, Auto White Balance and Evaluative metering. The sensitivity was set to Auto for the first three images, but set manually for the remaining five. Image Stabilisation was enabled for all these handheld shots.

The individual exposure mode, file sizes, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO and lens focal length are listed for each image.

The crops are taken from the original files, reproduced at 100% and saved in Adobe Photoshop CS2 as JPEGs with the default Very High quality preset, while the resized images were made in Photoshop CS2 and saved with the default High quality preset. The three crops are typically taken from far left, central and far right portions of each image.

Note: you may wish to open a number of galleries for direct comparison of detail and noise: Canon IXUS 870IS / SD 880IS sample images and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 sample images.

Landscape: 2.57MB, Program, 1/160, f9, ISO 80, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   This first shot was taken with the A2000 IS under bright conditions with the lens zoomed-out; the Auto sensitivity selected its lowest 80 ISO setting. The widest focal length of 36mm has only just managed to squeeze in the yacht's sail, but the quality is good with detailed crops and only the slightest fringing and softening in the far corners and edges.       Landscape: 4.76MB, Program, 1/400, f3.2, ISO 80, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   Another shot taken under bright conditions with the Canon zoomed-out to its widest angle view. As before we selected Auto ISO, and here the A2000 IS again went for its lowest 80 ISO setting. We held the camera close to the ground for this shot, where the screen's relatively low viewing angle made it trickier to see compared to pricier models like the IXUS 870IS / SD 880IS. The result is good though, with sharp detailed crops and no undesirable artefacts to mention.       Landscape: 3.91MB, Program, 1/250, f5.9, ISO 160, 6.4-38.4mm at 38.4mm (216mm equivalent)     For this shot of an approaching boat we zoomed the A2000 IS into its longest focal length and the camera chose a sensitivity of 160 ISO. The boost in sensitivity has ensured a sufficiently quick shutter to eliminate motion blur, but it has also resulted in a softening of fine detail when viewed at 100%. For the best quality when viewed at 100%, you should use the A2000 at its lowest sensitivities of 80 and 100 ISO.                     Portrait: 4.06MB, Program, 1/1250, f5.9, ISO 200, 6.4-38.4mm at 38.4mm (216mm equivalent)   For this portrait shot we fully zoomed-in, activated face detection and manually set the sensitivity to 200 ISO. The camera easily locked-onto the subject's face, but even with the largest aperture and longest focal length, the background isn't very blurred. The boost in sensitivity has also resulted in decrease of fine detail and an increase in visible textures when viewed at 100%. That said, it's par for the course for most 10 Mpixel compacts, and hardly noticeable on prints.       Macro: 4.89MB, Program, 1/30, f3.2, ISO 400, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   For this macro shot we increased the sensitivity to 400 ISO and positioned the camera as close at it would focus. The A2000 IS will focus down to just 1cm, although you'll have to watch out for shadows at that distance. There's some geometric distortion here, but of greater concern, the field isn't particularly flat. So while the middle is sharp, the edges have become soft. Our crops, taken from the middle area, are detailed though and the increase to 400 ISO hasn't had a detrimental effect here.       Indoor: 5.05MB, Program, 1/80, f3.2, ISO 400, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   Our first indoor shot was taken with the A2000 IS at 400 ISO under artificial light. Face detection once again locked-on quickly, although could lose the subject when turned more towards a profile. Detailed areas of the image, such as the magazine covers look ok, but where there's flat areas of colour or shadow regions, the noise textures have now become quite apparent. The result still looks acceptable for most prints though.       Indoor: 3.04MB, Program, 1/13, f3.2, ISO 800, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   Our second indoor shot was taken with the sensitivity increased to 800 ISO. The modest f3.2 aperture meant a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/13 under these conditions, but the camera's image stabilisation easily eliminated any shake. The increase in sensitivity has unsurprisingly resulted in a noticeable reduction in quality here with quite visible noise. The crops do still contain a reasonable degree of detail, but like most compacts, 800 ISO is best reserved for smaller prints.       Indoor: 3.19MB, Program, 1/50, f3.2, ISO 1600, 6.4-38.4mm at 6.4mm (36mm equivalent)   Our final indoor shot was taken with the sensitivity at 1600 ISO. Here's there's a significant reduction in quality with undesirable artefacts through noise and noise reduction. The image has also become quite de-saturated. So again, like most compacts, 1600 ISO should be avoided unless for emergency use or small emailed images. The A2000 IS also offers a 3200 ISO mode, but as a scene preset operating at just 2 Megapixels. You can see an example of it in our High ISO Noise results.