CNET Editor's rating: 7.6 out of 10
Reviewed by
Will Greenwald
Review date: 09/17/07
The good: Great picture quality; manual exposure controls; flip-out screen.
The bad: Sluggish performance; heavy and bulky; can't use a neck strap.
The bottom line: Performance issues aside, the Canon PowerShot A650 IS combines large, good-looking photos and a generous feature set into a fine midrange shooter.
The Canon PowerShot A650 IS proves that you don't need to invest in an SLR to get manual controls and large, detailed pictures. As the new high-end member of Canon's PowerShot A-series line of cameras, the 12-megapixel camera comes packed with manual exposure controls and other photographer-friendly features. Its bulky form won't win any beauty pageants, but the camera's substance more than makes up for its relative lack of style, and its sub-$500 price tag makes it look that much sweeter.
At 13.6 ounces with four AA batteries, the A650 IS weighs in as one of the heftiest "point-and-shoot" cameras I've yet seen. While technically a compact camera (smaller than a digital SLR), the A650 IS measures over 2.2 inches deep and fits much better in messenger bags and backpacks than any sort of clothing pocket. A camera this heavy and bulky really should include a neck strap, but the A650 IS unfortunately lacks that option. It includes only a single lanyard mount, so unless you plan to physically modify the camera, you have to choose between keeping it on the included relatively sturdy wrist strap or tucked in a bag.
All this heft and bulk adds up to a solid-feeling camera with plenty of room for its display and controls. The batteries that power the camera sit inside a prominent, deep grip that feels comfortable in large hands. Comfortably sized dials, switches, and buttons sit on the camera's back and top side, with all but the print button easily accessible to the thumb and forefinger. The camera's large design also leaves enough space for the flip-out 2.5-inch LCD screen. Like the screen found on the A640 and A630, this screen flips out and pivots 270 degrees, an invaluable boon when shooting over crowds or up from the chest or waist.
With the same 12-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch sensor and 35 to 210mm-equivalent f/2.8-4.8 image-stabilized lens as the higher-end PowerShot G9, the A650 IS sits securely at the very top of Canon's A-series line. In fact, were it not for a slightly different control scheme, a smaller flip-out LCD, and lack of RAW file support, the A650 IS would be nearly identical to Canon's pricier midrange camera.
Like most of the A-series, the A650 IS comes packed with a full complement of manual exposure controls. You can access Program, Aperture, Shutter, and Manual modes easily on the camera's mode dial, along with a selection of scene presets and a handy custom mode setting for keeping your preferred shot settings. You can even use manual focus in any of the four PASM modes and most of the scene presets. Obviously, you can get a higher level of control from the aperture, shutter, and manual modes in an SLR, but the A650 IS gives you a great platform with which to learn about photography or just a higher level of control than you'll get with a lot of compact cameras.
In our lab tests, the A650 IS performed with mediocrity, save for a particularly perky shutter. After a 1.6-second wait from power-on to capturing its first shot, the camera took an arduous 2.8 seconds between every shot thereafter with the flash turned off. With the flash enabled, that wait slightly increased to 3 seconds. Burst mode produced similarly lackluster numbers, capturing 10 full-resolution pictures in 11 seconds for a rate of 0.9 frame per second. On the bright side, the camera's shutter lagged less than 0.5 second with our high-contrast target, and just 0.9 second with our low-contrast target. The A650 IS' slow shot-to-shot and burst numbers can be best attributed to its higher resolution; processing 12-megapixel pictures simply takes longer than lower-resolution pictures. Other 12-megapixel cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200, and even Canon's own PowerShot G9 each take a second or more between shots with the flash disabled. That said, some aspects of the A650 IS' performance do feel sluggish.
The A650 IS' pictures look great, especially at lower sensitivity levels. The camera's 12-megapixel photos display loads of fine detail, from fine text to pet fur, with a generous dynamic range. Noise starts to become noticeable on computer monitors at ISO 200, and begins to appear on prints at ISO 400 and higher. The noise doesn't become too problematic, however, until ISO 800, where distinct fuzz covers pictures, muddles colors, and obscures details. From ISO 1,600 to the camera's maximum sensitivity of ISO 3,200 (accessible as a scene preset that lowers the resolution to 2 megapixels, rather than through the ISO button), the pictures become downright unusable. Again, these noise levels surprise me very little, as nearly every 12-megapixel camera tested produces similar noise.
The photos aren't entirely without flaws, however. Prominent purple fringing tends to appear on contrasting edges, with higher ISO levels making them look even worse. At the widest position, the A650 IS' lens produces some barrel distortion, as well. You can't readily detect the distortion without a grid, however, and both the distortion and fringing present only minor problems in the camera's pictures. If you shoot at low ISO settings, you can count on generally excellent photos.
With its great picture quality and wealth of features, the Canon PowerShot A650 IS makes a great camera for amateur photographers who either don't want to step up to a digital SLR yet, or who simply want a secondary camera alongside their SLR. Despite its performance and noise issues, the A650 IS presents a fine choice for a flexible, high-resolution, photographer-friendly camera.
Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great features and 12.1 MP AND 6X optical
I bought this the day before leaving for the Inaugral voyage and Namimng Ceremony for the Queen Victoria in England. ...
I bought this the day before leaving for the Inaugral voyage and Namimng Ceremony for the Queen Victoria in England. My primary camera is the Canon SLR Digital 5D with three lenses which I love but after taking some 4500 pictures while on board for 26 days I would have loss half of those if I had not bought along the 650. I used it while on the bridge with the flash turned off and it got stujnning results and later at the Captain's table was invaluable due to size but still with 12.1 MP and 6X optical. The 5D was wonderful outside taking pictures of the ship but I was really pleased with my addition of the 650 IS. It really works beautifully and takes great pictures. The only thing close in a point and shoot is the G9 by Canon. I like the fact you can carry it with you anywhere and it works with AA Batteries you can get anywhere.
Read more
by bhorn1 (see profile) -
February 3, 2008
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great P&S camera
I got this camera and a Canon Printer at Costco for 340 and that's really a great price for ...
I got this camera and a Canon Printer at Costco for 340 and that's really a great price for a camera of this caliber. It has 12Mpixels which is 2 more than my Canon SLR. Picture quality sometimes competes with my Canon 40D for good lighting conditions. It has just about all the features of its big brother. I love the flip and rotate LCD for self shots. It's light and easy to hold. Love the AA replaceable battery feature rather than rechargeables. My only complaint is the placement of the Memory. You have to open the battery compartment to remove SD memory. This is awkward and may result in spilled batteries if you are not careful. Overall though it's a great little camera for a very reasonable price.
Read more
by alexakay (see profile) -
February 8, 2008
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great pictures, excellent zoom range, don't like camera build.
Purchased the camera to replace my old Sony DSC-P200 P&S and complement my EOS XTi. Initially did not ...
Purchased the camera to replace my old Sony DSC-P200 P&S and complement my EOS XTi. Initially did not like the camera due to size and build, however the pictures are great - even when viewed at native size. Video clips are very good quality - albeit consuming large amount of memory. Overall, not a pretty camera but the best P&S quality I have seen.
Read more
by ariehs123 (see profile) -
May 5, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Most of the qualities of a G9 for a much lower price. And runs on AA batteries!
The G9 is a great camera, everybody agrees. The A650IS has the same optics, sensor and processor as the G9. ...
The G9 is a great camera, everybody agrees. The A650IS has the same optics, sensor and processor as the G9.
The G9 runs on an expensive, hard to find, proprietary battery. The A650IS runs on four AAs. The A650IS has a flip out LCD viewer, not a fixed one like the G9. And, if you like manual controls, you find them all on the A650IS.
The A650IS does not handle RAW files but that's not important to me. Sure, itīs not good looking like the G9. But it sells for much less than the G9.
Read more
by RogerCP (see profile) -
July 6, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular big on size and in features
i found that tapping the snapshot button partially after a pic would cause it to go back to picture mode ...
i found that tapping the snapshot button partially after a pic would cause it to go back to picture mode instead of waiting 3 seconds, but fit that into a smaller package and this would of been a truly great camera
Read more
by siedpe13 (see profile) -
July 3, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best pictures you've ever seen
Same camera as the g9 but much cheaper and it has a flip-screen. The shot-to-shot time is about 2 seconds ...
Same camera as the g9 but much cheaper and it has a flip-screen. The shot-to-shot time is about 2 seconds without a flash. CNet's report was incorrect regarding this (they said 2.8-3secs) and i confirmed this with about 10 other review sites at about 2-2-2.3 secs.
Read more
by bdi76 (see profile) -
March 21, 2008
4 out of 10 - Mediocre It does most everything, but...
The morons that wrote the software - only let you put the DATE/TIME Stamp on the image in the "...
The morons that wrote the software - only let you put the DATE/TIME Stamp on the image in the "Post-Card" mode only! Who in their right mind would put such a limit on what seems to be an otherwise good camera. For the record, I am a bit of a novice, so I don't comprehend all the f-stop, focal length and other "stuff" this camera (or any) does, or why this or that needs set this way or that way in certain occasions. BUT, the time/date stamp was an important thing to me. Guess I need to just send in my old Sony "505v" in for repairs. ** The rating is lower than it should be - because of my issue with the Date/Time stamp. **
Read more
by videoguy (see profile) -
March 4, 2008
JPEG 4000 x 2248,
JPEG 640 x 480,
JPEG 3264 x 2448,
JPEG 2592 x 1944,
JPEG 4000 x 3000,
JPEG 1600 x 1200
Flash memory
32 MB - SD Memory Card
Supported Flash Memory
MultiMediaCard,
SD Memory Card
Lens System
Type
Zoom lens - 7.4 mm - 44.4 mm - F/2.8-4.8
Focal Length
7.4 mm - 44.4 mm
Lens Construction
7 group(s) / 9 element(s)
Additional Features
Self Timer
Yes
Self Timer Delay
10 sec,
2 sec
Additional Features
USB 2.0 compatibility,
DPOF support,
Face detection,
Audio recording,
PictBridge support,
AE lock,
RGB primary color filter,
FE lock,
AF lock,
Resizing an image,
Digital image rotation,
Camera orientation detection,
In-camera red-eye fix,
In-camera movie editing,
Histogram display
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range
1.6 ft - 11.5 ft
Type
Built-in flash
Flash Modes
Flash OFF mode,
Fill-in mode,
Slow synchro,
Auto mode,
Red-eye reduction,
Rear curtain sync
Red Eye Reduction
Yes
Effective flash range
1.6 ft - 11.5 ft
Features
AF illuminator,
Flash +/- compensation
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type
Optical - Real-image zoom
Display
Type
LCD display - Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) - 2.5 in - Color
Mounting
Rotating
Resolution
173,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type
None
Microphone
Type
Microphone - Built-in
Mode
Mono
Connections
Connector Type
1 x USB ( Mini-USB Type B ),
1 x Composite video/audio output
Expansion Slot(s)
1 x SD Memory Card
Connector type
Mini-USB Type B
Lens Systems
Auto Focus
TTL contrast detection
Type
Zoom lens
Focal length
7.4 mm - 44.4 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera
35 - 210 mm
Focus adjustment
Automatic,
Manual
Auto Focus Points (Zones)
9
Min Focus Range
19.7 in
Macro Focus Range
1-50cm
Lens Aperture
F/2.8-4.8
Optical Zoom
6 x
Zoom Adjustment
Motorized drive
Lens construction
7 : 9
Features
Aspherical lens
Miscellaneous
Cables Included
USB cable,
A/V cable
Included Accessories
Wrist strap
Min Operating Temperature
32 ?F
Max Operating Temperature
104 ?F
System Requirements for PC Connection
Operating system
MS Windows Vista,
Apple Mac OS X 10.3 or later,
MS Windows 2000 SP4 or later,
MS Windows XP SP2
Hide
Watch product review video
Show
Print friendly version
Email to a friend
del.icio.