Digital Home Thoughts: Canon Introduces Four New Powershot A-Series Cameras

"Canon announces today an update to their entry-level, low-cost PowerShot A series with the launch of four new cameras. The new PowerShots offer features that include a dedicated low light shooting mode and two new creative shooting modes (Super Vivid and Poster Effect)."

The picture above shows the new Canon PowerShot A3100 IS, which is the top model of the four new A-Series models, and features 12.1MP resolution. The other new models are the A3000 IS, with 10MP resolution, but otherwise seemingly identical specifications, and two new models at the lower end of the A-Series range: the PowerShot A495 and A490, which both offer 10MP, although with smaller LCD displays, lower optical zoom ranges, and no image stabilization. DigitalCameraReview makes note of the loss of manual controls in the A-Series line, but otherwise finds them of good value. I tend to be more disappointed, not only at the loss of manual controls, but also at the lack of an optical viewfinder, the move away from the AA battery standard, and the likely trade-offs - slower shooting speed and increased noise - that usually go along with a move to a higher pixel count. Am I simply out of step, or does anyone else miss the older PowerShot A-Series "advanced compact" models?