Dumb questions

I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the
A620. I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.

Is it worth the extra money, considering I will be printing at A4 size?
Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the 5mp one?
Is it always best, quality-wise, to shoot at the highest resolution,
regardless of print size?

Thank-you.

I bought a Sony W5 my first digital, but now after experiencing
cropping I should have gotten the w7. Im not trying to steer you to sony
Canon is good , just that cropping often makes several better shots for
me out of one shot. For the very small price increase get more mp, you
may benefit at times. You may also find you want larger photos of your
best.

spo writes:
I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the
A620. I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.

Shop a little more, the difference is usually larger than that, so the
places you're looking may be charging too much for the A610.

Is it worth the extra money, considering I will be printing at A4
size?

Hard to say. I'm personally more likely to buy an A610.

Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the
5mp one?

It might in some situations. It might be worse in others. The
cameras have the same sized ccd's, so the photosites (individual
pixels) on the A620 are smaller, giving reduced dynamic range and
possibly higher susceptability to noise. There's a test report on the
A620 at dpreview.com and some of us are waiting for a report on the
A610 so we can compare them.

Is it always best, quality-wise, to shoot at the highest resolution,
regardless of print size?

Hmm, if you don't mind the bigger files on the flash card, and
possible slower handling, then probably. There are possible
exceptions that apply to some other cameras but I think not to the
A610/620.

On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:49:59 GMT, spo wrote:

I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the
A620. I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.

Is it worth the extra money, considering I will be printing at A4 size?
Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the 5mp one?
Is it always best, quality-wise, to shoot at the highest resolution,
regardless of print size?

Thank-you.

Don't know if this difference is of any importance to you or
not but I thought it worth mentioning. The A620 supports remote
control/capture via USB & the A610 does not.

Why Canon opted to leave this feature out on the A610 is
probably for marketing reasons. Surprisingly the A620 seems to
compare reasonably well with the A610 in noise levels in spite of both
using the same physical size sensor. Look @ the pictures for
yourself:

A610: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

A620: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

They both use Canon's Digic II processor so it may be
programmed to do more in camera image noise reduction processing on
the A620, if so, it seems to do it rather well. It's a difficult call
between the 2 but 5MP is generally enough unless you need to do a
considerable amount of cropping.

Best of luck, hope this information helps some.

Respectfully, DHB


"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

Paul Rubin wrote:
spo writes:

I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the
A620. I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.


Shop a little more, the difference is usually larger than that, so the
places you're looking may be charging too much for the A610.


Well, I've already done a great deal of online window-shopping. Amazon
UK is the lowest-priced reputable seller of the Canon A610, and their
own price for the A620 is only around £27 more, though there's a couple
of weeks waiting time.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...817432-8855668
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...817432-8855668


Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the
5mp one?


It might in some situations. It might be worse in others. The
cameras have the same sized ccd's, so the photosites (individual
pixels) on the A620 are smaller, giving reduced dynamic range and
possibly higher susceptability to noise. There's a test report on the
A620 at dpreview.com and some of us are waiting for a report on the
A610 so we can compare them.

Yes I've read the reviews at dpreview and Steve's-digicams. A Google for
'Canon A610 (or A620) sample images' brings up lots more photos too, but
on screen I can't discern any difference.

Thanks Paul.

DHB wrote:

Don't know if this difference is of any importance to you or
not but I thought it worth mentioning. The A620 supports remote
control/capture via USB & the A610 does not.

This is something I've not thought about at all, and I'm not sure if
I'll ever need the feature - it'd be nice to have though, and would give
me more options. What other gear is required?


Surprisingly the A620 seems to
compare reasonably well with the A610 in noise levels in spite of both
using the same physical size sensor. Look @ the pictures for
yourself:

A610: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

A620: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

Yes I've seen all the sample images but can't tell the cameras apart. I
didn't know about this noise issue though, so I'll look into it.

Thanks DHB

Im not sure about other differences but I think the a620 has better control
over noise due to the
7mp sensor which youd think would be the opposite.but I think the a95 was
worse in this respect

"spo" wrote in message
...
I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the A620.
I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.

Is it worth the extra money, considering I will be printing at A4 size?
Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the 5mp one?
Is it always best, quality-wise, to shoot at the highest resolution,
regardless of print size?

Thank-you.

On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:24:20 GMT, spo wrote:

DHB wrote:

Don't know if this difference is of any importance to you or
not but I thought it worth mentioning. The A620 supports remote
control/capture via USB & the A610 does not.

This is something I've not thought about at all, and I'm not sure if
I'll ever need the feature - it'd be nice to have though, and would give
me more options. What other gear is required?


Surprisingly the A620 seems to
compare reasonably well with the A610 in noise levels in spite of both
using the same physical size sensor. Look @ the pictures for
yourself:

A610: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

A620: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...0_samples.html

Yes I've seen all the sample images but can't tell the cameras apart. I
didn't know about this noise issue though, so I'll look into it.

Thanks DHB

spo,
click on the above link & you will see the included software
described that Canon provides that will operate the A620 remotely.

Also there is at least 1 other company that makes a better
version of remote control/capture software for many Canon cameras &
some other brands also. Here is a link to 1 such company:

http://www.breezesys.com/

This is not a feature most people will ever use, but it's nice
to know that the option is there for the future. Suppose later on you
buy a newer camera or a DSLR, you may want to use the A610 mounted in
a weatherproof container, placed in the back yard, aimed @ a bird
feeder or any food source that may attract a critter(S) that you want
a nice close up picture of. Now you can sit in the comfort of your
house & remotely take some incredible pictures from your PC or
notebook. The weather won't be of concern to you as you will be
indoors.

Like I said this is not for everybody but I thought it worth
mentioning for those who might want this feature & may not have know
that the A620 has it but not the A610. Also there are ways around the
15 foot USB cable limitation too.

Best of luck, hope this helps some with this difficult choice.

Respectfully, DHB


"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

The last time I posted a reply to a similar question I thought price
difference was $100. If it's a lot less than that, the I would opt for the
7mp. Either one gives excellent results. I have an A95. I read about noise,
purple fringing but darned if I can see what people are talking about. I
can't see any difference between fine and superfine either. I rarely change
the iso, the noise comment is based on normal shooting modes.
Dave Cohen

"Philip S" wrote in message
...
Im not sure about other differences but I think the a620 has better
control over noise due to the
7mp sensor which youd think would be the opposite.but I think the a95 was
worse in this respect

"spo" wrote in message
...
I'm puzzling over which camera to buy.. the Canon A610 (5mp), or the
A620. I can get the A620 (7mp) for around £27 more.

Is it worth the extra money, considering I will be printing at A4 size?
Will the 7mp camera give noticeably better results at A4 than the 5mp
one?
Is it always best, quality-wise, to shoot at the highest resolution,
regardless of print size?

Thank-you.

Dave Cohen wrote:
The last time I posted a reply to a similar question I thought price
difference was $100. If it's a lot less than that, the I would opt for the
7mp. Either one gives excellent results. I have an A95. I read about noise,
purple fringing but darned if I can see what people are talking about. I
can't see any difference between fine and superfine either. I rarely change
the iso, the noise comment is based on normal shooting modes.
Dave Cohen

100 dollar difference? Hmm, I think that's about £60?
Right, I've decided to get the A620 even though I can't really afford
it. An old friend of mine, now deceased, used to say "Long after the
price is forgotten, the quality remains". I'll go with that.
Thanks to you all for helping me make my decision.