Canon PowerShot A490 10.0 MP Digital Camera with 3.3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD

by Canon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 1.2 x 2.4 inches ; 6.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0032JRRXO
• Item model number: A490
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #768 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 5, 2010

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

With its streamlined silhouette and smoothly curved edges, the Canon PowerShot A490 has the compact sophistication and relaxed simplicity that make it a natural for beginners and everyone else who craves style and convenience. 10.0-megapixel resolution and 3.3x optical zoom make it easy to capture the action in dazzling color and brilliant detail. The DIGIC III Image Processor keeps it all looking sharp. A bright, bold 2.5-inch LCD makes shooting and playback a genuine pleasure.

10-megapixel resolution

Canon PowerShot A490 Highlights

Easy to use, powerful A-Series camera has 10.0 megapixels and 3.3x optical zoom
With the PowerShot A490, dramatic, personal pictures have never been easier to shoot and share. This 10.0-megapixel camera lets you create impressive large photos of family and friends you'll be proud to display. The high-resolution images taken by the PowerShot A490 can be enlarged up to 13 x 19 inches.

The PowerShot A490 also has a 3.3x Optical Zoom lens (35mm film equivalent 37-122mm) that let you capture up-close and memorable images.

Low Light mode and Smart Flash Exposure technology
With an ISO of 400-3200, the Low Light mode takes the Canon PowerShot A490 where no A-Series has gone before--into the shadows! Now even scenes notorious for having insufficient light, such as those lit by candles, fire, or street lamp, come through in fantastic color and clarity, with less noise. You can keep the feel of the scene intact without adding additional light, so the result will be scenes with the visual accuracy, depth and clarity you expect from a Canon camera.

Low Light mode in action

Smart AUTO will do the work for you by intelligently selecting the proper settings for the camera
Just set the Canon PowerShot A490 to Smart AUTO and you're ready for maximum enjoyment from your picture-taking every time. It's a relaxing and satisfying way to shoot because you can completely concentrate on your subject knowing that the camera has the technical details covered. Advanced Canon technology intelligently analyzes your situation and shooting conditions. Then it automatically selects an appropriate setting from 13 specially defined settings. So whether you're photographing flowers, a captivating sunset, or your friends at the park, you can be confident that you're getting dramatic, memorable images.

Smart Flash exposure

Smart Flash Exposure is a technology that can produce excellent flash exposures across a wide range of conditions, and helps ensure against over- or under-exposed images. The detail and color of your photo remain intact and truer to life even in challenging lighting.

Large, clear 2.5-inch LCD
The PowerShot A490's 2.5-inch LCD screen gives you the big picture, whether you're shooting, reviewing or showing off your images. This high-resolution screen offers a crisp, clear and bright picture. It also features Night Display for easy viewing in low light.

AA battery power enables you to easily power up on the go
Conveniently, you don't need to worry about running out or recharging of batteries. Since AA-size batteries can be purchased at any store, simply get new ones locally.

Product Description

Canon PowerShot A490 Point & Shoot Digital Camera - 10 Megapixel - 2.50" Active Matrix TFT Color LCD - Silver 4258B001 Digital Cameras

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good picts, poor quality, annoying operation, June 5, 2010

By 

Dan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon PowerShot A490 10.0 MP Digital Camera with 3.3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD (Electronics)

I have to say this before anything else - this is a $100 camera. You get what you pay for.

The good:
It's 10M Pixels
It's $100.
Takes nice pictures (in good light).
AA batteries.
Fits in my hand very well.
The "Auto" mode makes it easy.

The bad:
Cheap construction (to the point of damaging Canon's reputation of quality products in my opinion).
No image stabilization (but.... it is a $100 camera...)
**"Charging the flash"... This is an approx 5-10 second delay every time you want to take a picture. It may not sound like that much time, but it gets real annoying real quick.

Bottom line:
It takes pictures. It takes nice pictures. They get a little grainy and colors get a little off at low light. But in good light, it makes good picts. But the delay between pictures, mostly from the "Charging the flash" message, is just too much of an annoyance for me. Which is a shame, because this is a decent little camera otherwise. But, it's annoying enough that I wouldn't recommend purchasing this camera (unless your patiences exceeds mine).

108 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No real difference between A480 and A490 - other than $10, April 4, 2010

By 

Stephen Dupre (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon PowerShot A490 10.0 MP Digital Camera with 3.3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD (Electronics)

I wrote a review on the little brother model A480 - a good camera (if used with ample lighting). If you look at the specs carefully, there is really nothing to distinguish this camera (A490) from the A480 to a novice or beginner.

I had them both side-by-side and also reviewed their specs side-by-side.

Pros
o Truly a fit-in-the-pocket camera
o AA batteries and good battery life
o Good pictures in decent lighting

Cons
o Build quality not great. *VERY* light and cheap plastic. Cameras from just 2 years ago put this to shame.
o Somewhat price. Save the $10 and buy the A480 if you like this style. These camera often fluctuate $20 at a time
o The camera isn't as well made as prior Canon's in this price range - though it is up on features.
o Not so good in low-light conditions

There is no image stabilization in this camera so low-light photos will be blurry in some cases - be careful of lighting..

Overall a good beginners camera but be ready to upgrade - especially if you drop it hard.

There are a lot of minor cons listed here, but you get a lot for a $100 10MP beginners camera like this as long as you don't shoot in low-light.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fine pocket-able point and shoot camera, September 25, 2010

By 

Te - Saw (Greendale, WI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon PowerShot A490 10.0 MP Digital Camera with 3.3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD (Electronics)

I bought this camera several weeks ago after my six year old Pentax Optio 30 was accidentally damaged. I held off on writing a product review until I learned all the features and got comfortable with navigating the menus. I can confidently say this camera is a great value in a reasonable price range.

Pros:
- Good picture quality under most conditions in Auto mode.
- Great pictures under all conditions if you make use of the many features this camera has to offer.
- Uses AA batteries.
- Quality materials/build.

Useful features everyone should want:
- Auto, Scene-based and Program modes
- Program mode offers adjustable ISO speed (80 - 1600), white balance, color saturation, sepia tone or black and white, metering, single shot or continuous frames
- decent video with reasonably high definition
- Normal focus range, plus infinity and macro
- Exposure control +/- 2 stops
- Playback mode while camera is off and lens is retracted
- better than average flash includes slow synchro mode and has adjustable flash exposure

Cons (no fault with this particular camera - these are general observations):
- Short battery life if flash is used often with standard alakalines.
(No problem. Buy a four-pack of Powerex 2700 rechargeables. I've been using them for years. Each charge lasts the equivalent of 3-4 pairs of throw-aways! And in a pinch, where CAN'T you buy standard AAs?)
- Could benefit from better ergo design.
(Why do manufactures pay such minimal attention to grip-ability of small electronics? Of course, if they made things too grip-able, we'd rarely drop them, and they'd sell less replacements...)

Anyway, ignore negative reviews written by the impatient and the uninformed. This is a fine, feature-packed compact camera, and it's easy to recommend at under $100.