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Canon Powershot A1200
The Canon Powershot A1200 is a practical and affordable compact digital camera with a host of great features that make it one of Canon’s most popular cameras. The A1200 offers superb image quality with a range of easy-to-use modes and functions, which makes taking pictures both easy and simple.
The Powershot A1200 features a 12.1 Megapixel sensor, is powered by a pair of AA batteries and features a 2.7” LCD screen, a 28mm lens offering 4x optical zoom (to a maximum of an equivalent 102mm lens), a built-in flash, and the ability to record 720p High Definition (HD) video.
The main camera controls are located on the top of the camera body, and consist of the On/Off power button, the shutter release button, and a mode dial to control the image capture modes. There are eight positions on the dial; Program Auto, Live Control View, (Smart) Auto, Easy, SCN, Creative Filters, Discrete mode, and Movie (Video) mode.
Picture quality is further aided by Blur Reduction and Motion Detection technologies. The A1200 also features Smart Auto and Easy shooting modes which enable you to simply point-and-shoot. Using the built-in optical viewfinder means that you can frame and take your photos using a more traditional photographer’s stance. The Live View Control enables you to make easy manual adjustments to the camera’s settings while capturing pictures.
The A1200 also offers the ability to shoot 720p HD video which puts it ahead of most of the competition’s budget compact digital cameras.
The only major technology that is missing is full image stabilization. However, this is a fairly minor consideration given the budget focus of the camera especially when you compare the specification with its immediate competitors, and is somewhat offset with the Blur Reduction mode.
Overall, the performance of the A1200 and the image quality it produces is more than acceptable for the keen amateur.
While the A1200 sits just above the entry level A800, it is well worth the slight premium over the A800 given the wealth of additional features it offers as we’ve highlighted above.
The A1200 can be bought in either black or silver and retails for $80-$100 is the US and £70-80 in the UK.