While not a rocket ship with the flash enabled, the A570 IS performed well in our lab tests. The camera took 1.78 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG, and captured subsequent JPEGs every 1.82 seconds with the flash turned off. That shot-to-shot time slowed considerably to 4.82 seconds between shots with the flash turned on. Shutter lag measured an alacritous 0.5 second in our high-contrast test, which mimics bright shooting conditions, and 1.3 seconds in our low-contrast test, meant to mimic dim shooting conditions. Continuous shooting (aka burst) mode yielded about 1.6 frames per second regardless of image size.
Image quality was impressive, especially at lower ISOs, though we noticed some slight artifacts even at the camera's lowest sensitivity of ISO 80, which seemed to become exacerbated by the noise caused by higher ISOs. Still, colors looked accurate, there was plenty of shadow detail, and our images turned out very sharp. The A570 IS's automatic white balance returned yellowish images with our lab's tungsten lights, so you'll want to switch to the tungsten preset, which provided pleasingly neutral results, if shooting indoors around incandescent lights. Canon keeps noise under control through ISO 200. While noise is noticeable at ISO 200, especially on a monitor, it is fairly minor and shouldn't be a problem in prints. At ISO 400, noise turns grittier with more discrete speckles showing up, though shadow detail and sharpness remain fairly intact. Noise rises precipitously at ISO 800, creating a dense snowy covering over the entire image, obscuring much of the shadow detail and softening finer details. By ISO 1600, most shadow detail and sharpness is lost and images are covered in a blizzard of white and colored speckles. We suggest sticking to ISO 400 and below whenever possible, especially if you plan to make prints larger than 4x6 inches.
Overall, the PowerShot A570 IS is a solid compact camera that offers a lot of value for your money. We were a bit disappointed with its high ISO noise, but you'll be hard pressed to find a compact camera at a price like this that has manual exposure controls, optical image stabilization, flash output control, and speedy performance. Plus, similar to all the A-series cameras, this one runs on AA batteries, so if you run out of power, you don't need to wait for charging.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance.)
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Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Time to first shot | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
(Frames per second: larger is better)
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Where to buy
Canon PowerShot A570 IS:
$129.95 - $229.00
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Amazon.com
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$229.00 | Yes |
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Refurb Depot
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$129.95 | Yes |
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