Labs

The A630 is about twice as heavy as the other cameras and is even heavier once four AA batteries are inserted. Battery life is excellent though, and it's easier and cheaper to get hold of spares.

The A630 is also unique in this test in its inclusion of an optical viewfinder. This shows far more detail than its 2.5in screen, which can be rotated for self-portraits

ADVERTISEMENT

or shooting at awkward angles. It comes into its own when using the manual exposure mode, accurately reflecting adjustments to shutter speed, aperture, ISO speed and flash by showing a brighter or darker preview image.

Performance is above average at 1.8 seconds between shots and the 1.8fps continuous mode is excellent. The buttons and menus are well laid out for quick access to the most used settings.

The 4x zoom lens is fantastic and the 1cm macro mode produced some dramatic close-ups. Focus was exceptionally sharp and with its 8-megapixel sensor, the A630's images were the most detailed of all the cameras on test. Noise was imperceptible in bright conditions, although it was visible in low light. Colours were generally excellent too, with balanced exposures and natural-looking colours. The flash tended to cause vignetting, where the corners of pictures were darker than the centre, but flash photography still gave good results.