"Simple" and "basic" are the key words used to describe Canon's PowerShot A460 point-and-shoot digital camera, as it offers no significant manual-control features and is only going to appeal to novice photographers. Unfortunately, the PowerShot A460 isn't an overly stylish unit, and at 1.6 inches in thickness, it doesn't fit into the ultra-thin category, either. If you can overlook those drawbacks, however, this model has two important benefits: A $149 manufacturer's suggested retail price, which makes it a good value for a beginning photographer, and very good image quality for a camera in its price range.

Adding to the PowerShot A460's good value is the fact that Canon has included a 16MB memory card with this unit; very few newer digital cameras ship with starter memory cards. (You will, however, eventually want a larger, faster card.) This unit also offers good battery life and can run from two disposable AA batteries.

The PowerShot A460 offers 5.0 megapixels of resolution, which should yield high-quality prints of up to 8X10 inches. The photo quality provided by the PowerShot A460 is very good for a budget-priced model, though indoor photos could be a little better and excess noise is a problem. Outdoor photos taken with this unit are sharp and bright.

Canon includes a 4X optical zoom lens with this model, which is handy. Most digital cameras -- especially budget-priced cameras -- offer a 3X or smaller optical zoom lens. The slightly longer zoom lens may not seem like much of an improvement on paper, but you'll quickly notice the difference the first time you need maximum zoom.

Our testing shows that the PowerShot A460's response times are surprisingly good for a budget-priced camera. You can shoot your first photo 1-1.5 seconds after pressing the power button. Shutter lag is not noticeable, apart from when the camera is used in low-light conditions, when lag averages around one-half second. Shot-to-shot delays are a little disappointing, measuring 1-2 seconds when not using the flash and 4-8 seconds with the flash.

When framing photos, you can choose between using this model's optical viewfinder and its 2.0-inch liquid crystal display (LCD). Most of the time, you'll want to use the viewfinder, as the PowerShot A460's LCD isn't as bright or as sharp as it should be. The viewfinder, however, offers only 80-85 percent coverage of the frame.

As you'd expect with a beginner-level camera, the PowerShot A460's menu structure is straightforward and easy to use. One interesting feature available through the menu structure is the ability to attach up to 60 seconds of audio to an image, giving you the option of saving a description of a photo with the image. All of the camera's buttons and dials are on the back of the camera body.

Overall, the PowerShot A460 likely appeals to a limited market segment -- namely, novice photographers looking to spend as little as possible on a digital camera. It is a pretty good point-and-shoot model, but you can gain many more powerful features by spending another $100 on a different model. If you only want the basics and only want to spend the minimum, the PowerShot A460 will yield some good photos for a camera in its price range. As such, it is a very solid option as a "starter" camera.


Pros: Great value, easy to use, image quality is good for price range, better than average zoom lens
Cons: Beginner-only feature list, LCD should be sharper, some noise problems in low-light images, could use a little more resolution

Warranty
1 year, limited