Canon PowerShot A1000 IS review: Canon PowerShot A1000 IS

The Canon PowerShot A1000 IS is not an exciting pocket camera by any means. But if you want the convenience of AA batteries, an optical viewfinder, optical image stabilization, and a low price, this camera has them and takes good photos, too.

6.8

Canon PowerShot A1000 IS

The Good

Viewfinder; simple operation; inexpensive.

The Bad

Limited shooting controls; mixed performance.

The Bottom Line

The entry-level Canon PowerShot A1000 IS is low-cost without being lousy.

The step-up model is the A1100 IS, which is 12 megapixels, uses Canon's Digic 4 image processor, and has a couple more shooting options like automatic scene recognition and long shutter, but no direct shutter or aperture controls.

Available in four two-toned colors--blue, gray, purple, and brown--the A1000 IS feels higher quality than its price lets on. Its body has a nice curve on the right side for a steadier grip while shooting one handed. Though this makes it a little bulky (the bulge is necessary for the two AA batteries powering it), the camera is still small enough to slip in a pants pocket. By today's standards the LCD is small, but it's one of only a handful of Canon compact cameras with an optical viewfinder. While the viewfinder is small, slightly uncomfortable to use, and only represents about 80 percent of what's in the frame, it does come in handy when shooting in bright sunlight and you can save battery life by switching off the LCD.

At first glance, it seems as if there's a lot going on with the controls for the A1000 IS. On top are a power button, a shutter release with zoom ring, and a Mode dial with no fewer than 10 shooting options. Why so many for such a basic camera? Well, along with its P (for Program), Auto, Easy (auto without options), and Movie modes, Canon puts five popular scene selections (including Portrait, Landscape, Indoor) and a SCN choice for accessing lesser used scene settings like Sunset, Snow, and Aquarium. So while the Mode dial looks quite busy, it is actually simple. Likewise, the back of the camera is loaded with a directional pad and six buttons labeled in silver (for shooting functions) and blue (for playback functions), but even novice users should have things down pat fairly quickly.

Regardless of the controls, there's little reason to spend much time hanging out in the menu system. But for those times when it's necessary--say to change the autofocus priority, adjust the LCD brightness, or switch when the image stabilization is engaged--navigation is straightforward.

General shooting options	Canon PowerShot A1000 IS
ISO sensitivity (full resolution)	Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600
White balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
Recording modes	Auto, Easy, P (program), Portrait, Landscape, Special Scene, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Movie
Focus	Face Detection AF, Center AF, Multi AF
Metering	Evaluative, Center-weighted, Spot
Color effects	Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Custom
Burst mode shot limit (full resolution)	Unlimited continuous

If you're expecting to find the manual controls of earlier Canon A-series models, you'll be disappointed with the A1000 IS. The A590 IS is the only model in the current lineup that has aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and manual options. However, the A1000 IS' Program mode does give you control over ISO, white balance, autofocus type, light metering, and color effects. The rest of the camera is designed for point-and-shoot simplicity.

The A1000's performance is decent for its class and has better shutter lag than we expect from such a low-end camera. From off to first shot takes an acceptable 1.7 seconds. The camera's 2.5-second shot-to-shot time is also comparatively normal for its class. Turning on the flash drives the average wait time up to 6.7 seconds between shots. Shutter lag in our CNET Labs' tests was average at 0.5 second in bright conditions, but shooting in dim light resulted in only a 0.7-second lag. There is no proper burst-shooting mode, but the A1000 IS has unlimited continuous shooting capable of a slowish 0.8 frames per second.

As mentioned, for the money the A1000 IS has very good photo quality. Color, contrast, and white balance are particularly good, though there is some highlight clipping. Characteristic of point-and-shoots, photos are best in bright lighting at sensitivities below ISO 200. Grain becomes readily noticeable at ISO 400, but for the most part, details remain decent enough for use at 8x10 or smaller sizes. The camera goes up to ISO 1,600, but photos at that setting or even at ISO 800 aren't what we'd consider usable for much more than small prints and Web use. (Click to see a photo comparison of ISOs.) There is some slight barrel distortion at the lens' widest setting and off-center subjects are soft, but there was little to no purple fringing in high-contrast shots.

For a cheap point-and-shoot pocket camera, the Canon PowerShot A1000 IS gets the job done. It delivers better photo quality than other cameras at its price point, and if you like the convenience of AA batteries and the availability of a viewfinder, it's a smart choice.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SD1100

1 

3.5 

2.1 

0.7 

0.4 

Canon PowerShot A1000 IS

2.5 

6.7 

2.5 

0.7 

0.5 

Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS

2.8 

1.4 

1.2 

1 

0.5 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750

2.2 

2.6 

2 

1 

0.7 

Pentax Optio E70

2.4 

4.2 

3.3 

1.2 

0.6 

Typical continuous-shooting speed (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS

2 

Canon PowerShot SD1000

1.7 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750

1.5 

Canon PowerShot A1000 IS

0.8 

Pentax Optio E70

0.6 

Find out more about how we test digital cameras.