Introduction

Ease of Use

Once upon a time the Canon IXUS models were the good looking and well-made range of digital compact cameras. Now, it seems, Canon have shifted that pattern of focus and included some of the PowerShot range too. We're not talking about the top of the range £400+ PowerShot models, we're talking about the A3400 IS, a £120 budget digital compact point and shooter.

Interestingly, from the front it looks a lot like an IXUS with it's blocky design and clean, straight lines. The colour co-ordinated 5x optical zoom lens sits flush with the rest of the body. On the top, a small power button is cosily pushed into the body with the silver shutter release button being the only thing that brings the design down. A black button would look so much nicer.

On the back an indication of the actual price range is evident with the bulky screen that pushes the back of the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS out slightly. As usual the controls are squashed down the right side. We first thought that maybe they were a little too squashed but then realised that Canon have fitted slightly larger buttons which will be great for people with larger hands.

Like competing touch screen cameras, it takes a while to get used to the responsiveness of the A3400 IS's touch screen when it comes to making function selections. Sometimes we found it rather easy to scroll past the setting we actually wanted in our haste to implement particular settings before a photo opportunity vanishes. By contrast at times we had to repeatedly stroke the screen to prompt it to respond a little faster.

Front	Rear

There is the ability to tap an on-screen subject for the A3400 IS to bias focus toward, which Canon fittingly refers to as Touch AF. If subsequently altering framing, the AF point will perform its little dance across the screen as it attempts to keep tabs on the subject originally selected. Cute. Otherwise you can just point and shoot as normal, AF points appearing on screen in the form of green squares to signal which aspect of the subject the camera has itself picked out.

At the top is the dedicated video button. This will start video recording regardless of the mode you're in. Another way the internet has changed photography. After all, before the YouTube explosion, you had to choose the video mode in a menu system. Below this is a rather handy Help button. Pressing this button will give a quick explanation of the mode you've most recently chosen.

The navigation pad is used for moving around the menu system but also doubles up with access to macro, flash, display options and mode switch. Pressing up switches between Auto and whichever Scene mode you've selected from the menu such as Program, Portrait, Landscape or Live View Control, to name a few. Pressing the Function menu button in the centre brings up a quick access menu that has all the main features that you're likely to use while shooting such as ISO, white-balance and resolution. Access to these features will vary depending on the mode you're in. If you want full access to all features, you need to be in Program mode. Otherwise the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS will blank out areas it thinks you don't need and it will handle those itself.

If you've ever seen Live View on a DSLR, then you'll be pleased to know that the A3400 comes with its own version of it. It works the same way as normal shooting by allowing you to use the screen on the back to view the shot. However it also has three sliders for exposure, saturation and tone. They're labelled Dark/Light (exposure), Neutral/Vivid (saturation) and Cool/Warm (tone) to make them easier to understand what the end shot will look like. But the idea of Live View Control is that it shows you on screen what the changes will look like as you make them. It's much more versatile and will shorten the time you're sat there fiddling with the exposure compensation, colour filters and white-balance.

Front	Top

The main menu has its own separate button below the navigation pad and it's easy enough to use. The background is a carbon black with a dark grey menu and orange highlight. Interestingly, this normally changes depending on the tab you're in such as shooting, playback or set-up. On the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS it stays the same. Canon include their modes in the function menu unlike other manufacturers that give them a dedicated button. This reduces the amount of buttons which means - in the case of the A3400 especially - that the buttons can be made a bit bigger.

The outside of the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS is made of metal while the interior is plastic to save weight. We always say that the tripod bush is generally the bench mark for camera quality. Low end cameras tend to have plastic tripods but the A3400 IS has a metal one which is great. The Canon takes it's own lithium-ion battery which is located on the bottom of the camera next to the tripod bush. The SD slot sits next to the battery and is covered by a flimsy plastic door. The snap shut locking system is difficult to open and there's no metal on the inside of the door for additional sturdiness. The hinge also looks to be made of plastic. The video runs in Full HD which is nice but the sound is only mono which lets it down somewhat.

The lens is a Canon manufactured zoom lens. It's nothing special but will get the job done. For a 5x optical zoom, the body is nice and slim although they've had to widen it a bit where the screen is. Most likely to accommodate both the screen and zoom lens. When the lens is out there's a little amount of play. This reduces as the lens is zoomed out, but not by much.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

Start-up time from shut down to taking a picture is around 2.6 seconds. Shutter lag sits at around 0.08 seconds. Both results are fairly standard in digital compact cameras on the market today. Continuous shooting is pretty slow but it doesn't have a buffer option for hi-speed bursts. It simply keeps taking pictures while you keep your finger on the button. We managed to get eight pictures in a 10 second period which gives an average of around 0.8 frames per second (fps). It took up until the 14 second mark to finish downloading. This shows that there is a small buffer that will hold any extra information but it's minor.

Playback mode can be entered whether the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS is powered on or not. If it's off, the lens isn't poking out. If it's on, the lens will retract after a minute or so anyway. Pressing the help button in playback brings up some cool options. It teaches you what different buttons can do for you and how to perform simple tasks such as erasing pictures, returning to the shooting mode and what the touch screen can do in this mode. The playback menu is vast with options for searching your pictures, protecting them, editing them with features such as iContrast (a type of HDR), red-eye correction and setting up a photobook. Interestingly, the Erase option doesn't have a Select and Erase. It has Erase All or when you're looking at the pictures you can erase individual pictures by pressing up on the navigation pad.

In the box, you get a sealed pack that contains a Getting Started manual, a CD ROM with the installation drivers for your computer. There will also be a full manual and a basic photo editing suite. A USB cable, wrist strap, lithium ion battery and pen for the touch-screen accompany the camera.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.

Noise

Image quality from the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS is very good. We managed to get goods results consistently throughout the test regardless of the situation we put the camera into. At low ISO, the pictures are crisp and clear with lovely colours and - more importantly - no colour noise showing through at all. OK, so if we were to be harsh, there's some JPEG artefacts that can be seen at full magnification but it is only a point and shooter which is easy to forget when faced with such quality pictures. The good news is that you can push the sensitivity settings up to the next level and at ISO 200 the quality doesn't change.

There's a slight nosedive at ISO 400 but it has to start somewhere and the mid-levels isn't a bad place. However, edge definition is still good at ISO 400. That doesn't start to suffer until ISO 800 where colour noise is becoming more prevalent. Interestingly, Canon have taken the decision to cap the ISO settings at ISO 1600.  Judging by the results of our test, it's a good idea. Colour noise is still being controlled by the camera but we think that pushing to ISO 3200 would simply exacerbate the problem and the struggling noise reduction software would be overwhelmed.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Despite the Canon PowerShot A3400IS producing sharp and detailed photographs, they do benefit from a zap of sharpening using an editing suite such as Adobe Photoshop.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

Although we struggled to find instances of chromatic aberration, that's not to say it isn't present. We found it mainly at the edges of the frame and in very high contrast areas.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Canon PowerShot A3400 IS has a 3cm macro facility which allows you to get in nice and close to your subject. There's a degree of edge definition fall off around the centre of the frame but that's to be expected.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

With or without flash there's an element of vignetting at the corners of the frame with the A3400 IS. Using flash does alleviate the problem to a degree, but not fully.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)	Auto Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (224mm)	Auto Flash - Telephoto (224mm)

In the portrait images, red-eye seems to be present on both images. However it looks worse as a smaller image than at full magnification. This is due to a red ring around the flash catch-lights which could be red-eye or chromatic aberration. It's difficult to tell but if it's the latter, it spoils the picture and red-eye reduction software won't be able to compensate for that.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye Correction	Red-eye Correction (100% Crop)

Night Shot

There's little difference between the program setting and Night scene setting in terms of image quality. However, the Night mode allows slightly longer shutter speeds to give a lighter image.

Night Program	Night Program (100% Crop)
Night Scene	Night Scene (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Movie Mode

Rear of the Camera / Function Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Playback Menu

Rear of the Camera / Help Mode

Top of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

We enjoyed using the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS. Its diminutive size meant we could just slip it in a pocket when we weren't using it and not worry about it getting in the way. The screen is nice and bright but we think it makes pictures look a bit nicer than they are on a computer screen so keep an eye out for that. We had no trouble with the buttons because of their larger size so photographers with big hands should maybe take a look at this camera, with the touch-screen LCD providing a genuinely useful alternative. We think there's room for a slightly larger zoom but looking at the specification for the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS there's little difference between the two cameras except the zoom so it looks like that's the deciding factor Canon have opted for instead of the zoom.

That's pretty refreshing and certainly a welcome sign that the pixel race is over. What we like about the A3400 IS though - and call us nerdy - is the metal tripod bush. It's so nice to see one on a low end camera because cameras with this are like chicken's teeth. It's a shame that the battery compartment door is so flimsy because it really brings the camera down.

Image quality from the A3400 IS is great. Colours are punchy and bold. Primary colours aren't too saturated and don't overwhelm the rest of the picture. Softer colours and subtle hues are recorded sympathetically and skin tones are natural. Noise is handled well at lower settings and thanks to a decent noise reduction system, it doesn't get too out of control. We like the wisdom that Canon have not included an ISO 3200 setting because it would have ruined the images at that setting.

At just £120, the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS is a great little camera. There are areas that could be better such as the battery door and small zoom but there are reasons for it and to keep the price low, there has to be some sacrifices somewhere. This is a nice little compact to hide away in a pocket while you go for a day out or on holiday. It goes unnoticed until it's needed and takes cracking pictures when it's needed. We weren't blessed with the best weather during the test, but when the sun did shine and we got outside, the pictures the camera produced are lovely. Even on the dullest of days, we got pictures we're happy with. If you're looking for an attractive little compact at a reasonable price with good picture quality and build then take a closer look at the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS from around the web.

Specifications

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