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  • Introduction

  • Design & Appearance

  • Tour

  • Menu

  • Ease of Use

  • Size & Handling

  • Modes Overview

  • Auto Mode

  • Movie Mode

  • Drive/Burst Mode

  • Playback Mode

  • Picture Quality & Size Options

  • Focus

  • Exposure & Metering

  • ISO

  • White Balance

  • Image Stabilization

  • Picture Effects

  • Lens & Sensor

  • LCD

  • Flash

  • Jacks, Ports & Plugs

  • Battery

  • Memory

  • Conclusion

  • Sample Photos

  • Specs

  • Introduction
  • Design & Appearance
  • Tour
  • Menu
  • Ease of Use
  • Size & Handling
  • Modes Overview
  • Auto Mode
  • Movie Mode
  • Drive/Burst Mode
  • Playback Mode
  • Picture Quality & Size Options
  • Focus
  • Exposure & Metering
  • ISO
  • White Balance
  • Image Stabilization
  • Picture Effects
  • Lens & Sensor
  • LCD
  • Flash
  • Jacks, Ports & Plugs
  • Battery
  • Memory
  • Conclusion
  • Sample Photos
  • Specs

Introduction

On paper, it's in an awkward no-man's land in the 2012 lineup. Unlike the A1300 below it, it has no viewfinder, and no optical image stabilization like the A2400 IS right above it.

We spent a few minutes with the A2300 on the CP+ 2012 showroom floor this week and gathered some initial impressions and photos. Read on for more.

Design & Appearance

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With slightly soft edges, a thin profile, and smooth finish, the A2300 looks vaguely modern, but mostly just generic. It looks more like an ELPH (the next series up in Canon's compact line) than previous A-series cameras have, but it isn't so obvious that it's a Canon design—any one of the major manufacturers could have released a point-and-shoot that looks like the A2300.

Tour

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The menu system is standard Canon fare, and pretty much identical to the A810. It's a fine system, easy enough for most folks to wrangle. But it's not always obvious why certain menu options are grayed-out in some modes. Most users won’t be spending much time in the menu system anyhow, since this camera is designed for all-automatic operation.

Ease of Use

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The A2300 is incredibly easy to use if all you want to do is point and shoot. It's built for all-automatic operation all the time. It even has a dedicated Auto mode button. There is also a Help button (the question mark) and Hints & Tips within the menu system.

A more hands-on program mode is available for those who want it, but it isn't all that obvious or easy to find within the menu system. Most folks can just ignore it.

Size & Handling

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Handling is a weak point. Since the finish is slippery, the frame is thin, and there's no grip anywhere on the camera, it can be tough to hang on to, especially with one hand. Two-handed operation is fine.

Ironically, the A810 and A1300—both below the A2300 in this year's A-series lineup—are much easier to handle, thanks to their big, rounded, AA-battery bulges.

Modes Overview

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The A810 is designed for automatic shooting, as the dedicated Auto mode button on the camera suggests. Plenty of effects and scene modes are available too, including Portrait, Face Self-timer, Low Light, Fisheye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Snow, Fireworks, Long Shutter, Discreet, and iFrame Movie. A program mode is available as well.

Auto Mode

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According to Canon, Auto mode can handle 32 different shooting situations. Users can select photo size within Auto mode, but that's pretty much the only user control over the photo.

Movie Mode

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The A2300 can shoot 720p HD video with mono sound in MOV format. VGA (standard-def) clips are also available.

Drive/Burst Mode

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We wouldn't exactly call it a "burst" mode, but the A2300 can eke out 0.8 full-resolution frames per second in continuous drive mode, or 2.8 smaller frames per second in Low Light mode.

Playback Mode

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Playback mode is standard issue for Canon compacts. See our recent notes on the A810 for more.

Picture Quality & Size Options

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Maximum resolution weighs in at a beefy, probably unnecessary 16 megapixels in standard format (4:3 ratio). Three smaller picture sizes are available, as is a widescreen (16:9) option.

Focus

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As expected for a camera like this, the A2300 is a through-the-lens autofocus model, without any manual focus capability. The only user control over the AF system is the focus range, either normal or macro (close-up) modes.

Exposure & Metering

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Aperture and shutter speeds are completely automated—no user control at all. The aperture range is f/2.8 (W) - 6.9 (T), while the shutter ranges from 1/2000 to 1 second (or up to 15 seconds in long shutter mode).

The user can choose the metering mode (Evaluative, Center-Weighted Average, or Spot modes) as well as exposure compensation, ranging from +/-2 stops in increments of 1/3 EV. There’s also an auto-exposure lock option, for a tiny extra bit of exposure control.

ISO

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ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 1600. In Auto and most preset modes, the camera chooses the setting itself. In Program mode, users can adjust the setting themselves or leave it set to auto mode.

White Balance

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White balance modes include Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and a custom setting. It can also adjust WB according to face detection.

Image Stabilization

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Stabilization is digital-only. There is no optical image stabilization in the A2300.

Picture Effects

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Some scene modes include Portrait, Snow, Fireworks, and Monochrome. Picture effects include Fisheye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Super Vivid, and Poster Effect. They aren’t organized into “effects” and “scene” categories like they would be in most higher-end cameras, and are instead just grouped into one long "shooting mode" menu.

Lens & Sensor

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The A2300 is built around the same lens and sensor combo as most of its A-series comrades, from the A3400 down through the A810.

The sensor is a typical point-and-shoot chip—16 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch CCD-type. The lens is a 5x optical zoomer with a 28mm equivalent wide-angle setting. Most notably, it uses the DIGIC 4 processor used in higher-end Canons like the G12. (Many of those more-advanced cameras have since moved up to the DIGIC 5.)

LCD

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The LCD is a 2.7-inch, 230,000-pixel screen—about as small and low-res as you’ll find on any new camera. Even so, it's good enough to get the job done, and there are plenty of cameras that cost upwards of $200 using a similar screen.

Flash

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The built-in flash is only effective up to about 10 feet—enough to light up a small room, but not much else. Canon also notes that the flash can take around 10 seconds to recharge between shots, which is pretty sluggish.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

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A single port pulls double-duty as a USB and A/V hookup.

Battery

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The A2300 ships with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, rated for 210 shots per charge.

Memory

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Just like almost every other camera out there, the A2300 captures to SD/SDHC/SDXC media cards.

Conclusion

Point-and-shoot sales are falling fast, which is why we find it surprising that so many cheap compacts are still coming out. There's still room for a few simple, entry-level cameras, but manufacturers should show some restraint. Flooding the market with lookalikes just confuses the remaining buyers.

Canon is usually one more of the more logical and conservative camera companies, but they've actually increased the number of low-end point-and-shoots that they're releasing this year. Of the six new A-series shooters, the PowerShot A2300 is the most worthless model the bunch.

Spend an extra $10, and you can buy the otherwise identical A2400 IS, with optical image stabilization—always worth the extra money. Save a few bucks, and you'll end up with the AA-powered A810 or A1300. Their rounded battery bulges improve handling greatly, and the A1300 even has an eye-level viewfinder. (It's also a better deal to spend $30 on a big set of rechargeable, high-capacity lithium AAs than it is to pony up for a camera with a proprietary battery.)

The A2300's image quality should be fine, but honestly, we probably won't bother with a full review of this camera. The price will probably drop significantly by the end of the year, but even if you do have your heart set on a low-cost Canon PowerShot, literally any one of them will be a better option than the A2300.

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Sample Photos

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Specs

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Meet the tester

Liam F McCabe

Liam F McCabe

Managing Editor, News & Features

@liamfmccabe

Liam manages features and news coverage for Reviewed.com. Formerly the editor of the DigitalAdvisor network, he's covered cameras, TVs, personal electronics, and (recently) appliances. He's a native Bostonian and has played in metal bands you've never heard of.

See all of Liam F McCabe's reviews

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