Canon A490

Canon A490 is Canon's Small Sensor Compact digital camera first released on January of 2010. It features a 10 MegaPixel, CCD 1/2.3" size sensor with a peak resolution of 3648 x 2736.

The A490 stands at #258 out of 261 in Small Sensor Compact cameras & all round #1259 out of 1465 for cameras in our collection. You can test our Smart camera finder to get camera listings based on your custom factors.

The following is a diagram of different criteria used in the scoring system.

The Canon A490 has a history of related cameras. Down below, you can check out all past and current models as well as main features.

You can look at the A490 from several angles in the gallery below.

Here is a shortlist of pros and cons of the Canon A490 based on features which are oftentimes seen as important in a digital camera.

The sensor spec in the Canon A490 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor is able to resolve 3648 x 2736 pixels using aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9.

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The CCD sensor has 10MP and includes a standard ISO range of 80 - 1600. Unfortunately, RAW format is not saved so you have less room to maneuver in post.

The picture underneath illustrates the A490's sensor size in comparison to other popular sizes. The A490 sensor has a crop factor of 5.8 and is presented in green.

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To get an understanding of specific aspect ratios, you can refer to the graphic below.

Canon A490 has a weight of 0.39 lbs (175 gr or 6.17 ounces) & has external measurements of 94mm x 62mm x 31mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 1.2"). The weight of general Small Sensor Compact camera is 174 gr so the Canon A490 is very similar when compared with other competitors.

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Down below is a shot of the Canon A490 next to a soda so you can get a feel for its size.

The top view underneath will show you the button design on the A490.

The A490 has got a built-in lens offering a focal range of 37-122mm giving it a 3.3 x zoom which might not be very good however it may be invaluable in a few scenarios.

At it's widest 37mm, the lens has an aperture of f3.0 which is fairly sluggish and not the best for low light circumstances and you might find it difficult to get good bokeh. You could also have to up your ISO setting causing noisy shots. Towards the long end, 122mm comes to f5.8 making it really sluggish and you would have to set slower shutter speeds.

The A490 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes

Cameras that have NFC and / or Bluetooth connectivity are able to be used wirelessly by smartphones. You can easily send files and in some cases change settings with no need to connect physically with the camera.

Certain apps also allow a Liveview and press the shutter whenever you aren't close to the camera. If the camera boasts a HDMI port, it can easily be hooked up to an external display. Virtually all cameras enable you to charge the battery using the USB port.

The highest video resolution in the Canon A490 is 640 x 480 and you can record in Motion JPEG file format. 480p is low for today's standards. You should really go for at least 1080p resolution for decent video. The body doesn't include a microphone and / or headphone socket so you have got absolutely no control over the audio. It is probably best to look at an alternative model in case you want good audio for your videos.

There is no weather proofing on the Canon A490 so you have to be cautious in wet or dusty situations.

The Canon A490 features a 2.5" fixed screen having a resolution of 115k dots.

Please be aware that the screen has no touch support.

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The View Finder details for Canon A490 are the following:

• ViewFinder None

For sunny outdoor situations that make the camera screens washed out and tough to see, viewfinders will be pretty valuable.

Canon A490 continuous shooting rate is 1.0 fps. The max shutter speed is 1/2000 seconds.

Canon A490 has just integrated flash with no external flash ability.

Canon A490 has only Contrast Detect Auto Focus & does not have Phase Detect Auto Focus. Phase Detection autofocusing is a lot more quicker and precise as compared to Contrast Detect autofocusing.

The Sensor features 5 focus points to select from. Canon A490 has no manual focus. Manual focus ability is good for low light occasions or you need to have more exact depth of field control.

The typical Small Sensor Compact camera battery life is 241. Fujifilm X30 comes with the highest (470) battery life for this group of cameras.

Following is a list of Small Sensor Compact cameras with the strongest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm X30
A490 vs Fujifilm X30470 yesnono

Casio EX-10
A490 vs EX-10455 yesnono

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Ricoh GR Digital IV
A490 vs GR Digital IV390 yesnono

Canon G12
A490 vs G12370 yesnono

Canon G16
A490 vs G16360 yesnono

The following chart gives a summation of the Canon A490 for different forms of photography. To understand more, check out the specific section underneath.

The Canon A490 gets a points tally of 19 which is horrible, and means the camera is simply not acceptable to use for portrait photography. Shooting portraits favors greatly towards sensor dimension, RAW support plus the ability to work with off-camera lighting.

With a reasonable rating of 46, the Canon A490 is fairly appropriate to buy for street photography. A very good street photography camera gives a fine balance of picture quality plus portability.

A horrible sports photography rating of 16 means the Canon A490 is simply not acceptable for taking photos of sports. A camera really should have excellent autofocus plus shutter speeds for sports photography.

Weight is very important when selecting a travel camera. On the whole, the Canon A490 gets a decent 50 as a travel camera which is fairly acceptable for your trips.

For anybody planning to choose a digital camera for landscape photography, the biggest factor will be image quality. The Canon A490 at it's horrible rating of 22 as a landscape camera is simply not acceptable among it's competitors.

A camera for vlogging really should offer a articulating display, mic input and if possible image stabilization. Considering all the details, the Canon A490 is simply not acceptable for vlogging as it gets a horrible score of 21.

If you want alternatives to the A490, below is a list of the highest ranked cameras that fall in to the family of Small Sensor Compact.

The chart down below shows you a bird's eye view of the A490 versus it's highest ranked competitors shown earlier.

These are some more cameras you may have a look at as alternatives. To review a thorough comparison, just click on the "compare" link.