This camera was launched in early 2005 and is big brother of A510. The main features are:

* 4.0 MP
* 4x optical zoom
* Manual, semi automatic and fully automatic exposure
* 20 exposure modes
* 9-point AiAF focus
* Runs on 2 AA batteries

This model has really impressive features at this price. In US, it is available for $190 and it can be as low as $140 in deals (The price I paid for). That translates to around 6300 Rs. At this price, you get a camera that is having:

* Max Image size: 2272 x 1704 pixels. It means perfect looking 6 x8 prints. ( I have not tried bigger than this)

* Movie clips: Upto 3 minutes at VCD resolution, and 30 Sec at DVD resolution.

* Focus: The camera has 9-point AiAF or point AF (center) focus. Which results in good focus in all conditions. Also, its has a beam that turns on to assist the camera in auto focus. Good in low light conditions. Of course you can press the shutter release button half way down to lock focus and then move the camera to play with focus. If you want more control, it has manual focus too. Really good for experimental photography by amateurs photographers. And yes, it has 5CM macro mode for shooting close-ups of flowers.

* Shooting mode: The camera has many Scene modes, optimized for different situations. Eg. Indoor, Night Scene, Fireworks, Snow, Beach. These are good if you want to get good pictures without worrying about apertures and shutter speeds. For Pros, it has Aperture Priority (marked with Av) and shutter priority (Marked with Tv) too.

* Shutter speed: can be as fast as 1/2000 seconds, and as slow as 15 seconds. Again, great range of control at this price point.

* Memory: The camera support MMC Cards (that many nokia phones like 6600 support) and faster SD cards, up to 2 Gb. Camera comes with 16MB MMC card, which is really nothing, as full resolutions images are around 1 MB. If you set the fineness to maximum, images are more than 1.5 MB. You have to buy bigger card at the time you purchase the camera. If stores images in JPG format, no alternatives. So if you want TIF or RAW, sorry!

At 6300Rs., weighing 180g, this camera is a must buy. Lot better than Sony’s DSC40/60 in the same price range. Seriously recommended.

Purchase Price (INR):

$140 (6300INR)