Canon A80 vs A95

[john_noon]

Hi All,

 

I have a Canon A80 which I love. However, the A95 looks like it has

some nice updates. I am curious at how the 5MP and sensor affects the

image quality. I would think it would be better but I was reading this

site regarding the increased Purple Fringing (Chromatic Aberrations):

http://albert.achtung.com/cameras/A80/ and red eye seemed to be worse

than the A80?

 

Any thoughts if this is true?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

John

[janusz_mrozek]

I have made 2000+ shorts on an A80 (my first digicam) in 4 months, many of those of my son. Personally, I find the red eye problem horrible, and I simply assume that any picture I take with eyes facing the camera will require correction with software. So I wouldn't discount the A95 on that behalf, as at least in my case I would expect the same amount of correction effort. Maybe you have more success with your A80.

[phule]

The A95 has 1.1 million more (effective) pixels on the same sized sensor. This should translate to higher noise. However it's up to you to determine if a) this is noticeable and b) a problem.

 

The A80 allows two custom functions C1 and C2. The A95 only allows 1. As I use both C1 and C2 a fair amount, I would find this limiting.

 

The A95 has a larger LCD. I don't know if this matters to you or not.

 

Red-eye will always be a problem with point and shoot cameras. The flash is too close to the lens to avoid it except in a few special cases. I use a plugin in Photoshop to help eliminate it. Easy as can be.

 

When my A80 gives up the ghost I'm heading to Ebay to buy another. I don't see any real advantage to the A95.

[john_noon]

Thanks for the answers.

 

I have a limited understanding of how CCD size, MegaPixels, and lens play into the end result of an image.

 

Does the fact that the Canon A95 having the same CCD, Lens, but more pixels than the Canon A80, create more noise, thus increased CA (purple fringing) and more grain at higher ISOs? I guess the flip benefit is the ability to make larger prints and potentially sharper images?

 

Thanks in advance for any help on a confusing subject (at least for me)!

[phule]

John,

 

Yes, those are the basics. The A95 has the same size CCD ship (1/1.8") as the A80 but more pixels. How much more noise the A95 has over the A80 is something that I've yet to see decided in a head-to-head test. Though, I've not really looked all that hard either.

 

I can't really speak to the purple-fringing between the two cameras because I've looked at that even less than the noise issue.

[corey_gardner1]

Never used the A80 but I have the A95. I've taken maybe 500 shots with it so far and have yet to notice any purple fringing. If it's there I would have to look really hard to find it. I think the image quality is great at 50 and 100. 400 is pretty noisy. As far as red eye, you will get that with any compact camera. I never even considered it when looking at compacts. Everything else considered, I would probably wait until your A80 dies and then go to an A95.

[cgo]

The A95 has a 7.18x5.32mm sensor. If one assumes that the A80 has the same sensor as the A85 which is 5.27x3.96mm, then the A95 has a larger sensor than the A80.

[thomas_sullivan]

"...If one assumes that the A80 has the same sensor as the A85..."

 

one would be assuming incorrectly in this case.