Introduction

Canon today announces the release the PowerShot A420 digital camera. In addition to the popular PowerShot A-series range, the A420 offers consumers an outstanding combination of easy-to-use features, solid construction and excellent image quality at an entry-level price. The Canon Powershot A420 is ultimate ease of use and affordability with a 4.0 Megapixel CCD, 3.2x optical zoom (approx. 11x combined), 15 shooting modes, VGA movies and 5-point AiAF auto focus. The Canon A420 camera incorporates Canon's acclaimed DIGIC II processor and iSAPS technology for rapid processing speeds, highly responsive controls and superb image quality.
The Canon A420 camera is designed to make it simple for anyone to take great photos. Its compact, lightweight body is ergonomically shaped to fit comfortably in the hand, while intuitively positioned buttons provide fingertip access to key camera controls. The bright 1.8" LCD screen features a selectable Grid Line Display to help with shot composition and a Night Display mode for easy visibility after dark. The 5-point AiAF focuses quickly and accurately on subjects even when off-centre, to ensure consistently sharp images. An AF-assist Beam helps with focusing in low light conditions. The PowerShot A420 also features a 1cm Super Macro mode for close-up focusing on tiny subjects.
Canon Powershot A-series
"Since the launch of the PowerShot A5 in 1998, the A-series has helped millions of European consumers switch to digital," explains Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "With this new addition to the Powershot range, Canon is making high quality digital photography more accessible than ever before."
Shooting modes
The 15 shooting modes on the PowerShot A420 help to deliver excellent results in almost any situation. Preset Special Scene modes assist with picture taking in tricky lighting conditions, including Indoor, Beach and Snow. For creative experimentation, Color Accent and Color Swap modes enable dramatic colour effects to be applied to images and movies direct from the camera. Users can keep one colour and change the rest to black and white with Color Accent, or exchange one colour for another with Color Swap. The A420 camera also feature My Colors photo effects for additional in-camera colour customisation.
Widescreen
Furthermore a dedicated Movie mode enables recording of high quality VGA movies of up to 3 minutes in length. With widescreen televisions becoming increasingly popular across Europe, Canon has incorporated a new Widescreen stills setting in the Canon A420 digital camera. Users can capture panoramic stills in 16:9 format for playback on widescreen television or printing on wide size paper to a SELPHY Compact Photo Printer.
Direct printing
The Powershot A420 is PictBridge compatible for instant direct printing to compatible printers. When combined with Canon Selphy CP series printers, the camera makes an economical digital photo solution with 10 x 15cm photos costing as little as 0.30 euro cents. Users can also print ID photos and still images from movies when connected to a Selphy CP series printer. The handy Print/Share button on each camera allows one-touch printing and hassle-free uploads to Windows or Macintosh systems. A new dedicated Print menu makes it easier than ever to access and organise print jobs direct from the camera. The cameras? menu system now features support for Arabic, bringing the total number of supported languages to 23.
Accessories
A complete range of optional accessories is available:

• High Power Flash (HF-DC1)
• Soft Case (PowerShot A420: DCC-400)
• Compact AC Power Adapter (ACK800)
• Battery Charger Kit (CBK4-300)
• NiMH Batteries (NB4-300)
• Compatible with MMC/SD cards