In the first of seven new product announcements today Canon has revealed the successor to the PowerShot A300. Like all of the new cameras announced today the A310 has full PictBridge support and a new dedicated direct print button on the rear of the camera which will trigger the printing of the currently displayed image to an attached printer. The A310 has a three megapixel CCD sensor, a fixed lens, a sliding front cover which doubles as a power switch, is powered by two AA batteries and takes Compact Flash media. The A310 will be priced at $199 in the US and €199 in Europe.

Press Release:

New range-opening digital compact from Canon

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today releases its new entry-level digital camera, the 3.2 Megapixel PowerShot A310. With a new Print/Share button and extended print functionality, the camera replaces the PowerShot A300. Although targeted at consumers looking for an easy-to-use camera, many features found in Canon's high-end cameras have been included to ensure image quality and flexibility is maintained. These include Canon's highly responsive and award winning dedicated DIGIC processor for superb colour rendering and high image quality, a 5.1x digital zoom, movie clips and 5-point AiAF auto-focus with 5cm macro close-up.

Simplified Printing and Uploading

The PowerShot A310 is one of a number of digital cameras announced today by Canon to feature Canon's new Print/Share button for single step printing and file sharing. When the camera is connected via USB cable to any PictBridge or Direct Print compatible photo printer or Windows PC, a blue light on the Print/Share button switches on to indicate successful connection. Pushing the button when lit instigates a print of the currently displayed image (based on the connected printer's default settings) or an automatic transfer of images to the PC . The camera transfers all images, all images not yet transferred, or all images marked for transfer, depending on the user setting selected in the Camera's set up options.

Latest features

The movie recording function has been extended to allow recording of VGA movie clips of up to 30 seconds. Up to 3 minute movie clips can be recorded in QVGA and QQVGA modes. All movie clips can be cut and edited in-camera. The PowerShot A310 also brings a new look to the PowerShot range, with a gold 'Chardonnay' finish sliding lens cover, plus an embossed and ground name logo. Free membership is included to Canon's online CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, with 100 Megabytes of free storage space for online album storing and sharing.

Purpose built processor

Built into the PowerShot A310 is Canon's DIGIC processor, the dedicated image processor now found in all Canon digital cameras up to the EOS 10D Digital SLR. By integrating all image processing algorithms onto a single chip, the purpose-built DIGIC processor has underpinned much of Canon's success in the digital camera market by delivering fast write times, minimal shutter lag, optimal image definition and consistently precise and natural colour reproduction.

Expanded direct printing functions

The PowerShot A310 has been given extended PC-less direct printing functionality. When connected to a Canon Compact Photo printer, a Movie Print mode divides the selected clip into equal parts and prints thumbnails of a maximum 63 equally spaced frames onto a single sheet of Postcard Size Paper (100 x 148 mm); ideal for freezing action sequences such as a golf swing. An ID Photo Print function prints a number of durable passport photograph size images (of selected height and width) to a single sheet.

Software

Software supplied includes browsing and printing software ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Mac). Other software includes PhotoStitch, plus photo and movie manipulation software ArcSoft PhotoStudio and VideoImpression. Drivers include TWAIN (Windows 98/2000) and WIA (Windows Me). Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) support allows the camera to connect to any Windows XP and Mac OS X (v10.1/v10.2) system without the requirement for a driver installation.

Canon PowerShot A310 specifications