If you think it's about time you finally moved into the digital camera market but you don't want to drop your whole salary on the purchase then the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS is a top notch replacement for your old film camera or upgrade from your mobile phone.

Recently unveiled, the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS is considering as the replacement of the A3300. Featuring a 16 megapixel image sensor, new 8x optical zoom lens complete with image stabilizer and a 3 inch LCD screen, the A4000 IS sports a slim and lightweight metal body in four different colours.

The Canon PowerShot A4000 IS replaces the A3300 as the new top-of-the-range model in the affordable PowerShot range of digital cameras. Featuring a 16 megapixel image sensor, new 8x optical zoom lens complete with image stabilizer and a 3 inch LCD screen, the A4000 IS sports a slim and lightweight...

In February this year, Canon launched a range of compact cameras catering to the needs of different audiences. One of the cameras that had been launched was from their A series of compact point and shoot cameras, called the PowerShot A4000 IS.

Canon's PowerShot A4000 IS crams an 8x optical zoom and image stabilisation into its small body. But can this budget point-and-shoot compact deliver where it counts? The PowerShot A4000 is a fairly no frills compact. It's aimed squarely at those who want the camera to take control.

Close-up macro; budget price point; centre focus works well; includes AF-point zoom in to confirm focus

Misfocusing in auto mode; face detection can go haywire; slow focus and shot-to-shot times; competition offer more extensive features

For a beginner-level camera with a sub-$200 price point, it's not really surprising to see that the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS is a pretty good camera when shooting outdoors in good light and tends to struggle when shooting indoors in low light.

The Canon PowerShot A4000 IS is a very compact camera that's easy to use, with dedicated help screens for beginners. It features a high resolution and a long zoom but there's more noise in the results than there ought to be, and some light streaking in movies.

Camera manufacturers have started to come to their senses and called a truce on the megapixel race – something that has been fairly disastrously for compact cameras' image quality. However, a new battlefront is being drawn over zoom ranges.

This is a nice little camera. It is built relatively solidly and It takes very decent photographs for the price. I use it as a backup camera and almost always have it with me.

Canon does a lot of professional cameras however they also have two ranges, Ixus and PowerShot, suitable for home and pocket use. Here the latest offering, the CanonPowerShotA4000IS, in what used to be the larger of the two small units - the PowerShot, which has shrunk.