Canon's Europe-market budget zoom compact — 2006 with 4MP CCD, 3.2x zoom, SD cards and AA power
The PowerShot A420 of February 2006 was a budget model in Canon's A4xx series, sold mostly in Europe while the longer-zoom A430 went to the US market. It followed the A410 as one of the cheapest zoom-equipped digital compacts Canon offered.
It carries a 4.0-megapixel 1/3-inch CCD behind a 39-125mm-equivalent 3.2x optical zoom, driven by the DIGIC II processor. Framing uses a 1.8-inch LCD, movies record at up to 640x480 at 10fps, storage is on SD cards, and it runs on standard AA batteries.
This is a basic family snapshot camera with automatic operation and a modest but useful zoom range. Today it suits buyers wanting an inexpensive CCD-era compact that takes commonplace SD cards and AA cells, with no charger or proprietary battery to track down.
Little can go expensively wrong: check the battery contacts for corrosion from leaked alkalines, confirm the zoom extends smoothly and the flash charges, and inspect the LCD. As a pre-SDHC camera it is safest with standard SD cards of 2GB or less.