Canon's 7.1MP budget compact of 2008 — 3.4x zoom, DIGIC III, SDHC support, AA power
The Canon PowerShot A470 was the January 2008 entry in Canon's budget A4xx compact line, announced alongside the A580 and A590 IS. It brought the series up to 7 megapixels and DIGIC III processing while keeping the low price and AA-battery convenience the range was known for, and it was offered in several colour accents.
It uses a 7.1-megapixel 1/2.5-inch CCD with a 3.4x optical zoom covering 38-132mm equivalent at f/3.0-5.8. The rear LCD is a 2.5-inch 115k-dot panel, movie clips record at up to 640x480/20fps, and storage covers SD, SDHC, MMC and MMC-plus cards. There is no optical image stabilisation. Power is two AA batteries and the body weighs about 165g at 105x55x41mm.
The A470 is an easy recommendation for first-camera buyers, kids and casual CCD-digicam shooters: cheap, simple, and running on batteries from any corner shop. The lack of stabilisation and the slow tele end mean careful handholding at full zoom, and high-ISO shots get noisy quickly, but daylight output is respectable for the class.
On the used market these are abundant and inexpensive. Check the AA compartment for corrosion, confirm the lens extends and retracts cleanly, look over the 2.5-inch screen for scratches and bleed, and take a test shot to rule out CCD streaking. SDHC support means modern cards up to 32GB work without adapters.