Canon has launched the new Canon PowerShot A540, a 6-megapixel camera featuring a Canon DIGIC II image processor, a Canon 4x optical zoom lens, and a 2.5-inch 85K pixel LCD screen. The A540 also supports 4x digital zoom resulting in a combined zoom capability of 16x.

The Canon A540 camera supports 9-point AiAF and 21 shooting modes (Auto, P Program, Av Aperture Priority, Tv Shutter Priority, Manual, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Stitch Assist, and Special Scene Modes like Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot etc.) The A540 also features a 16:9 widescreen resolution option, for capturing images and film clips that are perfect for your widescreen TV or computer monitor.

On the video side, the Canon A540 lets you capture videos in Fast Frame Rate Movie Mode (QVGA, 60 fps, 320 x 240 pixels, 1 minute), Highly Flexible Movie Mode (VGA 640 x 480 pixels and QVGA 320 x 240 pixels, 30 fps and 15 fps, 1 hour or 1GB), and Plus Compact Movie Mode (QQVGA, 160 x 120 pixels, 15 fps, 3 minutes).

Connectivity options include the usual high-speed USB and PictBridge. The Canon PowerShot A540 will be available in March 2006 at an estimated price of US$299.99.

Product website: Canon PowerShot A540