Canon PowerShot A5 Zoom (1998)

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Announced by Canon on 1998-10-23. The A5 zoom was not the direct successor of the A5 but rather a twin model. As you can tell by the model name it featured a 2.5 optical zoom and a retractable lens. The electronics were embedded in a sturdy duralumin shell. It was basically the same camera but incorporated new features:

1. A wide-angle zoom lens equivalent to 28-70mm
2. Shorter release time lag, single-press erase mode, single-press exposure compensation mode, slow shutter mode
3. Manual white balance mode and night scene mode

Both the A5 and A5 zoom were aimed at first time digital camera users. According to Canon the A5 Zoom featured XGA class image and zoom capability in a VGA class body. To retract the zoom lens a new stepping motor unit was developed that could fit in the space underneath the CCD to help make the camera smaller.

The Canon developed dedicated IC made the camera write the image data into the memory in only three seconds. Because Canon was the Compact Flash Association's Chairman, the new A5 zoom featured a compact flash card slot.