Canon Powershot A640 Review
You might be asking yourself why I’m reviewing the Canon Powershot A640 which was released to consumers in 2006. By my estimation that makes it nearly 20 years old.
And you really might be wondering why I’m writing about it 19 years after I bought mine.
By today’s standards it has features that a lot of cameras today should have at the same price point.
I am not referring to sensor size or megapixels although it has a respectable 1 1/8″ CCD sensor with 10 Mega Pixels. And DPReview.com gave it a pretty decent review in late 2006.
Special Features
Here are a few features I think that make the A640 a quality shooter, even in 2025.
- Uses 4 AA Batteries – When’s the last time you saw a camera with AA batteries?
- No Charger Required – Standard batteries mean you can shoot anywhere there is a store.
- The cost new was just over $300 which is a fraction of the price of a DSLR in those days and even these days.
- Tethering – The A640 can be connected to a computer via a USB cable
- In 2006 it came with tethering software. In 2025 none of that software works anymore.
- Open Source software is available for Linux and Mac which supports the A640 (i.e. DarkTable, Entangle, GPhoto2)
Cons
- To tether your Canon Powershot A640 in 2025 software choices are limited. I use a program which was (and is still) awesome called Breeze PS Remote. PS of course stands for PowerShot. PS Remote is abandonware but I have a licensed copy and it still install and runs on Windows 10. Ditto for the Windows camera drivers.
- Windows 11 will not load camera drivers and Canon does not supply drivers anymore for modern OS’s beyond Windows 10.
To mitigate this problem I maintain a couple of laptops (for redundancy) with Windows 10. One is actually kind of for Ham Radio and the other for Photography but like I said, they are redundant. And I can dual boot both laptops into Win10/Ubuntu Linux.
Tethering And Manufacturers
Right around 2007 or so seems like Canon and Nikon figured out that if their inexpensive Pocket Cams could be tethered that would probably take away from their high end sales.
Live Streaming cameras of today can USUALLY tether but the cost is up there a bit. For example, the Sony ZV-E10 I use for YouTube videos costs around $700 or more if you add some accessories. DSLR’s are pricey as well.
Imagine being able to take darn near studio quality at a budget camera price.
I took this photo today with the A640 on a small white backdrop. Yeah, I’m not a pro but that ain’t bad for a 20 year old camera that was inexpensive.
And here is my rig. The laptop is an Evolve II that set me back a whopping $75.The cable is your basic USB Mini B to USB A cable.
I got the backdrop on Amazon for around $35. I don’t have a lot of money wrapped up in this and I’m getting great results.
Could I make money money with this rig? Doubtful I could feed myself with this “studio” but I darn sure am taking better photos for this blog and for selling items on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Good clear photos equate to easier sales. Here is another example.
By the way this is a Canon G7 from 2006 which is also capable of tethering. But the picture was taken by the A640. One more pic. This was taken with the G7:
Cost Today
To find a decent working A640 will still set you back from somewhere between $150 and $200 as per the latest eBay listings I just viewed. The G7 runs about the same but generally just a little higher. A G9 clocks in at over $200 easily.
That’s not unsubstantial for nearly 20 year old hardware. I’d be willing to bet that a high percentage of people buying these are getting them because they can tether.
Every Day Carry Camera?
Nah, probably not. Having said that, if you throw it in the bottom of the camera bag is makes a swell backup when your DSLR isn’t behaving or has big nasty spots on the sensor. I really just recommend this camera for tethering on the cheap.
Future Proof
Once Windows 10 quits getting supported by Microsoft you can do a few things:
- Maintain a Win 10 computer but maybe don’t connect it to the internet and use thumb drives to move your photos. Heck, I’m emailing mine now which is pretty easy.
- Keep your Windows 10 computer and firewall traffic from your laptop to your NAS but don’t allow incoming traffic to the Win 10 machine.
- Use Open Source software such as I mentioned before. If Windows and Mac won’t play then I can assure that Linux will. Even if Debian or Ubuntu move on I promise you someone somewhere will maintain a distribution that will.
- Or you can box it up and let it catch dust and buy a big money Streaming camera or DSLR.
I own several DSLR’s and have a couple of modern streaming cams.
Final Thoughts
You can tether and get great results with old hardware. I’m sorry I didn’t do a “proper review” and talk about highly technical camera things but my key focus is on tethering. Quite simply, if you want to improve your photography ……….. Tether.