Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great camera both as a pont-and-shoot and for the enthusiast!, 27 Feb 2008
After years of Internet purchases, this is the first time I have ever felt moved to write about a product. In summary I am really delighted with the range of features and quality of the image of this camera which I think would appeal both as a point-and-shoot and to a photography enthusiast.
I had been interested in photography as a kid and I wanted a camera like an SLR that had manual settings that I could play with to see what effect this would have on the image. It also had to be compact enough to be carried anywhere.
As I knew I wouldn't be buying another camera again in a hurry I was prepared to spend a reasonable amount on this and so spent a great deal of time looking at it's big brother the G9, which costs around £290 and it was almost by accident that I stumbled upon the A720 at nearly £170 cheaper (It received a "Highly Recommended" review on dp review http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720IS/ plus a very high score in What Digital Camera magazine).
Why I decided to go with the A720 instead of the G9 (which is clearly an excellent camera) is that I wasn't convinced that I would need RAW file format or 12MP and was happy to have a plastic body which was smaller and lighter - so the extra price-tag just didn't seem worth it for my needs. By comparison the A720 did still offer many of the good features of its big brother like image stabilisation, full manual settings and 6x zoom.
Although the package is less sexy than the Canon IXUS range which are more compact and have Li-ion batteries, I believe that the internal hardware is the same and this has the added advantage of the manual settings and a bigger zoom which the IXUS range don't have. Again in my opinion this makes it better value for money.
In use I have been very pleased with the A720. On Auto setting it will point and shoot and take very nice snaps, so you don't need a degree in photography to get your head round it. However, at the same time, what is quite outstanding is the range of focus, exposure, apperture, shutter speed and other manual settings which make it a serious photgrapher's dream and would I think make it a very nice compact to carry when an SLR is impractical.
I find the aperture priority setting great for playing around with the depth for the field (great for really sharp portraits and still life shots)and the shutter speed priority for blurring or sharpening moving images or for night images. Like an SLR, on these settings you play with these parameters whilst the camera calculates and sets everything else and the results it produces are excellent. Like an SLR, it also comes with a Program AE and fully manual setting, as well as a variety of pre-programmed scenes to make it easy for you if you are in a rush o can't be bothered learning how to do it manually.
Like most reviewers I would agree that battery life is low but in my experience comparable with other digital cameras that take normal AA-sized batteries and if like me you invest in a set of 4 2700mah Nimh rechargeables and a fast charger, you can have two on charge whilst shooting with the others. Over a weekend I still managed to take 120 photos in all lighting conditions plus 3 short videos, all of which I reviewed several times on the screen, before the batteries died.
I would also agree that the body casing is a little plasticky and feels a little flimsy especially around the battery compartment but as I said this is meant to be light and portable and for the price the body is on a par with its competitors.
I can't comment on the software because I just use Adobe Photoshop and Picture It software I have on my pc.
Like other reviewers I have used the Sandisk Extreme III card which works really well.
On balance then I think that there is little to compare at the price and I would warmly recommend the A720. I hope that this helps you in your decision.
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80 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best budget camera (?), 17 Nov 2007
Well, I can't PROVE there isn't a better one, but for the price what you get is amazing .. 8Mpixels (although who cares, really, once you get past about 5), 6x zoom, an actual viewfinder (for when the LCD is washed out in the sunshine), full manual controls (if you want them), and it runs on regular AA cells (NiMH for preference) and uses a standard USB mini-B plug to connect to a PC. Ok, and it takes pretty good pictures too .. the Image stabilisation actually works (and at 6x zoom is really rather necessary).
OK, it is not as slim as an Ixus, or Sony T-100, but actually it is easier to hold/use, and will still fit in a pocket, if not a shirt pocket. It has plenty of plastic in the construction, which keeps the weight down, but it still appears to be well built.
You need to add a decent SD card (Sandisk 2GB Extreme III will give you about 600 pics, which is more than the battery will do), and buy some NiMH AA cells and a charger (get the modern cells which don't self-discharge over the weekend .. e.g. Enerloop, or Vapextech 'Instant'). And a case - ebay has several flavours for about £7 (delivered). I prefer the semi-hard cases, which offer better protection.
The supplied software is 'OK', but if you are halfway serious you'll get Photoshop elements to mess with your pics. If you are seriously serious you'll get real Photoshop, and a Digital SLR (but if you were that serious you wouldn't be reading this review, would you).
Well actually you might, because if you already own thousands of pounds worth and tens of Kg of Digital SLR kit, you might just buy one of these to slip in your pocket for those holiday shots. It will surprise you.. but you can always ignore the 100+ page instruction book and just point and shoot .. that works too.
Allcam, who Amazon seem to be using to sell these this week, are selling 'grey imported' US/Canadian models, which means there is in theory no UK Canon Warranty - hopefully Allcam will still be there if it dies in the first 12 months (if not, you always have you credit card to fall back on). You can get a real UK one if you pay more - quite a lot more probably.
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45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous all-round budget camera, 8 Nov 2007
This is my second Powershot camera as I have just upgraded from the A400 (which was also great but the macro stopped working after a few years!) It has many great features if you want to use them, or works very well as a 'point and shoot' on automatic. The quality of still photographs is excellent, from really close macro through portrait to landscape and distant zoom. My only minor gripe would be the flash isn't great at macro, but really that's to be expected. The video works well although the microphone isn't very strong. (I can't compare it with others though as I have no experience of movies on other digital cameras.)
I can't comment on the software because I haven't needed to use it. I download my photos directly into Adobe Photoshop Elements, which worked without a hitch first time I uploaded any photos.
If you're interested in closeups then this is probably the best macro in its budget class. If you want an all round camera then it provides that, and much more too.
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