Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Canon
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Our Price: $572.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $79.84 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: Excellent Little Canon Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I ended up not purchasing this through Amazon.com as I found it for a little less locally during a special sale. Amazon.com still has, overall, the best price (even including shipping).
I got this camera for my wife who wanted a good combination point-n-shoot and of manual control options. We researched several others in the price range and certainly the Nikon was a good competitor. But we have both used and enjoyed Canons for years and, in the end, decided to stick with Canon...mostly just so we wouldn't have to learn a different strategy for the various controls. For us, this was a good decision, as we were up-n-running with the A720IS right out of the box.
We have not used this little camera so far; haven't had a lot of time. But my wife is already pretty proficient with it having used it around the house and at the zoo. We will be on photo-safari in Kenya in a few weeks and by all of the practicing with the A720IS so far, I suspect it will be a wonderful camera companion for my wife.
The large 2.5" LCD and the optical viewfinder are great. We have used cameras without the optical viewfinders and have vowed never to have a camera with one again. The optical viewfinder on the A720IS fill the bill for us just fine. The large LCD is still completely useless in bright light situations (especially for those harsh mid-day sunny shoots...which I know we shouldn't be trying to take pictures in...but sometimes you just don't have a choice); but that is a problem with all of the contemporary point-n-shoot cameras. I recently purchased a nice bellows-style LCD hood that attaches with velcro and so far it has completely and satisfactorily solved the LCD washout issue. So, with that challenge solved, this is a great camera.
I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking for an inexpensive, flexible, point-n-shoot style camear...especially to anyone that would like to have the option of just about any level and type of manual control that you could want.
Customer Review: I'm never without mine!
Summary: 5 Stars
Seriously, I take my Canon PowerShot A720 IS places I'd never dream of carrying a purse. I bought mine off a different site as a factory refurbish, and have never regretted it. It arrived on 4-18-09, and on 11-23-10 it ticked over 80,000 images while in my hands--after borrowing a neighbor's A720 to join a photo-a-day blog, I turned to digital photography as a replacement for miniatures sculpting since I can no longer hold my sculpting tools. I have not once missed a day taking pictures since the camera got here, and in that time I've taken it from SW Montana to the Oregon coast (twice), Portland (about 6 times), the Coast Range mountains (twice), the Big Hole Valley (home of Crystal Park, the Pioneer Mountains, Jackson, Dillon, Bannack, and the Big Hole National Battlefield monument & museum here in MT) probably a dozen times, as well as all the way to Billings, MT--as far east as I have ever been in my adult life. It has taken beautiful pictures for me in the mountains, at the beach, in aquariums & pet stores, at sunrise, at sunset, at rock concerts, in the snow, in the rain, above 100 degrees, below zero, at the Pacific Ocean, at 8,500 feet in the Pioneer Mtns...you name it. I've probably photographed 50 species of native birds with it, along with people, scenery, two ghost towns, zoo animals, tiny rocks/feathers/shells/anything shiny (there aren't words for how much I love the macro!), sweeping skies, livestock, wildlife ranging in size from blue butterflies to elk, and thousands of wild and garden flowers. I've worn the finish off the casing everywhere I typically rest my hands when holding the camera, and the only problems I've ever had are two instances of the lens cover sticking open for a moment and a couple of blue pixels that have been there since it arrived and have yet to multiply. I'm not a very technical photographer, but I cannot understate my positive opinion of this camera's ease of use, durability, and portability.Customer Review: Canon Powershot A720IS
Summary: 5 Stars
Perfect pocket camera for taking on trips for someone who wants more control over their photos than the usual point and shoot. I have used it camping, boating, biking, hiking, flying, and for all sorts of other outdoor activities where a larger camera would be impractical. All controls accessible with one hand.
The program mode allows me to permanently suppress the flash (I almost never use it) and the image stabilization allows slow shutter speeds in low light conditions. The shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual modes give me all the flexibility I could want in setting exposures.
The combination of 6X optical zoom, 8 megapixels, image stabilization, and AA batteries cannot be found in any other camera this small and light. The optical viewfinder is great for bright conditions where the LCD screen is washed out. The viewfinder crops the actual image - you should zoom in tighter than you normally would.
The camera has a few flaws. At the higher ISO settings (800 and 1600 but also a little at 400) the images start to go a bit grainy (but still usually yield good quality up to 8x10 enlargements). The camera does not do well with regular alkaline battteries - the low battery indicator lights up early and the camera soon rejects the batteries even though they have plenty of power for other devices. I think it has to do with the battery's voltage characteristic. Rechargeable Lithium ion batteries, however, do very well in it. Alkalines are good for backup if nothing else is available. But these problems are small compared to the utility this camera provides in a small, inexpensive package.
If you have someone else using the camera who is not comfortable with all the settings available, you can simply switch it to auto mode and let them point and shoot.
Customer Review: A great camera for the money
Summary: 5 Stars
After doing a lot of research for a new digital camera, I found the A720.
It had everything I was looking for and more:
-A viewfinder (for those bright days and when trying to conserve the batteries by turning off the LCD, easily I might add)
-6x Optical zoom, with the option of turning off digital zoom
-Image stabilization
-Capability of using an SDHC card for faster picture taking and high storage capacity
-The ability to change the volumes of all the sounds of the camera. I can still have the sound on to hear video playback, but can turn down and off the sounds for start-up, button pressing, shutter click, etc.
-Fully retractable lens, without a need for a lens cap
-Quick startup time
-Capability of adding another lens to it if I so choose, though it seems most add-on lenses will block the flash
-Very small size, smaller than I thought it would be after seeing all the pictures. Easily fits in a pocket, and the quick startup time allows me to get the picture I want without having to keep the camera in my hands at all times
-Remembers my LCD settings after shutdown
-Very decent video quality
-Large LCD screen
I have noticed that some of my indoor pictures seem a little bright, I haven't fully read through the manual to see if that can be changed. Overall though it isn't really noticeable, and I got rave reviews from those I shared my holiday pictures with. Many people asked what camera I had, and even had someone go out and buy the same one after playing with mine.
A quality camera with a ton of features for a relatively low price. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a great pocket sized camera!
Customer Review: Fantastic camera for this tourist
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted a camera smaller than my "regular" camera for a recent trip to Europe. I found this camera to be fantastic for tourist shots. I'm a very active composer of shots, intensively using the zoom to frame shots. Because of this, I was a bit concerned about it only having two batteries and some comments about battery life in these amazon reviews. However, I found I was able to get about 350 pictures for each set of rechargeable batteries. I suspect this difference from other users is due to my infrequent use of the electronic image display for composing shots; I'm a viewfinder user. The only time I used the display was for closeups, when the viewfinder had parallax problems and didn't line up the image correctly. Otherwise, image quality was great and the 6x lens worked great for getting in close. (Macro quality was also excellent, for the other kind of getting in close.) My only complaint about the lens is that the wide angle is equivalent to about a 35 mm lens. For many tourist shots, a wider angle would be nice, say about 28 mm. But, I knew this going in and learned to live with it. The flash unit is small, but provided adequate flash outdoors up to about 8 feet, which is about all that can be expected. Closeups with the flash have a lens shadow in the lower right side of the image, so users need to compensate for this while shooting or when editing. The flash does take several seconds to recharge, but not much longer than other digitals I've used with four batteries. For the money, I feel I more than got my money's worth.