Canon PowerShot A720 IS

...of the people. According to Canon Digic III should also allow to obtain faster start-up time, faster autofocus, quicker shutter response time and also it should give better power consumptions. I have used the A710is for some months and to be honest I have not appreciated any real improvement on any of these features. I do not want to say that nothing has been improved but in my opinion it is hardly noticeable.
- 19 shooting modes against ...
...have still the feeling that Canon engineers should work a little bit more in the reduction of buttons with more clever software programming/overall logic.

Pity there is not a dedicated button for ISO setting. ISO can be set from ISO 100 to 1600, Auto - ISO 80 to ISO 200 or High Auto ISO 400 to ISO 1600. I have found particularly useful the button that allows to manually compensate the exposure from -2 to 2 stops with 1/3 steps. Most ... more

- Premise

The A720is replaces the less than two years old A710is at the same if not lower price: around 220-250 euro in Italy, 150-170 pounds in the UK.

You can see my review for the A710is here on Ciao.uk: that review 80% applies also for the A710is which had however some (minor) improvements which I will try to describe in this new review.

I regret in advance if I will dedicate some sections comparing the A720 with its predecessor, this is probably of no use if you do not own the A710, but it could be anyhow interesting if you plan to buy a 2nd hand A710 or for people who are thinking to upgrade their A710. A part this as the two cameras are pretty similar this review follows the footsteps of the previous one but I have also added here and there some (hopefully) useful additional comments.

- Display (good)
The display is a 2,5" LCD, brightness automatically changes according to the external light conditions (clever), resolution is 115K so it is average (could have been better). In bright light conditions, as most of the other cameras, the view on the LCD could be not easy. However the viewfinder (with no dioptre adjustment) is quite good.

- Lens, CCD and Zoom
The lens and the 8,1 Mpixel CCD gave very good results in almost all my shots. Only rarely I have noticed some vignetting in the corners. The optical stabilizer is very useful as it will reduce to a not negligible level the risk of obtaining blurred photos. However it cannot perform miracles so it is always important to follow the good rule of thumb of taking pictures with x>y where 1/x is the exposure time (s) and y is the focal length (mm). This is of course true if you are not using tripod or other supports.

The Macro function is great as it will allow you to shot to objects as close as 1cm. You can get very good macro pictures. As a minor drawback it has to be said that the minimum focusing distance in the normal shooting mode is between 35-45cm so when taking pictures to objects quite close you will frequently need to switch on the macro mode.

Please note that at ISO 800 noise is quite noticeable (much worse than the corresponding EOS 350/EOS 400 - Rebel XT/Rebel XTi in the US) while ISO 1600 has been introduced for commercial purposes to be aligned with the competition but the results are bad. This is pretty strange as on the EOS400 (with same Digic III processor) the quality at high ISO resolution is really good (not bad even at ISO1600). I wonder if the difference is due to the lenses or the CCD.

- A720 vs A710

- Case and buttons: identical to A710. The differences in the case are hardly noticeable: the rear and top are identical, on the front gray details turned to silver. LCD, buttons, flash, connectors are the same. Only the top knob has a slightly different shape.
- CCD: 8 megapixel instead of 7 megapixel. Maximum resolution increased from 3072x2304 to 3264x2448
- DIGIC III processor with advanced noise reduction. I can't say exactly pros and cons of DIGIC II vs DIGIC III. What it is sure is that with DIGIC III you will find a new "face detection" autofocus option that will automatically try to focus on the eyes of the people. According to Canon Digic III should also allow to obtain faster start-up time, faster autofocus, quicker shutter response time and also it should give better power consumptions. I have used the A710is for some months and to be honest I have not appreciated any real improvement on any of these features. I do not want to say that nothing has been improved but in my opinion it is hardly noticeable.
- 19 shooting modes against 10… are they of any real use?
- There are some (not too exciting) differences on the software. This is explained later in the review
- New ISO 1600 mode. Hardly usable as noise is almost unacceptable
- Video recording with new 640x480 high compressed mode.

- Photo quality wrt A710is
I made some tests comparing the A710 wrt A720. I have to admit that sometimes taking pictures indoor I had the feeling that the A710 automatic white balance algorithm gave more realistic results (i.e. real colours) than the brand new A720 one. However this is just an impression, as I also said before I think that the two cameras are extremely similar in all respects. What I have appreciated was that, probably due to the slightly better resolution of the CCD, the smaller details are better reproduced on the A720is than the A710. Please note that is something you will not notice till you will make for instance an A3 print-out of your photo or you will zoom-in into the image with your imaging software.

- In use
The camera is activated pushing the on/off button on the top. Roughly in one second you are ready to shot, so it is quite fast. The mode dial, also on the top, offers the usual range of settings: fully automatic, Program, Tv (shutter priority mode), Av (Aperture priority mode), Manual, Video mode plus many other custom modes (indoor, snow, underwater...). I guess somebody is using these modes because in 5 years of digital photography they only caused me some headaches when I discovered that the dialler position was changed inadvertently. A good point, at least for me, of the mode dial is that it needs some force to be rotated and that should allow to avoid unwanted changes (pulling it out from a pocket for instance). Maximum exposure time is limited to 15s, this allows to take pictures also when in the darkness (of course a tripod is needed). Minimum exposure time is 1/2000s. A burst mode is available allowing to take roughly 2 pictures per seconds.

On the top of the camera you have the shutter bottom and the zoom control. Zooming from wideangle to telephoto is also quite fast, less than 2 seconds. Overall handling and handgrip is pretty good for me. On the front size you will find the LCD, the selector that allows to shot photos or view photos, a kind of joystick and four buttons with lot of functions. Though I found quite easy the learning curve in order to understand all the meaning of the different buttons I have still the feeling that Canon engineers should work a little bit more in the reduction of buttons with more clever software programming/overall logic.

Pity there is not a dedicated button for ISO setting. ISO can be set from ISO 100 to 1600, Auto - ISO 80 to ISO 200 or High Auto ISO 400 to ISO 1600. I have found particularly useful the button that allows to manually compensate the exposure from -2 to 2 stops with 1/3 steps. Most of the parameters are set by pushing the central joystick button (also named Function selection). A menu will allow you to easily set ISO mode, bracketing, White Balance mode, shutter mode resolution and other settings. Focusing can be automatic (9 points are available) or manual. You can decide to have fixed focus position or use the intelligent camera system. Focusing is fast, also when you are in the darkness a special red light allow the camera to focus quickly.

The picture format like all other compact digital cameras is 4:3 instead of the 3:2 of SLR cameras. The flash is quite good for such a compact camera and according to Canon its range is from 0,5m to 3,5m (wide) or 2,5m (telephoto). For my needs it is sufficient, somebody complained because the charge time is somewhat slow (around 10s, probably due to decision to use only 2 AA batteries). That is of course not good if you want to take indoor photos, frankly speaking that was never a problem for me as I mainly take pictures outside.

Photo resolution can be set at 3264x2448, 5 Mp, 3 Mp, 2 Mp, VGA and there is also a widescreen mode 3264x1832 that simply crops the image. That could be also done when post processing the image but I found this setting useful in some cases as it saved me the time of cropping the image on the PC.

On my first compact digital camera, Fuji E550, there was a nice feature: when pressing a button a grid appeared on the LCD allowing to better align horizontally or vertically with the landscape for instance. There is not a similar feature on the A720is.

- Video recording
You can record videos with maximum resolution of 640x480 at 30fps with mono audio. Maximum recording time is roughly 16 minutes at the highest resolution with a 2 Gb memory card (46 min at 320x240). The recording format is MJPEG (AVI file) with mono audio, so it can be easily processed by software like Virtual Dub and you can further compress it by using for instance divx or xvid video codecs. In this way you will reduce the size of the video up to 5 /10 times saving lot of space on your hard disk. I found the video recording capabilities more than adequate for my own purposes. While recording you can also zoom in or zoom out, this is made step by step and is not smooth as on a normal video camera but that is something you cannot of course expect.

-Video quality wrt A710is
The video quality is the same. As an added bonus it has been introduced a high compression 640x480 mode which allows to double the recording time (32 minutes with 2Gb memory card). Perhaps this is just my feeling but I had the impression that the audio quality has been a little bit improved.

- Memory
The A720is uses SD (SecureDigital) cards. They are the cheapest and more common memory types. That is definitely a good news. In order to access the SD slot you have to open the battery cover. I used 1 Gb and 2 Gb microSD branded Trascend/Sandisk/Panasonic with or without adapters without any problem.

At the highest quality (8 Mp super fine) a 2 Gb memory will hold around 500 pictures, 900 pictures at 8 Mpixel standard compression, 1900 pictures at 8 Mpixel with high compression. Personally I have always used the standard compression algorithm as I did not notice appreciable differences while the size of the photo is halved. That is important not only because you camera will hold double the pictures but also because you will save lot of space in your hard disk. The size of a photo at maximum resolution standard quality can vary from 1,5 to 3,5 Mb.

- Battery life
With 2500mA AA batteries I am able to shot around 200 photos. I noticed that when the camera warns you that the battery level is low your time is almost over, a few photos and then the camera will gently automatically switch off asking you to replace/charge the batteries. I would have preferred to have some more margin. Like for the SD cards the usage of AA rechargeable batteries instead of custom batteries is to my standpoint always a pro when choosing among different models.

The way how the batteries have to be inserted is not clear enough, the sign is inside the camera. It could have been placed in a more visible area.

- Manual
The case contains a simple manual (quick guide) to start playing with the camera. The full manual is found in the enclosed CD ROM or it can be freely downloaded from the website. Both the quick-guide and the full manual are quite well organized even if I admit I only looked at them a few times.

- Software
I particularly like the Canon suite of software and the regular support (upgrades) given on the web site. Main programs are Digital Photo Professional (EOS only), Zoom Browser and Photostich (that allows to join many photos to obtain a bigger panoramic photo). I enjoy a lot using Zoombrowser as it gives you nice ways to look and classify your pictures, examine photo parameters etcetera.

However I have to complain with Canon as the A720is transfer software has been changed in worse from my standpoint. This software is called Camera Window and with the old version used for the A710is (which unluckily does not work on the A720is) it was possible to customize the filename like for the bigger EOS models. For instance it is possible to have a filename like

20071015_IMG_333.jpg

Which means that the shot has been taken this year, on 15th of October. I find this feature particulary useful as I can see immediately when the photo has been taken just by looking at its filename and furthermore when ordering the filenames alphabetically they are automatically sorted by shooting date. This is no more true with the newest Camera Window. You can do a similary job but only at folder level. E.g.

2007\10\15\IMG_133.jpg

But this is completely useless for me as I have lost all the benefits explained before. And furthermore I loose the standardization I had with the files transferred from my EOS camers. Last but not least the transfer program does not allow you to delete the pictures after they have been transferred to the PC, this has to be done manually on the camera. All this was very disappointing. I wonder why Canon introduced these changes.

The Zoombrowser version found in the CD is v6.0 while on the Italian Canon website you can download v.5.8b (for A710is or EOS 400D, a software section for the A720is does not exist yet!). Also here I found a couple of annoying new features that I hope will be fixed in newer version (e.g. it is not possible to delete a picture by pressing CANC when it is shown on the preview - you have to go through the menus…).

- Accessories
The list is pretty long: you can get wide angle and telephoto converter, close-up lens, external flash, soft case, waterproof case. I never bought accessories for compact digital cameras (they are actually quite expensive) but I would be quite tempted to get the waterproof case to take pictures when snorkelling. Pity it costs more or less like the camear itself!

- What you get in the box (in Italy at least)
You will find the camera, USB cable, CD ROMs with full manuals and software, alkaline batteries (good for your TV remote control) and A/V cable. So the first thing to do after buying the camera is to get SD card (2Gb is advisable) and NiMh AA batteries.

- Pros
Here are the characteristics I particularly like

- Excellent photo quality
- Very good macro mode (1cm)
- Light and very compact camera (270gr with batteries)
- AA NiMh batteries (cheap and standardized)
- SD memory (the cheapest available)
- Fairly good battery life (having only two AAs)
- Lot of features for the semi-pro user
- Good software (a part for what I reported before on Camera Windows)

- Cons
Here are the few thing I do no like about this camera:

- No bluetooth or wi-fi data transfer (but the cable luckily is a standard USB type that can be used also with other
- USB peripherals like 2.5" portable HD - well done)
- Trasfer software camera-windows has been worsened with respect to the A710is version
- Poor equipment in the box (no NiMh batteris, useless 16 Mb memory card, no protection bag)
- The two unused buttons on the joypad could have been used to have a fast access to ISO seetings / resolution

- Conclusions
I fully agree with people saying that the digital camera (or more generally electronic components) turnover is getting ridiculous. Life of the A710is was less than 2 years. As the differences however are not so noticeable it could be interesting to find auctions for second hand A710is as the picture quality and specifications are pretty much the same (i.e. very good for such a compact camera)

I particularly liked the A710is and likewise the A720is as it has most of the features that both a beginner and a semi-pro user can ask for (considering its size and its weight of 270grams including batteries). The quality of the photos are extremely good.

Some pictures taken with the A720is (and A710is) will be soon added on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/7714175@N06/ 

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