CNET Editor's rating: 7.6 out of 10
Reviewed by
Philip Ryan
Review date: 09/25/06
Release date: 09/15/06
The good: Optical image stabilization; manual exposure controls; 6X optical zoom; usable ISO 800.
The bad: Sluggish flash recycling; widest angle of view is 35mm, auto white balance is very warm with tungsten lights.
The bottom line: Canon's A series continues to deliver tons of bang for the buck, this time including optical image stabilization, 6X optical zoom, and solid image quality in a midsize compact camera with a stylish design update.
Canon's A-series cameras have a long tradition of providing solid performance and impressive but not over-the-top feature sets at a reasonable price. In the past, that has often come with a slightly utilitarian design, but Canon's newest addition, the PowerShot A710 IS, looks practically classy, with its gently curved top; shiny, silver-plastic accents; and curved, dark-plastic section on its grip. Add to that the fact that it has a 6X optical, 35mm to 210mm (35mm equivalent), an f/2.8-to-f/4.8 zoom lens with optical image stabilization, a 7.1-megapixel CCD sensor, and a bunch of manual controls, and you've got one heck of a nice feature set for a camera in its price class.
Fans of the A series will note that the camera's grip isn't as large as some of the others' in the line, mostly because the A710 IS is powered by two AA batteries instead of four. This makes for a more pocketable design, and Canon still rates battery life at 360 images with NiMH batteries and 100 with alkalines. With a good pair of AA rechargeables, you should be able to use the camera for a weekend without running out of juice. Despite the smaller grip, the camera is still very one-hand-shooting friendly with all camera controls in easy reach of your right hand's fingers and thumb. Our only design criticism is the location of the SD card slot. As in a lot of cameras, it's tucked next to the batteries, which means that you'll have to be careful not to let the batteries fall out when switching cards. At least the spring-loaded slot pushes the card far up, so it's easy to remove.
Features are similar to those of the PowerShot A700, another camera in Canon's line. Standouts include controls for manual exposure and aperture and shutter priority, as well as flash compensation, which lets you roll back flash output power, and second-curtain flash, which fires the flash as the shutter closes so that moving objects don't end up with trails in front of them when you're using the flash. This happens a lot when shooting cars at night; with second-curtain flash, the headlights end up with slight trails behind them instead of looking like laser beams. Of course, if you like the laser look, you can also choose first-curtain (a.k.a. normal) flash, which is the default.
As you might expect, there are also many choices for tweaking your pictures, including 11 color modes, one of which lets you create your own by setting contrast; saturation; sharpness; red, green, and blue levels; and skin tone brightness. You can also use Color Accent mode to turn all but a selected color to black and white--perfect for making cutesy pictures of flowers in which only the petals are in color. Along similar lines, Color Swap lets you trade one color for another.
Optional accessories, such as the 0.7X wide-angle converter, 1.75X teleconverter, and close-up lens, all of which attach in front of the built-in zoom lens via a bayonet-mounted adapter, letting the A710IS grow with you as your shooting needs change and making the camera even more versatile.
The biggest place the A710 IS lags, feature-wise, is in its sensitivity settings. It tops out at ISO 800, which isn't bad. But with so many cameras, even budget snapshooters, pushing up to and past that mark, we would've expected to see Canon's flagship A-series camera go up to ISO 1600.
Given the A-series' track record, we weren't surprised to find that it performed well in our Labs' tests. It took 1.6 seconds to power up and capture its first image, and 1.8 seconds to capture subsequent images without flash. Activating the flash almost doubled that time, resulting in 3.5 seconds between shots in our tests. Shutter lag in our high-contrast test measured 0.35 second, jumping to 1.2 seconds in the low-contrast test--both very respectable numbers for a camera of this class. Continuous shooting was average, yielding an average of 1.7 frames per second for VGA-size JPEGs and 1.5fps for 7.1-megapixel JPEGs.
Image quality was very good in our tests. Colors were accurate, if a touch flat, and the camera was able to capture a healthy amount of detail. Exposures were generally accurate, with only minor blooming in extreme highlights, impressive shadow detail, and little or no fringing.
Noise wasn't noticeable at ISO 80 and was only minutely present at ISO 100, manifesting itself as extremely slight mottling of solid fields of dark colors--something that most people would not notice in prints, even at full size. By ISO 200, noise spread to a wider range of colors but still remained mostly as a light grain that most people would dismiss; it didn't appreciably detract from image detail and would likely be completely minimized when printed. By ISO 400, noise was more apparent and took away a mild amount of finer image detail. For example, the 1/16-inch markers on the measuring tape in our test scene began to blur together at this point. By ISO 800, noise was very noticeable, as a fine snowy grain. While not as objectionable as the heavily colored grain some cameras produce, it was hard to miss and was enough to make the numbers on the measuring tape unreadable. Still, prints were usable at smaller sizes, in which the grain served mostly to rob contrast and obscure shadow detail.
Once again, Canon has delivered a great value with it's A series in the form of the A710 IS. With its addition of image stabilization, you should be able to shoot a couple of shutter-speed stops slower than you normally would, making the long end of the zoom lens even more convenient, and the camera's usable ISO 800 setting will let you capture images in situations when IS is not the answer. Plus, for average situations, the camera's image quality is quite good for the money. Most casual shooters and simple snapshooters will find that the A710 IS is plenty of camera for their needs, and its versatile controls make it a nice spare camera for more advanced shooters, as well.
Intro:
The Canon PowerShot A710 is a 7.1-megapixel, enthusiast's camera.Compared to other enthusiast's digital cameras on the market, it is relatively inexpensive at around $275.
Noteworthy Features:
Has a 6x optical zoom, which is somewhat more powerful than some similarly priced digital cameras.Weighing only 7.5 ounces without battery and media, this digital camera is rather light relative to its competitors.This camera also offers control of several exposure modes including shutter-priority, aperture-priority, manual, and program mode.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
An enthusiast's digital camera, suited for advanced amateur photographers.A recommended use, based on key features, is framed photos for the home.The largest recommended print size, estimated from the camera's resolution, is 12x16 or larger.
Value:
In general, this digital camera's features seem a bit weak, even for its relatively inexpensive price.
stabilizer:
Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Flash Recharge warning - LCD turns off when using the flash
I bought this camera and only kept it for 1-day. Everytime I took a picture in Auto mode with the ...
I bought this camera and only kept it for 1-day. Everytime I took a picture in Auto mode with the flash on, the LCD would turn off. This would last anywhere from 3 to 6 seconds. After reading through the manual, I came across a note that stated, "When the LCD monitor is on and flash recharging begins, the indicator blinks orange and the LCD monitor turns off. When recharging ends, the indicator turns off and the LCD monitor turns on. The time required for flash recharging will change depending on usage conditions and remaining battery power." (pg. 13 from the Basic User Guide). What's worse is this "feature" cannot be turned off manually - it always happens. I replaced the batteries that came with the camera for rechargable batteries and this issue still occured. I did not notice this feature at the store probably because those cameras are connected to an external power source, rather than operating on battery power. When I returned the camera, the store wanted to charge me their 15% restocking fee. I informed them of this feature and how customers are unaware of it since it's running off external power. The store's "digital camera guru" inspected the camera and tried like crazy to turn the feature off. After soon realizing that this is a new "feature" with the Poweshot A Series cameras, they gladly refunded my money and waived the restocking fee. What's also interesting is this only happens with the Canon's that run off of 2 AA batteries. I owned a Canon Powershot A620 that ran off 4 AA batteries and this would not occur. Now, the A Series cameras that off 2 AA batteries and it seems they installed this automatic feature to save battery power. I believe this is a bad move by Canon. I would much rather have to replace the batteries more often than lose the opportunity to take a quick series of photos. In the end, I stayed loyal and bought the Canon SD800 IS. The SD Series cameras run off a Lithium battery and therefore do not have this flaw..umm, I mean "feature".
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by rmpugnier (see profile) -
November 28, 2006
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great Camera for the money awesome photos!!
Bought one when they first came out I had the 700 before. Like the looks and features of the 710 ...
Bought one when they first came out I had the 700 before. Like the looks and features of the 710 and it has IS as well. The pictures are excellent, is this an $8,000 SLR, NO but for the money this little gem is well worth it. Ignore the reviewer that gave it a one, they must have had buyers remorse. This is an awesome pocket size camera loaded with tons of features. Get one if you're thinking about it, you'll like it, I do.
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by k9xyz (see profile) -
November 10, 2006
18 out of 19 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect A710 is one more great A series camera from Canon
You can't go wrong with ANY Canon A-series, but the 710 takes it one step further by adding true ...
You can't go wrong with ANY Canon A-series, but the 710 takes it one step further by adding true Image Stabilization, which is tough to find in cameras in any price range, much less one for a few hundred dollars.
I've purchased well over a dozen different A-Series models since the beginning of the series over five years ago for personal and school use. That means I've had lots of experience with these cameras and have found them to be very durable, with easy to learn controls.
These Canon A's are the ONLY cameras I recommend for people looking for snapshot camera ease (i.e., "point and shoot") in a nicely priced, feature packed digital camera that also allows some manual control for those who want to be creative. With prices ranging from around $100 to under $400, there's one for every budget.
Updated The other great feature of the A710 (and 700) is the 6x zoom, pretty good for a compact cam. Oh, and all the Canon A's take AA batteries, both the disposable and recharge kinds...Very handy!
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent, completely tuneable
This camera is small and powerfull, has a great zoom, optical viewfinder, an incredible macro and has full manual controls. ...
This camera is small and powerfull, has a great zoom, optical viewfinder, an incredible macro and has full manual controls. It only uses two AA batteries so it makes it perfect for a jacket pocket and it is not heavy at all. The display is big but lacks some resolution and washes out in bright light, but that is the reason for having the optical viewfinder (it moves with the zoom). The main problem is the slow flash recharge cycle (4 to 5 secs) and some noise issues at higher ISO levels. You can modify all settings in P mode so this it not really an issue. It has Av and Tv, so there is plenty of room to play and learn advance photography skills. I am happy with it and if I feel like is going out of my hands I just go to Auto mode or any of the pre-set scene modes and will do just fine.
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by ltesta (see profile) -
November 5, 2006
9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent This is a great buy!
A really good buy with plenty of features. You however will need to purchase at least a 1 Gig card ...
A really good buy with plenty of features. You however will need to purchase at least a 1 Gig card and a rechargeable battery pack (CBK4-300)for you to really get the most out of this camera.Takes great pictures & would buy it again if I had it to do over. You need to shop around because of differences in price. If not for shopping around on line.I could have paid up to $100.00 more for the same camera.
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by waltz1 (see profile) -
December 31, 2006
6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent choice of compromises
I am really enjoying this camera. I like its size. It's very comfortable to handle, and still it is ...
I am really enjoying this camera. I like its size. It's very comfortable to handle, and still it is small enough to be easily carried around. Pictures have been excellent. It does a nice job with high-contrast pictures, it has many useful modes, the 6x zoom with the image stabilization is wonderful. The camera works well for quick shots, but it is also easy to do a lot of manual settings and to add on lenses/filters to expand its possibilities. As noted, the flash delay after a picture is just enough to be annoying, but it's not a deal-killer. I definitely need a viewfinder (presbyopia!), which many cameras no long have, so it's a plus, but the viewfinder only displays about 3/4 of the actual picture.
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by mgvh (see profile) -
December 11, 2006
6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great camera! High zoom and manual exposure in a compact body.
I just got this camera, read the whole manual, did some test shots. I love it! The 6x zoom is ...
I just got this camera, read the whole manual, did some test shots. I love it! The 6x zoom is great, and the image stabilization makes it useful without a tripod. Plenty of manual controls: shutter-priority, aperture-priority, manual exposure, adjustable flash output, manual focus... Good, fairly intuitive controls.
Various features I really like (in random order): 1. Custom self-timer - you set how long you want the camera to wait AND how many pictures you want it to take, so you can put it on a tripod and then have it snap up to 10 photos. 2. The FlexiZone focus system, and the manual focus with the cool zoomed-in window 3. Second-curtain flash! And slow-sync flash, of course. 4. Lots of focus and exposure lock options 5. Takes accessory lenses (1.75 telephoto, wide-angle, macro) 6. Detailed playback display, with histogram 7. Sound memos attachable to photos 8. Flexible playback mode: you don't have to zoom out to switch images, you can skip by 10 or 100 images or skip by date. 9. Has a mute setting, for when I really don't want to make any noises... 10. 1cm macro focus! Really, I can take sharp photos with the subject almost touching the lens. It's great! 11. The Camera Shake Warning is useful - much less chance of coming home with a picture and only then discovering the camera shake... 12. Optical viewfinder. Surprisingly many cameras don't have them, which is incredibly annoying in bright light or when your batteries are running out... 13. Different movie settings: 15, 30, 60 frames-per-second, resolution 160, 320, 640. 14. Grid line display overlay makes it easier to line things up
Some very minor gripes: 1. The manual claims the zoom setting should be displayed on the top of the screen, but it doesn't happen with optical zoom, only with digital. It would be nice to know what zoom setting I'm at... 2. The stitch-assist mode seems awkward. In the Nikon P5000 the old image is transparent so that you can actually line up the whole section and not just the edge, which worked much better for me. 3. I really wish it had a movable LCD like the A640, but then it'd probably be bigger... 4. The LCD screen is viewable from fairly wide angles sideways, but not up and down. 5. I really wish it would rotate movies... 6. The mode dial and record/playback switch are a bit hard to move, especially if I'm trying one-handed operation. 7. The ring around the lens moves around a bit. 8. Tripod mount is made of plastic. 9. No manual LCD brightness adjustment
The two batteries instead of four mean a smaller camera, but also shorter battery life, and the annoyingly slow flash recycling. A good trade-off for me. And since the batteries are just cheap AAs, I can carry extras around.
One-hand operation possible but cramp-inducing - the grip is pretty small (it's a small camera, which is generally a good thing...), but all the buttons are within one-handed reach.
The funny color accent/swap modes are, well, fun to play with but not terribly useful, unless you don't use a good image editing program.
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by wpatena (see profile) -
May 20, 2007
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great Camera !
I got this camera for Christmas and took it to New York City for a day and took fantastic pictures. ...
I got this camera for Christmas and took it to New York City for a day and took fantastic pictures. The videos came out terrific also. I am not a expert but this camera is easy to use and took little time to understand and use.
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by noahmon (see profile) -
January 2, 2007
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Close to being a full feature SLR, without actually being one.
Spent a lot of time looking at various brands and all the model types up and down. Wanted a "pocketable" ...
Spent a lot of time looking at various brands and all the model types up and down. Wanted a "pocketable" device, and was initially taken by the smaller types, but they all seemed to sacrifice something by way of operation in order to be so small. Likewise, the other mid-size types (like this one) always leave something out, depending on which model and who makes it. The Canon folks seem to have figured this out, and so put the 710 IS together to give all the options, and the new IS processing too, which is a serious must with all that zoom capability. I live by telephoto, so this is great for me. The price is edging up there, but overall this camera is a very good value: gives a lot for the $$; street prices are reasonable. Especially like the accessories available for lenses, filters and such. Don't have any yet, but understand the design behind them and will be going there soon. The slide adapter looks very useful; I have a huge slide collection dating from the '60s, and using the camera to transfer them might be a very good way to go. Have had two Fuji Finepix previously, and found them very good for their time. This new Canon A710 is way more than what I had before (which was, admitedly, old technology) and seems to have beaten out the newer Finepix offerings that are avaialble now. Went with a 1GB memory card, and being able to take >400 snaps is going to be fine for me. And I do like the larger screen at the back. Have seen some complaints about visibility, but have not been caught up w/ that so far. I can actually use the bloody thing w/out my reading glasses, which was not true w/ previous Finepix. It ate up the alkaline batteries that came w/ it PDQ, but seems to run very well on the high capacity NiMH rechargables. Overall, I am thrilled w/ this one.
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by kelly8 (see profile) -
December 31, 2006
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Picture and Features
Clearly Canon has excelled with this camera. My first digital camera, which I really liked, was also a PowerShot. This ...
Clearly Canon has excelled with this camera. My first digital camera, which I really liked, was also a PowerShot. This camera improves on every feature, LCD screen in larger, only two AA baterries with longer life, SD memory instead of CF, 6X zoom... on and on. The picture quality is excellent. The only improvement needed is with the flash, often it is too strong and leaves heavy shadowing. It can be adjusted up form the defualt settings but not down which is somewhat fustrating. But the manual settings provided are better than anything else out there and are very easy (and intuitive) to use. I have framed 8X10 prints that look incredible.
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by soflags (see profile) -
January 15, 2007
Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
Sensor resolution
7.1 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type
CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution
7,100,000 pixels
Total Pixels
7,400,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size
1/2.5 in
Light Sensitivity
ISO 200,
ISO 800,
ISO auto,
ISO 400,
ISO 80,
ISO 100
Digital Zoom
4 x
Shooting Modes
Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs
Landscape,
Foliage,
Snow,
Fireworks,
Color accent,
Beach,
Portrait mode,
Night snapshot,
Kids & pets,
Underwater,
Color swap,
Night scene,
Stitch assist,
Indoor
AVI - 320 x 240 - 60 sec - Max clip duration,
AVI - 160 x 120 - 180 sec - Max clip duration,
AVI - 640 x 480 - 3600 sec - Max clip duration,
AVI - 320 x 240 - 3600 sec - Max clip duration
Memory / Storage
Flash Memory
16 MB Flash - SD Memory Card
Floppy Drive
None
Image Storage
JPEG 640 x 480,
JPEG 2592 x 1944,
JPEG 3072 x 1728,
JPEG 1600 x 1200,
JPEG 2048 x 1536,
JPEG 3072 x 2304
Flash memory
16 MB - SD Memory Card
Supported Flash Memory
MultiMediaCard,
SD Memory Card
Lens System
Type
Zoom lens - 5.8 mm - 34.8 mm - F/2.8-4.8
Focal Length
5.8 mm - 34.8 mm
Additional Features
Self Timer
Yes
Self Timer Delay
10 sec,
2 sec
Additional Features
USB 2.0 compatibility,
AF lock,
Direct print,
DPOF support,
Audio recording,
PictBridge support,
Histogram display,
AE lock
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range
1.8 ft - 11.5 ft
Type
Built-in flash
Flash Modes
Flash OFF mode,
Fill-in mode,
Slow synchro,
Auto mode,
Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction
Yes
Effective flash range
1.8 ft - 11.5 ft
Features
Flash +/- compensation
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type
Optical - Real-image zoom
Display
Type
LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Mounting
Built-in
Resolution
115,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type
None
Connections
Connector Type
1 x Composite video/audio output,
1 x USB,
1 x DC power input
Expansion Slot(s)
1 x SD Memory Card
Lens Systems
Auto Focus
TTL contrast detection
Type
Zoom lens
Focal length
5.8 mm - 34.8 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera
35 - 210 mm
Focus adjustment
Automatic,
Manual
Auto Focus Points (Zones)
9
Min Focus Range
21.7 in
Macro Focus Range
1cm
Lens Aperture
F/2.8-4.8
Optical Zoom
6 x
Zoom Adjustment
Motorized drive
Features
Built-in lens shield
Miscellaneous
Cables Included
USB cable,
1,
A/V cable
Included Accessories
Wrist strap
Min Operating Temperature
32 ?F
Max Operating Temperature
104 ?F
Power
Power Device
Power adapter
Battery
Supported Battery
2 x AA Alkaline battery ( Included )
Software
Type
Drivers & Utilities
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
Labs information
All values are expressed in seconds. Please visit our labs information page for information on how digital cameras are tested.
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