Aahz's Canon A710 IS

Why did I pick the A710? I stopped doing film photography in the 1980s because it was "too expensive" -- it wasn't that I couldn't afford it, but it just bothered me too much to keep paying and paying for film, development, and printing. Stef does a lot of picture-taking for the local humane society, and we've talked occasionally about how it would be fun for us to go on photo expotitions together. But I knew that sharing a camera would be Not Fun, so I wanted my own camera, and in April 2007, I finally made that happen.

I wanted a digital camera that would not make me feel that I was sacrificing photo quality, but I didn't want to pay a lot of money for it. I also decided that my other critical qualities were the compact form factor (rather than subcompact because it's easier to hold -- and you usually get more features for your money) and an optical viewfinder. The viewfinder was actually one of the trickier features to find among cheap, high-rated cameras.

I initially focused on the Canon A630 (about $50 cheaper than the A710 and more battery life), but was swayed by the A710's slightly smaller size, bigger zoom, and optical image stabilization. The only feature I really wish I had from the A630 is the swing-out LCD. For a good review, see http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona710is/

The A710 takes great pictures literally right out of the box, for more details, see my first picture.

NOTE: Never, never bother with digital image stabilization. It sucks.

NOTE: Never, never bother with digital zoom. Turn off your camera's digital zoom and rely only on the optical zoom. Crop it at home with software if you need to.

Pros:

6x zoom
Optical image stabilization
Sharp, clear lens
Optical viewfinder
Very little shutter lag
Decent shot-to-shot time
7.1 megapixels makes for good enlargements up to 12"x18"
Compact form factor makes it easy to hold
Has both aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes, plus program mode, full auto, full manual, and a slew of specialty modes (I mostly use aperture-priority and program mode)
Menus and controls are mostly clear and easy to use
Takes standard AA batteries, so you can get emergency supplies

Cons (roughly in descending order):

Only uses PTP, doesn't work as USB drive
LCD washes out in bright sunlight
ISO800 is noisy (I mostly stick with ISO80)
Doesn't fit in pocket
Zoom is stepped (not continuous), but I have not found this to be a problem
Only two batteries, which means...
- Slow flash recharging
- Weak flash -- I've taken decent pictures out past the official range, but don't rely on it
- However, I have no complaints about battery life

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