Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I did a lot of research before buying this camera. I decided to get this particular camera because of the 6X optical zoom which has been a plus. The image is clear and it is easy to use. The camera is small and has all the basic features. I am very happy with the purchase.

I've had mine for about six months and really like it. I usually shoot with a Nikon D70 DLSR and have a bunch of lenses for that, but this little Canon is great for casual shooting. I use it for 'snap shots' of the family when it is more important to get a candid shot of the people then to have the best technical shot. It is so much smaller then a DSLR so it is much easier to travel with. The manual controls are very good, they are easy to access and cover pretty much everything you need. I often shoot in either aperture priority (Av) or shutter priority (Tv), but also sometimes shoot in either full manual or full auto.

The eight megapixels is more then I need for this kind of camera and ends up just adding noise to the images that causes anything over ISO 400 to be unusable. I keep the ISO at or below 200 when possible and get the best results at ISO 80, but ISO 400 is still usable.

There are other Canon cameras that are much smaller like the SD850 IS, but I prefer the A720 IS because of the manual features and it has a nice grip that makes hanging onto the camera easy. But the SD850 IS is a better camera for novice shooters where simplicity and small size are more important.

Another important difference between the SD850 and the A720 is that the A720 uses two AA batteries, the SD850 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion. The lithium-ion battery is much better, it takes more shots on a charge and cycles the flash much faster. The AAs cause the length of time between shots with flash to be very long. Rechargeable AA batteries work better for this then non-rechargeables, but are still not as good as lithium-ion. The best way to use either camera is to have backup batteries with you so you never run out of power.

The things that keep this camera from being five stars:
- Noisy at ISO 400 and above (this is aggravated by the excessive 8MP count)
- The manual focus does not work in macro mode, where you need it most
- Uses AA instead of Lithium-Ion (for some, this is a plus)

If you are taking snap shots and want a little extra control, this is a great camera an a better choice then a DLSR.

This Camera is amazing. The only bug i had with it was that it took around five seconds to turn on. i fixed that by turning the start up volume off. now it takes around half a second to tun on. it is really amazing, and i love how much zoom it has. The image stabilization has really come in handy, because some times i have a shaky hand.

This camera has a firmware flaw: The firmware that interprets the batteries voltage is preset for high quality batteries only, if you use rechargeable or cheap off brand batteries, the camera is useless. They need to fix it so you can select the type of battery you are going to use and not shut the camera down in low voltage conditions.

Sensor Quality: I found that my PowerShot S50 takes much sharper photos at the same speed, and is higher quality. I generally use the S50 for indoor pictures as the A720IS has very poor performance (lots of image noise).

THIS IS A GOOD CAMERA FOR OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY WHEN USING DURACELL BATTERIES!!

Camera takes great pictures, took several hundred pictures while on vacation in Florida without anybad shots. The battery lid is a little flimsy and should be stronger, plastic just does not cut it for this price. Flash is a little slow to recycle. Battery life with rechargable batteries has been very good. This camera is replacing another Canon and I'm very happy with it so far.