Expert Camera Reviews

The Canon Powershot S3 IS is an update to the very popular PowerShot S2 ultra zoom, Image stabilized camera. In the S3, the upgrades are fairly minor for most of the parts. The basic specifications apart from the sensor are pretty the same as the S2. Just like the S2, the S3 has a 12x optical zoom with image stabilization, flip and twist LCD viewfinder, tons of photographic control modes and advanced movie mode with stereo sound. There are also some new scene modes in the S3 which are, color accent and color swap.

The good points about this camera are:
• Comfortable design
• Response to action is quite fast
• Good color accuracy
• Very good battery life
• Auto Hi and ISO 800 settings
• Stills can be captured while recording movies
• Powerful built-in flash
• Fast file downloads via high speed USB 2.0 port

The drawbacks for the Canon S3 Powershot S3 IS are:
• Fast shutter speeds not available at all lens apertures
• No support for Raw file
• Movie files are restricted to 1 GB in size
• The AVI movie format is not as compact as MPEG-4
• Small LCD
• Fake wide screen

Specifications:
Megapixels - 6.0
Weight (oz.) - 14.5
Optical Zoom - 12x
LCD Size - 2 inch
Flash Range (ft) - 1.6 to 17ft
Image stabilizer - Optical
Battery type - 2 x AA
Special features – 10 custom photo effects, USB cable to connect to PC, DPOF
and PictBridge compatibility, NTSC and PAL compatible, sound caption recording, USB 2.0 High Speed Port.

Summary:
The long-zoom digital camera market is pretty crowded these days and competition is growing day by day, so it takes a lot for a product to really stand out. Despite the stiff competition from others, the Canon PowerShot S3 is indeed a standout and highly recommended product to buy.

Canon’s A710 is a 7.1 megapixel camera with a powerful 6x optical zoom, and Canon’s Image Stabilizer Technology that will keep your photos clear and sharp at every point in the zoom and even in low light. It has an easy high-tech operability and a load of creative shooting modes. The A710’s sensor yields an ISO range equivalent to 80 to 800, while shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 15 seconds are possible. Canon has packed a good range of controls and features into the Powershot A710 including manual exposure controls which is suitable for anyone who is looking for a step up from the typical auto cameras.

Some good features which are worth mentioning about the A710 are:

• Excellent lens, sharp corners and low chromatic aberration.
• Macro mode to capture a very small area
• Excellent low light shooting capability
• Full manual control
• Startup and shutdown are quick and menu options are available quickly
• Unlimited burst length in continuous mode with a fast SD card
• High ISO capability
• The camera body has vibrant and appealing colors

Negatives points are:

• Slow flash recycling
• LCD screen is big and bright but not as sharp as others
• Video recording is limited to 1 GB file size
• The 16 MB card which is included in the camera is very small in size
• The camera struggles when the ISO settings are increased

Specifications:
Megapixels - 7.1
Weight (oz.) - 7.41
Optical Zoom - 6x
LCD Size - 2.5 inch
Flash Range (ft) - 1.8 to 11 ft
Image stabilizer - Yes
Battery type - AA Alkaline (x 2) and Rechargeable AA Ni-MH (x2)
Special features - Image stabilization, Continuous Shooting and a variable delay
Self-Timer mode, USB cable for PC connection, DPOF compatible, White balance with seven modes

Summary:
The Canon A710 has enough megapixels for excellent enlargements without risking much image noise. The A710’s excellent 6x optical zoom is remarkable and is a great case to pick a slightly larger camera over those slim cameras with great corner sharpness and very little chromatic aberration.

Powered by a 4x optical zoom lens and with lots of manual settings and a reasonably low price tag, Canon’s PowerShot A640 looks quite appealing. Though it lacks the flexibility of higher-end cameras, still the 10 megapixel A640 is a smart, full-featured camera with some surprising benefits. The A640’s most outstanding feature is its 2.5-inch LCD. The LCD can be flipped and twisted to get shots from odd angles. The high performance features include 21 shooting modes and a high ISO 800 auto settings to shoot in low light.

The auto white balance feature handles a wide range of lighting well. The shutter response is excellent at wide angle settings. The A640 has an accurate LCD viewfinder and a good articulated LCD. The camera has an excellent battery life and a good low light capability. The case design is done so well that it fits into large as well as small hands. The A640 has a better than average exposure and a good user interface which makes sense.

There are some drawbacks of the A640 camera, they are:
• Inaccurate optical viewfinder
• Too many manuals to find what you are looking for
• Flash hides in the corners while shooting at wide angles
• Its noisy at ISO 800
• It has no image stabilization

Specifications:
Megapixels - 10.0
Weight (oz.) - 8.6
Optical Zoom - 4x
LCD Size - 2.5 inch
Flash Range (ft) - 1.5 to 14 ft
Image stabilizer - No
Battery type - 4 x AA
Special features - Audio Notes with still images, custom setting mode, DPOF and
PictBridge Printing Capability, Print/Share button for direct printing and image transfer, Remote Capture.

Summary:
Though the A640 is not a great choice for low-light shooting, yet it is a solid digital camera with plenty of features that photographers will love. The Canon A640 is just an excellent multi-purpose digital camera. It’s easy to see why Canon A630 continues to be popular. They are well-built and the design is user friendly, the pictures are outstanding and they’re easy to operate. We go further and give it our recommendation as a great all-around performer for almost anyone.