Expert Camera Reviews

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.

The Canon PowerShot A630 is a 8.0 megapixel CCD with a 4x optical zoom lens that offers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 35 to 140mm. Designed with ease of use the Canon A630 offers both a range of features for experts as well as beginners. For beginners there’s a fully automatic mode, and a generous selection of 13 scene modes. For expert photographers there is Manual, Aperture shutter priority, manual White Balance and three Metering modes. The users have the ability to exert more control over the photographic process. Two new features in the A630 are Safety zoom and Digital Tele-converter.

The auto white balance feature handles a wide range of lighting well. The shutter response is excellent at wide angle settings. The A630 has an accurate LCD viewfinder. 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 A630 has a good user interface which makes sense.

There are some drawbacks of the A630 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
• Not ideal for low light shooting

Specifications:
Megapixels - 8.0
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 – Good skin tones, continuous shooting mode, color swap mode, custom
setting mode, DPOF and PictBridge Printing Capability, Print/Share button for direct printing and image transfer.

Summary:
Though the A630 is not a great choice for low-light shooting, yet the Canon A630 is a solid, feature-rich digital camera. The Canon A630 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.

The Powershot G7 is a 10 megapixel camera, with 6x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and with manual and automatic controls. The G7 continues has all the Canon’s latest features which include the new Digic III processor, face detection and image stabilization. It is one of the most advanced compact digital cameras you will find and the layout of the camera helps to bring some its more advanced features to the fingertips of the more serious photographer. The Canon G7 can accept accessory lenses and an accessory flash. This camera is most likely to appeal to people who see photography as their hobby and would want to involve themselves in the technical aspects of photography.

Some features of the G7 which make it a good choice to buy are:
• The zoom is quite
• Excellent lens delivers good sharpness across the frame
• Good low light shooting capability
• It has a good shutter response at both wide angles and telephoto
• It has an accurate viewfinder
• Face detection auto focus is fast and accurate
• Its capable of making 16 x 20 inch prints without distortion

The drawbacks are:
• It is highly priced at $600 compared to other compact cameras
• It doesn’t support RAW file format
• It lacks a LCD articulating screen
• The optical viewfinder is inaccurate
• Its auto rotation is not recognized by many standard applications.

Specifications:
Megapixels - 10.0
Weight (oz.) - 11.3
Optical Zoom - 6x
LCD Size - 2.5 inch
Flash Range (ft) - 1.5 to 13 ft
Image stabilizer - Optical
Battery type - Lithium Ion rechargeable battery
Special features – Adjustable AF area, Computer controlled shooting
options, Movie recording with sound, Adjustable self timer, DPOF and PictBridge compatible.

Summary
The Canon G7 is a great choice if you want a highly priced digital camera just to please you with its presence and its output. But if your photography needs require an articulation LCD viewfinder to capture high and low angle shots then the A640 is a better alternative to the G7.

The PowerShot S2-IS is a compact high resolution, exceptionally long and excellently engineered zoom digital camera with stylish movie recording capabilities and an exciting collection of shooting options. The S2 was launched in April 2005. The S2 is a major upgrade to the S1 specification’s and spots a new body. A comparison with its predecessor the S1, gives an idea of what’s new in the S2. The S2 is larger and heavier due to the large sensor which leads to a larger lens and ultimately provides a wider zoom range. Problems in the S1 model have been rectified and addressed in Canon’s PowerShot S2.

The Canon S2 IS accommodates a wide range of users with its changeable level of exposure control. Experienced photographers will appreciate the Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes, while for novices the Auto, Program AE, and Scene modes would be extremely useful. The most prominent feature of the S2 is the 12x optical zoom lens. The optical image stabilization feature of the Canon S2 is found only in handful of digital cameras. The S2 has a tremendous movie recording capability which is at 640×480 pixels and can capture 30 frames per second. The camera has good movie modes with stereo sound and the silent zoom lens feature can be used while recording a movie.

Some of the drawbacks of the Canon S2 are:

• High Image noise at ISO 400
• No rechargeable batteries or charger included with the camera.
• Movie files are restricted to 1 GB
• Focus is difficult to determine from the LCD screen while in the manual focus mode
• No RAW file support

Specifications:
Megapixels – 5.0
Weight (oz.) – 14.3
Optical Zoom – 12x
LCD Size - 1.8 inch
Flash Range (ft) – 2.3 to 17.1 ft
Image stabilizer – Yes, Lens 3 modes
Battery type - AA-size Alkaline Battery (x4)
AA-size NiMH Battery (x4)
Special features – NTSC, PAL, Stereo, SD Memory Card, JPEG, AVI, WAV, Red Eye Reduction, Auto and Custom white balance.

Summary
The Canon PowerShot S2 IS priced at $499 is ideal to be placed in the multi-purpose and family camera category. It is a good buy considering the specifications and features that it has and not to forget that you also get the Canon advantage.