I know, Father’s Day is just around the corner so why I am writing about my Mother’s Day gift? For starters, it’s an incredible gift and one that could easily be given to dad on his big day as well. The other reason… I wanted to experiment with my gift for a couple of weeks before writing this blog so I would be better able to assess its pros and cons.
So what was my big Mother’s Day surprise (besides the gorgeous pink rose my young daughter picked out all by herself to give to me)?
Canon’s PowerShot A720 IS digital camera.
Regular readers of this blog know that I have been struggling to let go of my traditional film camera (also a Canon) and go all digital. (I had a cheap digital camera that I used very infrequently. I got so frustrated with the lag time I finally gave it away). Earlier this year while visiting my parents in Hawaii my Canon EOS Rebel K2 stopped working. I eventually got it fixed but my brother (who was appalled to see that I was still shooting on film) finally convinced me that it was high time that I join the rest of the world and shoot exclusively with a digital camera.
That was about three months ago and on Mother’s Day I unwrapped a new Canon PowerShot A720 IS digital camera (courtesy of my parents).
If you are searching for the ultimate digital camera that takes incredibly sharp pictures, is small enough to fit in your jacket pocket, comes equipped with both an LCD display and an effective electronic viewfinder, a large optical zoom lens, and uses rechargeable AA batteries at an affordable price—then the PowerShot A720 IS is for you.
The PowerShot A720 IS retails for about $200, but you can find them online for around $150. The A720 is eight megapixels (which is more than enough for snap happy parents) and features a 6x optical zoom lens. The camera also comes with an optical viewfinder (a feature that has become an endangered species in the world of digital cameras), which is one of the features I insisted on having in a digital camera. If you have ever tried to photograph a squirmy child on a sunny day using just the LCD display on the back of the camera then you know why I wanted a camera with a optical viewfinder. Also, I find that my shots are much steadier when I shoot through the viewfinder versus holding the camera with outstretched shaky arms while looking through the LCD.
I also didn’t want another camera that required lithium batteries. The PowerShot A720 IS uses standard AA rechargeable batteries, which makes carrying a spare pair that much easier. However, the A720 only uses two AA batteries, which means it doesn’t have as much juice as cameras that use four AA batteries. In other words the A720 takes longer (about 10 seconds) between flash pictures while a camera that uses four AA batteries lets you take a flash picture about every three seconds.
As far as size goes the A720 is about 3.83 by 2.64 by 1.65 inches, which means that it is not quite small enough to fit into your pocket if you are wearing tight jeans, but it will fit easily into your jacket pocket or in the pocket on a pair of loose fitting pants.
The camera’s other pros include image stabilization, which allows you to cut down on the number of shaky shots. There’s also a wide range of twelve scene modes, including an Underwater scene mode that adjusts color balance and exposure for use with an optional underwater housing. The A720 also comes equipped with manual control. (Though, I have rarely strayed from using the automatic setting which adjusts the aperture, ISO and shutter speed based on the camera’s analysis of the best setting.) While you can manually focus with this camera, I don’t see why the typical amateur photographer would have to. I have gotten excellent results using the cameras’ auto-focus—–simply press the shutter halfway down when you have your subject in the viewfinder and press it all the way down after the camera beeps to tell you that it is in focus.
Finally, the camera also features a fast prefocus shutter lag of just 0.08 second. Fast enough to capture my preschooler’s fleeting smile and her even quicker feet.
Overall, the A720 has been a joy to use and while I am still in the honeymoon stage with it our future together looks to be very bright. It’s a Mother’s Day gift that keeps on giving and I couldn’t be more grateful to have it.
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