Canon PowerShot A710 IS First Impressions Review

by Richard Baguley
Published on October 09, 2006

Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour
Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options
Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion

 

The viewfinder is an optical model that’s matched to the zoom. While this does keep the camera simple, it means that the view won’t match up with what the camera sees if you’re using the macro feature: the LCD screen is the way to go when shooting close ups. The viewfinder also means that you can extend the battery life by turning off the LCD screen; a big boost if you’re trying to stretch out a battery over a long trip into the wilderness. There is no diopter adjustment for the viewfinder, though, so glasses-wearers beware.

The LCD screen on the Canon PowerShot A710 IS is a 2.5-inch TFT screen with just 115K pixels. That’s a lot lower resolution than many screens that we’ve seen, and the images look rather unappealing, with fine details not being visible unless you zoom in (the playback mode allows you to zoom in up to 10 times).

 

The medium sized flash is located on the front of the camera, to the right of the lens. Canon quotes the range of this flash as 21 inches to 8 feet: a good range for a compact digital camera. We found it difficult to verify this claim on the show floor of the convention center, so stay tuned to DigitalCameraInfo for a full review.

The zoom is a Canon 6x zoom, with a focal length of 5.8mm to 34.8mm. That’s a 35mm film camera equivalent of 35mm to 210mm; a good wide range for a compact. We would have liked to have seen more range toward the bottom, as the wide angle tends to be more useful for taking group photos and party shots. But it’s a very acceptable length if the lens turns out to be problem free.