Canon PowerShot A710 IS

Reviewed February 2007

Characteristics

The Canon A710 IS uses a 1/2.5 inch, 7.4 million pixel CCD, of which 7.1 million are effective when capturing a maximum image size of 3072 x 2304 pixels. A total of 7 image sizes are offered:

• Large = 3072 x 2304 pixels
• Medium 1 = 2592 x 1944 pixels
• Medium 2 = 2048 x 1536 pixels
• Medium 3 = 1600 x 1200 pixels
• Small = 640 x 480 pixels
• Post Card = 1600 x 1200 pixels, a format proportional to 4 x 6 inch prints (3:2) that places a grey band at the top and bottom of the monitor.
• Widescreen = 3072 x 1728 pixels, a 16:9 aspect ratio that corresponds to HDTV, which also places grey bands at the top and bottom of the monitor.

Three levels of JPEG compression are available at all image sizes with the A710 IS:

• Super Fine: the highest image quality, applies a compression with a ratio of approximately 6:1.
• Fine: an average image quality that has a compression ratio of approximately 12:1.
• Normal: the lowest image quality, using a compression ratio of 20:1, which makes it possible to store more images into a given memory space, at the expense of some image quality.

CCD sensitivity begins at 80 ISO, but can be manually adjusted to 100, 200, 400 or 800 ISO. In addition, two Auto ISO modes are offered, one that adjusts the sensitivity using a range of 80 to 400 ISO, the other, High ISO Auto, ranging from 400 to 800 ISO.

The 6X zoom lens on the PowerShot A710 IS has identical specs to that of the A700, a 5.8 to 34.8 mm that is the equivalent of a 35 to 210 mm, but adds, of course, lens shift image stabilization. The image stabilization provides three modes, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning, or Off for when the camera is mounted on a tripod. The stabilization mode is selected in the menu.

The maximum aperture of the lens is of f2.8 at the widest angle, diminishing progressively as the zoom is used so that at the maximum telephoto the aperture becomes f4.8, while the smallest aperture is a constant f8.

A release button, on the lower right of the lens, allows removing the lens trim which reveals a bayonet mount that serves to attach a Conversion Lenses Adapter (LA-DC58G) onto which can be mounted:

• 58 mm diameter lens filters.
• A Wide Converter (WC-DC58N), which applies a 0.7X to all focal lengths, producing a wide angle of 24.5 mm.
• A Tele-converter (TC-DC58N), which multiplies the focal length by 1.75, yielding a maximum telephoto of equivalent to a 367.5 mm.
• Or a Close-up Lens 250D, which makes it possible to focus on a subject 18 to 25 cm distant from the lens when the zoom is at the maximum telephoto setting.

The PowerShot A710 IS has a shutter speed range that covers from 1/2000 second to 15 seconds overall, but is limited to a maximum of 1/1500 second when the zoom is at the telephoto end.

In addition to the camera settings available to the user in the Function menu, a number of other settings are offered in the REC. menu. The REC. menu is composed of three sections: REC, SETUP, and MY CAMERA, and while the last two sections are repeated in the PLAY menu (see further), the options of the REC. section affect the way images are captured:

• AF Frame serves to select the way the auto focus functions:
  • AiAF: allows the camera to choose the focus using any of 9 AF frames that are clustered near the centre of the screen.
  • Centre: focuses only using the centre AF frame.
  • FlexiZone: makes it possible to manually move the AF point anywhere in the frame using the 4-direction control (the monitor must be turned on).
• Digital Zoom: On or Off, controls the 4X digital zoom that crops the centre portion of the image and interpolates the cropped image to the currently selected image size, resulting in some image degradation. (The digital zoom is not available when the A710 IS image size is set to the Post Card format.)
• Flash Sync: decides whether slow synchro flash (see next option) fires at the beginning of the exposure (first curtain), or just before the end of the exposure (second curtain).
• Slow Synchro: On or Off. Enables the Slow Synchro flash mode.
• Flash Adjust: Auto or Manual. This option is only accessible when the camera is set to Tv or Av modes. When set to Auto mode, the flash exposure can be compensated over a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments. When this option is set to Manual, then the flash output can be adjusted in three steps: 1/3 power, 2/3 power, or Full.

• Red-Eye (On or Off). When turned on red-eye reduction is achieved using the orange AF assistance light on the left of the optical viewfinder's front window, which also doubles as the Self-timer indicator.
• Spot AE Point (requires AF Frame to be set to Flexizone to be accessible) has two possible settings: Centre, which locks the spot metering at the centre of the frame, or AF Point, which locks the spot metering to the AF point, wherever it is in the frame.
• MF-Point Zoom: On or Off, decides whether or not the centre portion of the image is magnified to assist focusing when the Manual Focus mode is used.

• AF-Assist Beam: On or Off, makes it possible to turn off the AF-Assist lamp if it is bothering.
• Review: decides whether or not the image is shown on the monitor immediately post-capture (Off, 2 through 10 seconds, or Hold which leaves the image on the screen until a control is pressed).
• Save Original: On or Off, when On the original image is retained when Colour Accent or Colour Swap is used, in addition to the altered image.
• Display Overlay provides choices of:
  • Grid Lines
  • 3:2 Guides
  • Both
• IS Converter controls the way the image stabilizer operates:
  • Continuous: the image is stabilized constantly, both when using the LCD monitor to frame the shot, and when the image is captured.
  • Shoot Only: the image is only stabilized at the precise moment of capture.
  • Panning: stabilizes the image for up and down motion only, making it possible to follow a subject.
  • Off: intended for use when the camera is on a stable platform such as a tripod.
• Converter: serves to let the A710 IS know when an optional lens converter is mounted on the lens.
• Date Stamp: is only available when the image is set to the Post Card format, and decides whether or not the time and date at which an image is captured are permanently superimposed on the image.

The second section of the menu is the Setup options and these are detailed in the Interface and Software section of the review.

As noted earlier, the third section is common to all modes and is called My Camera, it contains options that allow personalizing the A710 IS.

Unlike many other Canon cameras, the PowerShot A710 IS does not offer the possibility of of assigning Themes to customize the camera, which applies a start-up image and matching sounds to all the camera sounds. Instead, the start-up image and sounds are selected individually. Moreover, unlike previous Canon cameras that came pre-loaded with 3 themes, the A710 IS only has one. Others, however, can be uploaded to the camera using the software.

When the PowerShot A710 IS is set to the Playback mode, the menu is composed of four sections: Play, Print, Setup and My Camera. The Play menu contains the following options:

• Auto Play: plays back all the images on the card with a 3 second interval.
• My Colours allows adding effects to already captured images: Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black and White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red.

• Sound Memo: makes it possible to attach a sound recording, up to 60 seconds long, to an already captured image.
• Protect: makes an image's file "read-only", preventing it from being accidentally deleted.
• Rotate: serves to rotate an image by 90° or 270°.
• Erase All: erases all images on the memory card, with the exception of those that have been protected.

• Transfer Order: serves to choose the images that will be transferred automatically via USB to a computer running the software supplied with the camera.

The next section, Print, serves to select images for printing automatically when the A710 IS is connected directly to a PictBridge, Canon Direct Print, Bubble Jet Direct, or DPOF compliant printer:

• Print: (accessible only when the camera is connected to a printer) starts the printing process.
• Select Images and Quantity: serves to select the images to be printed, and the number of copies to make of each image.
• Select All Images: selects all the images currently on the memory card for printing.
• Clear All Selections: clears all selections and print orders.

• Print Settings: serves to choose the type of print to make (Index or Standard, or Both), whether or not the print should have the date imprinted on it, the file name, and whether or not all the Print Data should be automatically deleted once the images are printed.

The PowerShot A710 IS is powered by 2 AA-size batteries, and is retailed with 2 AA Alkaline batteries. The camera is compatible with Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries as well, which offer a much longer autonomy than alkaline batteries. A tiny Lithium battery, CR 1220, is nearby and serves to retain some settings while the AA batteries are out of the camera, or the compartment door is opened.

The PowerShot A710 IS is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) and MMC (MultiMedia) memory cards, and the camera is supplied with a 16 MB SD card. The card slot is located underneath the camera, and covered by the same door that covers the battery compartment.

The chart below provides an idea of the number of images, and the length of videos that can be captured with the 16MB card included with the camera, and an optional 1 GB SD card:

All the external connections of the A710 IS are on the left side of the camera, covered by a soft but tight-fitting plastic door. At the top is the A/V (Audio/Video) jack. The signal produced by the camera, NTSC or PAL, can be set in the Setup menu. (See the Interface and Software section of the review for more details about the options contained in the Setup menu).

The next connector is for USB (2.0 Hi-Speed), and its cable, as well as the A/V cable, are included with the camera.

The last connector is for an optional AC Adapter (ACK800), which makes it possible to power the camera from household current during extended uses.