The Powershot A720 IS has 1/2.5-inch
CCD sensor powered by Canon's DIGIC III processor. Its resolution
in effective pixels is eight million.
The unit can capture images in seven sizes from 3264 x 2448
to 640 x 480 (see specifications section), including two specialized
sizes--postcard (1600 x 1200) and wide view (3264 x 1832).
It has three compression levels: superfine, fine and normal.
There's no raw capability. Files are stored in the JPG format.
A series of shots using the same test subject and camera settings
(see table)--other than image size and compression levels--showed
that the compression ratio for images captured in superfine
mode to be about 3.2:1; in fine mode, about 6.1:1; and in
normal mode, it ranged from 16.1 to 18.2.
Canon Powershot A720 IS File Compression
Image Size
(pixels)
Quality
MP
File Size (MP)
Ratio/1
3264
2448
Superfine
7.99
2.48
3.2
3264
2448
Fine
7.99
1.31
6.1
3264
2448
Normal
7.99
0.493
16.2
2592
1944
Superfine
5.04
1.36
3.7
2592
1944
Fine
5.04
0.788
6.4
2592
1944
Normal
5.04
0.286
17.6
2048
1536
Superfine
3.15
0.996
3.2
2048
1536
Fine
3.15
0.518
6.1
2048
1536
Normal
3.15
0.173
18.2
1600
1200
Superfine
1.92
0.584
3.3
1600
1200
Fine
1.92
0.315
6.1
1600
1200
Normal
1.92
0.118
16.3
640
480
Superfine
0.31
0.93
0.3
640
480
Fine
0.31
0.551
0.6
640
480
Normal
0.31
0.267
1.2
1600
1200
fixed
1.92
0.315
6.1
3264
1832
Superfine
5.98
1.81
3.3
3264
1832
Fine
5.98
0.97
6.2
3264
1832
Normal
5.98
0.362
16.5
(* Compression
ratios with average subjects. Compression ratios can be
more or less depending on subject.)
In addition to stills, the camera can capture video with sound.
Video can be shot in four sizes 640 x 480 (30 fps), 660 x 480
(LP), 320 x 240 (30 fps) and 160 x 120 (15 fps). In LP mode,
files are about 28 percent smaller than they are in highest
quality video mode. Video files are stored in AVI format with
sound recorded in WAV format.
The camera has
six light sensitivity settings from ISO 80-1600, as well as
auto and high auto. With ISO set to auto, the camera will
choose a light sensitivity setting to maximize the quality
of a shot. High auto will choose settings that are higher
than auto and may reduce image quality by, among other things,
introducing more noise into a shot. What ISO settings you
can access depends on what shooting mode you're using. When
the camera is in auto mode, it can be programmed to use either
auto or high-auto sensitivity. In program mode, the camera
can access all ISO settings. In shutter- and aperture-preferred
mode, it can use all settings except high auto. In manual
mode, the unit can access all settings except auto and high-auto.
The unit has a 6x
optical zoom (35-210 equivalent) and 4x digital zoom. The
aspherical lens has nine elements in seven groups and a tight
aperture range of f2.8 at the wide end of the lens and f4.8
at the telephoto end.
Several focusing options are available for the lens. There's
the primary TTL auto focusing system, as well as locking in
auto focus and manual focus. Not only can you adjust how the
camera focuses on a subject, but what it focuses on. You can
program it to focus on faces in a shot, an area at the center
of the shot, an area that can be defined by you or you can
let the camera create a focus based on nine points in the
shooting scene (AiAF).
Focusing range for the lens is 1.8 feet to infinity. At the
wide end of the lens, the range for macro focusing is 0.4-30
inches. When using manual focusing, the wide range is 0.4
inches to infinity and in telephoto, 1.8 feet-infinity. Focusing
range in the kids and pets mode is 3.3 feet to infinity.
Shutter speeds for the unit range from 15 seconds to 1/2000
second.
There
are three self-timing modes: 10 seconds, two seconds and custom.
In custom mode, you can choose from a time delay of 0-30 seconds
and from 1-10 shots.
You can modify the exposure of a shot with exposure
compensation. It can be used in all modes except manual, auto
and movie. The unit's exposure compensation range is ±2
stops in 1/3 increments.
Exposure can also be altered by choosing one
of three available modes. They are:
· Evaluative.
The camera divides a scene into zones and calculates the exposure
based on an analysis of the relationships of the lighting
in the zones.
· Center weighted. Averages the lighting
in the entire scene but gives special weight to the center.
· Spot. Will fix a spot metering frame
to the center of a shot or fix the frame to the autofocusing
frame.
The A720 runs on two AA batteries. Canon says that the camera
can shoot 140 images wiith the LCD on on a pair of AA Alkalines,
500 images with the display off and nine hours of playback
time. Performance increases with AA NiMH rechargeables to
400 images with the LCD on, 900 with it off and 11 hours of
playback time. I shot about 200 photos with the LCD on with
a pair Energizer e2 Lithium AAs and still hadn't run out of
power when it was time to return the unit to the manufacturer.
There's no internal memory in the camera, but it comes with
a 16MB SD card. With that card, you can shoot 3 to 13 images
in large mode (3264 x 2448), 5 to 19 in M1 mode (2592 x 1944),
8 to 30 in M2 mode (2048 x 1536), 13 to 47 in M3 mode (1600
x 1200), 52 to 128 in small mode (640 x 480), 24 in postcard
mode (1600 x 1200) and 5 to 18 in widescreen mode (3264 x
1832). That card can also accommodate six seconds of 640 x
480 video, 14 seconds of LP video, 20 seconds of 320 x 240
video and 100 seconds of 160 x 120 video.
In additon to SD cards, the camera
is compatible with SDHC, MMC, MMCplus and HC MMCplus media.
I also tried using an Eye-Fi card with the camera. The card
allows you to transfer photos from the device to a computer
automatically over a Wi-Fi network. Although still images zoomed
into my PC without a hitch, movie files were ignored. I had
to transfer them the old-fashioned way--through my computer's
built-in card reader.
The camera has a stationary flash
located at the front of the unit. {insert photo_c3_flash_quad}
The flash has a range of one to 11 feet in wide mode and 1.8
to 8.2 feet in telephoto mode. The unit has three modes: auto,
on and off. Recycle time for the flash is ±2 seconds.
Exposures with the flash can be manipulated in two ways. There's
a flash exposure compensation adjustment, which is ±2
stops in 1/3 increments--the same as the camera's exposure compensation
control. {insert photo_c5_flash_comp} What's nice about this
camera is it lets you use the compensation modes together. That
comes in handy when trying to balance foreground and background
exposure in something like a night portrait. In addition, in
manual mode, you can increase or decrease the flash output,
which can help in avoiding "washed out" photos indoors.
What's more, the flash has a slow synchro mode for shooting
at low shutter speeds.
A number of standards
are supported by the A720. The include Exif 2.2, PictBridge, Canon
Direct Print, bubble Jet Direct, NTSC and PAL.
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Characteristics
