Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot A710 IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Image-Stabilized Optical Zoom

First off I would like to say that I am just an average camera user with no special skills and I really do not understand what any of the jargon means when people talk about their cameras.

I was interested in this camera for several reasons:

1. It was highly rated in every review I read about it by people that know a whole lot more about such things than me.

2. It uses 2 AA batteries not 4 and not a rechargeable battery. I use rechargeable AA batteries on my own. I really do not like being forced to use the ones provided with the cameras. No matter what they say the batteries will run out and at the most inconvenient time. I can swap the batteries out in an instant or buy new ones. You can't do that with other rechargeable batteries. I travel a lot. I never know if I will have access to electricity to recharge my camera or if I will even have time. For this reason I absolutely insist on AA batteries. This may not be a concern for your standard user but it is to devoted travelers.

3. I am not that obsessed with photography. I wanted a camera that would work "out of the box" and let me learn about the features as I go.

4. It uses an SD disk. This allows me to use the same disks without buying new ones or buying an adapter for my computer. I can use the same SD discs with my mp3 player and my palm pilot. This is why I refuse to buy items using xd discs or anything by Sony and their insane use of their memory stick. Hey Sony the Beta was great but no one bought it. You are going down the same path with your memory stick. The deciding factor between a Sony computer and the Gateway I bought was the memory stick feature versus an SD drive. I did not buy cameras from Sony twice now because of the use of memory sticks. I have told many people about this and have steered them to other brands for the same reason. Compatabilty is very important in electronics.

5. It has lots of cool accessories that I may or may not eventually decide to buy. The main one being the waterproof case. I tried this out at the camera store and it was really cool. It allows divers full access to all of the features on the camera and seems like it is really easy to use. I will be buying it in a month or so for an upcoming diving trip. I will know better after that if it works in the water as well as in the camera store.

6. It has a separate watch battery to store the date and time information. That was a major issue I had with my last camera. Digital cameras go through batteries fast. Having to constantly enter this information gets annoying, especially if I am not wearing a watch.

These are my initial thoughts after purchase:

Setting up the camera was a snap. Everything seemed intuitive and I had no problems whatsoever.

I have taken a few test shots in the various modes and am really impressed. It has a lot of detail that my previous camera did not provide.

The camera seems to be the perfect size for me. This camera is big enough so that you can operate the buttons without getting a 4 year old to do it for you. And small enough that it can be used as a handheld camera, fitting nicely in a case around your shoulder.

My only complaint on this camera and with a lot of them is the wheel that switches the modes. I really wish they would make these things flush with the camera body. This one is better than my previous camera but the wheel still shifts modes when you pull it out of its case. Other than that one minor gripe I am very pleased with this purchase.

I researched digital cameras for over two weeks and finally decided on the Canon A710 IS for a couple reasons. One)it offered the 2nd largest optical zoom, only surpassed by Panasonic right now. Two) the sharpness and quality of the canon images. Three) the Image Stabalizer (IS), which is absolutely the best on the market right now. I shook my hand violently while I snapped a picture and it was crisp and clear. Warning: the IS does not work as spectacularly with flash, nor would any other IS system, because the camera sets the shutter speed lower to get enough light in and this effects the IS capability. Still works well, though. Four) This Canon camera is sleek, easy to hold, easy to use menu features, manual options, and lots of cool extras (I love the color accent feature). And five) because of all of the excellent reviews on this particular camera. Pros, cnet, customers, everyone had something positive to say and very few negatives.
I wanted a camera to capture our first child (Simba, a Shiba dog)and our future first child (hopefully in the next year) when they are active, indoor low-light shots of when we are hanging out with our friends, and have the instant on-hand video camera to catch exciting moments. This camera does all that and more! Very impressed with low-light pictures but was hoping for slighly less red eye (hard to get less red eye, though, with where such small cameras have to place the flash).

I was really torn between this one, the Fuji Finepix F30, the Panasonic Lumix TZ1, and the Canon SD800IS. We had a Fuji before that lasted forever and the F30 is said to take the best indoor, low-light photos available in a digital camera right now, but it was hard to find customer reviews on this camera and the optical zoom was only 3x. The Panasonic has the highest optical zoom at 10X, and customer reviews said it was very impressive but I saw quite a few reviews regarding problems in the first few months and a short warranty along with bad customer service. And nothing was said about low-light images, though Panasonic images just aren't as clear and crisp as Canon's.
In the end, I decided the extra megapixel was not worth the lower optical zoom, so I went with this one over the 800IS.
I have attached some pictures to view.
I am very very impressed with this camera. I viewed my pictures hooked up to a 64" TV and they were awesome. The video is also great quality; my stepdad is considering this digital camera with a large memory card instead of getting a new video camera, he was so impressed.
The camera is extremely easy to use and comfortable to grip. The only thing I have to complain about is that I am nervous about the error 08 that people have said causes the camera to stop working and the lens to not retract. However, this was not enough to stop me from purchasing it. This is something any camera could have happen if grain or dirt blocks the lens shutting and canon customer service assured me that if it did happen, they would repair it free of cost to me (I would have to pay shipping). Best way to avoid this, keep in a case.
I have had it for 4 months and have had zero problems.
It uses 2 AA batteries (great for me cause they can be found anywhere) and I played with the camera for almost 2 straight days before they died (lots of pics and video and viewing on screen).
Also, my stepmother has the Canon 600. She dropped it and it fell down about 20 feet, hitting multiple rocks along the way. When recovered, the LCD screen was broken so the menu cannot be viewed, but the camera still works and still takes great photos! Amazingly durable.
I would recommend checking out [...] for more info.

UPDATE: I don't know if it was summer and I just wasn't taking many indoor photos or if my "Auto" setting has changed itself, but I am not getting very clear pictures inside anym ore. Maybe my hand is shaking more but with the IS feature, this shouldn't be a big deal. I have added some pictures that aren't as sharp as before so you can see what I am talking about. I am still happy with my camera but now I will have to toy with all the setting features to see if I can get better inside people shots. Either my subjects have bad red eye, are slightly blurred, or just not clear when I zoom in on my computer (even when the pics were taken at highest resolution. I will update if I fix this problem.

Canon has an excellent rep with its digital cameras and the A710 is one of the latest in that long line. It's a great camera...not too small to handle with but small enough to be slipped into a jacket pocket. The zoom works well and the stabilization keeps zoomed photos clear, although a bit grainy at full zoom. Syncing with the computer couldn't be easier...load the included software and you're ready to go. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do this. As stated by another reviewer, the included 16mb card is almost worthless, but I used it to practice and get the hang of the camera operation before loading up a 1 gb card. I took the camera on a week and a half vacation and loved it. At the touch of a button I can see how many shots I have left on the card and how many I'll have if I adjust the size and detail of the photos. This let me reduce photo quality just a bit to get the last few photos at the end of the vacation onto the card. Zoom is quick, but, as stated in another review, the flash recharge takes a few seconds. The large LCD screen is great, but, like most digitals, difficult to see in bright light. This makes the optical viewfinder a god-send, but be aware that the viewfinder shows you a tighter shot that what is really being captured in the photo(watch out for the trend from other camera manufacturers of dropping the optical viewfinder!). There are a multitude of optional settings that I'm still figuring out. One - the night shot setting - is questionable. I get better night time shots with the setting on 'automatic' that I do using the 'night shot' setting.

My only problem with the A710 is battery life. Even with the power save function on, I went through a set of batteries a day. Obviously, using the flash a lot reduces battery life and I took many photos inside buildings. I also took 50-60 photos a day, so I was working the batteries from sun-up to sun-down and sometimes after that (I took 600+ photos in 10 days of travel). Rechargables are probably a good idea, but traveling in Europe complicates that....you need to carry a Euro style plug in addition to the battery charging apparatus and lugging all that would be just about as bad as dragging around my big, old Pentax film SLR (the main point, for me, of going digital was to reduce the size and weight of taking the film camera on an extended vacation). The need for all the batteries is the only reason I don't give the A710 5 stars and that's probably not really fair considering the number of photos I'm taking and the conditions of flash use.

In conclusion - The A710 takes great photos, is easy to use, figure out, and connect to your computer, has all the features a non-professional photog could want has the megapixels to let you enlarge your photos to at least 8x10 and is reasonably priced. If you can live with replacing batteries frequently in heavy-use situations, I doubt you can do better in this price range than this camera.

I hope you like this camera as much as I do!

I spent about three solid days online/in store researching camera's before I decided that this was the camera for me. There were three things that I really wanted from a new camera: better zoom, image stabilization, and better quality pics. I believe I got all of this and more in this little camera.

First, most camera's on the market have a 3X optical zoom- this one has 6x, which gives you a better quality picture further away. I realize there are other camera's on the market that have a better zoom ability, but I did not want to jeopardize size, I wanted something close to "pocket sized."

Second, the image stabilization feature is great- especially at night when you are trying to take photo's of buildings, etc. Regardless of how steady my hand was with my last digital, I could never get a night shot to come out- not a problem with the A710.

Third, the quality of pictures this camera offers is superb. I have no complaints on the ease of taking pictures. While there are quite a few different settings to choose from, the "basic" manual explains each one in an easy to follow manner (and I am not directions reader).

I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for an easy use, high quality camera. Everything you need comes in the box, you can literally pop the batteries and memory card in and you are set. There are many camera's that have a lot of great options out on the market, but I believe this to be the best.

I got a Canon SD600 Digital Elph camera for Christmas. This is after owning and using a SD30 for about 4 years, give or take. I was deciding between getting the A710, or a Casio Z70/700 or similar. I decided on Canons, due to supposedly higher image quality. The Casio's have great/fast interfaces.

I got my A710 from Amazon, and thought "I can't wait till it's charged and I can use it". Then I remembered, it uses normal batteries! At first I didn't like this, since I liked the easily rechargeable battery from my older S30. However, I love the normal batteries now; they're easy to replace if you need to, and I can keep multiple pairs for charging (great for trips). Plus, no special charge to misplace all the time.

The IS is why I bought this camera. It seems most of the available cameras (when I was looking, Christmas '06) don't include Image Stabilization (IS). This is the part I love most! When I'm moving the camera, it's almost eerie and disconnected since the picture doesn't move when I'm shaking the camera (including intentionally shaking the camera like I've eaten too much sugar/caffeine). You can definitely notice, especially on movies where normal camera shake have rendered other movies unusable. The IS is great!

The LCD is good, noticeably better than the Exilim's I've seen and used. It's bright enough, though hard to see in the bright sun. For those situations, I've found myself using the viewfinder. The higher-end exilims without the viewfinders are supposed to have incredibly bright LCD's, still usable in the bright sun.

The shot quality is amazing, much better than my old S30. Even a lot of higher-megapixel cameras simply don't look it, as their shots are fuzzy, have chromatic aberation (purple fringing), and bad color. This camera shoots great pictures, and has rekindled my love of taking quick snapshots.

The camera is quick from startup and shot-to-shot, with the exception of using the flash. I don't use the flash much, due mostly to the fact that the old S30 looked horrible with the flash on (overexposed everything, no matter what the manual settings). The flash on the A710 looks great, but it adds a delay. You take a picture with flash, can review the picture right away (hold the button down if you want to review it for a while). As soon as the review is gone, the LCD turns off for 4-5 seconds to recharge the flash. First time this happened, I thought I'd broken the camera. It's annoying, and is the one huge flaw on this camera. I imagine it's due to the camera using 2 AA batteries instead of 4 like older A-series Canon's.

The movie mode looks fantastic (I would definitely consider using this instead of a non-HD camcorder) except that the files are huge (125mb per minute... no MPEG-4 here!). I really wish Canon would get onto the MPEG-4 bandwagon, like the Exilim's. A 1gb card does 8 minutes, a 4gb card a half-hour. You can pull quality down, but it's just a shame it doesn't do MPEG4. However, the sheer quality of the video is excellent, and makes for a good quick clip (30 seconds, couple minutes) feature.

It's smaller than I thought, less bulge due to using 2 AA's instead of 4. The lens doesn't protrude any more than the handle bulge, and it's comfortable to hold. The interface is nice, easy to change most items from a couple of menus.

Battery life for me has be very impressive... about 300-400 pictures so far on my single set of AA 2800mah NIHM batteries from Walmart. I decided to use the camera until they die... they still haven't yet! I keep getting the low-battery warning, but they just never quit. I've got little energizer bunnies in there or something. The bundled Alkaline's died after the first 100-200 pictures, still pretty decent. About on par with what I got from my old S30, which wasn't great on the included Li-Ion battery anyway.


The only things I'd change are the blank-LCD-delay after flash photos, and the extremely huge but nice video clips. Definitely recommended for a good mid-range point-and-shoot semi-manual. Very happy with my purchase.