Canon Powershot A700 Review

[mr_engineer]

First off, let me just say that I'm not a pro. I'm just an average joe with what I'm told is an eye for cool shots. I don't need a DSLR (but I'd sure like one). I don't need a kit full of lenses. What I need is an affordable, high-quality digital point-and-shoot. And I've certainly found it (and more!) in the Canon Powershot A700.

Affordable, you ask? Well, for what you're getting, very affordable. In what I would call the upper-middle range of point-and-shoots, it's very well-priced for its functionality. I paid $400 CAD for mine around August of last year. That only got me the camera with a 16MB SD card and no batteries, mind you, but that's fairly standard from what I understand.


My A700 and I out at the old archery range

The camera is capable of taking pictures up to 6.0MP resolution, and has a 6x optical zoom (not too shabby when I was shopping around). The A700 has a big, bright 2.5" LCD that makes taking and viewing pictures an absolute breeze.

Bought myself a 1GB SD card, some rechargeable Energizers (which, as an aside, I'm really impressed with, awesome battery life), and I was off to the races, and haven't looked back. As with most photo newbies, I started off in Auto mode, taking pictures left, right and center. The A700 is blessed with a pretty darn good Auto mode, with sharp, colorful images. I was able to take a museum tour with Auto mode, snapping pictures in dark sections, light sections, small rooms, large amphitheaters, and just about anything in between, and have my photographs come out as I would expect. The only time I had a problem was taking a picture of a document behind glass...but that was my own fault for using the flash. No complaints there.

From there, I started fiddling with the macro mode, and again, I was impressed.



Some of my early macro shots

The pictures were sharp, had great color, and had everyone I showed going "oooooh!" (Not to get all technical or anything)

The camera is jam packed with features (as Canon puts it, 20 Shooting Modes), including your standard Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, Full Manual Mode, Scenery Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape mode, movie capability, and many many more things I haven't found yet!



This camera is an excellent choice for a number of people. It's great for the average person who wants excellent photos without spending an arm and a leg, with its 6MP resolution and 6x optical zoom. It's also great for the budding photographer starting out on a budget, with all the features of a lower-end DSLR in a smaller and less expensive package.

Overall Rating:
9/10
I'm very, very happy with this camera.

PROS:
- small, yet still has good feel
- great resolution, optical zoom
- awesome color (sometimes seems a bit on the warm side, but I like the results)
- reasonable price
- beautiful, clear LCD
- tons and tons and TONS of features

CONS:
- LCD can be a battery-drainer. (Can be turned off, though)
- Flash can sometimes be overpowering (as with many point-and-shoots)
- Shots in the dark can be a little grainy (though, to be fair, this may just be user inexperience, rather than anything to do with the camera, heh)

[googlit]

Check out this camera's usage stats on flickr.