The Canon Powershot A710 IS offers something a bit different to most digital cameras. This is because it has a 6x optical zoom lens. This is twice as long as the standard 3x optical zoom lens, but falls short of the longer 10 and 12x cameras.
One advantage this camera has over the true super zoom cameras is that its body shape remains compact. Although it is on the large side for slipping into a pocket it is still much smaller than a typical super zoom camera. Personally I think this type of camera is better suited to people with larger hands than some of the small, pocket sized models. This is because the larger size makes it easier to take a firm hold of the camera. To help you further there is also a grip on the front of the camera.
Another attraction of the Powershot A710 IS is that Canon have built image stabilisation into the camera. This becomes increasingly useful in lowlight situations. This is because as the light gets lower the camera tends to need the shutter open for longer to let enough light in to make a correctly exposed photo. This means that if you are hand holding the camera it is so much harder to keep the camera steady for the extra length of time the camera takes to complete the picture.
As with other models in the Powershot range the A710 IS has a number of manual exposure controls. These are fully manual, aperture priority and shutter priority. It can take extra time to get used to using these features, but they can have a major impact on the way a photograph will look and in the long term time spent getting to grips with these features is time well spent.
If all you are after is a more simple point and shoot camera, but you like the idea of the longer zoom lens then this camera can be used in fully automatic mode, just like a standard point and shoot model.
Two AA batteries are needed to run the camera. Although Canon cameras are fairly economical in their use of batteries I would still suggest considering some rechargeable batteries to go with the camera. Look out for batteries with a mAh rating of around 2300 and above. This type of rating means that you will be able to take far more photos between charges than with batteries with a lower rating.
A 16mb SD card is supplied with the Powershot A710 IS. As with a lot of digital cameras this is a bit mean any you will not be able to take many photos before the card is full. Therefore you will need to factor a higher capacity memory card into your budget. As well as the standard SD cards the camera is also compatible with SDHC cards. These are simply high capacity SD cards.
If you would like to increase the capability of the lens these are compatible converter lenses available. You can buy two types of converter lens. The first type increases the telephoto capacity of the lens. The second turns the lens into a wide angle lens.
Also available separately are an underwater case and a flash unit.
