Canon A570 IS vs. A720 IS - need advice

[susan6868]

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to see the A570 IS perform underwater in Little Cayman with no more than the built in flash. I was shooting the same shots with a Sony DCS-W80, (let's not go there, just don't ever buy a SONY).

The Canon A570 IS produced clear, colorful pictures and so I decided to use the SONY as a paperweight and buy the Canon. Here's the thing. Canon recently released the A720 IS.
Essentially it looks like the same camera. The two major differences I can see are
1) The zoom is a 6X as opposed to the 4X on the A570 IS
2) The A720 IS is an 8mp camera versus the 7.1 mp on the A570 IS
3) I believe the A720IS can e fitted for an adapter for a wide angle lens, I haven;t found mention of that capability on the A570IS.

Although I don't think I'll ever need 8mp vs. 7mp, I am attracted to the 6X zoom vs. the 4X zoom. I'm not ready to buy a wide angle lens, but it might be useful shooting underwater.

I really have no camera know how, (that's probably obvious) and was wondering if anyone out there had an opinion as to which camera I should buy based on actual experience or just general camera knowledge.

Here's the side by side comparison from CNET
CNET Comparison Chart

Thanks for any pearls of wisdom you can impart.
Happy New Year.
Susan

The price difference is minor. I'm just trying to decide between the two.
Any advice would be genuinely appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[DivingPrincessE]

I posted a very similar thread yesterday and have only gotten one response...if anyone responds to this can you please check out my thread too?? Thanks!!

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/canon-corner/214727-a720-strobe-housing-other-questions.html

 

[Choyster]

I was struggling with the same decision a few weeks ago. Decided on the A570 for the following reasons:

1. A570 has a wider range of aperture which is an important feature for me because I like shooting with Aperture Priority.
2. A570 has been hacked so that you can shoot in RAW while no guarantee A720 will be able to do so.
3. Difference in megapixels negligible since to get a 2x print you need 4x megapixels.
4. Difference in zoom also negligible since won't really be using telephoto underwater anyhow.
5. All this AND it's cheaper! I'm going to use the extra money toward a better strobe once I get around to it.

End of the day, differences are so small that you can't go wrong with either.

 

[lmorin]

The only other differences between the 570 and 720 are focal distances. They are slightly different, e.g., 1 cm macro for 720 vs 5 cm for 570; 45 cm normal for 570 vs 55 cm for 720. The review here also indicates that aperture and shutter priority modes are possible with the 570, but not with the 720. The 720 also weighs 35 g (about 1.2 oz) more and has about 22% more bulk.

As for using a strobe (asked on a different post)--to each his own. I have a friend who takes absolutely gorgeous US pictures without a strobe and prides himself in that. One thing that is seldom discussed re strobes is the added care and bulk they bring to each dive. Many divers (I am one) do not want to be bothered with that.

 

[Rickg]

The only other differences between the 570 and 720 are focal distances. They are slightly different, e.g., 1 cm macro for 720 vs 5 cm for 570; 45 cm normal for 570 vs 55 cm for 720. The review here also indicates that aperture and shutter priority modes are possible with the 570, but not with the 720. The 720 also weighs 35 g (about 1.2 oz) more and has about 22% more bulk.

As for using a strobe (asked on a different post)--to each his own. I have a friend who takes absolutely gorgeous US pictures without a strobe and prides himself in that. One thing that is seldom discussed re strobes is the added care and bulk they bring to each dive. Many divers (I am one) do not want to be bothered with that.

Susan6868 & DivingPrincessE,

I just recently bought the A720 IS and can say that it does have Aperture and Shutter priority modes in addition to Auto, Manual and others.

Canon PowerShot A720 IS

I too spent a lot of time trying to make up my mind between the A570, A630 and A720 cameras and finally went with the A720 because I wanted the 6X zoom for dry land shoots.

Choyster is correct in that the A570 has a slightly wider aperature range (but not enough to swing me over to it) and that it has been "hacked" for RAW but this was not something that I felt I needed. Whether or not the A720 will be hacked for RAW at some future in time is still debatable.

The A720 allows macro to 1cm as opposed to the A570 which is 5cm. That said, if you attempt to take a macro picture between 1-5cm using your in-camera strobe you probably won't be happy with the results because the camera barrel blocks the strobe and the bottom right hand quarter of the pictures are very dark. There are other posts about this issue on the board.

To get really good macro pictures you will need a different light source and an add-on macro lense or lenses like the Inon UCL-165 or UCL-330 lenses. Not many things (other than coral and maybe nudibranches) are going to let you get your camera to 1cm away from them

UWdigitalcamera.com

To use these add-ons you will first need to purchase a lense adapter like Inon M67 lense adapter for Canon DC housings that can be found at:

UWdigitalcamera.com

The following is a quote from their website.

"M67 Lens adapter for Canon DC housings

This item is the 67mm lens adapter for Canon Dc housings which have oval port ( DC6,8,11 or DC16,18,21)

You can use 67mm thread type close-up lenses with your Canon housing. It also accept 67mm wide conversion lens physicaliy, but by the reason of camera lens construction, you see hard vignetting ( black shadow of the corners) and it is no use. These powershot cameras, when you use wide side zoom, the lens position is at the far side from the port glass."

Regarding WA attachment lenses - as you can see in the quote above they aren't really recommended for the DC-16 housing that is used for the A720 according to their website. But I also saw the following response from Yuzo to another Scubaboard member on this subject and here is what he had to say.

"For DC8/18 or DC6/16, it is possible to use UWL-100 with some zooming up but not recommended. Even with these, you see some blooming of the image.

But with DC11 or DC21, you see hard vignetting and blooming of image, and I say it is impossible to use."

So it appears that a WA attachment lense might be an option for the A720/DC-16 setup depending upon what you are willing to settle for.

If you should ever want to contact UWdigitalcamera about something send your email "Attn: Mr. Yuzo". He is the "man" when it comes to answering questions and is highly respected on this board as is his business that is used by many here.

I recently came back from a trip to Sipadan Island and it was my first opportunity to use this camera. Actually, I did exactly what you aren't supposed to do and purchased the camera 2 days before I left for my trip so it was a real learning experience. I'm very pleased with the results I got shooting only natural light and in-camera strobe pictures and will be posting a link to my pictures in the not to distant future once I get done sorting them out.

And when it comes to where to start your journey on how to take U/W pictures the very best place to start is with Alina's musings on the subject that can be found at

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...tting-started-dslr-maybe-look-here-first.html

Hopefully this answers some of your questions and helps you make a decision on which camera to buy.

Rickg

 

[susan6868]

Thanks everyone. I think after reading Ricks very thorough post I'm convinced I do not know enough to really gain the benefits from the A720 and since a good friend has been using the A570, I've got a very handy tutor.
With the extra money I'll get a good set of 2700 rechargeable batteries as well as an extra memory card.
Any recommendations on batteries/charger? I'm looking at Powerex 2700's although the charger is pricey.
In addition, do I need to be concerned about speed of my card? I'm thinking a Kingston 2gig but there are really attractive "SDHC" cards in the 4gig category. Either way, I can read the capacity but I'm not sure how to check the "speed"?
The specs say the camera takes either, I don't know the difference.
Thanks, your help so very appreciated!

 

[Rickg]

susan6868,

Camera choice - I'm sure you will be very happy with either camera. They are so similar that they may as well be twins because the differences in capability are so minimal. The major reason I ended up going with the A720 is the 6X zoom for land use.

Batteries & Charger

Check out Thomas Distributing for all of your battery needs.

Rechargeable Batteries Alkaline Lithium NiMH Battery

I went with the MH-C401FS but there are a lot of other choices.

MAHA MH-C401FS-DC BATTERY CHARGER

For batteries I went with MAHA POWEREX 2700 MAH AA just like you are looking at but again there are a lot of other choices at Thomas Distributing. I went with the MAHA Powerex's because of recommendations I'd seen on this board and elsewhere.

Thomas Distributing

Memory Card

I found the best deal on memory at a online store called supermediastore.com

DVD-R,DVD R Media,DVDR Blank Media,DVD R,DVD+R,Dual Layer,Double Layer,Printable DVD,DVD Case,Duplicator,USB Flash Memory,Ink Cartridges

I went with A-Data SDHC 4gb cards but lots of other choices available.

A-Data Turbo 4GB SDHC Class 6 Memory Card - 4GB SD High Capacity, A-Data SDHC, 4GB Secure Digital High Capacity

Recommendations
Just echoing what I've read on this board before and found to be 100% accurate:

- practice with your camera so you are familiar with all of the buttons before you take it diving (which of course I didn't do because I only received it 2 days before we traveled)
- get as close as possible and then try to get even closer
- learn to shot in Manual mode (see Alicina's posts on this subject along with all of her other great advice)

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...tting-started-dslr-maybe-look-here-first.html

- learn to use your various White Balance options, in particular Manual WB.

Have fun with the camera,

Rickg

 

[diver 85]

Richg...I'm thinking her name is Alcina, THE guru on SB for "P&S" cameras.......agree, her info is spot on & her help has been invaluable...............GEAUX TIGERS..........

 

[Rickg]

Richg...I'm thinking her name is Alcina, THE guru on SB for "P&S" cameras.......agree, her info is spot on & her help has been invaluable...............GEAUX TIGERS..........

diver 85,

You are 100% correct and I apologize to Alcina for misspelling here name. I can only attribute it to too much whine.

And here the link to her info that I forgot to include when I sent that previous post.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...tting-started-dslr-maybe-look-here-first.html

Rickg

 

[realdiver7]

I bought the Canon A720IS about 3 weeks ago and took almost 700 pictures and over 16 minutes of video using it in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands a couple of weeks ago. Used the same A-Data 4GB memory card listed above in RickG's post. I found the 6X optical zoom to be somewhat useful in certain conditions (more so on land), and the pics I took using various ISOs, f-stops, shutter speeds, and white balance modes were very nice! The Auto and Underwater scene settings also produced some great pics, even during a night dive.

Many of my friends and family commented that my underwater and land pics were some of the best they have ever seen, especially since I used only the internal flash with a Canon housing and diffuser. As for the 7.1 mp vs. 8 mp difference, I would not let that be a serious deciding factor, especially since anything over 6 mp should easily suit most of my needs.

One of my biggest lessons learned regarding color underwater is to try to light up my targets more in the future, or invest in some kind of filter to limit the blue and bring out more natural colors. Shooting in Macro with forced flash is a great way to take close up shots using the Underwater scene mode or Aperture Priority mode. Using no flash at all with the right choice of settings works best for taking pics of large areas, or distant objects. Buoyancy control is very important, even with the image stabilization feature!

I downloaded some helpful tips from experienced digital underwater photographers, tried various settings and modes, and learned the positions and functions of all of the camera buttons before I used it underwater for the first time. As a novice underwater digital photographer, I can honestly say that I am very satisfied with the A720IS, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Hope this helps.