For Africa - Canon SD 890 or 720

[nbeinhac]

Off to West Africa and need a small camera with a viewfinder (a must).

What is the difference in picture quality between 5x/10megap and 6x/8megap?

I will be doing lots of telephoto work since we will be going up the Niger by boat and will be taking shore pics and also because many in town shots will be candid shots.

Don't see the difference between carrying AA and recharging or lithiums and recharging.

So which should it be: 890 or 720? (Price isn't an issue).

Thanks for the help.

[KCook]

Here's 1 vote for the 720 ...

[TheWengler]

Of those two I'd get the A720, but I doubt either one will have enough reach.

[David Metsky]

I'd go for the A720 for the manual controls, the faster lens, and the slightly extra reach. AAs are probably a win as well since you'll want to have several sets of batteries unless you will be able to recharge frequently. The difference between 8MP and 10MP is negligible.

But I agree with the others that you might want more zoom then either of these two. For a trip like this I would want an ultrazoom, like the S5 or the Panasonic FZ-18.

[raven15]

Clearly the A720. It is good for an all-purpose camera with acceptable telephoto. But for taking pictures of the shore from a boat, I agree the S5 would be better. I'd also stick with AA batteries (alkaline or rechargeable Eneloops), I have bad experiences with Li batteries losing their charge completely in a matter of days.

[Visual Reality]

While an ultrazoom such as the S5 would be a better choice in most cases, it really lacks a wide angle. Its widest is 36mm.

[KCook]

Very true. But it does include panorama tools. And the telephoto end of the big zoom would be a big help with wildlife. What made me uncomfortable about my Canon S3 IS was the level of compression. Even set to the largest format and superfine compression file sizes were only about 3.55Mb. In contrast to that my new 8Mp Fuji has put out files over 6Mb! Not that Fuji is bliss either. The 6Mb file is overkill, and the Fuji idea of medium compression undershoots what I would like to see. I wish most P&S makers gave us a better selection of compression settings.

Kelly

[Visual Reality]

It may have a stitch assist, but given his compacts he is looking at, I didn't get the impression that this guy was bringing a tripod and was going to be stopping all the time.

[KCook]

The stitch software provided by Canon definitely will work without a tripod. A tripod is an asset when you're shooting an extreme sweep of over 90 deg. But not absolutely necessary.

But yeah, I wouldn't attempt a panorama hanging out of a tour bus window!!!

Kelly

[David Metsky]

Panoramic tools are nice, but they're no substitute for a nice wide angle lens.