between a650, 720is & sx100

[catskill]

I'm trying to decide between these three: canon a650is, a720is and the sx100is. The pluses of all three are the image stabilization. I want compact but not tiny and slick. I'm trying to weigh the 10x optical zoom of the sx versus the 6x of the others, the 12mp of the 650 vs. the 8 of the other two, the 4 batteries of the 650 (better flash recycle?) vs the 2 of the others, no optical viewfinder and a manual popup flash on the sx, flipout lcd on the 650...does anyone have and or tried one or more of these? I even called canon to talk to the techies there. I got different answers to some of the same questions. For instance a local camera store guy told me that the sx had a better lens (the actual glass was superior he said), canon said no, but that the sx was superior in other ways. Can you use the optical zoom during video mode? The review sites said no, but canon said yes, if you turn off digital zoom. Basically I'd like to know which will take the best pictures. Mostly my husband and daughter; vacations, recitals (maybe the better zoom will come in handy), etc. I currently have an older powershot s50. I liked having one small extra li-on battery tucked away in a small camera bag, never had a problem with keeping them charged and ready. They lasted 4 years! Will the small size of one of these be offset by carrying around a slew of little batteries banging around in my pocketbook? Ok, that's enough for now...what do you think?

[AndyfromVA]

I have the A720 and Eneloop AA batteries. I like the camera very much and the batteries last a long time.

I chose the A720 over the SX100 and A650 because the A720 was the least expensive and it was the smallest of the 3. However, the SX100 is probably a better buy for most people because of its huge 10x optical zoom, its excellent image quality and its relatively small size (larger than the A720 but not by much).

[Jason25]

I bought my girlfriend the 720, and she has been thrilled with it. It's a fantastic little camera for under $200.

[catskill]

Thank you for your responses. Can anyone address the zoom during video issue, can it be done with any of these that you know of?

[David Metsky]

They all allow digital zoom during video which is questionably useful. None of them allow optical zoom. Actually, I'm not sure about the A650, but I don't see it mentioned in the specs.

[bascom]

Right, I don't think any Canon A's can zoom with video. Fuji S1000 and Pan TZ4 may be able to.

[Dr. G]

so I was playing around with the A720 at the store the other day and near the display until there is a piece of paper that as the camera stats on it.

So to test the pics that it takes I just took shots of the wording. Well for some reason with the A720 I couldnt get the thing to take a clear photo of the words. They would come out blurry and unreadable.

There was a SD1000 there and it could take pics of the text just fine. I''m not sure why I couldnt get non blurry pics with the A720 I tried changing modes but it didnt help.

[AndyfromVA]

so I was playing around with the A720 at the store the other day and near the display until there is a piece of paper that as the camera stats on it.

So to test the pics that it takes I just took shots of the wording. Well for some reason with the A720 I couldnt get the thing to take a clear photo of the words. They would come out blurry and unreadable.

There was a SD1000 there and it could take pics of the text just fine. I''m not sure why I couldnt get non blurry pics with the A720 I tried changing modes but it didnt help.

Probably the reason you had problems was that the focus on the A720IS was set to face detection or the 9 point autofocus, rather than on the center of the frame. I found that, when the focus is set to the center, it's much easier to focus on exactly the object you want.

The other focus options on the A720 work well but are not as predictable.

Overall the A720IS is a wonderful camera.

[David Metsky]

Or he was too close to focus on the text. If the camera is too close to the subject you need to go to macro mode. This is true for any digital camera but they have different distance requirements.

[Dr. G]

Or he was too close to focus on the text. If the camera is too close to the subject you need to go to macro mode. This is true for any digital camera but they have different distance requirements.

I tried that and I still couldnt get the camera to focus on the text. I wanted this camer abut if it does this then i'm gonna pass onit.