NEED SUGGESTIONS WHILE SHOPPING FOR NEW CAMERA

The Canon A710IS and the SD800IS are just about equal when talking about picture quality and picture sharpness.

Here is a link to a comparison in specifications:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a710is%2Ccanon_sd800is&show=all

There are a number of notable differences between the two cameras.
Cost - The SD800 will cost about $60 more.
Physical size - The A710 is larger
Battery type - The A710 uses AA alkaline or rechargeable NiMH & the SD800 has a rechargeable Lithium.
Optical Zoom - SD800 is 3.8X and A710 is 6X
Manual Controls - The A710 has Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program AE and Full Manual - the SD800 does not.
Shutter lag - This is not shown in the chart but the SD800 shutter lag is 0.1 second & the A710 is 0.4 second,

You will be pleased with either camera.
Pick the one that has the features you want the most.

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A word about photographing fireworks.

I believe both of the cameras have a mode setting for fireworks.
But ..... there is more to it than that.
The fireworks mode uses a very slow shutter speed....which means you really need a tripod to get the best results.

I have taken fireworks with a 35 film SLR and you usually keep your shutter open for at least 5 to 15 seconds (sometimes much more) so that you have more fireworks in the sky. This also gives you streaks of light as rockets travel upward. And streaks from the explosions.

If you just take a 1/60th second picture of fireworks you will get sparse looking results.

You should not take a tripod to DisneyWorld as it is too troublesome to carry around.
Before the fireworks start....look around for a place where you can set the camera (fence, wall, etc). Some people carry a bean-bag for this purpose....so that they can set the camera at various angles.

If you do go to DisneyWorld, be sure and protect that camera from water when you go down the log flume ride. Carry a zip-lock bag.


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Just have to say that my wife got the 710IS about a month or so ago, but I've been the one tinkering around with it.

Well, she's an elementary school teacher and wanted to post a bunch of portraits of the kids and action shots of the class for open house this week.

She had never used this particular camera before, not once. Last night, she printed them up on her printer and the results were amazing!!! These were pretty much quarter page to full page.

I know that the A640 is highly reviewed, but I prefer my wife's camera. The image stabilization just works better when taking closeups of faces and the like.

Just my neophyte observations...