Canon a710 IS vs Panasonic TZ1

I have had a Tizzy since last April. It takes colorful and snappy pictures. However, I feel I need an optical viewfinder for activities such as whale-watching, where I had trouble tracking fast-moving whales, and ended up with shots of dorsal fins, instead of jumping whales! So the new A710IS interests me vey much.

But I have some questions for actual users of the A710:
1-How well the pictures come out in the normal 35-210 range?

2-How do picures taken in the safety zoom compare with those in the 35- 35-210 range?
3-What is the actual focal lengths of the safety zoom(does it entend to
420)?
4-Doe the A710IS feel more metallic than the oriignal A700?
5-Does this camera still exhibit the Canon reddish-brown Canon hue in
indoor flash shots?

Thanks,
Ken in Flushing

alken211 said:

But I have some questions for actual users of the A710:
1-How well the pictures come out in the normal 35-210 range?
2-How do picures taken in the safety zoom compare with those in the
35- 35-210 range?

Click to expand...

As I understand the "safety zoom" feature, exactly the same as a full resolution picture taken at 210 then cropped to the smaller size.

alken211 said:

3-What is the actual focal lengths of the safety zoom(does it
entend to
420)?

Click to expand...

Unless I'm thinking wrong, that'd be effectively the same as cropping to 1600x1200. So, if you're shooting in 2 megapixel mode, you should be able to get that field of view. That's probably less resolution than you want for most shots, though.

alken211 said:

But I have some questions for actual users of the A710:
1-How well the pictures come out in the normal 35-210 range?
2-How do picures taken in the safety zoom compare with those in the
35- 35-210 range?
3-What is the actual focal lengths of the safety zoom(does it
entend to
420)?

Click to expand...

I'm interested in these three factors as well. I don't have a TZ1, I actually have an S2IS which I love for the long zoom and speed... but, it's kinda big and clunky. I have taken advantage of the full 12x optical zoom on the S2 on a number of occasions, so my main hesitation in going with a smaller camera like the A710 would be losing that range, but if the "Safety Zoom" combined with the higher pixel count satisfactorily mitigates the issue (I know it won't be completely equivalent to 12x optical of course), then I'd seriously consider replacing my S2 with an A710.

Why are you looking to switch away from the S2?

I actually just sent a new S3 back to get the A710 based on size alone. I'm hoping the 710 produces pictures close in quality to the S3.....

Ronald N said:

alken211 said:

But I have some questions for actual users of the A710:
1-How well the pictures come out in the normal 35-210 range?
2-How do picures taken in the safety zoom compare with those in the
35- 35-210 range?
3-What is the actual focal lengths of the safety zoom(does it
entend to
420)?

Click to expand...

I'm interested in these three factors as well. I don't have a TZ1,
I actually have an S2IS which I love for the long zoom and speed...
but, it's kinda big and clunky. I have taken advantage of the
full 12x optical zoom on the S2 on a number of occasions, so my
main hesitation in going with a smaller camera like the A710 would
be losing that range, but if the "Safety Zoom" combined with the
higher pixel count satisfactorily mitigates the issue (I know it
won't be completely equivalent to 12x optical of course), then I'd
seriously consider replacing my S2 with an A710.

Click to expand...

--



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Hi Ken,

Both these cameras have caught my eye for when my current pocket cam finally kicks it or I no longer want to wait for underwater digital pics, but neither's happened yet so I can't answer all your questions.

1 - There are a number of A710IS pics posted here and in reviews. Jeff at dcresource.com just recently posted a review you should check out.

2 - They should come out as well as those without safety zoom; it's simply an in camera cropping without any interpolation like normal digital zoom (I've heard claims that it's better than a simple crop as the camera can meter better, etc).

3 - The 35mm focal lengths by resolution are:
7 Mp - 35-210
5 Mp - 35-248
3 Mp - 35-310
2 Mp - 35-420
0.3 Mp - 35-840

4 - Not sure about this one. The reviews I've read describe the body as a mix of metal and plastic; I'm not sure what the A700 was like. I always recommend handling the camera at a local store before buying it.

5 - No experience with this issue either. There are a number of A710IS pics being posted here, however.

Just some other thoughts for you:

If you're using the optical viewfinder to track subjects, I don't think it will account for the added safety zoom. I'm not positive about this but doubt it would, so this is something to keep in mind for subject framing.

In action shots, the autofocus speeds and shutter lag of digicams are often a problem and I could see them resulting in fin shots instead of spectacular breaching ones. My pocket cam is getting up there in age (3.5 years old now) and I know the camera makers have been working on these issues, so perhaps they're much better now. A digicam will never beat a dSLR in action photography though.

Best,
PA

Panasonic has a 10X zoom, 6X is way shorter. And, I wouldn't buy any camera with bad noise problems at ISO 80 forcing you to fix every shot in post processing. Run away. Noise is bad enough as it is even in Canon's best models.

--
A610 * Pro1 * Olympus UZI

Run away from the Panasonic that is...if you really want a 10X zoom look at the Canon S3. Pany has some good 10xers in the FZ line and so does Sony in the H2/H5.
--
A610 * Pro1 * Olympus UZI

5. I have the A710 IS and I don't see any reddish brown hues with indoor flash shots, especially when I use the correct white balance setting.
--
Leontine

Here are 2 indoor practice shots with my A710 IS, using Tungsten setting for white balance. No post processing done to these images. I've only had the camera for one day so sorry if they are boring images, more to follow soon if you'd like.





--
Leontine

thanks for answer in advance

I'm guessing between 3 and 5 seconds, quite a long time actually.
--
Leontine

Leontine said:

I'm guessing between 3 and 5 seconds, quite a long time actually.
--
Leontine

Click to expand...

I just wish canon can fix the slow recycle time. I held out on a700, hoping the next model would be better. Many users have reported 5-10 seconds as battery gets weaker. I love everything on a710is though. Slow recycle time may be a problem for me. I love the s3 but wish for a screen bigger than 2 inch. I feel so frustrated with canon with all these cameras. I have a sd600 and love it but wish for a shutter and aperture conrol. I feel canon is toying with us. I like the SD memory format, the color of Canon, the accuracy of focusing, and speed of camera. Canon has all the things I want but it just won't put it into one camera.

Just venting a little, sorry.

Know how you feel. It is a bit frustrating........but......if we all think about it for just a little bit, you'd find that if Canon were to put all of these great features in one camera, then we would not buy any others & everyone would get only "that one perfect" camera. They would lose sales & profits as we would only be getting "that one" & there would not be any need to buy any other cameras or more cameras. They are catering to just about everyone's tastes, just not all in one package. grin Does make things interesting, but I really do understand your feelings.

Beth

Guess I'm sticking my 2 cents worth in where I probably shouldn't but I've used the Panasonic TZ1 and I promise you the noise issue is very over stated.

Actually, the TZ1 is an excellent little camera. Noise is less than the Canon G2 and we all know that was/is a class camera.

The TZ1 seems to be a great little point & shoot type camera but lacks some of the features many people want. No view finder, no raw and no substantial manual capabilities.

Just the same the one I used, for a couple of days, produced pictures that equal those of any small camera.

Thank you for photos!

How good the LCD on bright sunny day? On my Canon S70 I can not see functions and menu setting.
Leo