I bought my new C-720UZ for $372 from OfficeMax about two weeks ago (I believe this is a very good deal !), along with two 128 MB Smartmedia cards (on-line from Newegg, $27 each). I started using the camera after going through the abbreviated instruction manaul. So far, I have taken about 30 pictures, all in Auto mode and using the HQ resolution setting (~1/3 of the highest resolution, the 128 MB card can hold 173 pictures in this setting). Roughly half of the pictures are outdoor shots. The other half are in-door shots with or without the flash.
The quality of the picture is truly amazing with all my shots. The focus is very sharp and the color is very rich and vivid. When the pictures were shown as a slide show, they are indistinguishable with the pictures taken with a regular film camera. Last weekend, a friend of mine took some pictures with her 4.0 MP Sony camera at a party and compared with the pictures I taken with my C-720 (3.0 MP) at the same party. The difference is amazing ! My pictures are far better !
I have not used other features such as movie recording. So, no comments on these aspects.
Overall, I am very pleased! I was initially attracted to this camera by its' ultra-zoom. Now I also know that it give excellent pictures.
Problems:
A hard-copy of the complete manaul should be included. The abbreviated manual is brief. The complete manaul on the CD included (in PDF format) is blurry and hard to read. I have been trying to figure out how to put date stamp on every picture. So far, no luck.
The quality of the picture is truly amazing with all my shots. The focus is very sharp and the color is very rich and vivid. When the pictures were shown as a slide show, they are indistinguishable with the pictures taken with a regular film camera. Last weekend, a friend of mine took some pictures with her 4.0 MP Sony camera at a party and compared with the pictures I taken with my C-720 (3.0 MP) at the same party. The difference is amazing ! My pictures are far better !
I have not used other features such as movie recording. So, no comments on these aspects.
Overall, I am very pleased! I was initially attracted to this camera by its' ultra-zoom. Now I also know that it give excellent pictures.
Problems:
A hard-copy of the complete manaul should be included. The abbreviated manual is brief. The complete manaul on the CD included (in PDF format) is blurry and hard to read. I have been trying to figure out how to put date stamp on every picture. So far, no luck.