B_P_2015_04_

APRIL 2015 BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY

41

TEST

SPECIFICATIONS

Model name Canon PowerShot SX710 HS

MRP Rs. 23,995

Sensor size, type 1/2.3-inch, CMOS

Resolution 20.3MP, 5184 x 3888 pixels

LCD 3-inch, 922k dots

Focal range 25–750mm

ISO range Auto, ISO 80–1600

Aperture range f/3.2–8.0

Optical zoom 30x

Metering modes Evaluate, Center-weighted

average, Spot

File formats Still: JPEG, Video: MPEG-4

Battery Lithium-Ion

Storage SD, SDHC, SDXC

Dimensions (W x H x D)112.7 x 65.8 x 34.8mm

Weight 269g

It takes only seconds

to boot the camera

and land the shot. For

a discerning street

photographer, this is

a boon.

Exposure: 1/50sec at f/4.5

(ISO 200) Supriya Joshi

F I N A L R A T I N G S

Features

30x zoom, 5-axis image stabilisation, no RAW

24/30

Performance

Extremely speedy, average ISO

performance, great video

26/35

Build Quality

Lightweight, pocketable

13/15

Ergonomics

Easy menu system, bright LCD screen, WiFi

and NFC connectivity

14/15

Warranty & Support

Large service network

4/5

Value for Money

Who should buy it? Those who want to carry

something portable on their travles without compromising

on quality.

Why? The speedy camera will ensure that you don’t miss

important moments. Plus, the 5-axis image stabilisation will

ensure that you make great videos as well.

OVERALL

81%

the front of the camera body made it real

easy to operate the camera even using

one hand.

A button on the left of the camera

controls the pop up fl ash. Right next to

that button is another, the Zoom Framing

Assist. How this works is that if you press

the button while zoomed into a subject,

it zooms back in, while superimposing a

rectangle on the part of the subject that

the full zoom range would have covered.

Where the camera truly succeeds,

however, is its speediness. The SX710HS

is very, very quick. Everything from

powering up to zooming in to the

complete telephoto end and even

focusing happens in seconds.

I had absolutely no trouble focusing

on a subject at the extreme end of the

telephoto range. The IS also controlled

camera shake to a great extent.

Performance

I quite enjoyed the shooting experience

with this camera. The focal length truly

makes this a multipurpose camera. Its low

light performance is also quite good for a

camera of this class. I shot many low light

indoor photos at the complete telephoto

end, and I would very rarely get out of

focus or blurry shots.

Even in bright light, the camera

produces good images with very minimal

noise reduction, and it handled chromatic

aberrations fairly well.

The ISO performance is fairly ok, and

the images are quite good up to ISO 400,

beyond which the images are usable if

you are not intending to print them in a

large size.

Video recording was really good,

and the 5-axis image stablisation really

shone through when I made movies.

The aggressive camera shake you

would expect from the telephoto end of

such a zoom range was not present in

the camera.

Conclusion

The Canon PowerShot SX710 HS is quite

an exciting camera but, it is virtually

identical to its predecessor. Perhaps a

RAW mode is wishful thinking, but basic

features like a panorama mode, HDR

capture and a touchscreen interface

should have been added to the list of

features in the camera. While I will

still maintain that this is a really good

superzoom compact, I do wonder why

one would pick up this camera over

the SX700?

The SX710 comes at a pricetag of

Rs. 23,995. If you prefer zoom range over

pocketability, you can also consider the

Canon SX50 HS, which has 50x zoom and

RAW shooting as well for Rs. 25,995.