I enjoyed the timely review of this camera and agree with sentiments regarding it's good and bad points. The only thing that stood out to me is the reviewer's feeling that the only "oddity" is found in the playback/record switch. Pretty much *all* Canon digicams, at least in the A series, use this same play/record switch placed somewhere around the thumb area. Granted, some manufacturers use a "play" setting on the mode dial or a simple button on the back, but I do *not* want "play" moved to a setting on the mode dial! I intend the mode dial to be used soley for when I want to change *shooting* modes and not whenever I need to review a photo. Canon's record/play switch isn't perfect, as it doesn't allow for shooting priority. In my opinion, the shutter button should always exit playback mode, which implies that a button be used for playback rather than a switch.

It could be improved, however. There have been many times when I've tried to take a shot and forgotten to switch back to record mode. Yes, I've missed shots because of this and though it was obviously my own fault, even cheap digicams should be shooting-priority..

I totally agree with you Robert, all modern cameras should automatically exit the play mode when you hit the shutter button. Like on the Canon SD850 which I had for a week but ended returning it for the much better and cheaper A720. Ultimately, the image quality is what really matters in the end and the A720, despite minor annoyances, is a great little camera in my opinion. I use it as a portable back-up for my Nikon D40 with the 18-200mm VR lens and I also wanted a taste of Canon's beautiful colors..

What brought me to this camera are two things. The optical view finder and AA batteries. I'm getting old and can't see anything closer than a quarter mile with out reading glasses. Having to use reading glasses to shoot a picture is stupid. Also squinting at a little dinky LCD while taking a picture looks silly and it makes me feel like I'm playing with a camera instead of being involved with the subject. Unfortunately, the view finder on this camera is really small, seems out of focus and doesn't show what the cammera is shooting.

I don't know of another cammera this size or price range that has one with AA batteries. I still think AA batteries are the best way to go. They can be had anywhere and spares or rechargables can be taken with you on a trip. Other wise with propriatary batteries when the battery goes dead you might just as well leave the party. Other wise I am having a good time with this little guy.

Pictures look good. Never thought about the play back switch until I read the post but I can see the problem. I don't think it's too big or clunky, especially after using 35mm cameras and earlier generation Digital Cameras. I bought another 2 gig memory card and even with the camera set on super fine large format I still get an excess of 500 immages. Becarfull when you eject the card though or it will pop out over your sholder!.

Just bought an A720 IS. Yeah, I need to get another card...the 16 MB SD card is too small. 2GB sounds right for my needs. But I was not sure a far as SD or SDHC. Is the limit on an SD card 2GB? Should I go with a higher GB SDHC card? I've seen some articles about difficulties with SDHC cards as far as getting photos from the card to your computer (Windows XP). I also wanted to know what the range is of SDHC cards that this camera can use.

I don't want to buy an SDHC card that has a higher capacity than this camera can use. Thanks. Eric.

As mentioned in the review, you can use either SD or SDHC cards. SD cards go up to 2GB. Either type of card will work when transferring files from the camera using XP, but some older card readers may not be SDHC compliant..

I bought this point and shoot for my daughter and she has been please with most of the pictures she has taken with it with the exception of pictures of her active 4 year old son when he is up running around. The shutter action is always a day late and a dollar short under these conditions but I haven't seen this limitation mentioned in any of the camera reviews I have read or any comments on forums like this mentioning this problem. After she mentioned this to me I tried the camera under similar conditions and found the shutter lag to be way to long to make pictures of any action subject. Might she have a defective camera or is this just not important to most people? I moved up from a Sony V505 to a Canon SLR to get rid of this very problem. Any comments on this subject?.

Does the A720 automatically refocus when zooming especially in video mode? The demo camera in the store wouldn't keep the object I was zooming on in focus as my Kodak Z612 does. I love the Z612 but it doesn't fit in ones pocket for those anytime photos. I would appreciate feedback from A720 owners..

Has anyone used the LA-DC58D or LA-DC58G lens adapter with 58mm filters? I have been wanting to buy a digicam that I could put a polarizing filter on and the A-720 is on the top of my short list. My other choices are the A-570IS and the Sony DSC-H3.

Every P&S will focus and shoot with a slight delay, that's the nature of the focusing system and focus motors that they use. especially when he's running around close to her, and the focus distance is changing dramatically. if she wants to try moving back far enough to get a good depth of field so that the camera doesn't have to change focus so much, that would help. Then she just has to time the shutter release...try panning....

Well I bought the A720IS and wow it has lots of features and adjustments compared to my Sony DSC-600. I have the lens adapter and a circular polarizing filter on the way too to try out..

A product is as good as it's quality, and if the quality and service are poor no matter how many features you add in ..its worth nothing. I have had a very bad experience with Canon A 720 IS. I bought a Canon A720 IS from Circuit City, Lubbock, US(Dated 12/22/07- tkt no 451003233564). It is under warranty. I didn't check it there trusting Circuit City and Canon products. I presented it to my sister in India and came to know that it was not getting started("Death on Arrival").

Now the real story starts, I showed it to Canon Service Center, New Delhi, India. As the warranty was not international so first they took the service charges for repairing the PCB (around $30) and returned it back to me. The camera went bad again, now I was told that PCB needs to be replaced and were asking me a hefty amount (more than $100). I was very disappointed with the service center in India. I discussed this with Canon USA on phone and sent it to US along with the receipt of Circuit City and the receipt/problem statement of canon service center, India.

This was really crazy because I know not a single drop of water was near the camera and I know I am not lying. Moreover if this was the issue Canon India would have noticed this straightaway, which they never didI have the written proof of this from Canon India. This clearly shows that Canon is simply lying and running away from it's responsibility to serve it's users and warrenty. Now I am feeling like a idiot cheated away by a big brand just because I trusted them. I have all the papers with me to support my case, and am looking for help and guidance to what should I do next.



Thanks .

Shalabh Dixit.