Review on 📸 Black Canon PowerShot SX710 HS Camera - Wi-Fi Enabled for Enhanced Online Connectivity by Maurice Hurd

This is at least the 8th digital camera I own (5 Canon, 2 Kodak and HP). As zoom lenses have improved, I've settled on bigger but better zooms, including two Canon models (S3 IS and SX20 IS). I liked the balance of the large zoom, but the size is smaller than the SLR. However, in recent years, due to the size limitations of the luggage I currently carry, I have wanted a smaller camera. After a year of research I decided on the SX7x0 HS to replace my SX20 IS. I was waiting for the SX710 to come out and bought it just before a 2.5 week holiday in Europe. I preferred it over 700 for its enhanced mobile capabilities and higher resolution. I've taken almost 1000 photos and videos with it. Here are some observations, in no particular order: * Standard battery life is good, but aftermarket battery life is good. I took three with me (one in the cell, two in the suitcase), and that was enough for a week's trip. I've had to charge every few days but never again, even with heavy use.* Speeds are generally very good. I turned on the preview (displays the photo after taking it) which slows things down a bit. Switching on is quick. The focus is fast. Frame by frame with verification and refocusing enabled, it's not as fast as I'd like, but fast enough that I haven't made any effort to fix it (either by disabling playback or burst shooting). I rarely missed something because of this.* The image quality is good for the size. It's significantly inferior to the SX20 and S3 in one aspect that might matter to some people. At the long end of the zoom range, the noise reduction distortion is clearly noticeable even at low ISO values. I haven't made direct comparisons between cameras, but I suspect that the SX710's images contain significantly less usable information than the SX20's, despite nearly double the megapixel count. However, when viewing on screen (screen size) or printing smaller formats (e.g. 4x6) I think this issue is not noticeable. In addition to this shortcoming, the camera takes very good pictures, which are not inferior in quality to larger models from the recent past*. The video quality is excellent for this size. I recorded the video at 720p to save file size (compared to 1080p). Both video quality and sound quality were noticeably better than any other camera I've owned, including other Canons.* Ergonomics are fine. Canon packs a lot of features into a small package. I don't have any specific suggestions for improvement, but I regularly encounter a number of problems. When inserting or removing the camera from the case, care must be taken not to turn it on with one of the many buttons that turn the camera on. The power, shutter and movie buttons are close enough together that it can cause problems if you press the wrong button. And sometimes the back buttons (especially the phone button) are accidentally pressed.* The phone pairing features are very useful. This is my first camera with these features and I have used a few of them (image transfer to phone and remote control). It was very convenient and very easy to use once you get the hang of it. Based on what I've read about the 700, I'm glad I waited for the 710 for that reason alone. Based on my experience, I believe this form factor now meets important needs that previously could only be met with a large zoom. (ala SX60 and predecessors). Unless you need an absurdly long zoom (over 30x) and as long as you can put up with image quality issues at the long end of the zoom, the next logical step would be an SLR. The SLR camera is too big for me (and expensive), so I chose this camera. So far I'm very happy with it.