Rating: Summary: Great Design, Great Pictures, Good Standards Review: There were two things that really turned my head about this camera. The first was it's use of Compactflash memory. This memory is highly available, available in large storage sizes (512 megs, 1gig, etc) quite affordable, and can easily be used as a usb drive on nearly any computer system with an adapter.The second feature that intrigued me was their use of standard batteries. I've had camera's before used expensive disposable lithium batteries (upwards of $15 a piece)...and if your on vacation, it can be a pain to try and find something to bring your camera back to life instead of working on a suntan. Even though I've been using recharchable NimH batteries in this camera since I've had it it is very nice to know that I should be able to find spare batteries for it almost anywhere if I'm in a pinch. Now that I've had the camera, I can say that I am very impressed: It fits well in the hand, is simple to use, is feature rich, and has enough interactive feedback available on the display to help you get great shots even in tricky situations. This is a nicely featured camera at a great price - and the standards they've chosen have created a low cost of ownership.
Rating: Summary: Great Digital Camera Review: This is my first digital camera purchase, so I did a lot of research to find the best camera for [the price]. I can say with certainty that this camera fits the bill! It is 3.2 Megapixels, which some may not feel is enough, but unless you are going to print out photos larger than 8x10 I don't see any reason you would need a higher resolution. In fact, most of the pictures we take aren't even at the highest resolution possible. The 16MB CompactFlash card that comes with this camera is way too small. Look at getting at the very least a 128 MB card, or even a 256MB or 512MB card. I don't have any complaints about this camera. In dark situations, the LCD becomes very grainy, but the pictures you take look great. Red eye reduction works wonders as I have yet to see any red eyes from pictures I've taken. In the sun, the LCD similarly gets sun circles, but those are not apparent in the final image when you take a picture. The shiny chrome finish around the LCD is a little hard to deal with in the sun, but it's easy enough to get used to. I highly recommend this camera. It's geared toward the point-and-shoot consumer, but it has settings and the ability to add attachments for the more avid photographer.
Rating: Summary: First Digital Camera and Happy as a Pig in Shhhhhh! Review: After many hours of research I am happy to review the Canon A70 Powershot. My first and probably only digital camera for a long time. Easy to use, simple to learn, and compact. I don't mind the 4 AA batteries. I bought "good" recharable and have taken about 100 photos and a video on the first set with no end in sight yet. The camera has many "bells and whistles" but not that many buttons and settings to use them. Tricky. The autofocus takes about 20 pictures to get used to, but then it is a worthy attribute. I love the stitch command. When you're standing in front of scenery that is 4 or 5 pictures long, the downloading software will "Stitch" them together into one long picture...very cool. The camera is small but not too small. The camera comes with all the downloading software you need and works with all the "photoshop" software that my Dell computer already came with. The user manuals are useful, and not totally technical geeky. Trust me, 3.2 Mpix is just fine. The only reason to get 5.0 Mpix or higher is if you're making posters or just want to say "it's a 5.0 Mpix". My opinion is don't waste your money, just get this camera. It'll do everything and anything that "joe-shmoe" picture taker needs. The only bummer, is the 16bit (or whatever the measurement is) card that the camera comes with. It only holds about 25 pics or maybe 30 to 45 seconds of video. I'm checking for a 128 or 256 card that will hold more pics than I know what to do with (download them and take more). They make a 516 but again, do I need all that or do I just need to say "it's a 516 card". Don't worry, the card is like a floppy disk. It just clicks in and out. BUT BEWARE, my friends told me if you take the cards in and out constantly you run the risk of bending or tweeking the tiny connector pins in the camera that connect the card to the camera. If you do this...time to buy another camera. This goes for all digital cameras so I'm getting a bigger card for $$$ to $$$ bucks and will never take the card out again (just download them, erase them, and keep on shooting). Which come to think of it...you know those Windows Media Player videos all your friends send you at work...this camera takes those. The software downloads it as a WMP video and then asks, "want to e-mail this?"...heck ya, this is fun. Word to the wise...if you plan on taking action photos of fast moving/fast action sports or activities you might want to research more expensive digital cameras that can take 3 or 5 frames per second. This camera can do it but not every picture may be in focus as the "shoot" button focus' the shot when pressed half way down, lets you know it's in focus, and then you press all the way down and it shoots. If you just shoot away it focus' as best it can and takes the shot. The camera does not come with a little camera bag, but hey, most of the little bags provided with electronic stuff is lame anyway. It does come with a cord to hold it, but I didn't put it on. Lastly...NO LENS COVER...totally cool, it has it's own that opens and closes when you turn it on and off. Nothing to lose and no "uh duh take the lens cap off" moments. Hope this has been useful. A very worthy purchase. ....
Rating: Summary: Lots in a little package Review: Great little camera. A ton of features for the price. Easy to use features for someone who has not owned a digital camera before, but also more advanced features for those of us who have been using digital cameras for a while. The movie clips and pictures come out great. Even with the little microphone on the camera, the sound is impressive. The option to add macro and telephoto lenses is a plus. I plan on doing do. Definately a lot of bang for your buck.
Rating: Summary: A Great Camera Review: I purchased the A70 after some intensive reviewing of the current cameras in this low to mid-range price catagory. I had narrowed my choices down to two canidates the A70 and the Nikon 3100. With the Nikon I really liked the sample pictures I saw taken with it and its recessed LCD screen, but it lacked the plethora of features the Canon came with. Post Purchase... I could not be more happy with it! It takes super clear/sharp pictures (Just as good as the Nikon samples I saw). The non-recessed LCD screen is not that serious a problem with normal/thoughtful handling. The extra features and the complete manual control the canon offers really makes for a fun camera someone can grow with. Its size is perfect-fits right in the palm of your hand. And the images download easily via the USB port into the computer. Oh, did mention it takes great pictures? I had debated a long time on which camera to purchase, and need not have worried. The Canon A70 is a bargain.
Rating: Summary: Great Camera for the price Review: What I like most is that you can plug it to your tv and watch the video as well as the pictures. The video is decent. It does the job. You dont need to buy a video camera, this does it all. Its 3 megs, which is good. I was looking for 4 or 5 but you would have to pay almost double and you dont get the video. The price is cheap, so you dont raelly have to care too much about it as you would those 800-1000 cameras.
Rating: Summary: Very nice design Review: I just received my A70 today and within 5 minutes I was taking shots and recording video clips! The shots I have taken are much better that I expected. This little camera is great. It's size is not too bulky to carry around, but not so small that you feel like you are going to loose it. I can't comment on the durability of this camera, becuase I haven't had it very long. I can only hope for the best, but so far I am not disappointed!
Rating: Summary: Better than I could imagine Review: Excellent camera. Everything is great about it: very good optics; intelligent software for focusing, flashing, aperture and time; very good resolution, intuitive system of menus and user-friendly software for downloading images or films (yes, films!) to your computer. You should order at least one 128MB card and a set of recharchable batteries.
Rating: Summary: Canon A70 - a flawed product Review: I have a Canon A40 and have tried out the A70 and compared the pictures and operation. Image quality of the A70 doesn't match the A40. Sure, the resolution is better but not as detailed as expected compared to the A40. Also, the pictures in general show noticeable noise in the shadow areas (something not seen on the A40 and easy to see once you know what to look for) and are soft focused. Post processing can help but this camera should have offered a sharper focus setting. Colour is though generally faithful and the A70 has a slightly wider dynamic (contrast) range than the A40. But the crispness of the image is lacking. Landscapes show smeared detail and I have seen a published shot where there is a smeared area in the middle of the picture - a similar problem that I had on the A40. Purple fringing is not a general problem except against bright sky near the edges of the picture. Redeye in flash pictures remains a problem and the AF assist light in dark areas remains useless. The manual focus is therefore a useful improvement but not quick to use and difficult to judge in the dark. Overall, this could have been a brilliant camera if the focus, noise factor and anti-redeye system had been managed better. Extra features such as accessory lens ability is not worth much as the cost of these accessories is ridiculous compared to the camera. Better to buy a SLR or a good 4mp camera in the first place!
Rating: Summary: Flickering LCD and Blurry View Finder Review: I read all the wonderful reviews and bought the Canon A70. However, when I finally received the camera yesterday, the LCD screen flickers and the viewfinder is blurry when at full zoom. What a disappointment... I have an older Canon A20 for business and have always liked it. The newer A70 is smaller with more features, but feels flimsy to me. The zooming mechanism is noisy and appears cheap. Maybe I was just unlucky and got a bad A70 that was damaged in shipping? I've decided to get another type of camera at a local camera shop this time.
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