Rating: 
Summary: Very good for most people
Review: As a botanist/ecologist/photographer I do a great deal of plant photography. I have used Canon products for years and swear by them and rarely at them. The Pro1, though, leaves a lot to be desired for my purposes. The EOS 10D does far better even with lower resolution. The Pro1, for the purposes I need, is not very suitable. (See my review of the PowerShot S1 IS).
But as a photgrapher who has been published around the world, mostly medium and large format photographs, I think for most people the Pro1 would be a very good choice. It has excellent construction and the image quality is superb with very true color, much better than most. If you don't want to mess with RAW image processing, you can photograph using the Super high resolution Large (gives you a JPG image) and get excellent results that compare very favorably with RAW processing and none of the fiddling with RAW. The availability of a 28mm equivalent wide angle is also very nice and not all that common.
The sharpest aperature to use is f5.6 or f6.3. The images are just a hair softer at larger or smaller apertures. Even the digital zoom will produce a pretty decent image at 14x, but gets worse at maximum digital zoom. Usually digital zoom is pretty worthless, but when you start with 8 megapixels you can still end up with a suitable pixel count after all the digital footwork that goes on in the camera. But generally you are still further ahead shooting at maximum optical zoom (no digital) and cropping, if you don't mind some additional digital manipulation antics to improve things.
So, all in all, I highly recommend this camera to anyone who needs high resolution and compact size. It is a good buy. But for really good macro photography I recommend a digital SLR and a top notch macro lens. If you only do a little macro work and are not real fussy about having razor sharp images then this camera will do fine. Sometimes it would almost match the 10D, but not quite. For all other uses, the camera is great.
Rating: 
Summary: Prosumer
Review: As expected, the image quality is excellent. The drawback is the viewfinder. This is through the lens, which would be fine but pressing the shutter release part way freezes the image for a moment before the camera fires. I was trying to photograph my young niece jumping on a trampoline and running around and found it almost impossible because the frame would freeze as soon as I pressed half way down. The apparent solution is to not press the shutter release until ready to fire, which will tend to produce jerkier images. Perhaps practice will solve the problem but for now I think this camera will be difficult to use for any kind of action or motion shot. For the price, this is a surprising flaw.The shots that do work out are really impressive. Rich, saturated colors, remarkably good exposure even with flash and a dark background. Potential to be a pro point and shoot.
Rating:
Summary: Good job, but some important flaws
Review: Before I purchased the Powershot Pro I had owned both the Canon S40 and the S50, I was happy to find that Canon had continued the same software format and that having experience with the former allowed me to use the Powershot Pro immediately. First a complaint: Yo Cannon whatsup with the lens cap!? After seventy-five years of cameras designed with a lens housing longer than the lens such that one can palm a cap on it without looking, or more importantly remove it without looking, Canon reinvents the wheel, and badly. The lens housing does not protrude farther than the lens, everything from fingers to clothes to branches touch the lens because it has none of the typical protection. The cap fits in one position only, locking in with tabs that must be pressed on both sides to remove it. Simply unusable and probably left off by most users, which means a chronically dirty lens. The second problem is the long period of time that it takes to calculate an image, over a second in the best conditions and longer in poor light. This is a complete nuisance and a reason to shop for another camera if you take motion shots. There is no such thing with this camera, the subject is off frame by the time it reads the light, etc. A poor job in this area. Those complaints out the way I find the camera useful, the movie mode records in 640 X 480 making it useful for something other than a novelty as it was on the earlier Powershot line. The lens is excellent, in the Supermacro mode it focuses at one half inch and with the 7X optical zoom added onto the 15X digital zoom it is possible to shoot either a frame-filling shot of a finger nail as well as the numbers on an airplane flying at 3,000 feet, and with the same lens! It is an L series lens and focuses by sound, somehow, so it is always busy readjusting as one moves the camera, also the viewfinder is through the lens making it technically a SLR. The software allows one to use different areas of the LCD to focus so there is no reason not to get the perfect focus every time. The combination of light metering, shutter speed, F stops, and focal variation are so great one could shoot each shot dozens of ways, and probably will. Get a big compactflash card for this one. The battery lasts so long at this writing I can't say how long because I have yet to deplete it; with the S40 or S50 one always carried a spare because they lasted about an hour, not with the Powershot Pro, seems like many hours, at least three so far, stay tuned. The photographs in general are excellent, as long as the subject is still and it has its second or two to calculate.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not perfect
Review: I am by no means an expert photographer, but I know a little bit about ISO and aperatures and such.
Like the previous reviewer, I greatly anticipated receiving my Powershot Pro1 from Amazon. You can read many professional reviews on this camera so I will keep this short.
I thought I should mention that, exactly like another reviewer, my camera had DEBRIS inside the lens housing. Plus the lens appeared scratched or perhaps had some kind of coating flaw. I was extremely happy with Amazon's return/exchange procedure, could not have been easier. Well, I got my new camera and it looked OK, but after several zoom cycles, I noticed it too had some white flaky debris inside the lens. I carefully examined a photo taken afterward and believe it is not affecting the image quality, but I do not understand how an $850+ camera should have this kind of quality problem. There are only 1-2 small flakes visible, so for now I will keep the camera.
Other notes: Close-up image quality is stunning. Highly lit environments are a little washed out in auto mode, so you may find you are running the camera more in manual modes to improve image quality. Movie mode is a great feature.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good camera!!
Review: I believe this camera excels in everything. It takes really great shots and you have the control to do many things. Canon hit the ball hard with this camera. One problem is the quick freeze before you take a shot, hard to shoot an action photo.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad camera for the price
Review: I bought the camera through the mail. Turn on the camera and there are two dead pixels near the middle of the LCD screen. Took some pictures with 430EZ flash using TTL and all pictures are washed out white. Canon said it's compatible with the EZ series flash but apparently not the case.
Mail order shop told me that I can't exchange it for another one because two dead pixels on LCD screen is not categorized as defective. I don't remember paying $1K for something like this. Called Canon and they said I have to mail it to their repair center to get it fix under warranty.
So, I bought the camera and haven't use it yet and it's costing me another $30 to ship it to get the LCD replace. What kind of quality control is this for a $1K camera?
Rating:
Summary: First affordable Digital I settled for
Review: I have had atleast 6 film slr's over the past 20 plus years, and when digital came out over 5 years ago, I waited for the right time to buy. The advantages of a digital over a film camera are obvious, but the resolution and lack of wide angle below $1000 was the main limitation. Now those are no longer as much an issue unless I was shooting something for a large poster. Reasons I chose this camera at this time:
1. I pondered the Digital rebel because of the 17 odd EOS lenses I have, starting at the 20 MM wide. I find the wide angle most useful for scenery and indoors, the medium tele for people pics. The 1.6 lens multiplier for semi-pro DSLRs made all my wides except the 20 mm useless. That killed the Rebel idea.
2. I find 28 mm my MOST used wide angle since it captures scenery in a way I want to remember it. The 20 is great indoors, but for scenery, it really makes the background too small. This camera has 28 mm.
3. I find the 85 to 200 mm range great for people portraits, 85 being best. This has that range.
4. I didn't want to end up cleaning dust from my CCD with interchangeable lenses, especially on a camera I want to use a lot. That killed the rebel idea again.
5. The L lens really shines, with great colors and resolution. Look a www.dpreview.com and see for yourself. The color is definitely cleaner and the resolution fantastic.
6. For wideangle, the stitch mode really kicks (...). There is nothing as good as Canon's implementation of this concept.
7. With digital at 8MP, I can get a better picture into the computer than the best 35 mm slide film and home slide-scanning. Less artifacts, noise and NO DUST!
8. Once you get a high quality digital picture into the computer, the possibilities are endless. You can't add resolution in a computer, you need to start with it. You can do things with masks etc. to show highlight and shadow detail like no film could ever do, just not enough exposure latitude.
9. At 50 ASA, this camera blows the competition away, in ALL respects. Hence for the best digital shot below $1000, this is the camera.
10. Built like a tank, is compatible with all of Canons newer gadgetry, takes filters, polarizers (yes!) had built in ND filter, what more could you ask for under $1000.
11. I love the controls. Took a couple of hours reading through the manual and familiarizing myself with the camera.
12. Turn OFF the the continuous focus if you are not going to need it, esp. for things that are not moving, focusses beautifully.
13. The 2" 235K pixel CCD in the back is the best Ive seen, probably the same from the 4.5K$ new Canon Pro D1 MkII camera. Plus the 180 degree rotation is priceless. I use it when I do self timer shots with groups, macro etc.etc.
<14> Camera does focus bracketing, which I never had on my EOS Elans and isn't available on probably any DSLR. Manual focus is available just in case. <15> I checked moire and noise in Photoshop, none to minimal. Photos need no equalization and noise removal. A little moire removal on things like reflections on hair (only sometimes).
<16> The only thing I might add are..live histogram, but most time I know whats going to be overexposed, the camera only confirms it. Exposure latitude is wider than film.<17> The Depth of Field, the space in which everything is in focus, is much much greater than in a 35MM film camera. Hence f-stops over F8 that I used with my wide angles is unnecessary. At 28mm, I get depth of field from 9" to infinity on the Pro 1 whereas I needed F22 on my 35mm camera. This had held me back from buying digital until I dicovered this fact doing some research.
Rating:
Summary: technology at its finest
Review: I looked at the Nikon 8700 and the Canon Pro 1. I had them both in hand, shot pictures, compared the EVF, comfort, weight and read all the reviews prior to see the actual cameras. After a long evaluation I decided on the Canon. It just had a better feel. The camera offers a lot of features. I wanted to get back into a camera that would do something other that point and shoot, which this does very well. I also wanted to be able to adjust the apature and film speed. Creative and fun things.
The first pictures I took were very impressive. Low light visibility is good. It has a SLR feel and sound to it. Color was beautiful and th 7X optical is just perfect to be hand held.
One important thing to consider is how the camera will operate in low light. It has an AF assist, which should be on all cameral or it will not be able to focus on a particular subject and the picture will be blurred. Without getting technical, this camera can be used by a novice or a professional. It's versality is unbelievable. Also, a very important feature of this camera is its battery. It has an extremely long life and its charger is small, easily carried in a case and charges to full charge in one hour.
Rating:
Summary: Compared to the Digital Rebel...
Review: I own the Digital Rebel (300D) and last week I bought this Pro1 for my wife. So after a week of intensive use and testing (we are both professionnal wedding photographers) here are the pros and cons, some of them compared to the rebel: PROS:
- 8 MP
- L "pro" lens, really delivers crisper and sharper images than the bundled EF-S of my rebel, but I still prefer my EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
- 28-200mm equivalent is everything we could ask for weddings, we usually stay in the 28-80 range anyway because of flash range limitations
- the built-in flash is reliable, fast and strong
- lots of functions and modes, + 2 custom settings
- very small, *ideal* for a woman's hands, yet again I'm used to the rebel plus the battery grip so...
- 1 compartment for CF card and battery
- incredibly bright, big and clear LCD, very useful
- flip over LCD panel
- good battery bundled (1350 mAh versus 1100 for the rebel)
- also bundled: 64MB CF, neck strap, 58mm filter adapter, remote control (!) and hood
- Good price (same as rebel)
- hot shoe for external flash
- black "pro" look CONS:
- Electronic zoom ring, a bit slow and drains battery
- autofocus too slow for wildlife or sports
- not as user friendly as previous Canon models
- maybe a tad too small for most men hands
- smaller cmos sensor than the digirebel
- takes like 2 seconds to turn on (I expected less than the rebel, but it's the same)
- usb 1.1 (should be 2.0 what the Hell was Canon thinking??)
- almost impossible to focus in low light, even with an external flash with IF assistant beam
- freezes the viewfinder for a sec when if focuses, annoying
- not many additionnal accessories (like battery pack, eyepiece extender...) Bottom Line: I would still recommend it for weddings or maybe all-round, but the next thing I'm buying in about 6 months will definitely be another digital SLR (like the 1Ds), give the rebel to my wife and sell the pro1. It's a great camera, but it's not really "pro" like the name and the L lens suggests. Well that's about it, I hope it helps.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed after so much waiting :(
Review: I really, really wanted to like this camera, but I can't. On the plus side, it takes nice, sharp pictures (although a bit noisy in dark areas), and is built like a tank. But that's where it ends because it is absolute torture waiting for this thing to focus! Honestly, my four-year-old Sony Cybershot focuses faster which I simply cannot understand. Also, the LCD viewfinder freezes for at least one second for every single shot while it composes the picture. This is fine if you're shooting a bowl of fruit, but if your subject is moving at all, you're going to want to pull your hair out! I really wish this camera were all it was supposed to be, but you have now been warned. I guess I'll keep looking.
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