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Average rating:
3.93
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Canon PowerShot Pro701.5 megapixels | 2" screen | 28 – 70 mm (2.5×)
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Average rating:
3.93
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Opinion: I've owned around 10 digital cameras so far (one was an slr) and the Pro70 is, without a doubt, my favourite of the lot! I purchased a new/unused example 6 months ago that had been hidden away, unopened for 6 years. When I first realized that it had a minimum (!) shutter speed of 1/180th sec... I could hardly take it in. I was disappointed and quite aggravated at the rediculousness of this until I reallized that I could not only control any outdoor lighting, but also depth of field too with the purchase of some ND filters. My disappointment turned to utter amazement, with the ND filters. This is the neatest camera. It makes excellent 4x6 prints, which happens to be the print-size that both my wife and daughter want for their scrapbooking ventures. I've printed 5x7's with great success as well. For me... this is all the camera that I'll probably EVER need (if it holds out).
Problems: I've found work-arounds for all of the camera's negative aspects. As mentioned above, ND filters take care of the camera's VERY limited shutter speeds. Another thing that needed fixing was the camera's colors. This I fixed by making custom profiles for the camera using AIM's free icc profile making tools. I also found that using a custom icc profile that was made for use with a Canon 1D-S, gives me a better result under some lighting conditions than even my custom Pro70 profiles can achieve!
Opinion: The Powershot Pro 70 is an interesting camera - it's got 2 CF card slots, which can allow for an extraordinary number of pictures to be taken. The rechargeable battery seems to last sufficiently, and the optics are nice and sharp. The ability to use EX-series speedlights with E-TTL is a great bonus. The camera would probably be a good casual-use camera for fairly static scenes.
Problems: The biggest problems I have with this camera are speed-related. I work at a small daily newspaper and in an effort to eliminate our darkroom costs, they gave us one of these things. Its relatively slow shutter speeds and lack of predictive focus (and just plain slow focus anyway) eliminate any chance of capturing action. The shutter lag is awful, especially when using a flash (because of the time it takes to fire a preflash). It is literally around two seconds between the time you press the shutter button to the time the camera actually takes the picture. As a result, it's not good for anything but static scenes.
Opinion: Having owned one for nearly a year and being very happy with
it I tried out a 3-mp canon s30 for a while. Well, I'm back to the
pro70, the images just look more natural and have a more
accurate color balance. The lens is as good as it gets on a
consumer digicam. Can be had for under $300-350 at auction
now, a GREAT deal.
Problems: Slow, lacks many features of new cameras. JPG
compression can be aggresive (use raw for max quality). Low
res, but the lens squeezes everything it can out of the pixels
Opinion: Very good quality images, sometimes a lag in taking a shot immediately after previous one. No flash incorporated, but most compact camera flash's are only just up to the job of a few metres. The camera is very robust and has a real quality feel. The two compact flash card slots make it very versitile and with a 32Mb and a 16Mb CF card I can take over 230 shots in Normal mode. I have never found the need for the "video" mode with multiple images. The swivel LCD screen is great if you are behind a crowd and can hold the camera up high with perfect view of image.
Problems: Not at it's best for action shots when Programme mode has to be used and manually set with high shutter speeds, if you alter it for one shot it reverts to auto for the next and the settings are returned to Normal mode. For Landscapes, weddings, portraits, static photography it's wonderful.
Opinion: Exellent picture quality for a 1.5 megapixel camera. Great lens and great construction.
Problems: Very slow in everything. Shutter lag time, zoom lag time, image write lag time, automatic focus lag time. Burst mode only works with low res setting which produce poor picture quality. Its only compatible with the 220EX and 380EX speelites. The 380EX has been discontinued by Canon and the 220EX has no tilt head!
Opinion: I have owned two of these cameras. The first one I used for Real Estate photography, producing 6000 excellent images for the company I was working for. I sold the first one because that Real Estate company went out of business. I bought the second one hoping to use it for event photography. This camera is not so great for event phography because of the shutter lag time which is around 2 seconds (estimate). Besides that this camera has one of the best fixed lenses on any digital camera that has ever been put one the market(28-70mm 2.0-2.4). BEAT THAT NIKON! I now own three Olympus C2500L's which are great cameras for event photography and don't use the Pro70 much anymore. I bought most of the accessories for this camera(which can be hard to find) and know find that this camera mostly just takes up space. For portraits, landscapes, architecture, and real estate this is a great camera. did I mention that this was the first camera to come out with a twist and flip view monitor. Read Phil Askey's Review on this camera(the first camera reviewed for this site).
Problems: Shutter lag time, Zoom lag time
Opinion: The coolpix 950 blows it away . The camera is almost unusable for anthing moving i have one and i don't use becouse it becouse of that .
Opinion: Most of the good and bad points have been covered; I'll be brief. Those considering this camera should read Phil Askey's full review.
As others have said, the image quality of this camera is excellent. Even at "only" 1536x1024, you get a very high quality image. Low light capability is *fantastic*, and low light autofocusing works well with the built-in assist light. Autofocus is slow and a bit noisy, but I have an EOS 3, so I'm spoiled :-). Focus has never failed me. The ergonomics are great, the camera is solidly built, and the flip-out, bright LCD is extremely well designed. The lens might be a higher quality than others in its class, as this camera seems to produce the best images. The 380EX Speedlite works great. I have owned this camera for about five months and have taken thousands(!) of photos. The battery is strong and the camera comes with a battery and fast recharger. Dual CF slots are nice. Overall, I am very pleased, and would not purchase any other digital camera today -- except perhaps the Nikon D1, which is 5x the price. I would recommend it to anyone.
Problems: No shutter priority, only aperature priority. Fastest shutter speeds and multi-shot drive only at low quality setting. Only center-weighted metering. Cannot meter at one point and focus on another. Not compact by any measure (this doesn't bother me, but it may bother some). Has filter threads, but they are basically unusable because of vignetting. Viewfinder only shows about 85% of the actual shot, is not TTL, and is therefore subject to parallax.
All in all, however, I love this camera. The only thing I really miss is spot metering.
Opinion: I particularly like this camera for its excellent picture quality, superbly natural colour, true 28mm wide angle lens (with no distortion anywhere in the zoom range) and 3:2 aspect ratio. The twin compact flash slots are useful too, allowing greater storage capacity and very quick card 'changes'.
Problems: The JPEG compression sometimes seems a little too aggressive, and the shutter speed tops out at 1/180th sec in aperture priority mode, limiting it's usefulness. My only serious complaint is the lack of spot metering.
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 | 22.3 megapixels 3.2" screen Full frame sensor |
