Canon Pro 70 Review, Phil Askey, December 1998

The Canon PowerShot Pro 70 (referred to as the Pro70 from now onwards) is probably one of the second most eagerly awaited new arrivals of early 1999 along with the Sony DSC-D700 which is seen by many as its main rival.

However, people in the know like to think that this is the camera for the real photographer, with Canon's excellent photography background and a sound reputation for producing high quality products the PowerShot Pro 70 certainly comes from a good stable.

The Pro70 is different in design to other digital cameras in that it resembles a tradition SLR, with a barrel for the lens, the zoom switch on the side of the lens and the traditional SLR-like hand grip on the right hand side this is a comfortable camera to hold. Although you pay for that comfort in weight, the camera weighs in at about 800g loaded with one of its two supplied NiMH rechargeable batteries. It also has other 35mm-friendly features such as a 3:2 image ratio (same as 35mm film) and a high quality 28mm (wide) to 70mm (zoom) lens. And some rather unique features like its flip out / swivel LCD and flash hotshoe.

In this review we'll try to cover all features, functionality and most importantly operation, I'm sure what most people are interested in is what this 1.68megapixel camera can produce.

UPDATE: 14/02/99:
Updated a few details which weren't apparent to me when reviewing the camera (ie. I didn't have a manual). Now I've got my own Pro70 and have corrected (and added) a few items to this review.