A reflex in the body of a compact

Author's Rating:

Pros: Construction, image quality, functions, manual mode, good macro, 16 mb included compact flash

Cons: Images a bit blurry, no rechargeable batteries

The Bottom Line: 
If you want the functions of a reflex in a digital compact... the Canon A70 is what you're looking for!

Author's Review
Some days ago I decided that I needed a digital camera. I love taking photos and already have a Nikon compact camera and a Canon reflex, but I wanted something more flexible and that could allow me to save my photos directly on my pc.
After some days spent surfing the internet researching the right product for me, I found the Canon A70. I read a lot of reviews and then decided to buy it.

Here in Italy, prices are very high rather than in the USA, so I spent quite a lot: 400€, about 466$.

The camera nicely fit on the palm of my hand, it's neither too light, nor too heavy. The display is standard sized, anyway it allows you to view accurately what you want to acquire.

The functions are a lot, but the camera is extremely easy to use. You can use the fully auto mode, or you can choose between three AE programs (I love Tv and Av mode) that let you set just the few things you are interested to set manually and make the camera set all the rest. You can also choose various scene presets that allows you to take good shots in various conditions without using the manual mode. There's various white balance and even exposure compensation and flash intensity. Also some options to select the type of autofocus you like.

But the coolest and useful thing, especially if you like to take some "artistic" photo, is the manual mode. You can select everything, like the ISO sensibility (from 50 to 400), the shutter velocity, the diaphragm aperture... great when you want to take photos with a little light or without light and you don't want to use the flash.
The flash, anyway, is good and it allows you take photos even in total darkness.

3,2 megapixels are much, you can take high quality photos and print it in large formats. But if you want to save the compact flash space, you can choose between 4 resolutions and 3 levels of image quality for each resolution.
Anyway, if you don't want to shoot very high-res photos, you can use 1024x768, fine mode and take a lot of pics!
The 16 mb compact flash included is much for an included card!

A great thing is the panoramic mode: you can shoot up to 26 photos and merge them by pc to obtain an ultra-wide panoramic photo!

The cons are mainly four: 1) for that price Canon could include also rechargeable batteries and recharger (included in the A70 Power Plus, but at higher price) and a camera bag; 2) the images are a bit soft, maybe you would like something sharper, but I don't think it's a real con. Anyway you can sharp them by Paint Shop Pro or PhotoShop using pc; 3) the rubber cover over A/V connectors seems to be a bit weak... it's better to pay attention when opening it; 4) shutter lag it's not too fast, it takes about a second since you press the button and the camera autofocus and take the photo. You can avoid this by manual focusing, but it's not so nice.

The alkaline batteries supplied with the camera last for a lot of photos and downloading into the pc, but I strongly recommend you to purchase four AA Ni-Mh rechargeable batteries (or 8, if you like an extra battery set ready to use) and a recharger.

Anyway, I'm really happy with my purchase.